End of 2025 Recap - 2 new play readings

This was a hell of a year. I suffered so much loss in my personal life, and my creative life really suffered. The company all but stopped, adding more perceived loss on top of it all. Luckily, I was able to direct 2 incredible processes with 2 new plays and playwrights that both culminated in successful public readings.

The first was Jessica Fisher’s Syndication. Two former high-school sweethearts get back in touch years later to host a podcast about break-ups. The first episode explores their old relationship, and problems of consent crop up. While exploring the physical bounds of their relationship - past and present - consent gets even murkier when their story is cut up and packaged as consumable narrative. It asks: what matters more - physical or narrative control? Using the podcast studio as the setting, with its mics live at all times, Jess smartly speaks to living in a world of constant perception without it being a kitschy “social media play.” The process was sponsored by the Silver Lake Arts Council and rehearsed and performed at public libraries across Los Angeles throughout the summer.

Rehearsing Syndication at the LAPL.

The second was Jay Stalder’s queer comedy The U-Haul Play, or Keep Yourself Safe. The first act explores a lesbian couple breaking up and moving out, and the second act is about their gay best friend moving in with his boyfriend. In both acts, a partner has recently done something so clearly “over the line,” that the comedy unfolds (seemingly) effortlessly, but also really prompts the question of just how far we’ll go not to be alone.

Clearly, this was the year for plays about break-ups, which seemed apt as it resonated with some of the experiences I had this year. It was painful, but revealing. I really had the chance to develop these scripts with these writers, and I’m so grateful to them for letting me send my list of notes, ask my questions, and not let the important ideas go!