As I have mentioned, my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” is being produced this August by Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA. The play runs from August 30-September 31 and will be the world premiere production of the piece after many, many years of staged readings and festival wins (over 10!).

In that regard, the hosts of a new Ventura County theatre podcast recently published their first episode on Soundcloud. In that episode, they praised Elite Theatre and also provided a summary review of the 2018 seasons of eight Ventura theaters, including announcing all the Main Stage shows at Elite.

You can listen to the podcast below:

• Elite is mentioned starting at 17:35
• My play is mentioned starting at 19:11

With great pleasure, I witnessed my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” being presented by the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

“Fifteen Men” won the Pestalozzi Prize:

“The Pestalozzi Prize … is awarded in honor of the now-dissolved, non-profit Pestalozzi Foundation set up by Herman C. Honegger after World War II to create educational opportunities for underprivileged children whose education was disrupted by the conflict in Europe. Later, the children and grandchildren of Mr. Honegger continued to fund children’s education and art projects. The New Works Festval prize is a gift from the Honegger family.”

I have to take my hat off to the wonderful direction of Ellen Dempsey and her great cast of actors and actresses: Charles Van Eman (Warren G. Harding), June Kfoury (Florence Kling Harding), Timothy Kenslea (Harry M. Daugherty), Ashley Risteen (Nan Britton), and Doug Brendel (George Harvey). Charles and Ashley were especially wonderful, showing me the dramatic potential of scenes that have been underperformed in prior readings.

After the show, I engaged in a talkback with the audience, moderated by festival stalwart and author Anne Easter Smith.

Here we are, in all our glory:

From left-to-right: Anne Easter Smith, yours truly, Ellen Dempsey, Charles Van Eman, Ashley Risteen

Once again, thanks to Firehouse Center for the Arts for a job well done – a truly professional organization!

I came across a great article today about Firehouse’s new works festival that highlights my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room.”

2018 takes the stage: 16th annual New Works Festival celebrates New England playwrights

“Ellen Dempsey is the director of the 2018 full-length play “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” written by Colin Spear-Crowley of Westport, CT.

“The play is about Warren G. Harding and is set in 1920 at the Republican Convention,” Dempsey said. “It’s very much based on fact. The author calls it a tragedy and I think that holds true. In a lot of ways nothing has changed in the last 100 years.

“There was a lot of political maneuvering and the intrigue of hiding a political mistress. Did people really know and hide it, or did they not know? Mrs. Harding was a believer in psychics and a psychic told her that her husband would be elected and would die in office, and he did.”

Playwright Spear-Crowley is “a very good writer,” Easter Smith said, “and his stage direction is almost as good as his dialogue. He writes, ‘Don’t underestimate Mrs. Harding. She’s a tank in a bonnet.’”

“The play is political,” Dempsey said, “but it’s a human drama.””

Looking forward to the show tonight!

Tomorrow, I will be attending the opening night of the Firehouse Center for the Arts new play festival where my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” will be given a staged reading.

A wonderful article was published today in the Newburyport News about the festival, which neatly sums it up and helps to illustrate the collaborative effort it represents.

“Serving up New Works – Fresh plays take the stage for annual festival at Firehouse”

Some excerpts:

“Welcome to New Works, the world of the unexpected, where newness and spontaneity forge communal bonds among writers, directors, players, crews and audiences.

Over four days this weekend and next, 40 actors will perform 17 jury-selected works by New England playwrights at Newburyport’s Firehouse Center for the Arts.

The original plays, selected from around 200 entries, include a full-length on Friday, Jan. 19; six 10-minute shorts on Saturday, Jan. 20; two one-acts on Friday, Jan. 26; and eight shorts on Saturday, Jan. 27.

The article includes this photo from my play:

From left to right Doug Brendel, Charlie Van Eman, and Ashley Risteen

The date for the staged reading of “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” is fast approaching!

The play will open the festival and be performed on Friday, January 19th at 8pm.

“Fifteen Men” is being directed by Ellen Dempsey and stars Charlie Van Eman, June Kfoury, Doug Brendel, Ashley Risteen, Timothy Kenslea, and Terry Blanchard.

Tickets can be purchased here!