Looking Back at 2021

Over the last decade I have also been doing a kind of year-in-review report here on the website to take stock of the year that has just passed (here's 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020). I debated whether I needed to put up such a report for 2021, since there was so little to actually note, but tradition won out. This was the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting everything. It was a little more "normal" (whatever that is...), but not so normal that theatres fully opened and festivals become operational again. So, with a sigh, here’s the sparse artistic (and otherwise) happenings that occurred for me in 2021...

The first thing I did in 2021 was direct some PSAs for the college I work at. They were over things like Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement, Using Old Work for Assignments and so on.

You can see one... HERE. and another... HERE. I wrote and directed (and in a pinch, ended up performing in ) these short videos. Everything was done remotely and then cobbled together. It was a horribly frustrating process on the technical end of things, but the students were troopers.

My favorite one was a riff on Seinfeld that I did with a fellow teacher. I'll put it here (starts at 30:45 on the video below)...

The PSAs were followed up with directing a "digital theatre" project, also for the college I work at. It was for a student-written one-act play festival. All the pieces were again done remotely and cobbled together. Again, I fought the technology the whole way. I worked closely with the student playwright to get the piece in shape for the nature of the project since we we're doing it digitally. We tried hard to record it live with the actors interacting on a Zoom-like program, but it proved rather difficult. The result was... okay. 

Besides these directing projects, I didn't really work much the first few months of the year. There were no classes to teach at my college. As an adjunct, I am somewhat down the list when classes are offered. 

I did get in a few camping and bikepacking trips in throughout the spring, so that was nice. I even hit Dinosaur Valley State Park with the family (and dog). 

My tarp set-up at Dinosaur Valley State Park

The summer held very little activity beyond yardwork and laying low. In May, I did manage to format my solo show Chop into an ebook and self-published it on Amazon. I am not counting on it to sell a million copies, but I am actively trying to archive my work in  away that it is out in the world. 

As the autumn started up, I did make a robot costume out of cardboard for my kiddo. He wore it for Halloween and had a blast trick-or-treating.

 

The chest plate opened to reveal a heart inside.

I taught at a high school in the fall and found it not great. Back in 1999-2001 I was a teacher at a public high school and I always dislike going back. And that was way before cell phones were a thing. Unfortunately, since the pandemic, the college I teach at is experiencing very low attendance. None of my classes made. I ended up doing an ECHS (Early College High School) class at the actual high school. Working for a college where you never actually go to the college campus itself is weird. It feels like full-time temp work.

I was interviewed for the Give Me Twenty Podcast by my friend Holly Bagwell. The interview ended up being rather extensive and, though I come off really long-winded, it really succeeded in laying out who I am and what I do. You can listen to it... HERE.

In November, right before Thanksgiving, my folks treated both my family and my sister's family to a big vacation trip to Disney World in Florida. My wife, kiddo and I drove out and the week long trip proved to be a wonderful discursion.

Just before the New Year, I finished the only "big" project I did the whole year, an original picture book for my kiddo. I wrote and then drew it. I called it Petey Gale Goes Up and Beyond. Besides getting a special version made up for my son, I made the paperback version available on Amazon.com.

I did manage to turn out a few Cultivated Playwright podcast episodes and made a few YouTube videos on my YouTube channel, but no big theatre endeavors. Hopefully 2022 will hold more of the old school magic.

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Petey Gale Goes Up and Beyond is now published

 

Get You Copy Today!

I recently completed my first ever full-color picture book for kids. I made it for my own kiddo, but figured it was something worthwhile to others, so I self-published it as a paperback on Amazon.com

Here's a blurb:

Petey Gale's friend Walter is one sad T-Rex. Petey has a plan to cheer him up and it involves a rare fruit in a far away land. This is a delightful tale of a friend helping a friend by heading off on an adventure to the far side of the globe on a hot air balloon.

Get You Copy Today!

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Perhaps you would be interested in adding more excitement and romance, adventure and intrigue to your life. If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you. But I would suggest you subscribe to my newsletter. I mean, who knows? Life is full of surprises. I only send stuff out on occasion, but it is good stuff. Hit the button below...

Leave a comment. If you are a robot or a blatant marketer trolling Blogger, then you will be deleted. Humans only, please.

I am interviewed on the Give Me Twenty Podcast

I had the pleasure recently of being interviewed by Holly Bagwell for her podcast Give Me Twenty. Our conversation meandered all over the place from how I started in the theatre to my views on afternoon naps. I am a bit long-winded, but it has several nice little jewels throughout. Give it a listen.

Check it out... HERE

Or search for Give Me Twenty wherever you get your podcasts.

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Perhaps you would be interested in adding more excitement and romance, adventure and intrigue to your life. If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you. But I would suggest you subscribe to my newsletter. I mean, who knows? Life is full of surprises. I only send stuff out on occasion, but it is good stuff. Hit the button below...

Leave a comment. If you are a robot or a blatant marketer trolling Blogger, then you will be deleted. Humans only, please.

Good Bye Antony Sher

 

Sir Antony Sher as Cyrano de Bergerac in the RSC production (1998)

Actor Antony Sher passed on recently. I talk about his impact on me and on the world of theatre in a new episode of the Cultivated Playwright Podcast.

Listen... HERE

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Perhaps you would be interested in adding more excitement and romance, adventure and intrigue to your life. If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you. But I would suggest you subscribe to my newsletter. I mean, who knows? Life is full of surprises. I only send stuff out occassionally, but it is good stuff. Hit the button below...

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My solo show CHOP is available on Amazon

Just the other day, I published an ebook version of my first solo show Chop. My friend and frequent colleague Grant Knutson was nice enough to write the forward.

Although it was my first full solo show, I'm still proud of the piece. It reads well on the page, not just on its feet on stage. I am asked sometimes if I am worried about my plays being out in the world where people can "steal" them (produce them without paying royalties). I usually reply, "No, not really. It is better than having them languish in a drawer somewhere."

Chop concerns a man at a loss of what to do with himself, profoundly isolated from the busy, happy, productive people in the city around him. Through a chance encounter with a mysterious tattooed woman he is introduced to what might be his true calling - a unique subculture of amputation fetishists.

More info on the play and its history... HERE

Get a copy... HERE

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Perhaps you would be interested in adding more excitement and romance, adventure and intrigue to your life. If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you. But I would suggest you subscribe to my newsletter. I mean, who knows? Life is full of surprises. I only send stuff out occassionally, but it is good stuff. Hit the button below...

Leave a comment. If you are a robot or a blatant marketer trolling Blogger, then you will be deleted. Humans only, please.