ANDREW BISS

I’m pleased to report that The Merely Players Theatre Company of Mankato, MN has selected ‘The Craft’ to be part of its upcoming production Minnesota Shorts: A Festival of Short Plays. Performances take place on September 8th and 9th 2016. More information will be available on their website closer to production.

Though it may have appeared as though time itself might actually expire before The Meta Plays would finally be released, in the metaphysical world, that seemingly endless wait for one of the most hotly anticipated works of fiction in the known (and unknown) universe actually took place in the mere blink of an eye. And so it has arrived, without great fanfare, without fuss, and without any grinding and tiresome ad campaign desperately trying to flog it to death to all and sundry. No, instead it quietly – some might say eerily – materialized one day in that vast expanse of literary agglomeration known as the Kindle Store . And that day, of course, was today…or, if you’re reading this in the future, quite some time ago. And what better way to ring in the holidays than with a collection of metaphysical short dramatic works hell-bent on tinkering with your jaded sense of reality. Imagine the look on little Timmy’s cherubic face as he wakes up on Christmas morning, delves into his v...

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.

It’s been a long time coming, but Cuthbert’s Last Stand is finally available for purchase at Amazon’s Kindle Store. This is the original one-act play version, although I intend to release a short story version of the script in the coming weeks. Cuthbert’s Last Stand was one of my early successes as a playwright, and the play has remained popular to this day, largely due to several monologues from the play having been published in various monologue anthologies, such as 60 Seconds to Shine, Volume 1 , More Scenes and Monologs from the Best New Plays , and The Ultimate Audition Book, Volume 4 . With a running time of around 30 minutes, the length of the play was fairly standard for a one-act at the time that I wrote it. Since then, however, the meteoric rise in popularity of the 10 minute play has made it seem almost tome-like and quaintly anachronistic. But I suppose that’s quite fitting for a play I often describe as a contemporary comedy of manners. I’m currently preparing fo...

Yes, "The Craft" continues its extraordinary Australian odyssey this weekend where it will be performed as a part of the 10th annual  Central Coast TheatreFest in Toukley, NSW. The play will be performed by the same team (actors Helen Herridge and Gerard Dunning, and director Gavin Crichley) that did such a terrific job with it at the Woy Woy Little Theatre earlier this year. Getting "The Craft" into TheatreFest proved to be not without its challenges, but the persistence, dedication and inventiveness shown by Gavin, Helen and Gerard in getting it on the bill without sacrificing the integrity of the play speaks volumes. Their determination to perform the play once more, despite some hurdles, shows me just how much they enjoyed working on the play, and which I must say I find quite humbling. Anyway, I hope they all break a leg this weekend, and more than anything I hope they have a rollicking good time. Also, I have to say I love the terrific graphic they...

I'm very pleased to announce that my short play "Filler"  has been selected for City Theatre of Independence's 5th annual Original Playwrights Festival , taking place July 11th - 14th at the Powerhouse Theatre in Independence, MO. The play is taken from my collection "The Meta Plays," a series of eight short plays that take a few metaphysical liberties with theatrical conventions. "Filler" at first appears to be a tale of undercover intrigue as two characters anxiously await the arrival of a third party. Soon, however, it becomes apparent to one of them that the third party is never going to turn up...not because of any slip up in their plan, but because the playwright never intended it to happen. They soon realize that their scene has very little to do with the rest of the play and that they essentially only exist as filler to pad out the overall length of the larger work, sending one of them into an existential crisis. In "The Met...

Image courtesy of Apple's Eyes Studio / FreeDigitalPhotos.net I'm very pleased to have my short play "The Craft" receive an upcoming staged reading in New York by the Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company as part of their Spring New Play Reading series. The reading will take place on Monday, April 22nd at the West Chelsea Arts Building, 508 W. 26th St, 12th floor. This play is rapidly turning into one of my most popular one-acts, and I have a pretty good understanding of why that might be. Aside from the fact that it includes some fairly wicked humor/humour (and I say that in all modesty), I wrote it specifically as something that I thought actors would enjoy performing. As a former actor myself, I had plenty of insight into backstage/off stage/on stage drama, and of the many trials and tribulations that actors must often endure. Yes, there's plenty of sweat equity among those lines. Above all, though, it's a strange sort of paean to theatre itself, s...