March Madness

To be clear, this is not a post about college basketball. This is a post about the joyful stress that was my March 2024.

As the month began, I already knew it would be a busy month. March 2nd was the first day of rehearsals for my play “Invincible Summer,” and we would be rehearsing each Saturday until the performance in May. Being a full time teacher, and living over two hours from Darlene, it was clear that managing time this month would be a challenge. But it was in service to the first production of my play, which, after several near misses, was finally going to make it on stage.

March is also one of two months of the year where the “Playwright’s Binge” is observed–September being the other month. If you are not familiar with the Binge, the playwrights who participate agree to submit a play or query or another piece of writing to a contest, festival, theatre or publication. By the end of the month, they should have sent out 31 submissions. While that could be time consuming, sending out one thing a day is very manageable, even if you work full time. So, that was the plan–a daily submission, rehearsals every Saturday, and Darlene and I would do the best we could to see each other. It will be hard, but it will be fine.

Besides, it’s not like several other things are going to happen this month, is it?

The first thing that occurred was the news that my play “Save the Man” was accepted by the Depot for New Play Readings for their 24-25 season. That was exciting, but not really time consuming. Worth celebrating, but hardly a disruption.

The next thing was that actor Rich Henkels and I finalized our plan to do a Zoom table read for my screenplay, “Leviathan.” We met at the Off Page Film Festival in November, and decided that we would do the reading, with Rich’s acting group (Actors Think Tank) comprising the cast. After several months of back and forth emails, we settled on Tuesday, April 16 to do the reading. I put together a list of roles for the cast, and recruited the amazing Shonita Joshi to read stage directions. It was a bit of extra work as expected, but very manageable, totally exciting and worth it. So far, so good.

And then the calendar turned to March 12.

I had received an email in late February from the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival informing me that I was a finalist in the One Act Play Competition, and that winners would be announced soon. That was a great honor, and I was pleased, but being a finalist wasn’t enough a motive for me to attend the festival–it was March 20-24. Besides, by the time we got to March 12, I knew that I had not won–after all, if I had, they certainly would have told me by now.

Then the email arrived: “You won!” Mind you, my excitement was tempered a bit by the message, given that it was addressed “Dear David.” I quick inquiry, and an apologetic note for the mistake, with confirmation I, Kevin, was indeed the winner. I would receive a cash prize, a pass to the entire festival, and a staged reading of my play. There was no real option now–I had to be there.

A hastily arranged Vrbo was secured, a reasonably priced flight was found (although it did not depart nor return to Boston at a reasonable time) and airport parking was arranged. I was in business, and ready to spend four days in New Orleans. On top of everything else.

So, yes, things got crazy. And my experience at the festival will be chronicled starting with the next post.