Just last night, I found myself finishing up the first draft of my annual Secret Santa play. I wanted to leave that obligation, which I’d been struggling with for weeks, back in the sordid hellfire that was 2025.

When I finally reached the end, I intuitively typed a few words: “(End of play. Thank God.)”

Right now, I’m very much feeling “(End of year. Thank God.)” 2025 has been a rough one, folks. Plus, the year went FAST. It may have been the fastest year I can recall, even though I feel like I endured it rather than lived it.

But there is a simple satisfaction in completion, isn’t there? I survived it! I persevered! I still met new collaborators and created new art! I had new experiences, good and bad (okay, mostly bad), that will inform my storytelling forever!

And tomorrow? A clean slate… which is intimidating for a writer, but come on! What feels better than typing those first few words and knowing you’re in for a journey?

This year, one of my goals was to stretch myself beyond playwriting a bit. I completed both a novel-length story and a ten-episode serial audio drama. Length-wise, the audio drama alone is equivalent to FOUR full-length plays! Even if that was ALL I wrote this year, it would have been more than enough to feel accomplished… but it wasn’t all I wrote!

In October, I committed to a prompt challenge AND a “Write Every Day in October” challenge and managed to finish the first draft of a new full-length play. It’s called Jaw, Lips, Teeth, Tongue, and it’s about the fallibility of bodies, the human desire for control, and the need for mutual aid and community in a world where you can’t always get what you need to be okay. We just had the first full reading last week, and it’s FAST, and it’s FUN. I adore the characters. I have a bunch of notes to implement on revision, and lots of ideas. I’m so excited to be entering 2026 with this draft!

I also wrote about 90% of another new full-length play (working title: The Light Fantastic), but I’m not sure I am happy with it, so I’m contemplating a top-down rewrite (probably not right away). I think it’s a story I need to tell in some form or another, so I’m currently researching to find a different entry point. I’ve been using this holiday break to do a TON of reading so I can get the old brain percolating!

I also completed just a sprinkling of smaller projects this year:

Things That Glow: A new 10-minute play about a moth in a dark place and a bug who lights it up, which I literally JUST added to NPX because I didn’t realize it wasn’t on there yet! You can be one of the first to read it here!
Fruiting Bodies: A new horror one-act about AI and adaptability (and mushrooms!), which you can read on NPX. This one’s still unproduced, but I like it a lot. I just missed the Autumnal calls for horror plays when I finished it, but fingers crossed that it will find a home in 2026!
37 Origami Bees: This is a new ten-minute play that I wrote as part of the Playwright’s Delight event… which is why there are about 30 plays with the same title…a title that I came up with! Mine is about an extremely sleep-deprived biology major struggling with a loss of control and searching for meaning while grappling with anticipatory grief. You can also read it on NPX.
The True Meaning of 6-7 (Or, How to Kill a TikTok Trend): This was my Secret Santa title this year! I’m working on a silly one-act, which may or may not ever make it to NPX, but will be shared with participants… eventually!

All to say… not too shabby for an “unproductive” year! Along with the many productions and development opportunities, I really can’t be disappointed. Still, I’m hoping that 2026 might be a little more prolific!

Now, let’s take a look at Q4 2025 in review!

*Body Horror* produced by Ryan Repertory - photo by Shea Robards

First up, we had a production of my short play Body Horror produced by Ryan Repertory Company in Brooklyn as part of their INFERNO short play festival. It was a HILARIOUS production with great acting. I love it when my own writing makes me laugh, despite knowing all the jokes! And speaking of plays that make me laugh…

Next up, I had a reading of my ice dancing farce, Ice in Their Veins, at Inver Hills College outside of Minneapolis, MN. It was the winner of the Chameleon Theatre Circle’s 26th annual new play contest. The reading was performed by a college-age cast, which was a treat! I was able to livestream the reading from the comfort of my home, which was so much fun! It’s a quick and dirty play that keeps the laughs coming, and I can’t believe it has existed for a full year now! Now all we need is a full production, because this comedy is dying for a stage!

*These Gilded Souls* at the Long Island Museum

Next up was some theatre close to home! The Long Island Museum was hosting a “Gatsby at 100” exhibit and invited us to perform These Gilded Souls for patrons. I spent some time creating a one-act cut of the full script for a cast of six (with doubling), directed by Nicole Savin, and it was surprisingly cohesive and very entertaining! We managed to pull together complete costumes (thanks to the brilliance of Lyn Adler and Wendy Grimm, who also costumed the world premiere), and I actually think this cast looked even better than the OG crew! It even had complete sound effects and music, so the only thing it was missing was stage lights!

Talkback after *These Gilded Souls in my Gatsby-inspired pink blazer*

We concluded the evening with a talkback, where I got to declaim about how I have no special love of The Great Gatsby whatsoever, and tell all my favorite stories related to the writing and development of this play! A bunch of the actors were involved at many different points in the play’s development - Paul Defilippo, who played Nick, also played Nick waaaay back during the very first table read, and John Brautigam, who played Tom, has been involved in just about EVERY iteration from the very beginning! Anjor Khadilkar, our world premiere Daisy, was also involved in the reading, reprising the role and doubling with Myrtle! And I got to sit next to Michelle Osojnak, our world premiere Myrtle, who came down to support us from the audience!

Plus, we got to check out the museum exhibit, which was lots of fun! I hope Long Island Museum will have us back for more shenanigans in the future! This was a really fantastic experience!

Meanwhile, These Gilded Souls was featured on the NPX Homepage in the month of December. It was on the featured list “Adaptations of Public Domain Works (Lavina's List)" along with a lot of other fantastic literary adaptations. I believe this is the fourth time my work has been featured in two years!

These Gilded Souls may be a Jazz-age ghost story, but during spooky season, my play Come Back Right had a few outings.

The cast of *Screaming Queens* at Left Coast Theatre Co

Come Back Right was included as part of the Screaming Queens 2: Queer Horror Festival with Left Coast Theatre Co in San Francisco. It was also selected for the Scream Scenes Halloween Festival with BrooklynONE Productions in Brooklyn.

There was also an incredible production of Come Back Right at American River College in North Highlands, CA, directed by Ophelia Baker. She came to me with the idea to incorporate a small ensemble during the “God of the Unattended Vessel” vignette, and I told her to go for it. Needless to say, it was epically creepy and amazing. I will work with innovative student theatre makers forever and ever.

*Murdering Medea* with Cypress Productions

As October became November, Cypress Productions hosted a reading of Murdering Medea, with resources and support from The Breadbox Project. The reading was held on election day, which felt particularly impactful. It was directed by Joan Dolf and featured Frankie Sisman, Mustafa Akhtar, and Kelley Tennille, with stage directions read by Lily Miller. Both Frankie and Kelley have Appalachian roots and brought a LOT to these roles. The whole cast was hilarious and so intuitive, and watching them work was such a treat.

*Little Red Handed* at Colgate University

Also in November, Colgate University’s Masque and Triangle put up a very campy production of Little Red Handed as part of their 3rd Annual 15-Minute Fest. The production was directed by Gabriel Angtuaco, who definitely understood the assignment!

But before the year ended, we saw the most unexpected student production of all…

*37 Origami Bees* at Truman State University

If you’ve read this far, you know that 37 Origami Bees is a very new play. I essentially stopped submitting when my health situation started getting complicated - there was too much on my mind. And yet, somehow, a directing student found my script, fell in love, and against all odds, this play saw its very first production! 37 Origami Bees was directed by Morgan Youngstrom and featured Anna Million and Claire Choinka.

In the audio realm, my standalone audio drama, reANIMA, was an official selection and finalist at New Jersey Webfest. More excitingly, it was selected as the Most Outstanding Standalone Podcast at the Hollywood Series! Even if this year was an epic shit show, it was so nice to end things with a win! And it IS pretty outstanding, if I do say so myself!

I already have a few productions lined up for 2026, including a local one-act right here on Long Island! You all know how much I love seeing my work produced close to home!

Frank and Jill Productions will be producing Persephone Wasn’t Hungry That Day in Northport as part of their Winter One Act Festival January 9th and 10th. If you’re local and want to check it out, there’s more information on their website. I will definitely be there!

But there are some bigger opportunities on the horizon, too!

I am very pleased to announce that I am part of IATI’s Cimientos cohort for 2026! I’ll be developing my play, They have become the forest. After development and revisions, we’ll be presenting a workshop reading in NYC as part of the Cimientos festival in June! It’s a very rigorous and highly critical development process, and because it’s bilingual, you get to hear the criticism….then hear it all over again in another language, as if it didn’t sting enough the first time! Haha! Still, I love this insightful group of dramaturgos, and I am having so much fun!

Truly, the thing I wanted most of all was a third development opportunity for this play in 2025, and I am still so stoked that the universe provided! I am so excited to tighten this play and get it where I want it to be! I will share more information when we get closer and once I know my dates! I am really hoping my NY-based friends will come down and give this play a chance.

But when the development process is done, I’ll be headed far from home….

In February, I’ll be a visiting playwright at South Dakota State University as part of their annual Festival of New Plays! We’ll be working on one of my absolute favorite full-lengths, The Care and Feeding of Restless Spirits. If you happen to be in South Dakota, my reading goes up on February 20th. The rest of the time, I’ll be kicking it around campus, freezing my butt off, and presenting a few workshops for students! I hope I’ll make some new playwright friends, too!

Given how many trips and fun things I had to cancel this year due to medical issues, I am SO looking forward to this trip and finally having an adventure! You all know how much I love working with students, and it’s going to be such a nice change of pace. While I am still actively on the mend, I am crossing every appendage that things in my body settle down by then, and I can really enjoy the journey!

As for what comes after that in 2026… well, we’ll have to see! As I said, I didn’t do very much submitting at the end of this year, so it’s hard to say what opportunities might come my way by spring. If nothing else, I hope to get some writing done and create some weird and wonderful new works to nurture in 2026 and beyond! I can’t wait to find out what I’ll create and who I’ll meet along the way!

Thank you for sticking with me during this challenging year. May the next one be slow and easy, like a lazy river, and only deliver the kind of surprises that inspire awe and delight.

Blackout. End of 2025.

The Autumn 2025 Update!