ANDREW BISS

I received word today from The Royal Court Theatre that one of my monologues that had been chosen for their online GRIT Project earlier this year has now been selected to be performed at the theatre as part of an evening of works that will represent the culmination of the GRIT Project. The monologue (an abridged version of “A Small Act of Vandalism”) will be performed alongside other short pieces as a rehearsed reading by the Royal Court Front of House staff. The night, hosted by a compere, begins at 7.30pm on Tuesday, June 2nd and will be held in the Royal Court Bar & Kitchen. I’m very pleased indeed to have a piece of my writing performed at The Royal Court Theatre and only wish I could be there in person to see the show. GRIT was announced in December 2014 and was an open call to writers of all ages and experiences to submit a play about everyday resistance, revolution and defiance, in response to the work on both Royal Court stages. The Royal Court Theatre is the ...

I’m happy to report that the Royal Court’s GRIT project has just added my monologue “Organ Failure” to its Tumblr site. If you have a spare moment I highly recommend taking a look through some of the plays, short texts and images on the theme of “moments of rebellion that go unnoticed and the voices of dissent which can't be heard.” There’s a great variety of work, from the very moving to the wryly humorous, and some very clever examples of tiny acts of defiance.

The Royal Court Theatre is currently running a project called GRIT , which is a collection of short/small works that are about acts of everyday resistance, revolution and defiance. The pieces can be created in any medium - words, videos, images or audio – and those selected will be put up around the theatre, as well as online at their Tumblr site created for the project. Today I was pleased to see that the extract from my extended monologue play “A Small Act of Vandalism” has been chosen for the project and can now be seen online along with all of the other pieces selected thus far. I would encourage anyone to head over to the site to take a look around as there are many truly excellent submissions – text and images – on display.

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 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...

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...

If you don't, you can get one for just 99c (or about 64p ) in the Kindle Store. Yes, that's right, another short story release from the upcoming collection Strange Tales of the Curiously Uncommon is available now. Don't delay! The complete collection should be released before the end of the month, or early February at the latest. Now, one of my New Year's resolutions was not to shill my books so much on my blog, so having gotten that out of the way... Random thoughts: As of the 15th day of this New Year, we've had 22 murders here in the fair city of Philadelphia. We average around the same number of murders as there are days in a calendar year, so we're off to a bad start. To give some kind of comparison, London, with an urban population of around 8.5 million people has an average of 171 murders a year. The urban population of Philadelphia is about 0.5 million. Yes, it's that bad. There's a reason we have acquired the unfortunate nickname of Killadelp...

I was happily surprised to receive a call from one of the Artistic Directors at In Company Theatre in London, letting me know that my short play “The Craft” has been selected for this year’s Off Cut festival at Riverside Studios. A total of 28 short plays will be performed during a three week run at the end of September and beginning of October. For the first two weeks the audience gets to vote on their favourite of the evening, and all of the finalists are voted on again during the third week. At the final performance, a panel of industry professionals, chaired by the National Theatre’s Writer-in-Residence, Moira Buffini, will choose the winners of the Playwright, Director and Company of Actors Awards. This is a very popular event (formerly held at The Old Red Lion, where the 2009 and 2010 festivals were its most successful productions ever) and great exposure for all involved. And since Hammersmith is a former stomping ground of mine, it’ll sort of feel like a homecoming. Nice!