I’ve been in the big NYC for five years now. I typically write socio-political absurdist comedies, i.e. Social Darwinism (published by Samuel French) and Conversations with the Dearly Departed. I find humor is my best tactic to bring an audience around to my way of thinking. I believe comedy is often dismissed as trite or simplistic; I find the inverse to be true. A playwright can soft shoe around an audience member who is having a good time, but when you give them the real zinger, they will take it from you for the most part. In comedies they always like you first.
Having said that, The Body of Eva Peron and Jill the Ripper are not comedies. Both are loosely inspired by historical events, which have social and/or political ramifications to the current world. Both are small cast shows. It was a hard lesson for me to learn to write within more producible parameters (less characters), but one that seems to be paying off.
What I like in a show is heightened theatricality. To me this is what makes theatre, theatre. It is what still brings audiences to watch performers on the boards and sets us apart from the other entertainment mediums. If there is one absolute consistency to my playwriting, it is that fact: to me the world of the play can only exist on stage, and the world of the theatre is the only place to do the story or the audience justice.
As far as screenplays go, well, I hate to admit that I am a pen for hire…
Just contact my agent, Eric Ruben, if you want any spec scripts: historical, drama, action/adventure, etc.
