theatre | Your Delray Boca

A scene from Press Conference performed in Ohio.

Last week, we ventured to Columbus, Ohio to see the opening of a short play I wrote called “Press Conference.”

I had entered the play about a mayor dealing with the fallout of a shooting in a “Brave Stories” contest run by Boxland Media.

They received over 500 entries from all over the country and a few foreign nations as well. My play was one of four chosen for the festival.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I’m new at this and when the winners were announced I recognized the names of two of the winning playwrights—I’ve read their work and listened to them on podcasts hoping to glean some wisdom from their success.

All three of the other plays were phenomenal and I realized that I have a lot to learn. I’m eager to do so. But if I can brag for just a moment, my little piece of work held its own. Of that, I’m proud.

The story of Press Conference is loosely based on my experiences as mayor of Delray many moons ago. During my tenure, we experienced the tragic shooting of a 15 year old outside a school dance by a rookie police officer.

That experience affected me and many others profoundly.

This year was the 20th anniversary of the shooting and I wanted to write about it—albeit with some artistic license. As I mentioned “Press Conference” is loosely based on what we experienced. But it touches on issues that remain painfully relevant. Race, fear and a style of politics that favors the safe way out over courage and humanity.

The play was also produced in May by a group called Playzoomers for a national audience of online subscribers and a company called Tiny Scripted recently acquired the piece for additional distribution.

It’s all exciting and I am currently working to expand the work into a full length play called “Say My Name”—a nod to our tendency as a society to move on when we would be better served to learn and talk about the issues that divide us. My theory is that if we talk to one another we’ll find have more in common than we might imagine. If we engage, we take away the corrosive power of those who seek to divide us.

I felt it important to travel to Ohio and be there for opening night. I talked briefly with the cast and director pre-show and then did what is known as a talk back after the show. The cast joined me to discuss their feelings about the play.

What I learned is that live theater can be a powerful experience. It’s one of the few communal things we do these days. We spend much of our time on phones and staring at screens. We rarely talk or gather and I think it’s hurting us.

There’s a crisis of loneliness in America. People of all ages and genders are experiencing isolation but there’s a genuine crisis among young men who are particularly isolated.

Many don’t have friends. Or the friends they do have live in their headphones as they play games online for hours at a time. It’s a very different experience from prior generations.

We used to see movies together, but that’s waning. We used to join bowling leagues and service clubs and volunteer for community projects. There’s been a documented drop in all of those categories.

Live theatre is one of the few things we still experience together, at the same time.

The best plays spark conversations and thought. They evoke emotion and get us to ask questions of each other and ourselves.

That’s what I’m trying to do with my nascent efforts in this beautiful new world I’ve discovered courtesy of FAU’s

Theatre Lab and the festival of new plays sponsored annually by the magnificent Delray Beach Playhouse.

And that’s the spirit that moved us to venture to Ohio to gather with people we didn’t know to see four plays about brave topics.

I left with new friends, new insights into the subject matter and a resolve to write more.

There’s nothing like hearing your words come to life thanks to the efforts of talented actors and actresses. I’ve been blown away by the talent I’ve seen. The directors have been excellent as well.

One of the young actors, Joe Morales, drove two hours each way from Canton, Ohio to perform a small role (spectacularly). That’s dedication. And I’m so grateful for these creatives. They make our world a better place.

The arts are so important. The arts are so meaningful.

The noise of the day comes and goes, but art..well art endures. If it’s good.

I’m trying to be good. I’m reaching for the stars. Not because it’s lucrative (it’s not) but because it matters. It matters to those we are trying to remember, to the audience we are trying to move

or entertain and to the creatives who give us so much.

On October 11 at 2 pm and 8 pm my play “The Cafe on Main” will be performed at the amazing Arts Garage right here in Delray.

I’m hoping you’ll come out to see the talented cast of local actors and to support the Arts Garage which has become an important cultural hub for our community.

The play is about love, community, second chances and friendship. These are subjects near and dear to us all. Come share the experience with your friends and family.

You’ll leave with memories and you’ll connect with others. Netflix will be there when you come home, I promise.
Visit artsgarage.org for tickets and more information.

A few months back, I wrote about a New Play Festival sponsored by the wonderful Delray Beach Playhouse.

I’ve been a writer longer than I can remember, but I’ve never written a play. I have two screenplays sitting in a drawer, but writing for the stage is not something that I ever had the nerve to try. Until now.

Last year, I wrote a short play entitled “The Cafe on Main”, and answered a call for submissions for the New Play Festival. My short work was one of 10 chosen, a surprising but wonderful development that has literally changed my life.

I cannot express the joy that I feel hearing my words acted out by talented actors who breathe life into the characters and find nuances in the play that I never knew existed.

The Cafe on Main is a place where love is given a second and sometimes third chance, says the description in the playbill.

The action takes place in an imaginary cafe in my hometown of Stony Brook, NY.

Stony Brook is kind of a magical place and growing up on the north shore of Long Island in the 70s and early 80s was an idyllic experience for me and most of my friends.

Stony Brook was a village, intimate and cozy, but close enough to New York City that we benefited from the energy and opportunities of the Big Apple.

Now 1970s NYC was a little different. There was crime and grime, graffiti and garbage. We had the Son of Sam, the Bronx was literally burning and my hero John Lennon was gunned down outside the Dakota building.

But we had Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson, the Knicks, Rangers, Big East basketball, Tom Seaver and Joe Namath too.

It was all a short ride away on the Long Island Railroad.

But home was quiet and safe. It was pretty and suburban. But far. from boring. My hometown has a rich history going back to the Revolutionary War. Washington really did sleep here..so did his Setauket spies.

All of these images went through my mind when I sat down with an empty page and imagined a quaint, cozy Café overlooking the Village Green in picturesque Stony Brook.

Truth be told, my home for the last 37 years also was on my mind. The proprietor of my imaginary cafe was modeled—loosely—on my dear friend Fran Marincola, owner of Caffe Luna Rosa a Delray institution. If you know Fran, and most around these parts do, you understand that he’s a rich character. I had plenty of material to mine.

The New Play Festival features short plays and my original version of “Cafe” is a full blown production. To qualify, I had to cut characters and with the help of our magnificent director Marianne Regan, we pared down the back story of the proprietor.

Someday, I will tell his story in full.

We cast the five parts in July and I was floored by the talent that came to read for the 10 plays.

The directors ask the playwrights to draw up their wish list and I was thrilled when I landed my top picks for four of the five roles.

The wildcard was a young actress whom I liked but didn’t list as a top choice. Turns out she had to drop out and the role was recast with Diane Tyminski, an amazing actress of local note who happens to be from Long Island.

At rehearsals, she blew us away with her grasp of the character and the milieu.

Ahh rehearsals..this is where my life changed where I caught the theater bug and happily succumbed to the bliss of live theater.

The cast, Sergio Fuenzalida , Diane, Shelly Pittleman, Nancy Ferraro and Peter Salzer are extraordinary.

There was an immediate palpable bond among them and the chemistry was off the charts.

Watching them run the scenes and find the characters was not only fascinating it was moving.

There’s nothing like hearing your words come to life. It’s simply intoxicating.

Admittedly, I don’t have a frame of reference. It’s my first play. But I also saw the cast with tears in their eyes. They were as swept away as I was.

Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. But it was real and so I asked what they were feeling and they shared.

Going into rehearsals I was concerned that the actors wouldn’t connect with the material.

Was it good enough to engage them?

Now I was concerned that the initial emotion would be lost with more run throughs.

This is where the director comes in.

I had heard that Marianne Regan was good. Now I was seeing just how good she was. She knew what buttons to push, how to make the story move and she also knew not to over rehearse our talented cast.

And so the magic they captured was intact.

Leaving the theater after rehearsals I felt buoyant. I felt like you do when you discover a new love—excited, eager to share with my wife and friends and far less nervous for opening day. (The Festival is October 19-20 at 2 pm, my play runs Sunday. For tickets visit delrayplayhouse.org, they are expected to sell out).

Of course, I’m still a little nervous but I sure have confidence in this cast and director. I’m in good hands.

I don’t want this feeling to end.

Writing can be a lonely endeavor. It’s just you and the empty page sometimes joined by an inner critic, a chorus of doubt and these characters you imagine and try mightily to bring to life.

But this is the payoff. The chance to collaborate with talented people. The opportunity to share with an audience longing to be taken someplace different.

I realize how rare this is. How lucky I am. And I am grateful.

What a magnificent gift this historic old playhouse on Lake Ida gives to 10 writers a year. The actors too. There is so much talent waiting to be seen.

We are all enriched when there’s an outlet. It’s a noisy, often chaotic world. Monster hurricanes, divisive politics, so much coming at us at once and all the time.

To step into a theater and watch actors bring a story to life is a valuable gift.

I hope you will make it a point to visit and support the Delray Playhouse. It’s a charming place. A gem. And I hope you’ll try something new like I did. You never know where it might lead.

You never know if trying will better your life. It has mine.

Seeking Connection In An Age Of Screens

The Magic of Theater, The Magic of Trying