What I'm Seeing - August 2026

I was recently at a wedding in Maine where I introduced myself as a playwright right off the bat. This was a wedding for the only cousin my partner's age, a rare chance to see that side of the family, and I wanted to practice saying, "Oh, me? I'm a playwright" with my whole chest. The wedding itself was nice but not a very... artistic* crowd, mostly comprised of family and one friend group from said cousin's college days where he met his beautiful bride. I only managed to say it once: to a retired uncle, after my partner detailed their kaleidoscope of jobs and art projects.

*"artistic," in this instance, is doing a lot of heavy lifting to also mean "visibly queer or alternative in any way"

"And what do you do?" he asked politely, turning to me, his niece's arm candy. "I'm a playwright." "Well! What a grand life you must lead. You two are just so interesting!" So here it is from me, kids: lead with your artistic side, you just might end up the most interesting person at a cousin's wedding.

Bonus Art from July

I had a blast at PlayPenn's New Play Development Conference, and had the privilege of observing rehearsals for Sarah Mantell's The Good Guys before it's reading. Sarah writes some incredible stuff, I highly recommend In The Amazon Parking Lot from her as well!

What I'm Seeing in August

This month's roundup is a little late: I'm taking a Much Deserved Break from the MARATHON that was July- so I'm really not seeing a ton this month. I'm sending my love to the Philadelphia Women's Theatre Fest, and the first Variety Pack Presents: Johnny Depp!

I am, however, putting together my Philadelphia Fringe Fest Calendar for September. You might remember that last year was a DOOZY for me, and I'm glad that this year I can lean back, relax, and take in (counts quickly) the 30 shows that caught my eye on the website. Like last year, I'll be ramping up these newsletters to a weekly schedule, since there's just So Much Going On.

But I'm introducing something new this year: in those weekly roundups, I'd like to try writing a few responses to what I see- not critical reviews, but reactions and thoughts that I left the piece with. Maybe I see a show that finally makes good use of the Icebox space, maybe a show attempts an ambitious concept, maybe I happen to see two shows back to back and they make an incredible double header. If you're reading and thinking, hey, I have a show in Fringe, reach out! It's just me and this eblast against the world, babes, and your show might as well get some easy publicity out of it.

For the price of one (1) comp ticket, I'll have your piece highlighted in my weekly roundup the Monday before I see your show, and a response in the next week's newsletter. Send me an email: [email protected] and we'll hash out the details!