April 21, 2014 Leave a Comment

Announcing the Release of My New Play About Pope John Paul II

I’m very pleased to announce today the release of my new play, The Actor, based upon little-known events in the life of Karol Wojtyla, the man who became Pope John Paul. Here’s the official blurb…

Just in time for the celebration of his canonization on April 27, 2014–a new play depicting little-known events in the life of the young Karol Wojtyła, the man who would become Pope John Paul II.

Karol “Lolek” Wojtyła is a talented university student with an ardent desire to be an actor. But on the morning of September 1, 1939, just as he prepares to serve Mass at Kraków’s Wawel Cathedral, German aircraft approach the city signaling the beginning of the Nazi invasion of Poland and the end of Lolek’s life as he has known it.

Yet along with other thespian friends, Lolek refuses to give up on his dream. In secret they pursue their dramatic activities underground, eventually forming the much-heralded Rhapsodic Theater as a form of cultural resistance against the Nazi occupation.

But even as Lolek becomes more deeply immersed in underground theater, the more he begins to hear a call to a very different life. The suffering of his people, combined with the friendship of a mystic-tailor named Jan Tyranowski, challenge him to think more deeply about what his country needs most from him. In the crucible of war, Lolek finds himself an actor in a most unexpected drama.

Based on exciting historical events, and brimming with the indefatigable idealism of youth, The Actor provides an inspiring and captivating portrait of the saint as a young artist.

Find the play here on Amazon. Very soon to be released on iTunes, barnesandnoble.com, and Kobo. Enjoy!

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March 8, 2014 2 Comments

Plays for Audio

I’ve long been enamored of the programming on BBC Radio 4: 15 Minute Drama, Afternoon Drama, Book at Bedtime, Classic Serial, comedy serials of all kinds… And with my BBC Radio app all of this is as close as a push of the button on my iPhone (though as I write this on a Saturday morning I’m listening to the “football” on Talk Sport).

On U.S. radio I’m not sure where you can find any fiction. There’s all kinds of non-fiction storytelling on the radio, and on iTunes there are scads of comedy podcasts, but the rich radio tradition of fictional storytelling of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s is long gone.

The audio podcast, however, makes possible a revival of audio storytelling. Some basic recording and editing equipment, a quick gargle and fluttering of the tonsils, and you’re in business. I’m currently at work on a short play for audio that I’m aiming to introduce here on the site later in March. I plan to continue with more plays for audio as the year goes along. The audio play I’m working on, a cheery comedy I’m calling The Death Symposium, is a stand-alone work, but we all love serials, and I want to follow-up this first effort with an audio serial of some kind.

My influences? Tom Stoppard’s radio plays top the list. I have his Plays for Radio 1964-1983, but I just came upon this collection of actual performances of his radio plays from 1967-1991. Stoppard still works now and again in this genre, his most recent effort being 2013’s “Darkside,” a philosophical comedy celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s album, The Dark Side of the Moon.

My favorites of Stoppard’s radio plays? “Where Are They Now?,” “Albert’s Bridge,” “Artist Descending a Staircase,” “The Dog It Was That Died.”

Who will perform my plays? Last fall I played the title role in the Castaways Repertory Theater’s production of Macbeth, and I also recorded the unabridged version of the first book in my Kingdom of Patria series, Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits, a “full-cast solo recording,” and so with this experience in my pocket I plan on performing “The Death Symposium” myself.

Anyone else enjoy plays for radio/audio?

The featured image is reproduced courtesy of James Cridland at Flickr Creative Commons under the following license.

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