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In June 2019, I got to teach playwriting to a creative and clever group of teens through the Eugene O’Neill Studio Retreat. The students had one week to write an original play at the historical Tao House and then we had one week to rehearse the plays with students in the actor program.

It was a delight to work with Norman Gee, Brady Lea, and all of the writers, actors, and volunteers. I remain particularly grateful to the students who educated me about the significance of Vines and invited me into their funny, heart-string-tugging, and contemplative worlds.

I’m anxious to hear my play “Intertwined,” commissioned by The Vagrancy in Los Angeles, read for the first time at the Blossoming reading series on Sunday, May 26th.

This piece is thoughtfully directed by Gleason Bauer, and played by Intae Kim, Bree Wernicke, Eddie Mui, Elaine Kao, Paul Mackley, and Tamar Fortgang, with stage directions read by Megan DeHart.

Please join us at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Cafe in Silverlake in Los Angeles. Admission is pay-what-you-want. Stay until 6:30pm for a new play, “Molly,” about MDMA by Howard Ho!

Honored that my song “You Can’t Hide” co-written by Phil Surtees will be performed for Musical Cafe‘s Cabaret Benefit on Sunday, February 3. Musical Cafe is a project of Play Cafe, which both support the development of new plays by Bay Area writers.

This year, I was invited to return to the HBMG Foundation‘s National Winter Playwrights’ Retreat for the Fifth Anniversary reunion where I played (a version of) hockey on a frozen pond, ate at Arp’s a lot, and had a closed developmental reading of my full length play, “Sweet, Sweet Revolution.”

Many thanks to Ann Pittman Zarate and Manuel Zarate for hosting as well as to all of the artists who participated in the retreat as well as this incredibly helpful reading, including Amanda J. Bermudez, Joshua Bermudez, Liz Engelman, Patrick Gabridge, Kate Brennan, Annie Butler, and Alice Stanley.

This winter, the HBMG Foundation invited me to include a second play in their American Playbook project. “How Touching” was originally commissioned by the Playwrights Foundation for their One-Minute Play Festival, and I updated this piece for the American Playbook.

Many thanks to Ann Pittman Zarate, Kate Brennan, Greg DeCandia, Amanda Bermudez, and Joshua Bermudez for reading and recording this important piece about consent and children.

In September, my play concept “Intertwined”  was accepted as a commission for The Vagrancy’s 2018-2019 Playwrights’ Group which will lead to a staged performance on Sunday, May 26, 2019 during The Blossoming new play development series. All of the plays have been inspired by the theme of “true crime,” and my piece explores anti-miscegenation laws and how they particularly impacted Chinese people living in the United States.

During this project, I met twice a month with other fantastic participants, including poet librecht baker, composer and writer Howard Ho, (check out his Hamilton series on YouTube!), writer Kate Mickere, actor and writer Ilana Turner, and writer and director Katherine Vondy to read new pages and receive and offer feedback.

Please join me at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre in Silverlake on Sunday, May 26 at 3:30pm. Admission is pay-what-you-want and supports new play development in Los Angeles.

Dr. Vera Donnenberg, Tracy Held Potter, Dr. John Stolz

I was honored to be welcomed back to the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama to speak about my experiences writing two science-inspired screenplays with the support of the Sloan Foundation. My feature “Science Fair the Musical” won an Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting award in 2014 with the scientific advisement of Dr. John Stolz from Duquense University. The following year, I got to collaborate with Dr. Vera Donnenberg from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to develop an action comedy television pilot.

HMBG Foundation Reading, Austin, TX: performed by (left to right): Tyler Jones, playwright Amina McIntyre, Kelsey Smith, Ann Pittman Zarate (and Baby Z!), Tracy Held Potter (playwright), Michael Reyna.

On Saturday, April 7, 2018, HBMG Foundation hosting a live reading and audio recording of my drama “Plastic Nest” that had previously been developed at their National Winter Playwrights Retreat. Although I had been developing this piece for three years, this reading allowed me to hear something that hadn’t come across before and now I’m rewriting the first act to strengthen the male lead.

Thanks to Trinity Street Players for hosting and to Ann and Manuel for making this possible!

Honored to announce that my play “Plastic Nest” was selected as a Semifinalist for the Playwrights Foundation‘s 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. They received nearly 700 submissions for this national festival, and I’m delighted that this play got so far in the process.