From the William Inge Festival: I spent most of the day (Thursday) participating in discussions on such things as playwriting, diversity in theatre, and just generally basking in the glow of being with other people who love to write as much as I do.

I could give you a detailed run-down of all the topics we covered, but actually, you had to be there, so I won’t do that. (And I hear a collective “Whew!” from the readership.) Just suffice it to say that I had a great time; it’s the four days of the year that I get to eat, drink, and breathe theatre, and it’s a great deal of fun.

The best times are the times I spend just sitting around and talking to people. I had a long and meaningful conversation with Barbara Dana over lunch where she gave me some wonderful insight to a role in a play that I’m working on. (I told her to not be surprised, then, if the role ends up sounding a lot like her.) I also spent some time talking to a student who is determined to become a director, which means he was taking copious notes as we talked about the writing process. The takeaway from all of this seems to be that the best things that happen here are the things that we’re inspired to do once we go home and get back to work on our dreams and visions.

Last night we had a concert reading of The Most Deserving, a new play by Catherine Trieschmann, who is the New Voices playwright this year. New Voices is the Inge Festival’s way of seeking out new plays and playwrights and showcasing their work, and this play, a comedy about a small-town arts council giving away grant funds, was a funny and interesting story.

Today we’ll have a conversation with David Henry Hwang, this year’s honoree, and tonight will be a big gala dinner with singing and skits and a lot of fun and chat in between.

PS: Sales of my script seem to be doing well; they had to replace the supply that was out on the table because they’d sold some.