fried chicken & gasoline

Puppets in San Diego

2008-08-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

Puppet Therapy, a short comedy about a couple and their venture into marriage counseling, bondage, and threesomes, will be presented as part of the Best of The Blitz produced by Fritz Theatre.

Puppet Therapy
By Scott McMorrow
Aug 14-17
Thur, Fri, Sat at 8 PM
Sun at 3 PM
The Lyceum Theater
76 Horton Plaza
San Diego, CA
Tix: 619-544-1000

Prime Numbers in NYC

2008-05-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Got some great News! My play, Prime Numbers will be produced Off-Off Broadway by Love Creek Productions. Directed by Linda Loren, this short play explores the darker side of sibling relationships when a feuding brother and sister prepare to attend a Mardi Gras style funeral service for their mom.

Prime Numbers
by Scott McMorrow
May 18-21 at 8 PM
Beckmann Theatre
American Theatre of Actors
314 W 54th St
New York, NY 10019
Tix/Info: 212.581.3044

Longwood Play Fest

2008-02-29T13:27:00.001-08:00

Just found out that "Civil Twilight" will be produced as part of Longwood University’s 1st Annual Ten Minute Play Festival. This short play takes the audience on a surreal journey through the high desert as two women work together to uncover the source of one of their party’s madness.

Civil Twilight
by Scott McMorrow
March 28 at 8 PM
March 29 and 30 at 3:00 PM
Black Box Theatre
Longwood University
201 High Street
Farmville, VA
Box Office: 434-395-2474

Goin' Off-Off Broadway

2008-02-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Just found out a short play of mine is going to be performed at the Wings Theatre this April. "(before) The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayaam," will be directed by Tracy Francis Off-Off Broadway as part of the Noor Play Festival, an Equity Showcase of plays dealing with the Middle East.

"(before) The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayaam" was developed as part of PlayGround, in residence at Berkeley Rep, and takes a comedic look at the moment just before Persian scholar Omar Khayaam decided to become a Sufi poet. During his heated conversation with a clay bowl, Omar realizes that it’s best to seek closeness with god while he’s still alive, instead of waiting until he reaches the afterlife.

Venue Information:

(before) The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayaam
April 13 at 8 PM
April 14 & 15,at 7 PM & 9 PM

Wings Theatre
154 Christopher Street
New York, NY

Tix/info: 212.627.2961

Kennedy Center ACTF

2008-01-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

If any of you are in the Los Angeles Area Feb 13 & 14th, I’ll be leading two playwriting workshops at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival - Region VIII conference. Here are the details if you can make it:

Both workshops will be held as the CSULA campus:

What’s Next?: Giving Your Finished Play to the World
Wed., Feb 13th, 1:00-2:20
Room: Music 101

Ten-Minute Plays: The Haiku of American Theater
Thurs, Feb 14th, 3:00- 4:30 PM
Room: Music 256

California State University at Los Angeles
5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles
(323) 343-3000

Kicking off the New Year

2007-12-31T08:30:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to be a part of the Tapas Short Play Fest held in Monte Rio, CA. My play, Turtle Shopping, will be produced along with plays by Janice Eurgubian, Tom Kelly, Scott Kersnar, Lee Senior, Jacquelyn Wells, and Lauren D. Yee.

Details:

Tapas: A New Short Play Festival
Jan 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 @ 8 PM
Jan 13, 20 @ 2 PM
Pegasus Theater Company
20347 Hwy 116 , Monte Rio, CA
$15 general/$12 for students
Tix/Info: (707) 522-9043

PlayGround

2007-10-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Been having some great news of late. First off, I’ve been selected to be part of the writer’s pool for PlayGround in residence at Berkeley Rep. Here’s the full list of this year’s pool:

Vicki Anderson, Neela Banerjee, Crish Barth, Christopher Bernard, Andrew Black, Cass Brayton, Robyn Brooks, Kenyon Brown, Ron Campbell, Adam Chanzit, Dave Garrett, Garret Jon Groenveld, Leah Halper, Daniel Heath, Stacy Nathaniel Jackson, Brady Lea, Aaron Loeb, Lisa Ludden, Jonathan Luskin, Doug MacPherson, Richard McKern, Scott McMorrow, Ross Peter Nelson, Michelle Ortega, Evelyn Pine, Geetha Reddy, Molly Rhodes, Carolina Rojas, Diane Sampson, Martha Soukup, Tom Swift, Nicholas Turner, Maya Lis Tussing, Richard Weingart, Lauren Yee, Ignacio Zulueta

The other great news is I won the One Minute Play competition, and was flown to MN and feted on the red carpet at the Ivey Awards. Many thanks to Scott Mayer, Mitch Kelly and all the people at the Ivey Awards for making this happen, and big thanks to the Playwrights Center for their support, and many many thanks to The Mall of America for their very generous gift.

One-Minute Play Contest

2007-08-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

I’m stoked to be a finalist in the One-Minute Play Contest. There are some great short plays, and YOU GET TO PICK THE WINNER.

There are two categories, Youth and Adult, and readers vote for a winner in each of the categories by visiting: One Minute Plays

(As an added bonus, you can also play spot-the-typos with my play.)

The Playwrights’ Center, The Ivey Awards, and Mall of America have teamed up to create The One-Minute Play Contest. There’s a PDF, as well as an audio file, for each of these plays:

Finalists - Adult

"The Jewel of Adam" by Dan Dietz
"Calling Long Distance" by Scott McMorrow
"Learner's Permit" by Michelle Jane Wilson

Finalists – Youth

"Fifty-Nine Lines" by Daniel Burns
"Untitled" by Jon Fusco
"We Freaks" by Oriana Lada

Bay Area Playwrights Festival

2007-07-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

Just spent three days last week at the playwright’s pre-fest retreat for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Blown away is the only way to describe it. Playwrights read their plays in front everyone at the retreat, and it was awesome. This is a works-in-progress kind of thing, and Playwrights Foundation Artistic Director Amy Mueller has created an environment that allows writers to work on their plays and help them grow.

All of the plays and playwrights I saw rocked: Kevin Oakes, Annie Baker, Julie Hébert, Zakiyyah Alexander, Sam Hunter, Chris Chen, Aaron Loeb, Marisela Orta, Denize Springer.

Roll out and see these plays (complete schedule)
at the Magic, and if you can’t make it, definitely come see these playwrights when their plays come to your town.

Things to do in Denver

2007-07-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

I’m off to the Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region in Denver this week. A great time is sure to be had by all. Lots of really cool plays being presented, and the line-up of panelists is incredible: Richard Dresser, Christine Emmert, Dawson Moore, Anne Garcia-Romero, Aoise Stratford, Kent Thompson, Chip Walton, and Edith Weiss. I’m excited to a part of this by leading two workshops, “Self-Producing: Grande Idea or Great Folly,” and “Ten-Minute Plays: The Haiku of American Theater.”

prenatal sex determination

2007-07-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

For me, the underlying question is, why such a strong emphasis on male prenatal sex determination...

'Indian register' for pregnancies
By Sanjoy Majumder
BBC News, Delhi

An Indian minister has proposed that all pregnant women register with the government and seek its permission if they wish to undergo an abortion. Women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury says the move is aimed at stopping the aborting of unwanted female foetuses.

Although prenatal sex determination and selective abortion are banned, far more boys than girls are born.
Critics warn that the new move could backfire and be misused. Ms Chowdhury also wants abortions to be permitted only in specific circumstances, although she did not spell out what these may be.

The minister says a register of pregnancies would allow the government to track them and crack down on the practice of foeticide which she says is widespread in parts of northern India.

Despite the ban on prenatal sex determination, the government has been unable to prevent the selective abortion of female foetuses and the practice of female infanticide.

According to the last national census, for every 1,000 boys, there are only 927 girls in India.

But critics say the new move is an infringement on personal freedom and could also be misused.

Is it porn?

2007-07-04T20:41:00.001-07:00

The EU recently launched its own YouTube Channel, and caused a stir with one of its debut clips...

Here's what the BBC reported:

Sexy clip lifts EU YouTube debut
By Stephen Mulvey
EU reporter, BBC News

When the EU opened its own channel on YouTube, no-one could have predicted it would get upwards of 20,000 hits a day.
But while videos on the CAP and road safety are barely getting touched, a clip of sex scenes from European cinema has become a runaway success.

Titled Film Lovers Will Love This!, it shows men and women having sex in different ways and places, and ends with the words, "Let's come together".

Supporters say it celebrates European cinema, but others term it "soft porn".

British Conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris told BBC News the European Commission was wasting taxpayers' money.

"They do have an image problem but I think cobbling together 44 seconds of soft porn on the internet is not a brilliant way of solving it," he added.

Creativity

Godfrey Bloom, a UK Independence Party MEP, described the video as tawdry and tacky, adding: "It is like watching an elderly relative trying to be cool, very embarrassing."

A Polish MEP from the conservative League of Polish Families has accused the commission of using "immoral methods" to promote itself.

European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr said there had been a flood of complaints from Poland about an intimate scene between two men - but refused to accept there was anything controversial about the film.

Fuming at what he called "quasi-religious bashing of the very important cultural diversity we have in the European Union", he said the lovemaking clips were excerpts from award-winning films, and that the commission was proud of the EU's rich cinematic heritage.

"The European Union is not a bible belt, we believe in freedom of expression and artistic creativity," he added.

The sex-scene video is one of four made for screening in European cinemas to advertise an EU fund that helps distributes successful films made in one EU state to others.

'Slap and tickle'

All four have been available on the European Commission's website and YouTube since February, and until Friday one of the other films, with much less sex in it, was the most popular.

It is only since the launch of the EU's own YouTube channel, EUtube, that the Let's Come Together video has outshone the others.

Labour MEP Gary Titley said: "European films are about more than a quick slap and a tickle. It is bonkers that this clip gets so much attention."

At the launch of the channel on Friday, Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrom said: "It is very important for the Commission to use all the means at its disposal when it comes to communicating with European citizens."

None of the e-mailers to the EUtube site has objected about sexual content.

The main complaint has been that few of the films are yet available in languages other than English, but the orgasmic cries of Film Lovers Will Love This! need no translation.

Ashland New Plays Fest

2007-06-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Got some great news today. My play, TURTLE SHOPPING, has been selected for the Ashland New Plays Festival held July 7-9th in Ashland, OR.

Details:

Turtle Shopping by Scott McMorrow
July 7 & 9 @ 8:00 PM
July 8 @ 2 PM
Ashland New Plays Festival
Stevenson Union
Southern Oregon University
Ashland, OR

Admission: $10
tix info: 541.482.4357

Spendin' Time in Rehab

2007-06-07T12:24:00.001-07:00

this makes me feel not so bad about all my various vices...

The Tap Is Back!

2007-06-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

Let’s crank this puppy to eleven!!

News from the front...

2007-05-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Been having some good news lately...

I'll ll be leading playwriting workshops at The Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region this July.

My play Future Sex will be part of the 2007 Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BASH) in San Francisco this August.

Prime Numbers will be produced by Theatre Limina this Summer.

Turtle Shopping was recently published in AUDIENCE magazine.

Did a poetry reading the other night in support of OAKLAND OUT LOUD, an anthology of PEN writers that I'm in.

Who Says Poetry is Dead?

2007-05-19T10:43:00.001-07:00

Muslim voices: Women's views

2007-04-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

What role do women play in Muslim communities - and does wider society focus on the negative stereotypes, rather than the real people?

For the Muslim Voices week, the BBC brought together two women who had never met, a playwright and a business woman, and
asked them to share their views…

The Religious Wrong Strikes Again

2007-04-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

I lifted this from Adam’s Blog… stuff like this freaks me out and pisses me off… tales of intolerance from the Religious Wrong need to be told and retold...

Last night's performance of INVINCIBLE SUMMER was disrupted when eighty seven members of a Christian group walked out of the show en masse, and chose to physically attack my work by pouring water on and destroying the original of the show outline.

For the full story, visit mikedaisey.com

Tom Stoppard

2007-04-18T20:41:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm spending way too much time on YouTube, mainly surfing for nonexistent monkey porn and weird rap videos made by troops in Iraq. It wasn't a total waste of six and a half hours. I still have plenty of time to finish that script before first rehearsal, and I did come across this...

My Kingdom for a Podcast

2007-04-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Bill Goes Digital...

The New Praetorians

2007-04-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

I’m living in a science-fiction movie. And it’s not a good one. Enter Blackwater USA - a commercial paramilitary our Government out-sources to various hot zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan. These mercenaries are ex-Special Forces, and here the plot thickens. When employed in combat roles, Blackwater is not subject to civilian or military law. They’ve got their own high-tech weapons, armored vehicles, and airplanes. They’re an aggressive, kill-first-and-ask-questions-later outfit. Except that when the Congress that hired and pays them asks questions, Blackwater refuses to answer.

Many have likened Blackwater to the Praetorian Guard of Ancient Rome, which became famous as assassins of emperors. In this country, a coup d’etat is virtually impossible. Sure, the Aryan Nations might want to topple our Government. But really, there’s no way racists armed with shotguns and rifles could beat down our Army with its tanks and machine guns. Say what you will about our military’s current deployment, good-bad-or-ugly, not many of us living in the States fear it will rise against us. Why? Because we have civilian control over our Services. (photo: Blackwater employees in New Orleans after Katrina hit)

But in act two of this science-fiction, double-feature, Doctor X creates a creature similar to Blackwater, and this private militia arms itself with similar War accoutrements currently held only by our Armies. They get their own tanks and machine guns. All in the name of Democracy.

In the final scene of this really bad B movie, the hero remembers too late that the private sector is driven by profits. At its Initial Public Offering, the majority of our creatures’ stock is snatched up, and this private group of heavily armed, highly dangerous killers goes to work... for someone else.

What I’d like to know is this. Is anybody else watching this movie?

Wild Man Rests

2007-04-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

We love you KV…
Some of the best times I’ve had were spent between your covers…

This bird is out of his cage

2007-04-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

Outrage at India menstrual form

My Show in Florida

2007-04-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

I’m totally stoked to be a part of
Pensacola Little Theatre’s Studio 400 Reading series .

My show, Puppet Therapy, goes up May 15th. Here’s the lineup of a whole bunch of great writers and their plays:

Thursday, April 26th

The Cartharsis by Kristyn Robinson
The Rental by Mark Harvey Levine
Dance in Venice by John Shanahan
That Thing by John Shanahan
Wednesdays by Sue Brody
Not a Competition by Sue Brody

Monday, April 30th

Shrink by Jennifer Godwin
Figment by Mark Troy
That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles by Patricia Milton
Back Roads by Stephanie Walker
The Gardener by Stephanie Walker
Last Chance Filler Up by Isabella Russell-Ides

Tuesday, May 15th

The End by Kristyn Robinson
Last Call by Lia Romeo
Puppet Therapy by Scott McMorrow
A Lovely Moon by Evan Guilford-Blake
Mind of the Critic by Adam Szymkowicz
Ambience Pizza/54th and 9th by Adam Szymkowicz

Thursday, May 24th

Have a Seat, Please by Steven Bergman
Center Bed Dweller and the Secret Fart Woman by Lindsay Price
Spinsters by Barbara Lindsay
On the Line by Barbara Lindsay
The Kiss by Mark Harvey Levine
Surprise by Mark Harvey Levine