I'm raising children. I'm writing plays. I don't have the luxury of making the two mutually exclusive. Toss in a husband and this is my life. And oh, yeah, there's also that 9 to 5 I took on in October '08...
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The Pulitzer prizes will be announced tomorrow afternoon at Columbia University. Which play will be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama? Word has it that Lynn Nottage’s RUINED may take home the honor. Read the rest of this entry »
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This entry’s inspiration is provided by a mom playwright I actually know personally and think is fabulous!
A hearty, “Congratulations!” to Vynnie Meli, whose play, JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS, has been selected as the winner of the 2009 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition. A story centered around the members of an all-female, “mixed-race” jazz band touring through the Deep South during World War II, JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS will be produced as a part of the Essential Theatre’s 2009 Power Plays Festival this summer at Actor’s Express.
Check out the video below to hear from Essential Theatre artist director Peter Hardy, the play’s director Betty Hart and Vynnie herself at 2:15 into the clip. If you’re in or plan to be in Atlanta July 5-August 2, put this on your summer must-see list.
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“I write for as many hours as I can carve out of a day, or until my sense of humor has utterly abandoned me. These days, since I’m currently on leave from my day job, that means I write during regular working hours, and then if I feel there’s something I didn’t get to that I don’t want to lose the thread of, I’ll work some more after my kids are asleep. I don’t make hard and fast rules, but the one thing I don’t like is to go for a couple of days without writing at all–it makes me unsettled.”
–Melissa James Gibson, award-winning mom playwright, quoted in “The Craft” Front Matter of the March/April 2009 issue of The Dramatist
Thanks, Melissa. I needed to hear that.
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Poet, Momplaywright
Today is a historic day in the United States and for that matter, the world. On this inauguration day of President-elect Barack Obama, after he takes his oath of office, after he gives his highly anticipated speech, the world will hear from Elizabeth Alexander— poet, essayist and momplaywright (Diva Studies). In these weeks since being selected by Obama to compose and read a poem for the occasion, this mom of a nine year-old and ten year-old (boys) has been, in her spare time, crafting her words and preparing to share her gift that will unveiled today.
So when you tune in for the amazing and historic inaugural event at noon, be sure to hang around to hear from and salute a momplaywright. There’s so much of significance today worth noting.
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Happy New Year!
The holidays are a glad wrap, and I’m ready to get on with 2009. In the wee hours of this morning I’ve written and just submitted (on deadline) a 10-minute play for a June production consideration. Not a bad way for a mom playwright to kick off the year, though I feel I’m going to pay for the “all-nighter” later today. 
If anything happens with it, you’ll hear the news here first.
How are you planning to exert your playwriting power this year? Let’s make like Nike and ‘Just Do It’!
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A funny thing happened on the way to doing research for a play idea I had. I was serendipitously granted an interview for and offered a full-time position I couldn’t refuse. Know what’s wonderful about it? I’m still writing, it’s an extremely family-friendly office (wow! they DO really exist!) and I’ll be earning more disposal income that I can pour back into supporting theatre by seeing more plays! 
So I’ve been making the transition to now working-out-of-the-home Mom. Playwright. Thanks to author and fellow Mom Playwright Amy Hillgren Peterson for turning me on to Who Does She Think She Is? News of this documentary on defying-the-odds, working women artists with families has come at a perfect time. I want to believe that I still, with this newly added dimension to my life, can and will write. I have no choice. It’s just in me. I’m sure it’s in you too. That’s why you’re here, right?
The dust is settling and balance is emerging. Blog posts will resume. Thanks for your continued support. Now, I’ve got to sign off, if I don’t want to be late for work!
One thing already taken off my list, my American friends: Voting. If it’s still one of your to-do’s just do it–and be a part of history!
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I was feeling stuck last week. It happens.
But last night I was determined to get “unstuck” and back to writing in the wee hours of the a.m., when I can claim the morning as mine.
I was stirred by a memoir writing exercise link found in my inbox last Wednesday by way of Oprah’s Book Club. Written by Abigail Thomas, the text came from Thinking About Memoir and included a challenge to Begin With Two Pages…
Two pages of 10 exercises such as, “Write two pages of something you can’t deny,” and “Write two pages of what you have too much of.” I started this morning with, “Write two pages of when you knew you were in trouble.” Whoa! Can’t you just see that in your mind’s eye on stage? An opening line of, “I knew I was in trouble when…”
I don’t have any intentions (at this point) of writing my memoir, but I find these exercises as fertile ground for mining play dialogue and premise. I maintain, inspiration can come from anywhere. Thanks, Abigail and Oprah.
Check out the How to Write Your Own Memoir excerpt and exercises. Will you take the challenge? It’s just two pages. Even a Mom Playwright can handle that!
And while you’re at it, check out these tips for making reading fun for kids.
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As an attorney turned stay-at-home mom in New Hampshire, Susan Chamberlin has traveled a path to playwriting with more dramatic twists and turns than even I can claim.
Thanks to at Seacoast.com for her feature on Chamberlin. I’ve found yet another heroine for whom I’m cheering. Read it and be inspired.
If you’re in the Portsmouth, NH area this weekend, show support and see George and Bill are Friends and Lions and Hyenas–two of Chamberlin’s works appearing in Late Night Confessions II at The Players’ Ring–Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Go mom playwright Chamberlin, go!
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Thumbing through the latest issue of American Theatre, while the little ones napped, I noted the In Memorium column for late mom playwright (and actress) Oni Faida Lampley, written by (mom?) playwright Darci Picoult.
I was moved by its poignancy. It was clearly written by a friend who knew and loved Ms. Lampley, who lost a seemingly valiant battle against breast cancer. Though being new to the scene I’ve never personally experienced or encountered Ms. Lampley’s work, it is clear from the essay that she was a talented, witty and warm woman who touched many a life. Tough Titty, the story of a family facing cancer, was a work she wrote while dealing with her illness.
According the column, Ms. Lampley turned 49 on April 15, and died thirteen days later. The following day, a memorial was held at New Dramatists in New York, where family and friends packed the space and spilled out into the hallway. Her son spoke last after many and said, “My mom was the busiest lady I knew. She never stopped working.”
I couldn’t help but be simultaneously inspired and pained by his words. I know I want to do something to reach out to him, as my heart aches for him and his younger brother as they continue on in this life without the tangible presence of their mother.
So in the spirit of good mama karma, I intend to sow a seed into their lives, knowing in some way that their mom will appreciate it.
Click here for more details on Ms. Lampley’s life and the scholarship fund established for her sons Olu and Ade. Ask your mom playwright self what she might want to do with this information.
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During these 24 hours of Independence Day celebration in the United States, it’s fitting to salute Mercy Otis Warren, the first female historian of the American Revolution and America’s first woman playwright.
You can read all about this wife, mother of five boys and playwright and her work in the biography, The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation, written by Nancy Rubin Stuart (who also knows a little something about theatre, the writing life and being a mom).
Read Ms. Stuart’s July 4th contribution to Beacon Broadside here, and learn more about Mercy, a fierce patriot and the original American mom playwright.
Have a happy and safe holiday!
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