Body / No Body / California / Gay

Hello all!

I'm writing you from sunny Los Angeles, in the back yard of Sara FitzSimmons and Kevin Kelly, who you may know as my bandmates from Cheese On Bread.  Matt, also from Cheese On Bread, is programming computers (or something) in the guest house, and Kevin is picking up Cheese On Bread's Dibs and Daoud from the airport.  It is the week of The Great Big Cheese On Bread Wedding, and I am the priest.  (No joke.)

Anyway, this is all just to say that "The Mattachine Project" will be debuting material at Dixon Place TOMORROW and WEDNESDAY, and I won't even be there!  When I started out in theater, I would just show up at the venue with a bag of props, run on stage, and do something I'd created all by myself.  Nowadays, as a Respectable Bodyless Playwright, I don't even have to be in the same time zone. 

"The Mattachine Project" is the most collaborative theater piece I've ever worked on (on which I've ever worked).  I am technically the "writer," but much of what you'll see was crafted from the actors' improvisations, from devised scenarios created by the director, and from tireless research and visioning by our dramaturg and producer.  There will even be one or two scenes I HAVE NEVER SEEN.

This is only the first showing of material from what will eventually be a longer and more developed piece.  And while much of the show is historical (retelling the early history of the modern American gay rights movement), I'd wager to say that it's actually about the present moment - a moment in which you participate - and so we are desirous for your feedback!  This is a show about YOU, and so we want to know what you think!  So please come, stay for the talk-back, and then TALK BACK!

Meanwhile, I'll be getting a tan and playing with Phyllis, Sara's and Kevin's pet chicken.

Much Love
Dan

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