*runs into room*
*slams door behind me*
*gasps for breath and sweats profusely*
Okay, are we all here? Okay, good. Listen up, because I don’t have time to say it twice.
So much has happened since my last post, and I have so little free time to write for this blog, that I’m now forced to write a post that’s not nearly as detailed as I would’ve liked, and not nearly as grateful and sincere as it should be. Nevertheless, please allow me to share a few big pieces of news before they become old news.
I have written a new play. It’s called A Well-Timed Axe. It’s a historical romance about “the doomed courtship between a warrior-queen and her prisoner” (good byline, right?). I’ve been workshopping it for a bit (namely through a writing residency that I was very lucky to receive from the Mighty Quinn Foundation) and it’s kind of in between drafts one and two right now. But it’s going to be really good. I swear. There’s a lot of me in it. The principle role, Queen Leda Vauxhall, is one of the best characters I’ve ever written. Lots of Salomé, Child Ballads, Lancelot and Guinevere kinda stuff in the mix. You’re gonna love it. More on that soon.
I am going to grad school. I will be studying Educational Theatre at the City College of New York. If all goes to plan, I’ll be a drama teacher within a few years. CCNY seems to be a good match for me, but most of all I’m just looking forward to applying myself and making a good faith effort in this new field. Plus, their mascot is great.
Lastly, and probably most relevant to this moment, I will be directing Oscar Wilde’s Salomé with the Stag & Lion Theatre Company this August. Stag & Lion is a classical theatre company in Hell’s Kitchen with whom I performed several times before the pandemic. It’s such a privilege to return to them now as a director. Rehearsal has gone better than I possibly could’ve hoped. This is going to be a special show. Tickets are on sale now.
Okay? Okay.
Yours,
Matthew.
