in the group and the obligatory high-five is made.
FACTS AND FICTION /
World Premiere of Soldiers: The Desert Stand running until May 4!
born in Washington D.C. grew up in Olney then Rockville, Maryland to loving parents and two sistars, who all still live in MD with the addition of nephew Ethan Skye, his nickname is Bluey. i wrote dark and cliched poems in High School, maybe a short story or two. Cared more about music and TV then...
went to the Midwest for undergrad. Bradley University after graduating with a B.S. in Communications (emphasis in Advertising), minor in Creative Writing. Played in Peoria. Drums in Rock 'n Roll band, The Bonedaddies. i began writing lyrics for the band, which I thought were quite good and fit well with the band. Wrote some more poetry. Saw a two person play and said, "I could do that." Learned to love to do that. Started attending theatre seriously and writing short pieces. First collection of short vingettes titled Click_Here would also be my first public presentation, but that doesn't happen until after I traveled with the folk trio Patchouli for two years recording full-length album, Visions, at Mr. Small's Funhouse right outside of Pittsburgh, PA and writing other short pieces along the way, as well as learning myself to play the guitar.
off the road, I headed South to the University of Arkansas to pursue MFA in Playwrighting. Saw productions of my plays done by the University and friends, Click_Here, Love on Planet Telex (also produced in LA by FirstStage LA), Unconditional, Sing You a Song (which would become the basis for short film Urbana) and Toy Soldiers (which develops into Soldiers: The Desert Stand). First two full-length plays, Being Fein and Echoes of a Dream presented by the University. Attended the William Inge Festival in Independence, KS and wrote a 10-Minute play, Putting Him Down for the 24-Hour Play Festival. Another 10-Minute Play, Bugs was presented at the American College Theatre Festival in Fort Worth, TX. Continued to play drums, guitar and sang in Rock band, the pass out game. Shot Sychronicity as part of a 24-Hour Film contest. Screened in Little Rock, AR.
Completed my residency and moved to Chicago. Joined LiveWire Chicago Theatre as Resident Playwright, now Executive Director. Seeing plays professionally produced. Two adaptations presented by the company: F., which took from the original old english History of Faustus (a co-production with GroundUp Theatre), and Night of Innocent Games took from Strindberg's Miss Julie. Directed original One-Act play, The Bout at the Abbie Hoffman Festival then directed A/other Lover for LiveWire at the side project theatre. Soldiers: Recruitment, an excerpt from the now full-length play, Soldiers: The Desert Stand was performed at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts as part of Mordine & Co.'s 800lb. Gorilla in the Room. More on LiveWire Chicago Theatre at www.livewirechicago.com
In 2005, started Wet City Productions with cousin Benjamin D. Bain. First short films completed, Urbana and Handshake of a Stranger, short documentary Washington is Burning and began an original comedy series, It's Madeline Long co-created with Madline Long and Bain. More on w.c.Productions at www.wetcityproductions.com
I continue to write and produce. Check back soon for updates...
Authors that inspire me / Abbey, Hammett, Hemingway, Hornsby, Lahiri, Murakami, Oe, Robbins, Safran Foer, Welsh, Wiesel
Playwrights that inspire me / Beckett, Churchill, Havel, Labute, Lonergan, O'Neill, McPherson, Pinter, Shawn, Shepard, Stoppard, Wilson
Filmmakers that inspire me / Altman, Chaplin, Coppola (Sophia), Hitchcock, Jarmusch, Labute, Mann, Miller (Rebecca), Scorsese, Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson
Books that inspire me / Dawn, The World is Flat, The Accident, The Monkey Wrench Gang, Old Man and the Sea, Nip the Buds Shoot the Kids, After the Quake, High Fidelity, Trainspotting, Namesake, Microserfs, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Wild Ducks Flying Backwards
Plays that inspire me / States of Shock, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Hitchcock Blonde, This is How it Goes, The Dead Wait, Waverly Gallery, Iceman Cometh, The Lover, Play, Jitney, A Number
Movies that inspire me / Brick, Primer, Shawshank Redemption, Usual Suspects, The Nightmare Before Christmas, You Can Count on Me, The Shape of Things, Coffee & Cigarettes, Bulworth, Short Cuts, Dead Poets Society, Munich, Tsotsi
Bands that inspire me / Soul Coughing & Mike Doughty, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Radiohead, The Verve & Richard Ashcroft, Dave Matthews Band, Beck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, R.E.M., Wilco, Modest Mouse, Bob Marley
Technology/Software Used / Final Draft, MACBook Pro, Treo 650 Palm One, MAC G5, 20" Cinema Display, GoLive, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Garage Band, Peavey MP 600, Shure SM58s & 57, Harmony Meteor, Gremlin Classical, M-Audio Keystation 49e, Oscar Scmidt Acoustic Guitar
Friends that inspire me / Sebastian Aguirre - Photographer / Heather Armintrout - Actor / Mike "the Arm" Armintrout - Musician/Actor / Erin Austin - Actress / Benjamin D. Bain - Cinematographer/Producer / Erin Barlow - Actor / Cory Conrad - Actor / Deborah Craft - Actress / Delia Espinosa - Producer / Edward Fairchild - Actor/Director/Musician / Rachel Gersh - Filmmaker / Amber Hilgenkamp - Theatre Artist / Rebekah Johnson - Stage Management/Director / Maya Kuper - Sound Designer/Engineer / Carol Krucoff - Writer / Nick Lohanick - Cinematographer/Musician / Madeline Long - Actress/Choreographer / John Narus - Director/Sound/Film Technician / Glenn Proud - Actor/Director / Clayton A. Rogers - Actor / David Allen Stoughton - Lighting Designer / Lawrence Lee Thompson IV - Actor/Agent / Aleks Zarnitsyn - Modern Philosopher & Musician / LiveWire Chicago Theatre / GroundUp Theatre / Piccolo Theatre / Theatre Squared