Final Weekend – She’s Not There @ Brown/Trinity Playwright’s Rep

What an awesome ride it has been! She’s Not There, my new comedy closes this weekend and I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on this remarkable summer.

The experience of working on a new play is often a stressful one. Not to offend my friends who are mothers, but in some microcosmic way, it’s like giving birth. You gestate for months and months, and then there is this furious rush to get it done. It’s painful and glorious and frightening and in the end you have this new thing stumbling around, finding its feet, engaging with others and seeing the world. Ok, so maybe its more like giving birth to a horse.

Anyway, now that the obligatory artist cliche’s are covered, I have to say this has ben one of the most positive theatre experiences I have ever had in my life. Shana Gozansky my director, Rich, Leah and Barrie the actors, all the designers and staff, we just had a great time brining this sucker into the world. And though I hope it will go on to see more productions and  many stages in the future, I think it will always be Brown/Trinity Playwright’s Rep’s baby. Or baby horse. You know what I mean.

Back to Winnipeg in a week.

She’s Not There

The first round of She’s Not There at the Brown/Trinity Playwright’s Rep is now completed, and it was a fantastic run! We had very nice houses of enthusiastic audiences and great feedback. There will be two more shows on festival weekend, July 29 at 8pm and July 30 at 1pm. You can find out about how to get tickets here.

In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out the next show The Killing of Michael X: A New Film by Celia Wallace by Cory Hinkle and the one after that, My New Best Friend by Brooke Berman.

Providence Revisted – going home again

Well, let it never be said that you can’t go home again.

After eight years away, I am back in Providence for the summer, and the more things change, the more they stay the same. Thayer Street, the main drag at Brown University, is a mix of the startlingly familiar and just startling…East Side Pockets still nestled into its fragrant little corner of the world- now across the street from a trendy sushi restaurant. The dingy CVS still competing with an even dingier Store 24 (changed only in name to the bewildering Todeschi Food Mart) yet,  my favourite coffee shop, Oceans, is now replaced by a Thai restaurant. It’s hardly the town that time forgot, but there still remains a lot to remember, to reminisce about and to rekindle my love affair with this little college town of my youth.

And the play? The play is pretty good, if I do say so myself. With the incredible input of a fabulous director (Shana Gozansky – HIRE HER) and three pretty remarkable MFA candidate actors (Barrie Kreinik, Lean Anderson and the now graduated Rich Williams – HIRE THEM TOO) the play has already come leaps and bounds in just the first week. It’s such an amazing process to see it come to life in the hands of these very skilled theatre practitioners, and though Shana and I have been working on rewrites since March, that tweaking and shaping that gets done once the actors are on their feet really feels like the finishing touches.

In general I have spent the last week at rehearsals and reconnecting with this amazing little gem of a city- remembering with alternating laughter and cringes the rich and (mostly) happy years I lived here. Ah Providence. Good to be back.

DNTO for Father’s Day

I will be on DNTO tomorrow, (Saturday, June 18) talking to Sook-Yin and my dad about the experience we had last year when he came to see Some Things You Keep, the play I wrote about him. This interview was probably one of the most enjoyable I have ever done on DNTO. It gave my dad and me a chance to talk about and share with the world this very powerful experience  and the transformation out relationship went through. Father/daughter drama, art transforming lives, east meets west….this one has got it all.

Hear the show on CBC radio one at 2 pm on Saturday. Visit the DNTO page for other info and air times.

Find out more about my play and read reviews on my Recent Plays page.

She’s Not There – Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep

Hey friends! It’s been a very busy time up here in Winnipeg…and I am looking forward to upcoming summer!

Speaking of, this summer I will be in Providence RI for most of it working on my new-ish play She’s Not There. It is a comedy that appeared as a one-act at the Fringe in 2009, and now it will be a two-act with a brand new cast, an awesome director and a nice full 0n production.

The dates of the show are July 6-9 at 8pm, and then July 29 ay 8pm and July 30 at 1pm. You can find out all the details at the website: http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Theatre/btprep/If you’ve never been in Providence over the summer, its really beautiful!

I will keep you posted on all the happenings of the summer.

Signature Award Nomination

Hey, here’s something pretty cool!

A commercial I conceived of and wrote for WAC’s ARTS FOR ALL campaign was nominated for  a Signature Award! It’s my first nomination for ANYTHING, so I’m going to enjoy it.

The promo was produced by Frantic Films and directed by Darren Wall…I think he did an amazing job. I will find out next Thursday if it won, but I am going to go on record as saying, “Its an honour just to be nominated.”

A night of Jewish Humour at Aqua Books

Once again I will be joining other members of the tribe to share some “Jewish Humour” at Aqua books next week. Fellow Jewy theatre types Michael Nathanson and Daniel Thau Eleff will  be there as well. You can find all the details here, but you will have to show up to find out what I am reading…because I don’t know yet.

A Night of Jewish Humor at Aqua Books
Thursday, March 10/11 7pm

Here’s a question: do Jewish writers pigeonhole themselves by identifying that way? And do I automatically identify myself that way by agreeing to be a part of an evening of Jewish Humour? And what is “Jewish Humour”? Is it all about running the world bank and shit?

Discuss.

Making it up with Crumbs

Hi everyone! I have been immersed in Winnipeg as the Cultural Capital of Canada 2010 project. If you haven’t heard about that yet, check out our website.

In the meantime, I will be improvising with Crumbs on Tuesday, November 30th as part of their Crumbs and Friends series. It will be me and the magnificent Trish Cooper and magnanimous Sarah Constible. Should be a rocker, so if you are in town, don’t miss it.

Crumbs and Alix Sobler, Tricia Cooper and Sara Constible
Tuesday, November 30 at 9:00pm – December 1 at 12:00am
The King’s Head Pub, 120 King Street

A reading of “The Golem”

I am very excited that my play The Golem will be presented by MTC as a part of this year’s Carol Shields Festival of New Works (put on by PTE).

It will be read on September 25th at 3pm at the MTC Warehouse. You can find all the info at the PTE Website.

Here is a description of the play in its current form:

The Golem follows the struggles of a Jewish theatre troupe in Warsaw in 1942, and their attempts to produce the classic Yiddish play about a powerful defender made of clay.  The director has trouble finding a strong enough actor among his emaciated colleagues, and finally casts a well-fed member of the hated Jewish Ghetto Police, whose presence in the rehearsal hall incites fear and suspicion among the other actors.

This play was produced when I was in University with my friend John Krasinski in one of the lead roles! It also had a reading last summer in NY. I am very excited to work on this script once again as I think it has loads of potential. If you are in Winnipeg, I hope to see you there.

A Prairie Chic Love Story

We were very excited to see a spread about our wedding in the Winnipeg Weddings magazine. You can find the article and some great pictures on their site, Winnipeg Weddings. Here are some excerpts.

The New York gal fell in love with Jason’s humour, and the Winnipeg groom credits Alix’s supportive nature as her best quality: “Alix always makes me feel good about the life I have chosen.” One morning while eating breakfast at Fresh Café, Alix proposed to Jason over eggs.

Alix wanted a simple yet beautiful dress, and she also wanted it on a budget. Ordering online from J. Crew, she chose a classic sheath with a delicate scoop neck that she dressed up with lace from her mother’s wedding gown.

Alix’s advice: “Plan your wedding together as a bride and groom. It’s so much fun to see a shared vision come to life.”

I will say, that I regret saying “bride and groom” since not only men and women marry, and those words imply male and female. You can read more about the article and my musings on getting married at feministwedding.wordpress.com