Apologies. This was scheduled to go out this morning, but somehow Wordpress messed up.

Tonight, the Youth Infringement Festival opens in Ottawa.

Back in December, I was asked to mentor three young playwrights as part of the festival. I had three very different playwrights, with significantly different writing styles and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I had ever had. I didn't think I had much to offer these kids (I call them kids but they're all in their 20s), but they seemed to have benefitted from the experience as well.

There were 13 playwrights total participating in the scriptwriting process, however due to the nature of the festival, only 6 get produced. This is no slight on the quality of the other plays, but more on the interests of the 6 directors. If the scripts I read were any indication, this is going to be a solid festival and I highly encourage you to attend.

On Thursday, I also have the pleasure of being on the panel for a discussion about finding work vs. making your own. That's at 7:30 p.m. at Arts Court Theatre.

As always, I'll be seeing you at the theatre!

After a bit of crash and burn at the end of November, I gratefully found myself looking at a slow December. The rehearsal schedule for Pop Fiction wouldn't be really heavy until January. I took three days where, with the exception of one coffee meeting, I didn't leave the apartment. While I still worked at my day job, there was some much needed rest and a whole lot of MasterChef. But after all that, I was starting to get a bit, shall we say, bored. Fortunately, the Universe heard my pleas and delivered big time. In addition to my light rehearsal schedule, I now find myself drafted as a mentor dramaturge for three young playwrights for the Youth Infringement Festival and an understudy for the Eddie May Holiday Show, You're a Dead Man, Charlie Brown.

Throw in the search for an assistant, as well as planning for next year and December has turned into one very busy month indeed.

As for the assistant search, it went better than I could have possibly imagined. Stay tuned!