Behind the Curtain: The Business They Call ‘The Hustle’

Feb. 28, 2025

Between bursts of creative writing comes what we in the theater world call "The Hustle"—the relentless business side of being a playwright.

But today, The Hustle delivered: I'll have TWO staged readings in NYC this May! Lullaby for Winnie and White Fang, The Play, are both getting their moment in front of New York audiences.

There's nothing quite like that first moment when professional actors breathe life into your words. Those lines on the page suddenly have heartbeats, inflections, and emotional weight you couldn't fully imagine, even after countless revisions.

For these readings, I'll arrive with a mental checklist of what I want to accomplish and watch for:

1. Hunt for those three golden insights that will push the play deeper, make it more poetic, and deliver that gut-punch impact.

2. Find out where the audience is confused or there is too much repetition.

3. Listen—really listen—for the rhythm. Do the words flow as I imagined? Are those longer monologues truly earned, or do they feel self-indulgent?

This isn't a passive process, but in medical parlance, it’s a surgery with the patient open wide on the table.

And then how and whom to fill the room? But that deserves its own post entirely.

Dates, times, and locations are coming as soon as they're locked in!