ANDREW BISS

I’m very pleased to report that “The Craft” will be performed in London next month as part of an evening of short plays produced by the artists collective Fractured Lines . Fractured Lines brings artists together, creating opportunities for experimentation and development, fusing live performance and film to heal the divide between creators and consumers of art. The group produces a bi-monthly evening of complementarily themed plays under the title “ Blaggards ”.      “The Craft” will be presented as part of Blaggards on the September 8 th at COG ARTSpace , a new studio theatre space on the border of Hackney and Islington showing the best in new theatre, stand-up, spoken word and more. If you can make it along, they’re located at 113 Southgate Rd , above the De Beauvoir Arms, London N1 3JS. I hope all involved have a great time rehearsing and performing in what is rapidly becoming my most produced short play to date!

I’m very pleased to have had “ Cuthbert’s Last Stand ” selected as one of the winning plays for the 2014 Warner International Playwrights Festival . The festival will take place in mid-October at the beautiful Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT. Built by Warner Brothers Studios and opened in 1931 as a movie palace, the Warner Theatre was described then as “Connecticut’s Most Beautiful Theatre”. It consists of a stunning 1700+ seat main theatre, and the 300 seat, state-of-the-art Nancy Marine Studio Theatre, where the festival will take place.   The enduring popularity of “ Cuthbert’s Last Stand ” is something I’m quite proud of, and I hope to make it along to Torrington in October to meet the folks at the Warner Theatre , experience their beautiful theatre firsthand, and of course see their production of the play. I’m sure they’ll do a terrific job!

I’m happy to report that “The Craft” has been selected for inclusion in the upcoming anthology The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2015, published by Smith & Kraus, Inc. , edited by Lawrence Harbison. The tentative date for publication: December, 2015. This will mark the sixth edition of this annual anthology that I’ve had a play of mine included in, and it really is an honor to have my work included alongside so many other great writers. In the meantime, the play is getting set to open at Studio Players in Lexington, Kentucky from August 8-10, so I hope all involved break a leg and have a lot of fun with it!

I’m pleased to report that my play “Filler” is now published in the new anthology “The Best Ten Minute Plays 2014”, published by Smith & Kraus, Inc. , edited by Lawrence Harbison . This is the fifth play I’ve had included in these annual anthologies, and I’m delighted to be in the company of so many other talented playwrights. The book is literally hot off the press, so unfortunately I can’t yet provide any links to it, though it will doubtless be popping up at all fine retailers of note in the very near future. Also, I recently received word that “Filler” has been selected by London’s Ghost Dog Productions for inclusion in its latest Playground New Writing Showcase. The show will comprise of eight plays, all revolving around the theme of deception. The production takes place from 21st-23rd of July, 2014, at The Horse & Stables , in Waterloo, London. More details will become available on the company’s Facebook page closer to opening. I’m so happy to have this play produce...

I’m very pleased to announce that “The Craft” has been selected by Lexington, Kentucky’s Studio Players for inclusion in its 2014 10-Minute Play Festival. Established in 1953, Studio Players are Kentucky’s oldest community-involved theatre, and I’m proud to have my play be a small part of their long history. The festival takes place from the 7th to the 10th of August, so if you’re in the area at that time do try to go along and see it. More details should be available on the company’s website closer to the opening.

The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel has given a Pink Banana Theatre Co.’s 2014 One-Act Festival “The Honeymoon is Over” a wonderfully glowing review, including some lovely kudos for “The Craft”: “Change can't come soon enough for the two characters mired in Andrew Biss' "The Craft" — the night's last and funniest piece — which features two actors (played by Jonathon Weisse and Amanda Eaton) enacting a love scene on stage, even though they actually hate each other. The disconnect between the roles they must play and their toxic interior monologues is the perfect nightcap for a collection in which we're continually reminded that in both theater and life, we play best when we passionately believe in the scripts we perform.” There’s still time to catch the show as it continues its run every day at 7:30pm until the final performance this Saturday, June 14th at the Next Act Theatre (Box office: 414-278-0765). In the meantime, I’ll just wish Jonathon ...

Tomorrow night (5/8/14), “The Craft” will make its Ohio area debut at Madlab’s Theatre Roulette, the longest-running annual short play festival in Columbus, now in its 15th year. If you’re in the area or know someone who is, I think this festival will be well worth a visit. You can also check out a sneak peek of the festival over at Broadway World.com . A full schedule of all show times and dates can be found on the company’s website here . In the meantime, I’d just like to say break a leg to Erin Prosser and Travis Horseman, who are taking on the rather challenging roles of the actors in “The Craft”. I’m sure they’ll do a fantastic job! Travis Horseman and Erin Prosser in "The Craft" at MadLab's Theatre Roulette 2014

I’m pleased to report that my short one-act play A Rebel Among the Wretched has been selected by The Actors Workout Studio in Los Angeles to be included in their upcoming Spring Festival. The play will be part of a series of staged readings of short plays over the weekend of the festival. The show takes place at the The Actors Workout Studio’s theatre space, which is located at 4735 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, in the NoHo Arts District . Here’s a brief synopsis of the play itself (another from my Meta Plays collection), which was a finalist for the Heideman Award at the Actors Theatre of Louisville back in 2011: A celebrated, multi-award winning dysfunctional family drama continues to enthrall audiences night after night. But what happens when one of the characters finally decides they’ve had enough doom and despair and resolves to leave the play to join…a musical? 

Which almost sounds like a headline from the Evening Standard , doesn’t it. Except for the fact that a small act of vandalism would hardly be considered headline-worthy in a city the size of London. No, it’s actually in reference to my short one-person play A Small Act of Vandalism , which I’m happy to report has been selected by the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre in London to be included in its annual new writing event, the Write Now Festival. The show takes place on Saturday 17th May at 5pm and 7:45pm at the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre , in South East London. I’m very excited to be included in the festival, and especially glad to have this particular piece finally receiving a public performance. It touches on a subject that isn’t discussed nearly enough, so hopefully this engender some thought and discussion afterwards. The theme given for this year’s Write Now Festival was/is ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’. And if you’re in the area and considering going along to see the festiva...

It’s taken a while, but the original play script of Suburban Redux is finally available in the Kindle Store. This is the expanded, full-length continuation of my popular one-act play Cuthbert’s Last Stand , which is also available on Amazon. Suburban Redux received its debut production through Unwashed Grape Productions (under the title “Cuthbert's Last Stand - Uncut!”) at Théâtre Ste-Catherine, in Montréal, Canada back in 2006, before going on to a highly successful run at the Lowry Lab Theater in Minneapolis, MN in 2011, produced by Gadfly Theatre Productions . Back then, GTP was a start-up company and Suburban Redux was chosen as its premier production. I'm happy to see that they've gone from strength to strength since that time. The play also has a number of its monologues published in various audition monologue anthologies scattered around the country, so anyone coming across one of them and wanting to read the entire script can now do so. Also, for those who...

I’m happy to announce that my short play "The Craft" has been selected by Pink Banana Theatre Co. for inclusion in their 2014 One-Act production this summer. The theme of the show is “The Honeymoon Is Over,” which is certainly true of the two actors plying their trade and faking affection for one another in "The Craft." The wonderfully named Pink Banana Theatre Co. is based in Milwaukee, WI and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to provide professional opportunities to emerging artists through productions and workshops. The production is scheduled to take place in June and I’ll have more details nearer the time. No word on casting yet, but there has been rumors of Adele Dazeem being considered for the female lead. One can only dream! And if you haven’t tried this fun little widget from Slate Magazine yet, give it a go.

We’re into a brand new year and I’m happy to announce an upcoming brand new production of my short play The Craft. MadLab Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, has selected the play for inclusion in its short play festival “Theatre Roulette,” which is the longest-running annual shorts festival in Columbus (now in its 15th year!). Production dates for Theatre Roulette are May 8-10, 15-17, & 22-24, with more information on the production available on the theatre’s website closer to the opening. And lastly, but certainly not leastly (?)...Happy New Year!