OCTOBER 2023 Spooky season continues with an off-Broadway production of MEMENTO MORI, a queer ghost story set in a post-mortem photographer's studio, at Days of the Dead Festival at the Kraine Theatre NYC. Thrilled to be part of Rising Sun Performance Company's production in a beloved space. www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/FRIGID-New-York-and-Something-From-Abroad-to-Present-2nd-Annual-Days-of-the-Dead-Festival-20230911 www.tdf.org/shows/21009/days-of-the-dead-festival-2023 A spooky play for a spooky setting!The new play MEMENTO MORI will be performed at the National Museum of Funeral History in October. Set in a post-mortem photographer's workshop, it goes up in the museum's 19th Century Mourning and Post-Mortem Photography exhibit. Stay tuned for more info about this exploration of grief, lost loves, and the thin veil between life and death. www.nmfh.org/portfolio-item/19th-century-mourning/ www.nmfh.org/events/ Coming in November 2023, a reading of MEMENTO MORI with Merely Players in Atlanta. Deep, deep breath... The latest revision of the new work is complete. Stay tuned for workshop news. Please and thank you. SEPTEMBER 2023 What happens when an ex-con digs for buried treasure at an Indigenous burial site? Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop, at the Rivoli Theatre in the Catskills, finds out! The horror short SKULLDUGGERY goes up September 8-15. www.scdw.net BEST BEWARE MY STING,a bawdy lampoon of and a feminist response to Shakespeare's Shrew, was a semi-finalist for Utah Shakespeare Festival's Words Cubed Listen to BEST BEWARE MY STING on Dean Productions' Premiere the Play Podcast. deanproductionstheatre.com/ptp-season-2/ July 2023 YELLA JACK, a Southern Gothic historical drama, is a semi-finalist in the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica's New Play Festival. www.morgan-wixson.org/new-works-festival-2023 Tickets are now available for Houston Scriptwriters' 10x10 Festival, with the new play STAYIN' ALIVE in the line-up.www.eventbrite.com/e/scriptwriters-houston-2023-10x10-play-festival-tickets-671525830837?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR2_lu1EwKG3ctpo2K2HGTCvbHz06NeNOi8VyB7k1UkCz7WRzpjTuJluBxA June 2023 Delighted to be part of Gi60 Houston with the little play PROVERBS. The show goes up at Houston Community College on July 6 and 7, at 7:30 pm. Students perform, and faculty direct! The new piece NOT MY TALE TO TELL was shortlisted by Left Edge Theatre’s Hindsight 2023 festival. May 2023 How fun! The raucous physical play WAYLAY MAKEOVER is part of Sketch Supercollider, a comedy showcase, at Station Theater, Houston's home for long-form improv and sketch comedy.www.eventbrite.com/e/saturday-night-sketch-comedy-sketch-supercollider-tickets-637850155987?aff=odcleoeventsincollection April 2023 YELLA JACK was a finalist for the inaugural Waterworks Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thrilled to once again be included in Houston Scriptwriters 10x10! The new short drama STAYIN' ALIVE, directed by Abigail Langlis, will run with nine other Houston playwrights' works the weekend of August 24-26. The mini play PROVERBS is included in the new literary magazine Literature Today among so many talented friends' and colleagues' work. literaturetodayjournal.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwAR0NynxhvjPz7SGohlBC_TeE9KrrnL2KWQX7h6-f56833WacITOdIbwZM7E March 2023 Visit Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Social Justice's resources for ALL THE WAY BACK. Colleges and universities are welcome to produce the play royalty-free through the end of the school year.gps.bard.edu/en/resources Delighted that YELLA JACK will receive a reading in Arts Fort Worth's Original Works Series, featuring the theatre companies Dragstrip Courage and Artes da la Rosa at the Sanders Theatre. fwtx.com/events/original-works-series-reading-yella-jack-donna-latham/ https://fortworth.culturemap.com/eventdetail/arts-fort-worth-presents-original-work-series-yella-jack/ www.fortworth.com/event/original-works-series-reading%3a-yella-jack-by-donna-latham/33803/#googletrans(en%7Cde) The quickie little play PROVERBS will be published in the April issue of the new literary journal Literature Today. It's thrilling to type END OF PLAY on a new first draft. Deep breath... And, let revisions begin. February 2023 ALL THE WAY BACK has been translated into Urdu for performance in Pakistan in The Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Social Justice. Read about ALL THE WAY BACK and The Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Social Justice: leadthechange.bard.edu/blog/talking-about-climate-short-plays-competition-winners-ready-to-perform-at-your-school Thrilled to again join the lovely folks at Paris Junior College's Pyro Playfest in Paris,Texas, with a new short play that Will Walker will direct. The Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Social Justice added the script of ALL THE WAY BACK to its resources. Colleges and universities are welcome to produce the play royalty-free through the end of the school year.gps.bard.edu/en/resources It was great to chat about ALL THE WAY BACK on a webinar with the Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Social Justice team. I discussed the ways in which theatre and compelling storytelling connect us to our humanity and build empathy and offered ideas for staging the play. January 2023 ALL THE WAY BACK was selected as a juried winner for the Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Social Justice. The teach-in coordinates climate education events at colleges, universities, and high schools on March 23, 2023. The link to the script will be available for production at: gps.bard.edu/world-wide-teach-in-2023?utm_campaign=World-Wide-Teach-In&utm_source=Custom-URL . It was great to chat with the wonderful folks at Wild Imaginings in Waco about writing historical feminist plays. We discussed YELLA JACK, THE HAUNTED WIDOW LINCOLN, and so much more. Listen to Imagine This: A Theatre Podcast here: roguemedianetwork.com/podcast/imagine-this-a-theatre-podcast/ COYOTE'S MOON is part of Sante Fe Playhouse's New Play Reading Series, January 27 and 28. santafeplayhouse.org/events/2023-playhouse-new-play-reading-series/ The lovely folks at Wild Imaginings in Waco present an excerpt from YELLA JACK and discuss the historical play's resonance with our own moment in time. Listen to Imagine This: A Theatre Podcast here: roguemedianetwork.com/podcast/imagine-this-a-theatre-podcast/ Delighted to be included among so many friends and colleagues in Fresh Words: An International Literary Magazine's latest anthology with the quickie little play PROVERBS. drive.google.com/file/d/15CdoBc1e8NNfSkRDALS3FDOkuFW3vKys/view New Year, New Plays! Off and running on a fresh collaboration. Stay tuned. Please and thank you. December 2022 YELLA JACK was a semi-finalist for the AACT NewPlayFest 2024. Thanks to The Depot for sharing YELLA JACK's news. www.thedepot.space/news It was great to chat with the fine folx from Wild Imaginings for their Imagine This Podcast. The pod will be released in January 2023. Looking forward to participating in Too Much Damn Theatre's Pass-Along Play Project again, this time as a judge. November 2022 Smith & Kraus The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2022, which includes "I do despise the color red" from YELLA JACK, is now available on Amazon. www.amazon.com/dp/1575259664?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_65GJKNNC7NBKPGMK1VBE&fbclid=IwAR0CPLyzRzpUjwLQcaBXeinaTczm8PdeHqkFcCUfr3lkTHBes37YvWwuhL8 MACHAMLET, a speedy little mash-up of Macbeth and Hamlet, is published in Fresh Words 1-Minute Play Anthology "Et tu, Brute?"sites.google.com/view/freshwordsmagazine/home The fine folx at Purple Circuit, which promotes feminist and LGBTQIA plays, have kindly included YELLA JACK in their listings.www.purplecircuit.org/donna-latham/ October 2022 WAYLAY MAKEOVER goes up at Playwrights at Night, the reading and production company directed by Sheila Duane, at the Jersey Shore Arts Center. What happens when aggressive on-air personalities Dominique Angell and Abner Fabulous waylay unsuspecting new mom Beth for a forced makeover? www.jerseyshoreartscenter.org/contact-5 NPX Recommendation From Playwrights at Night: "...A truly funny short play that can be staged as over-the-top and WAY over the top. So much fun!" September 2022 THE SEANCE is one of Scriptwriter Houston's Museum Plays at the incomparable Museum of Funeral History. Ten years after her husband's assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln attempts to contact his spirit through the sham spiritualist Madame Marvalosa. www.scriptwriters-houston.org www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtSfv8kqtL0 BEST BEWARE MY STING, a feminist response to Shakespeare's SHREW and chef's kiss to sisterhood, enjoys a reading with Dean Productions' Premiere the Plays Podcast in L.A. deanproductionstheatre.com SELKIE is part of Talking Horse Productions' Monologue contest, performed by Leslie Botkins. Watch her beautiful performance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZCTZ2bjagQ August 2022 YELLA JACK receives a reading and discussion at The Depot in Hampton, CT. I'm thrilled to return to The Depot with a new play, after last year's reading of BEST BEWARE MY STING. In 1878, Yellow Fever and a serial killer ravage the city of Memphis. Can science and faith together conquer these vile, twin plagues? NPX Recommendation From The Depot: "Donna Latham's Southern Gothic YELLA JACK powerfully renders an unlikely sisterhood who convert a brothel into a hospital for the indigent. In language that is closer to poetry than prose and dotted withe extraordinary monologues, Latham plumbs medical history, women's history, class, race, and the traditions of multiple religions....Like Shakespeare, Latham employs humor and pathos, and like the Greeks structures the play around short scenes and odes. The result is compelling and unforgettable. A gem for an ensemble of diverse actors. Strongly recommended." thedepot.space/about YELLA JACK: Omi Friday's "I do despise the color red" monologue is published in Smith and Kraus'. The Best Women's Stage Monologues, 2022. WAYLAY MAKEOVER is part of Scriptwriter Houston's 30th Annual 10x10 Ten-Minute Festival. I'm delighted to return to the festival with this raucous little comedy in which aggressive on-air personalities Dominique Angell and Abner Fabulous waylay unsuspecting new mom Beth for a force makeover. www.scriptwriters-houston.org www.broadwayworld.com/houston/regional/Scriptwriters-Houston-10x10-Play-Festival-2925346 CHICKEN-FRIED CATFISH enjoys a reading and talkback at Axial Theatre Company's Cactus Flowers in NYC, thanks to a collaboration with Honor Roll! Playwrights. How do we grapple with an insurrection, address the Q-Anon Shaman, and unearth a bit of humor in the rubble? www.suzeebehindthescenes.com/2022/08/axial-theater-presents-cactus-flowers.html?m=1 July 2022 LUNCH LADY is a streamed production at Tiny Theatre's Sassy Summer Shorts, a collaboration with Honor Roll! Playwrights. An essential worker is devoted to keeping kids fed at school, while struggling with food insecurity at home. MACHAMLET, a speedy little comedy mash-up of Hamlet and Macbeth, goes up at The Tank NYC for the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival. Blink and you'll miss it! thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/2022/7/6/gi60-international-one-minute-theatre-festival-us-live?fbclid=IwAR0UIe9Csy1A0ZmXlAuQcj2IPsfQhvCH6d6C--YfJc_h2xE5xch1pCa2Lb4 June 2022 CHICKEN-FRIED CATFISH goes up at Chicago's American Blues Theater's Ripped Festival, celebrating stories ripped from the headlines. How do we grapple with an insurrection, address the Q-Anon Shaman, and unearth a bit of justice and humor in the rubble? www.american.com/2002/06/01/2022-the-ripped-festival WHEN YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW will be published in Smith and Kraus': We/Us: Monologues for Gender Minority Characters in March 2023. www.smithandkraus.com YELLA JACK receives a staged reading, directed by Rachel Dickson, and robust talkback with the esteemed Wordsymth Theater Company in Houston. In 1878, Yellow Fever and a serial killer ravage the city of Memphis. Can science and faith together conquer these vile, twin plagues? YELLA JACK receives a reading and discussion at Play Readings With Friends in NYC. www.jonlpeacock.com/play-readings-with-friends.html YELLA JACK is a finalist for the Market House Theatre New Play Competition in Paducah, KT. www.markethousetheatre.org LUNCH LADY is published in Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble's The Covid Monologues: 54 Writers Response to the Pandemic. An essential worker is devoted to keeping kids fed at school, while struggling with food insecurity at home. April 2022 SELKIE is featured at Stage Left Theatre in Spokane. stagelefttheatre.org SELKIE is published in the inaugural issue of Fresh Words: An International Literary Magazine, India. sites.google.com/view/freshwordsmagazine/home March 2022 PADDY AND THE MERMAID goes up at the annual Celtic Calling Festival in Charleston, WV. You can't pluck a wild thing from the sea and keep it for your own. February 2022 CHICKEN-FRIED CATFISH goes up with Femuscripts, the all-female owned and operated production company in South Florida, for their Love Fest On-Demand Festival. How do we grapple with an insurrection, address the Q-Anon Shaman, and unearth a bit of humor in the rubble? January 2022 GET OVER YOUR SELFIE! goes up at AG Waters Middle School Drama Club in Delaware. Yay, theatre kids! Forever near and dear to my heart. |