I am thrilled to announce I have completed a new historical drama – “Life of Mahler” – which I have had rolling around in my head for quite a while now.

In all honesty, it is a bit difficult to discuss “Life of Mahler” without revealing the twist end of the story itself, which does rather limit me in discussing the piece – but suffice it to say, I was inspired to write the play due to the historiographical debate about Gustav Mahler’s life and which sources are (or indeed, are not) to be believed concerning him.

In its incubation, I first considered the idea for this play sometime back in 2022 – and spent some time researching Gustav Mahler’s life a good deal – but there the idea sat, in the back of my mind, until just a few weeks ago, when I ventured to write an outline for what the play would look like, found it somehow all made magical sense, and started writing.

An intimate, character-rich drama, “Life of Mahler” is a full-length, one-act play that follows a young journalist in 1912 (Franz Kurtzman) who has been invited to write an authorized biography of the great composer Gustav Mahler – courtesy of Mahler’s widow, the beautiful and captivating Alma. Franz leaps wholeheartedly into his assignment, combing through boxes of Mahler’s letters and growing closer to Alma in the process… until one day, Franz discovers a hidden box… or two… or three… with letters that portray a Gustav Mahler who is strikingly different from what Alma has described. As Franz wrestles with this deception and confronts Alma, he must ask the question – what does it really mean to write the life of Mahler – and which Mahler’s life is he really writing about?

At its core, “Life of Mahler” is a story about the nature of deception and the sometimes hazy interplay between deception and truth, complemented with poetic dialogue, wry humor, rich characters, and a surprise ending – and not only that, but it’s easy to produce, with a single, unit set and only 4 actors required to tell its story.

That all being said, I must say I am excited about this play, because it touches on many key interests of mine in one – not only bringing in history as a storytelling tool, but also being a very character-centric piece that is devoid of fluff and heavily dependent on the raw art of acting and directing (and not spectacle) to sustain its narrative.

You can read a synopsis of the play here and read the first 30-plus pages here!