Drama, drama & how I feel about guns:

I take gun violence very seriously. I think it all started with that 90210 episode where David's friend shoots himself in the head in the pool house by accident when he's doing a "trick" with the gun. He forgot or didn't know the gun was loaded and it went off and he killed himself. You know the episode. It is forever burned in my memory. I don't believe you need to posses a hand gun in this day and age. I think they are more trouble than they are worth.

So naturally when I saw my drunken neighbor stumble out into his yard last night and shoot a hand gun in the air at a tree and mumble incoherently, I was a little concerned. The second time I called my landlord and the third time I called the cops (the non emergency number). No. NOT O.K. I don't care if it was a pellet gun. Someone who is within city limits holding a gun while inebriated is uncalled for. How am I supposed to know the difference it looked fucking real!

Turns out having a pellet gun within city limits is actually illegal. And according to the officer I did the right thing. The gun looked real enough to him and he said that if he had the gun pointed at him he would have shot him. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that statement but I'm glad I played it safe.

Apparently the police also take gun possession very seriously. They came out in full force. The street was blocked off by 3 police cars and there was even a fire truck. I found out later that their first attempt was to go to the door polietly and ask after the gun; however, when the inebriated man resisted arrest and refused to show them the gun they had to shoot him down with rubber bullets, tazer him, hand cuff him and bring him to the police car. I missed all this because I was in the back of the house, but I received this information from a trusted source. Other people came out of the hosue peacefully and eventually handed over the weapon in question. After all the comotion I had to identify the man they took into custody as the man I reported. It was quite a dramatic evening for all involved.

And so this makes me think about the play I'm about to direct: THE BULLET ROUND, where there is a gun that travels between characters; and as Chekhov once said if a gun is presented in the first act it must go off in the last. And as this gun is passed around we learn about the relationships these characters have with eachother. Violence begets more violence and what goes around comes around. The gun is a big deal. I mean the play is 6 scenes (the number of chambers in a gun) and the play is called THE BULLET ROUND. Hello.

Guns scare the shit out of me. They are very powerful objects and invoke a pretty powerful response from people. People are very opinionated about guns in our society and I think it is important to consider their place and their meaning and use or misuse in society. So let's begin that discussion.

I KNEW IT!

Yesterday Lynn Nottage was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play RUINED which is playing at MTC. And I totally totally called that. I don't think there is anywhere I can claim this except for here. I knew it! Congratulations Lynn.
The other nominees were: Gina Gionfriddo for BECKY SHAW & Lin-Manuel Miranda & Quiara Alegria Hudes for IN THE HIGHTS.

New Work is here to stay

Let me answer the question that is on ALL your minds...Yes. JAW is happening.

Just because PCS doesn't have a literary department doesn't mean that JAW is now dead too.
Au contraire mon frere. New work is still alive and well in Portland, OR.

IN FACT, Did you know that coming to Theater! Theater! this August, 7th will the be world premiere of Steven Drukman's THE BULLET ROUND. Who's excited?! I am! (mainly because I am producing and directing this little number) but also because HOW EXCITING for us Portland!

New work is all around. We have some amazing playwrights living right here creating some very exciting work, there is JAW, Fertile Ground, PCS' CRAZY ENOUGH, Third Rail's Craig Wright commission and now a world premiere of THE BULLET ROUND (and I'm sure many many more I have failed to mention & I apologize in advance for this...)

So don't loose hope PDX because after all we are pioneers.

Desperate times...

...call for desperate measures.
But has it come to this? There is a website for finding a sugar daddy. Some of men pay up to $20,000 a month! humm...
yeah right. As much as it would be nice to have that money (think of all the theater I could fund!) just the idea of it makes my skin crawl.

Instead of Drinks...Support the Theater!

I am totally overwhelmed and touched that so many of you want to buy me drinks, however I would love it that instead of drinks you could donate that money to the World Premiere production of THE BULLET ROUND by Steven Drukman. As many of you know, I have received a RACC grant to direct and produce this production in Portland this summer. The grant will go to pay for the space and for the rights, but I still need money for the set and the fabulous talent. Chris Murray, Paul Glazier, and Nasir Najieb are cast and excited to get started. Below is some more information about the playwright and the production. This is a very exciting project for the Portland theater community.

I believe in the power of theater and that it can provide so much during these times; a means of escape or simply a means to examine ourselves. Taking risks relies on support from individuals, businesses, and foundations in order to finance our operating costs. Making plays is an expensive business, and through your generous support I am able to keep ticket prices affordable. Any donation is very appreciated. Thank you for helping my dream come true. You can e-mail me @ megankateward@gmail.com or send me a facebook message regarding a donation. You can also mail & make out the checks to Megan Ward, 2342 NW Hoyt #4, Portland, Or 97210.

Steven is a wonderful New York playwright who had is premiere of ANOTHER FINE MESS at Portland Center Stage in 2003, which was workshopped at JAW 2002 and was nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. His work is highly regarded among his peers in the theater community and this play in particular has an important message to tell.

Steven Drukman holds a Ph.D. from New York University where he is an Associate Arts Professor.His newest play IN THIS CORNER, commissioned by the Old Globe in San Diego, will premiere in January 2008. His other scripts include, GOING NATIVE, FLATTERY WILL GET YOU, COLLATERAL DAMAGE, SNOWMAIDEN and TRUTH AND BEAUTY.

He is a recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Award and the Paul Green Foundation Award. As a critic and journalist, his writing has been featured in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Village Voice, The Nation and many magazines. He is a former Associate Editor of American Theatre magazine.

Steven is delighted to have his play have its world premiere in Portland. He has expressed interest in coming to see my production and I plan to fly him out here to have him give a post-show talk back opening weekend.

The play THE BULLET ROUND explores the ways in which violence passes between six unrelated characters over a six-day period. At first glance the story seems to be about a white rapper, his violently racist and homophobic lyrics and his rise to the top. However, we soon learn that people are not always whom they seem to be and despite one’s good intentions, they may be unknowingly supporting aggressive or violent behavior. Mirroring the style La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler, THE BULLET ROUND comes full circle and the violence returns to those responsible. THE BULLET ROUND scrutinizes the morals, racism, and class ideology of today and challenges the audience to examine their own passivity.

The Bullet Round was commissioned by South Coast Repertory Theater and has been workshopped at Playwrights Horizons and New York Theater Workshop.

There goes the neighborhood

As some of you know, or are finding out right this second...I have been let go, laid off, downsized (whatever. it's all the same to me) from Portland Center Stage. That's not even the worst part. There is currently no literary department at PCS. If you don't know that means the fabulous Mead Hunter (aka Dr. Phun) has also been cut. As much as this saddens me, to leave the only LORT theater in Portland, OR. I must realize that with every door closed another one opens.

I started there as an intern in 2005 back in the "Old Country," which refers to the good old days in the PCPA. I had an interview with Kelsey and Chris at the Coffee People over there, which also is no more, where they basically said, "well yeah we would love the help, but we don't know where to put you." When my mom asked me how it went, I told her I didn't think they liked me and I don't think they want me. Turns out I was wrong! And the internship began.

Because Kelsey gets to work at some ungodly hour I could come in at 3 or 4 and use his computer after he had left to go to Shaboom (where he would sing on a cruise ship or whatever). So quickly I became close with Rose Riordan because she sat across from Kelsey and stayed later than most people. When I left Kelsey and Rose gave me a cup full of chocolates (no doubt stolen from the cupbord and stuffed with candies from Lisa Sanman's desk from when she used to bring in treats). They even made a card, that I hung on my wall my last year in college. It read: "Hey You, what's your face, Kathy... you're going to miss us so much!" And it's true. I will miss them all very much, especially the family like love and bickering.

I don't know how, because Rose is really bad with names--and fully aware of this, but somehow she remebered me and asked me to come back and interview for the company manger position. I didn't get it and we both knew it wasn't really for me anyway. Luckly, JAW/West was coming up and I worked alongside the new company manger, then Dawn Young, now Dawn Sorgnard. Dawn and I quickly became close as we nagivated the round waters that is JAW/West (now know as JAW). It was at JAW where I suddenly took notice of this boy: Kristan. I guess I was so distracted by whatever else that I didn't even notice he had a girls name.

At the end of JAW I came out with two things: a job and a boyfriend. I nearly shat myself: I have a job in the theater! Everyone said that that doesn't happen. But it did to me. I was the Artistic/Literary Assitant for almost four years. While in the position, I assisted Mead with literary things, and Rose with artistic/casting things, even assistant directed and dramaturged on three shows, child wrangled, read a ton of plays for JAW and for the season, hunted for scripts for Chris, and started a monthly reading series. So much has changed since I got there and I'm sure more will change in my absence. I am amazed at what I've learned and what this all means to me. I am very blessed to have had the experience and the support I had while at PCS and I'm excited for my next adventure.

Please keep in touch: megankateward@gmail.com

Megan is

That damn box at the top of my facebook page constantly harasses me. I spend most of my day thinking. Megan is tired. Megan is brushing her teeth. Megan wonders why she thinks in third person all the time. Megan feels like it asks me to share too much.

I can't get that little voice out of my head. It's become this nervous tick. I've never checked in with myself so much before. And not that I am the sort of person who is so out of touch with my feelings. I am very aware and sometimes too sensitive to my feelings. But now facebook has stepped my game up a notch. Thanks facebook for being my pocket psychiatrist and always asking how I'm doing and how things make me feel.

I may think of many witty things to say and to post on my facebook page, but I don't always put them down. Most are probably not appropriate or if I said what I really was thinking...whoa. I could...well you know, somethings are better left unsaid. Fact. But god bless facebook for trying to make me spill my guts.

And so I may not know anything about twitter (in fact I'm kinda frightened of it) but to me it sounds like a blog that is just a facebook status update bar...do you really want to know all that much? And how healthy is constantly thinking of yourself in third person? Seriously, does someone know the answer? Does anyone else do this? Is anyone listening to me or is it just the voices in my head?