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I was pretty floored when Jen Gray offered me the chance to direct Forward Theater Company’s staged reading of David Schanker’s play, “Kiritsis.” It was our first season; FTC’s first staged reading of a new work, and my first directing gig for a professional theater.

The piece was one of the finalists for the 2009 Wisconsin Wrights playwriting contest. Of course, I wanted to contribute to the play’s development. Even though it was a staged reading, we needed to provide our audience with an engaging theatrical experience.

It was exciting to work with a fun piece and great ensemble. The staging brought out the emotional intensity inherent within David's work. And I think, overall, it was very successful. The reading was well attended and well received. The talk-back after the show was insightful and enthusiastic.

The true highlight of the whole experience was that the playwright attended the reading, even though he had received a heart transplant only a few weeks before. (Yes, I’ll repeat that – A NEW HEART). I kept telling everyone he was going to make it – he’s a tough guy.

One of my goals for this project was to show both our audiences and our company that new play development is critical to our theater community. It’s not hard to produce readings and small showcases of new work. It can be a compelling and engaging evening of theater. I think it’s a lot of fun as an audience member to become a part of the process, and to have a voice in the creation of a play.

Through our continued collaboration with Wisconsin Wrights, I’m confident FTC will keep a foot in the new play development world. As a member of our Advisory Company, I will keep pushing to do more.

I have to say some thanks to folks we worked with. Theater is after all a significantly communal art from. First David was great to work with. What a brilliant guy. Having Kimberly Yarnall working as dramaturg was an incredible boon. She’s been an amazing force behind the scenes at FTC. Thanks to the crew -- having quality lighting and sound really lifted this reading up to a higher level. And of course, thanks to the cast, and to Jen for giving me chance to work with these folks.