My one-act Portland has been selected for the 2009 Coastal Empire Festival, where it will be performed at Armstrong Atlantic State University on April 23-25th. I'm excited that my play will be up in Savannah, where my wife's family may have a shot of seeing it.

Portland was written a while back when I was a writer-in-residence at the Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony. I had fallen asleep in my wonderful studio (a converted barn with a curved wall) when I had an incredibly vivid dream about the first love of my life, and the room we shared in Portland, Oregon-- after we had broken up. I hadn't thought of her in years, and the dream was an expressionist flash of frozen moments, like a slide show drenched in rain. I began writing a play. First, I jotted down an outline, but when I started writing a scene, I found I couldn't stop. For fourteen straight hours I wrote, finishing as the sun began to peak through my window. The script came to me fully-formed, as if it had been gestating for years. When I finally got to bed, I realized that it was Valentine's Day-- my ex's birthday.

Portland
April 23-25th 2009
Coastal Empire One-Act Festival
Performed by The Masqeurs Theatre Troupe
Armstrong Atlantic State University
7:30 p.m. Jenkins Hall Black Box Theater.
General admission: Only $10.
Box Office: 344.2801

Photo, "Rain, Rain go away. Raindrops" by victoriapeckam, courtesy of the artist via Creative Commons.