Ever wonder what it feels like to be inside an artist’s head? We loved Michael Weiland’s performance of “Journalissimo” by Griffin Lamachy on April 11 at Cafe Stritch:
As always, it’s a pleasure to hear Michael read. Big thanks to Griffin for sharing his words with us!
Given the current political climate, today seems like a good day to share Michael Weiland’s dynamite performance of “Pence” by Michelle Myers:
Big thanks to Michael for loaning us his voice on April 11 at our New Horizons show at Cafe Stritch. You can catch him in Los Altos Stage Company’s “Pippin” through June 24.
And while we’re at it, now is a good time to remind folks of all political persuasions to consider donating to Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), an organization that is helping families being forcibly separated at the U.S./Mexico border. There is nothing humane about taking children from their families, regardless of nationality.
Stay tuned for more footage from our April show!
On Monday night we gathered to rehearse for tonight’s show and the air crackled with electricity. Each story, poem and piece is dynamite, and our seasoned cast is more than ready to light up the stage at Cafe Stritch. Play On Words has existed for five years, and in that time we’ve gotten to meet so many amazing artists, writers, performers and patrons of the arts. Every show is special and every show is different. Tonight we bring Play On Words: New Horizons to life.
Join us at 7 pm to witness amazing performers read work by the following fabulous writers:
performed by Melinda Marks
Sometimes nothing is funnier than repeating the words “Dick Cheney.” The amazing Michael Weiland proved that by reading Ken Weisner’s comic poem, “Ghazal,” at our Activists Unite show at Cafe Stritch. Couldn’t make it? Check out Michael’s performance below:
Ken recited some poems and read his own work last week at DeAnza’s Euphrat Museum during our chapbook launch party. Want to get your hands on our beautiful new book, designed by Peter Caravalho of Black Kites Press and produced in partnership with the Flash Fiction Forum? Fill out our order form to purchase your own copy!
We’re currently reading submissions for our April 11 show at Cafe Stritch–and we need more work! Submit your poems, short stories, and works of theater to us at playonwordssj@gmail.com. Please note we cap submissions at 1500 words.
As we read submissions and gear up for our July 14 show in St. James Park, we’re “auditioning” new material to see how it will sound when performed aloud. It only makes sense to conclude our Take Flight series with this final short play by Brian Van Winkle, aptly titled “Audition”:
Thanks to Michael Weiland, Melinda Marks, Julia Halprin Jackson, and guest “singers” Ryan Alpers, Adam Magill and Brian himself.
We hope to announce our lineup for the July show in the next week, so stay tuned!
Last week we took the stage at San Jose’s Cafe Stritch with a fun cast of characters–thanks in part to the generosity of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in partnership with the San Jose Downtown Association. In case you missed it, we’ll be rolling out footage from our June 3 performance over the next few weeks, starting today with excerpts of Rick Alpers’ “Van Tribe” saga.
“Van Tribe” is a novel-in-progress that follows a group of people living along San Jose’s Guadalupe River, whose lives are affected by suburban growth. Michael Weiland kicked off the evening with “Van Tribe: The River” and “Dudley and Lisa”:
Tiffany Edwards read the next installment, entitled “Pumpkin”:
Finally, Brian Van Winkle read “Miracle Ticket”:
Like what you see? We’ll be posting more videos over the next few weeks. Thanks again to everyone who made this show possible!
We did it: we filled San Francisco’s Clarion Alley last Saturday night for our Lit Crawl debut. What a terrific night. We couldn’t have done it without the support of the amazing Lit Crawl crew–Renee Senogles, Andres Bella, Lisa Church and Travis Peterson–as well as Lyra Halprin, our day-of photographer, and Rick Alpers, our trusty videographer. A million thanks to all of you who came out to revel in good words.
And, for those of you who missed it, here’s our first installment from Saturday night’s show, featuring Andres’ introduction and our re-production of Brian Van Winkle’s brilliant play, “The Way I Picture it In My Head,” as performed by Brian Van Winkle, Melinda Marks, Jeremy Ryan, Ryan Alpers, and Michael Weiland. Enjoy.
Play On Words 