A message to my devoted fan.

I know I've let the posting duties slide this month but hopefully all will be right in May.
I'm working on the freaking play and creeping up on the finished product, thank gawd.

Lots to report:
--Current obsession with YouTube.
If you haven't spent time watching a 4 year old conquer the highest level on Dance Dance Revolution, you
haven't done much with your life.
--Current crush on Lupe Fiasco . I hope
I won't be disappointed when the album drops in June.
--Current crush on Stick It gurl Missy Peregrym. I know, I know.
--The Golden Girls are back in my life!!!! And I can't get the Miami, Miami song out of my head.
--Everybody has summer plans but me *sniff, sniff*.

Go drama!
Go theatrics!!

writing a play is hard work.

'nuff said.

Stew

PBS has been pimping out some very interesting documentaries and profiles during the past few weeks.
I'd post links but I'm too lazy.
Let's just say I learned a lil' more about:
--the bubble boy
--history of juilliard
--paul taylor dance company
--the abortion laws recently passed in South Dakota
--the Watergate scandal
--and how the pharmaceutical industry is fueling the meth epidemic sweeping America

Whew.

Oh, and I'm still writing the new piece.

The Caged Bird Ain't Sangin'

*gasp!* a picture!

The pic: 3 plays written in 1 week by 3 playwrights: Marcus, Quiara, and myself. We met up earlier this week and read the new plays out loud. I must admit, I was in the midst of greatness and completely in awe. We celebrated our success by breaking bread and sipping spirits. Good Times.

Depending how you see things, it's really late or really early. I'm up listening to Missy, Common, & Ghostface, writing, and chewing gum. Exciting, huh? I lost my voice so I spent most of the day in silence. Tomorrow will likely go the same way.

FYI: I'm setting out to cultivate a krew of young scribes of color who refuse to take any shit.

FYI: I'm setting out to make moves in '06 and beyond.

FYI: I'll be glad when the Spring we know and love shows up.

I know you are, but what am I?

I'm up this morning writing pages, and I stumble over to nytimes.com to check out the theater section. Charles Isherwood reviewed the shows featured in this year's Humana Festival. (I didn't link the article, just giving ya'll a picture of him)

Direct quote: "There's not much point in aiming high if you can't hit your target. And is it really necessary for playwrights to dream up new worlds?"

It's an odd piece of commentary, seething with a significant amount of "you done me wrong" vengeance. And I'm thinking, "did a playwright once break his heart? did he not get the lead role in his high school production of Pippin?"

I don't know much about Charles Isherwood or the history of American Theater critics, but what purpose does it serve to stab and mangle the playwright's ability to write? Isherwood has even written reviews that suggest a particular playwright stop writing. Who does that? I know there are bad plays out there, but every writer--I don't care who you are--has written crappy shit in order to get to the golden nuggets.

The Knicks are having a horrible year and plenty of fans and critics have said the team sucks, but I don't recall many folks saying the team should stop playing basketball. The overwhelming suggestion is: "get better. Pull it together and play better basketball, dudes".

This year in particular I've realized what it means to cultivate a career as a playwright. It's a lot of hard work--on all fronts--and it requires a considerable amount of dedication, passion, courage, and thick skin. With each play you learn something new, you get better, you reach a lil' further, you find something new. In short, you build and you grow.

And it's kind of difficult to do that when some asshole is standing in the wings silently grading every move as if it were a driver's ed. test.

How about you write us the "perfect" play, Mr. Critic??

Stew

Just got back from seeing this play. The cast was great and Tinashe Kajese was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Period.

My bud Kolajo sent me whitney's crack den.

I had a quick, informal, private reading of my latest play.
Cool and positive feedback.
I continue to slam out pages. Keep a look out for the reading in 1 month (scream).

Even though he scares me, ghostface killah's new album is on some crazy shit. and i like it.

This chick scares me, too, but the work she puts out is so damn good.