This Saturday, May 1st, at 4pm Eastern time I’m playing Mick the Mapmaker in - you guessed it - Mick the Mapmaker, a new play by Amy Yourd. The reading is virtual (of course) and you can register here! The play runs about 90 minutes. The short description of the show is “Mick makes maps, a rare and useful skill in a city where the streets have changed their shape and where nobody can remember their name.” Content Notice: This play contains body horror.

It’s been really fun to get to do some scripted acting for the first time in a while, after a lot of improvisational work in Kings of Neon and DnD sessions. (Stay tuned for Dragonfly launching next week!)

I’m also thrilled to announce I’m hosting a new patreon podcast for Post Show Recaps, covering the final season of Pose on FX. It’s a valuable opportunity to talk about a historic platform for trans and queer representation, especially black and brown trans folks and their experience. The preview podcast dropped today and you can check it out for free here. If you’re interested, I highly encourage you to join the Post Show Recaps patreon program!

One of the half-dozen books I’m plowing through for research.

Fall is upon us here in NYC; the weather seems to have officially broken, dropping thirty degrees from yesterday’s surprise near-90 down to a chilly, gray day in the mid-50s. Perfect writing weather, in my opinion, time to wrap up in a sweater with a hot toddy (it’s past noon, okay) and dig deeper into the Cold War.

Currently I’m lost in Bulgaria, researching the “assimilation” and eventual expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian Turks and other Muslim minorities from Bulgaria to Turkey in the mid- to late-eighties. It’s a dark story of cultural erasure, recognized in 1998 as an ethnic cleansing. I spent most of the last decade learning about the dark secrets of East Germany, but the Iron Curtain hides plenty of horrors worth uncovering, with continued parallels to current societies throughout the Americas. I seem to be a glutton for punishment, as I’m most fascinated by ideas that require a lot of research about heavy topics. The fall of fascist regimes in Europe in 1989, coupled with the rise of fascist regimes in the Americas in 2019 is the narrative I’m collaging for my upcoming project, 201989. (Scroll down to the previous post for more info.) Hopefully a work-in-progress reading will be coming to the public in December back at The Nest, where Watchlist received its debut in June.

Speaking of Watchlist, I can’t share concrete details yet, but things are looking good for a full production of the show in the near future, at a reputable Manhattan venue! I’m thrilled to have found an artistic home interested in producing the piece (and paying its artists!!!) and can’t wait to spread the news, once the deal is worked out.

Stay tuned for more news soon!