Nero/Pseudo: The Washington DC World Premiere

Well... I can finally announce it. My play. Nero/Pseudo, (with music by the amazing Jon Langford and Jim Elkington) will have its world premiere in a production by WSC Avant Bard (formerly Washington Shakespeare Company) at The Shop at Fort Fringe in Washington DC.

The opening night is Wednesday, May 7. (There will be a number of preview performances starting May 2.) The show closes Sunday, June 1.

It's very exciting to see a play that I started on a hot summer day in 2009 finally hit the stage. The process has been a long but fruitful one, including a May 2012 reading at Artisphere and a March 2013 reading at the Emerging Artists Theatre's New Works Festival.

Balkans via Bohemia is going to be a busy place over the next few weeks. I will be blogging about the show a little bit and introducing you to the creative team that's making it all happen. This will also be the place to look for guest posts from our dramaturg, Alan Katz, who will be dropping some deep classical knowledge. We might also leak a song or two from the production and have a contest or two.

Tickets are now on sale. Hope to see you there!

(Image: Graffiti of Nero from the Domus Tiberiana.)

Nero/Pseudo in NYC -- Thursday March 7 at 9 PM

The New York City staged reading of my play Nero/Pseudo -- part of the Emerging Artists Theatre's New Works Festival -- is finally in view. So what's it about? Here it is in a nutshell:

Nero's dead, right? Or maybe his fans won't let Rome's cruel but entertaining emperor exit the stage just yet. Nero/Pseudo is a play where ancient Rome collides with glam rock and the politics of celebrity. 

It's happening on Thursday, March 7 at 9 PM at Tada! Youth Theatre (15 West 28th Street, New York, New York 10001 -- right between Broadway and 5th Avenue).

Tickets are $10 and available online -- and there should also be some available at the door on Thursday night.

My musical collaborators Jon Langford (Mekons, Three Johns, Waco Brothers) and James Elkington (the Zincs, Horse's Ha) will be winging in from Chicago to play the glam rock tunes they wrote for the play -- and they'll be making a weekend of it with a special appearance as Skull Orchard at The Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday night (March 8). And when I say "special," I mean it. Jon and Jim will be backed by a legends of rock rhythm section: drummer Steve Goulding (Mekons) and bassist Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu). Tickets for that show available right here.

I made a quick jaunt up to New York a couple days ago to meet Emerging Artists Theatre's artistic director Paul Adams and participate in a read-through of the script, and my amazing director Melisa Annis has assembled a delightful cast for this reading -- including Nesha Ward, David Omar Davila, Shad Olsen, Allyson Pace, Christianne Greiert, Ashley Grombol, Deanna Henson and Michael Cortez.

I know we will rock you on Thursday night. I hope those of you in the New York area can come see it -- and see Jon and Jim the next night as well.