*Selfie from an artist’s date at CJ Hendry’s PASTEL exhibit in NYC*

This was a slow quarter, but I knew it would be. The thing about playwriting is that what you do in the past has a big impact on what happens in the future. I completed my last “Calling Card Play,” They have become the forest, in November of 2024. I’ve been developing it since then. Since I still don’t have a new full-length play that I’m ready to put out there, and I don’t submit a ton of short plays, there have just been less to submit overall.

In the meantime, I’ve been writing, revising, researching, outlining, workshopping, and writing grants…not to mention having experiences out in the world so I can draw on them (like taking a spontaneous day off work so I could dive into a swimming pool filled with beads)! But we’re in this weird era in which people only remember you exist if you update social media with an exciting announcement, so I have felt slightly invisible as an artist. But!!! I have been secretly scheming and setting myself up for a really phenomenal start to 2027!

But let’s take a look at my summer, because a lot of fun stuff DID happen!

*Me and two incredible playwrights being huge dorks, as you do.*

As I spoiled in my last update, my first big theatrical event of Q3 was Cherry Picking @ wild project in NYC! Like last time, I got a hotel room and made a trip of it… and I definitely appreciated access to the shower, because the event was smack-dab in the middle of a heatwave!

This time, I knew what to expect, so I came prepared to have a good time, and I did! I got to hang with my dear playwright friends Vince Gatton and Michael C. O’Day, who are also two of my idols. Their work is tremendous, and I was so chuffed to simply be in the room with those two (let alone have work in a program with Vince for the second time)! We sipped prosecco, chatted it up, and got to enjoy the first reading of my new play, CONCEALER:

CONCEALER was directed by Clare Mottola and featured Sophie Hager, Claudia Kelly, and Constance Zaytoun. Victoria Tralongo read stage directions.

It was a little dark compared to my typical fare, but the laughs fell in all the right places, the theatre got pin-drop quiet at the right moments, and I left feeling like the piece was successful…and that it would be even cooler in a full production! Afterward, I went out to grab ice cream at Cups of Pasta, which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and it was just as wonderful as I dreamed - I got Ferrero Rocher flavor! Then I spent the next day exploring Orchard Street and the Lower East Side, which was the best!

*The slate of September shows from Jazz’Ands*

If you RECALL… I wrote CONCEALER last quarter, when I was trying to re-teach myself how to write ten-minute plays. At the same time, I wrote three other plays I was happy with. One of those plays - and probably my favorite - was called RECALL, a very funny drama about healthcare, aging as a woman, customer service, and bodies as objects. I was able to hear it for the first time with Jazz’Ands Theatrics, who put up a gorgeous, perfectly cast reading.

RECALL was performed by Sarah Clements and Lauren Berst. Their performances and timing were off the charts, and the feedback session afterward was so humbling. What a feeling to see respondent after respondent lining up just to get a chance to say what this story meant to them! It’s largely a play about women’s bodies, but even the men had things to say. I can’t wait to work with Jazz’Ands again!

And as for the play itself…I think this one is definitely ready for submission - let’s see if we can find it a home!

Meanwhile, I am still actively working on a new full-length play - Quite Contrary, my transhistorical adaptation of The Secret Garden! And we’re officially in rehearsals!

*The obligatory ‘first day of school’ script pic!*

I realized lately that I’ve sort of lost the human element that was always such a big part of my writing process. For years, I was in workshops, where I got to hear new scenes week-by-week as I was writing them. I’m finding fewer and fewer opportunities to work that way and, as a result, my own work is a surprise to me until I hear the whole thing read aloud… at which point, revisions feel overwhelming, feedback is less timely and specific, and I’m banging my head against the wall.

In this workshop process, I’ve been actively revising week by week, which is still more work than I realistically want to be doing at the workshop stage, but it has been a good substitute for my old process. I’m realizing that I need to prioritize an EARLY revision process to bring my best work into the rehearsal room, so I’m going to begin to dig around and see if I can find some kind of group for next year!

In the meantime, frantic revision is underway, and this one is coming together just in time for the world premiere reading at Old Westbury Gardens on October 24th!

We’ll be performing in full costume with sound in the beautiful red ballroom at Westbury House, with light refreshments to follow! I hope to see some familiar faces there! You’ll hear all about it in the Q4 update, I’m sure!

*Flyer from script club earlier this summer!*

Another special treat was Script Club with Red Theatre, where we gathered to discuss my full-length play, The Practice Room. I have to say, this was a COOL experience, not unlike Read and Rant with The Athena Project! Basically, I got to listen to a group of readers discussing my play and characters in depth…and I do mean IN DEPTH! They were able to raise questions, point out what they noticed, and make me excited about all the details in my own play! I love close readers, and it was so fun hearing what lines stood out to people, and how real and nuanced my characters felt to them (which is absolutely how they feel to me).

*Throwback to a reading of The Practice Room in 2024!*

This play was named a semi-finalist for the Epiphanies New Works Festival earlier this year, so I’m really glad it's stayed in the public consciousness! And even better…

I just got some FANTASTICALLY EXCITING news about this play that I am DESPERATE to share with you, but I’m not allowed to just yet! In the meantime, keep an eye on my social media and watch this space! We’re about to have some FUN!

*Throwback to the very first workshop of BLOWHOLE!*

And the hits keep coming! Although delayed, I found out that my beloved whaling farce, BLOWHOLE, was a finalist for the 2025 Henley Rose Award! This is an award I’ve aspired to for a long time, mostly because I am a huge fan of so many former winners, like my friend Jen O’Grady! It was my first time entering, so I was stoked to be recognized!

BLOWHOLE was also a finalist for MAD Company’s New Perspectives Festival. It’s very cool that this play is still getting hits, but we’re still waiting for the big hit! This is one of the plays I MOST want to see in a full production… I’m just waiting for the right company to come along and bring it to life!

But now that we’re into the final stretch of the year, I am looking forward to work going up in early 2027!

*Throwback to the first reading of Ice in Their Veins, about a year ago!*

First, my friends at Roving Peregrine Theatre Company will be producing the premiere of Ice In Their Veins, with a cast of actual teenage girls! Rumor is, the kids can’t believe a theatre is producing a play just for them - one of them asked “Wait, so we’re playing the kids of the main characters?” See?! This is why I love writing for teens - they deserve their own stories and their own spotlight! I can’t wait to see what they’ll do with this chaotic dark farce!

Then, a month later, Adventurers Anonymous is coming to Maine, where it will be produced as a thesis production at Bates College! The director wants to keep me in the loop, so I’m really hoping I’ll be able to connect with some students and keep doing what I love!

And after that…? We’ll see!

In about two weeks, I’ll be headed back to NYC to attend Queer Spooky Shorts with TOSOS, who will be presenting my play, Come Back Right, at The Gural Theatre. This event sounds RIGHT up my alley (right up Aly’s alley?), and I am REALLY looking forward to attending and connecting with this group. TOSOS has been a pioneer in terms of presenting queer stories on New York stages, and I’m stoked to learn more about who they are and what they do.

*Image from an older local production of Come Back Right*

“Okay, but Aly,” you may be saying, “What have you been working on during these long summer days?” And the answer is… A WHOLE DAMNED LOT.

First, I completed a BIG grant application! I don’t want to say too much, but if I’m awarded, I’ll know EXACTLY what piece I’ll be working on first in 2027! I realized that these grants give me permission to truly PLAY, so I decided I wanted to write something super silly with a BIG cast and all of the heart and abject stupidity many of my plays are known for!

And because I had some momentum…as soon as the grant was done, I got to work on the outline right away! I read a whole bunch of books, did tons of research, and spent weeks and weeks and weeks trying to turn absolute chaos into structure… which was honestly a blast! And because I am trying to prioritize the analog a bit, I did it all by hand, in a notebook!

I figured out who I want my characters to be (largely ridiculous, very funny women to hand over to the brilliant performers in my community), and tried to build a very wonky, largely anachronistic Rube Goldberg machine with words. Solving this one is going to be messy, but that’s what makes projects of this scale so rewarding!

After all the time I’ve invested, I am pretty sure I have to write this thing either way, but institutional support will make it a LOT easier! The big question is how many darlings I’ll have to slaughter in cold blood to maintain a two-hour runtime!

Speaking of killing darlings… I had a “come to Vampire Jesus” about my play Jaw, Lips, Teeth, Tongue. I’ve lived with it for nearly a year now, but even after revision, it just wasn’t firing the way I wanted. So, put on my dramaturg glasses, took a critical look, and accepted that it would make a MUCH better one-act. I finished those cuts and… what do ya know!? I was DEFINITELY right! I’m putting the finishing touches on it, and hope to have the draft on NPX before Halloween!

And the timing is right, because I just got my prompt for this year’s Frightfully Inspired prompt challenge, so I’m hoping a new spooky piece will be joining the lineup soon! This time, I’ll try not to get overly ambitious (though I don’t regret a second I spent on the full-length version, because I truly loved those characters, and telling their story was still a blast)!

With that said, it’s time to go brainstorm! I only have a month! See you in the new year!

All Summer in a Play

Ten Minute Plays for College Directors