Rehearsals for Born For This are in full swing.  The play is completely blocked and I am now working on the acting.  The next couple of weeks are critical in molding the direction of the play and getting the best out of my performers.  There are 4 original songs in Born For This, composed by […]

“In nearly all good fiction, the basic — all but inescapable — plot form is this: A central character wants something, goes after it despite opposition (perhaps including his own doubts), and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw.” – John Gardner The above quote by American novelist John Gardner, is the simplest and […]

Summer is nearly over and I’ve nearly completed the re-write of my most recent script.  Born For This is the title of the Christmas production in which I begin rehearsals in less than a month.  My first rehearsal with the cast will be a sit down reading of the play.  First readings and the beginning […]

These last two days I have stepped back from a script I just completed to get some perspective.  I’ll be directing this play come the fall and it involves a cast of 10 actors.  It is a play centered on the Christmas season and will be performed on Dec 11 and 12 at the Stone […]

Congratulations to the following participants from the 24 Hour Playwriting Competition run by the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival: 1. The Tempest and the Birch Tree by Jonathan Kline 2. That’s Just Gas Escaping by Jerry Schaefer 3. Outside Heaven by Simon Paluck As you can see by the above results, my name was not […]

So there I was on June 30, 6pm, at the Fringe Club behind Honest Ed’s in downtown Toronto waiting to begin a contest that the Toronto Fringe Festival was running.  The task:  write a play in 24 hours (no longer then 45 minutes) which must include 4 concepts given by the Fringe.  The play had […]

The Toronto Fringe Festival is a Theatre Festival that runs June 30 till July 11.  This year I decided to enter the 24-hour Playwriting Contest which is exactly what it sounds like.  All participants are given 24 hours to come up with a play incorporating four objects/concepts given by the Fringe Festival.  The contest begins […]

There is a point in the writing process where the characters begin to write the story for you.  When you enter that zone, writing becomes a pleasure.  Not that the leading up to that point is not enjoyable; it’s just harder work.  Lots of writers like starting.  They like the blank page.  I like to […]

The following is an exchange from the movie City Slickers… Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? (holds up one finger).  This. Mitch: Your finger? Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that… Finding that “one thing” is the trick of life.  I knew from a young age I loved […]

I finished typing my new screenplay Twig today.  It’s a rough draft, but the blue print is on the page (or more specfically, screen).  It took me a while to complete the typing and I think that’s because, among other things, I was preoccupied with , but also not feeling confident with where the script was heading.   […]