Steven Stack is an internationally-produced playwright for teens and middle-schoolers, and a full-time acting teacher for kids. He’s also one of my best friends, and he’s just published his first novel, The Bottom of the Lake. Here we discuss the fairly unique project of turning a play into a novel. Me: You’ve written many plays, so why did you decide … Read More
Interview: playwright Steven Stack
Recently I attended the premiere performance of Welcome to the Neighborhood, a play written by Steven Stack. Steven also teaches acting at Forte Studios, and has written several other productions for them. Welcome to the Neighborhood is set at a teen slumber party. Chloe, the new girl, invites three friends over. As they take magazine quizzes, Chloe realizes how little … Read More
Mamet’s Theatre: an extended whine
Recently I had the unmitigated pleasure of discovering Beginnings, playwright/screenwriter Horton Foote’s memoir of his years as a young man in the theater. It started me on a little run of books about American theatrical thought, such as an immense collection of Lee Strasberg lectures, and made me eager to see a live theatrical performance, something I haven’t done in … Read More
Speaking with the vamp from Vamp
Since vampires don’t really exist, it’s impossible for me, as the author of a vampire novel (Blood Groove, available April 28, 2009 from Tor), to chat with one. But I can talk with the next best thing: an actor who plays a vampire. Kristin Forde portrays the heartbreaking vampire Angela in Ry Herman’s play Vamp, performed by StageQ and the … Read More