Writer / Actor / Teacher

April 2012: finally there is news (no doubt you have been checking in daily). John has finished a solid draft of his book Tell Me A Story In The Dark, A Guide To Creating And Telling Magical Bedtime Stories To Young Children.  Current plan is to create an iPad app whereby parents can download lushly produced bedtime stories created by professional voice actors.  Coming soon: a link to a USA Artists request for funds.  Also coming soon: a sample chapter.

August 2011: a new essay by John on the clash between theater for young audiences and video games is live on Howlround (the new play blog published by Arena Stage).  For a brief proposal on a new YA play, please contact John.

April 2011: God Fire is presented by the Playwrights Center, as part of their Ruth Easton series.  The play features direction by Giovanna Sardelli,  design work by Daniel Kluger and dramaturgy by Wendy Weckworth.  For more info and/or a perusal script, please contact John.

March 2011: Art Dog will be produced at Seattle Childrens Theatre in the fall of 2012.  The play is based on the picture book by Thacher Hurd and has songs and music composed by Sue Ennis.  The show will be directed by  SCT artistic director Linda Hartzell.

January 2011: The Magic Bicycle premieres at First Stage Milwaukee: a fast-paced adventure about time travel.  For more information and/or a perusal script, please contact John.

January 2011: new play is finished, a holiday comedy called A Slaying Song Tonight.  For information and for a perusal script, contact John.

October 2010: new play finished.  The Deflowering Of Young Father Trimleigh.  A sample scene will appear shortly.  For more info and for a script, please contact John.

September 2010: more TYA shows scheduled. Jason And The Golden Fleece at Nashville Childrens Theatre; Pharaoh Serket And The Lost Stone Of Fire at Carousel Theatre; Sideways Stories From Wayside School at Oregon Childrens Theatre, Raleigh Little Theatre and Georgia State Theatre.

September 2010: John’s oft-produced adaptation of Sideways Stories From Wayside School will open in November at South Coast Repertory.  This will be a revival of a production that ran successfully in 2003.  Directed by Anne D’Zmura

September 2010: John’s newest, God Fire, is scheduled at the Playwrights  Center in April 2011.  The play will be part of the Center’s Ruth Easton Series.

June 2010: a workshop of Art Dog is presented by Seattle Childrens Theater.  Based on the book by Thacher Hurd, with songs by Sue Ennis, design by L.B. Morse, to be directed at SCT by artistic director Linda Hartzell.

June 2010: The Voice of The Prairie has opened at San Diego’s North Coast Rep.  To read excellent reviews, go here, and here.

June 2010: a workshop of The Magic Bicycle is presented at First Stage Milwaukee. The play opens Jan 14.  For more info, go here.

May 2010: 1968 deal inked.  John is one of 8 writers slated to contribute material to the Great American History Theater’s production of 1968, a play about that eventful year.

April 2010: a production of THE VOICE OF THE PRAIRIE will open at San Diego’s North Coast Rep, running May 26-June 20, directed by Lynne Griffin.

March 2010: THE SUMMER MOON is now officially published and available at Playscripts, Inc.  Note that the play won a Kennedy Center Award for New Plays and was produced at South Coast Rep and at ACT/Seattle.

March 2010: IDDLE MINGLISH to be produced by Miami’s City Theatre in June of 2010.

February 2010: SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL to be remounted by South Coast Rep.  Production is tentatively set for February 2011.

February 2010: THE MAGIC BICYCLE to be produced in January 2011 by First Stage Milwaukee.

January 2010: John is once again teaching Screenwriting I at the University of Minnesota.

December 2009:  ART DOG deal inked.  John’s next project for Seattle Childrens Theatre will be a musical adaptation of the wonderful children’s picture book by Thacher Hurd.  Music and songs will be provided by Sue Ennis.  The play will play at SCT in the fall of 2011.

September 2009: a workshop of WATER BABIES, John’s adaptation of the classic Charles Kingsley novel, is presented by the Playwrights Center.  

July 2009: THE SUMMER MOON publication deal inked.  The play will be published by Playscripts, Inc. in 2010.

July 2009:  a workshop production of THE MAGIC BICYCLE, an adventure comedy about time travel, produced at First Stage Milwaukee, directed by Jeff Frank.

July 2009: John’s 10 minute play IDDLE MINGLISH is named a finalist for the Heileman Prize, a co-production of Actors Theatre of Louisville and City Theatre in Florida.  Click on the play link for access to the complete text.

June 2009: PORN, a short screenplay, is written for Falling Up Sky Pictures.  The piece will be produced and posted on YouTube.  Click on the script link for access to the complete text.

June 2009: John begins reviewing theater for HowWasTheShow.com.

February 2009: a rave review of John’s PHARAOH SERKET AND THE LOST STONE OF FIRE appears here, in the Seattle Times.  “A riveting adventure.”

January 2009: PHARAOH SERKET AND THE LOST STONE OF FIRE opens on the main stage of Seattle Childrens Theatre, in a production directed by Kurt Beattie.  The first purely original play to be staged at SCT in many years.

December 2008: a workshop of the new musical A SLAYING SONG TONIGHT is presented at the Playwrights Center, with lyricist Sue Ennis and composer Hummie Mann in residence.

June 2008: John is Guest Playwright at the 7 Devils Playwrights  Conference in McCall, Idaho.

June 2008: THE VOICE OF THE PRAIRIE is a hit in its production at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.  Play still going strong.  Here’s a link to the L.A. Times review.