I began writing for the theatre in earnest on December 28, 1996, at 11 AM. At that moment I was literally struck with an actual physical jolt by the revelation that composing for the stage was exactly what I should pursue as a writer. For the previous eight years I had made my living as a freelance writer, working on everything from simple ad copy to helping graduate students with Ph.D. dissertations, passing through biographies of Eric Clapton and complete business directories with copy and photos. (I also worked as a freelance photographer.)

All during this time I was looking for some form of writing that would weave mysocial, political, and economic concerns. I tried poetry, short stories, radio commentaries, essays (including op-ed pieces), none of which satisfied the dual desire for useful and artistic writing with a public face.

During this time I also worked in the theatre, following a love drawn from innumerable high school and college productions and worked as a "techie" (including a stint as the resident stage manager at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH).

What struck me on December 28, 1996, was extraordinarily simple: why not simply extend my participation in the theatre by writing for it? I received this insight while standing in the kitchen of my friend's house during his annual post-Christmas brunch. All the people attending were in the theatre, and I had worked with all of them in one capacity or another. I stood in the kitchen, orange juice in hand, thinking, "You like these people -- you have always liked these people. You have always liked the theatre. You love the power of the real-time moment of people being on stage. So why don't you write for the theatre?"

Since that time I have pursued playwriting full tilt. With no existential qualms whatever (well, a few), I tell myself that this is what I am going to be doing for the next fifty years because in writing for the theatre I can present everything I have ever wanted to say in a medium that stretches to embrace it. Not exactly Saul on the road to Damascus, but the revelation was profound nevertheless. And each day I have the privilege of discovering it all over again.