Depot News
News and notes about playwrights, actors, stage managers, directors, and Depotees. Congratulations to all on their many successes!
Dates in parentheses indicate a season when a playwright’s work was read at the Depot. See the Past Seasons Page for more information.
Putt Play in June Fest
Barry M. Putt, Jr.’s Omeed Tapestries (2018) will be produced as part of the [New York] Midtown International Theatre Festival, 2026. Several pre-production events have been planned. On 11 June, at the Drama Book Shop, the cast will perform scenes, followed by a book signing of the script. The event begins at 7:30 and is free.
On 28 June, the cast and crew will march in New York’s Heritage of Pride March.
Dresner’s “Manatee” comes to Norwich
Chelsea Players of Norwich is set to produce Mara Dresner’s “Dance for a Manatee” (2025) May 29-June 7th. Details to come.
Also, Mara’s “How Many Children?” has been selected for Smith & Krause’s The Best 10-Minute Plays, 2026.
Two Scranton Plays up
On 14 March at Trinity Methodist, Springfield, MA, Bing Productions will present two short plays by Ben Scranton (2021, ‘26): “A Revolutionary Roast” and “The Head of Seamus Delaney.” The show begins at 7:30 PM and admission is free.
SHAMES HEADS to DC
Playing Against theater company presents a staged reading of Germaine Shames’ “The Joy of Theatre” (2026) on 23 February at the Busboys and Poets in Takoma space, Washington, D.C. Proceeds will be donated to the 10 Steps Campaign, a nationwide mobilization and education effort led by Stacy Abrams.
Rushton’s Traveling Troupe onstage Soon
Jack Rushton and the Traveling Troupe of the Playwright’s Collaborative will return to the Actors Studio of Newburyport for a Play in a Day Transformation Show, February 27, 28, and March 1. On March 20-22, they return to the Chelmsford Center for the Arts for an all-new 2026 rendition of “From Heartbreak to Hilarity,” seven short plays in one evening that explore our humanity.
McGoldrick Play In new York shorts Festival
“The New Pasteur” by Michael McGoldrick (2021) has been selected by the American Renaissance Theater Company for Two by Four: An Evening of One Acts. Directed by Andrea Andresakis, the play will be performed 23, 24, 25, and 27 January at the 124 Bank Street Theater in New York City.
MINIgan’s Busy winter
John Minigan’s (2018, ‘19, ‘21, ‘22) “Sarai’s Knife” won the Honeggar Prize for full-length plays by New England playwrights and receives a reading, 22 January at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, MA.
PlayZoomers has selected Minigan’s “The Noir before Christmas” for publication in their anthology of short plays, Comedies for the Virtual Stage.
Barley Sheaf Players of Lionville, PA presents a reading of “Out of the Scorpion’s Nest” (formerly “Queen of Sad Mischance”) 30 and 31 January.
Wiess Handbell concert
Debbie Wiess performed in a Christmas handbell concert with the Old South Ringers ensemble in Boston on 7 December.
A video of the concert may be accessed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DtCNkaFavQ&list=RD8DtCNkaFavQ&start_radio=1
(If the link does not work, go to YouTube and search “Old South Ringers.”)
Butters on stage
Julie Butters has been cast as Fanny Dashwood in the Castle Hills production of the Kate Hamill adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The production is directed by Kristina Grundmann (Brendel) and runs March 6–22 in the Great House Ballroom of the Crane Estate.
Putt play Airs on Roku
An industry reading of Barry M. Putt, Jr.’s play, Omeed Tapestries, read at the Depot in 2018, is now streaming on the Roku channel, Indie.
Arts News Now has also published an article about the industry reading of the play. To access the article, click the link above.
Macgregor wins Playwrights first Award
David MacGregor (2025) has won the Playwrights First Award for 2024-2025. Founded in 1993 by literary agent Caroline French, Playwrights First seeks to advance playwrights who demonstrate exceptional promise. The first awardee was Margaret Edson, whose Playwrights First submission, Wit, went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama.
David has won the award for “Mildred Whiskey,” which the Depot presented in June of 2025. Directed by Gary Poe, the cast featured Madeleine Dauer, Suzanne Steele McCormack, Kody Mileski, and Ryan Zemanek. Dorian Mendez served as stage manager.
Ringel Anthology nominated
Monsters in the Mills, edited by Christa Carmen of Westerly and L.E. Daniels, former Rhode Islander living in Australia, is an anthology of tales of horror set in and around the mills of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Depotee Faye Ringel provided the concept and title and wrote the introduction. In addition to being a Shirley Jackson Awards and Australasian Horror Writers Association's Shadows Awards finalist, it is now a finalist for the 2024 Ditmar Awards, to be presented in Canberra at Australia's National Science Fiction Convention. Monsters in the Mills is the second anthology created by this group of horror writers, poets, and scholars: the first was We are Providence (2022). A third anthology is now being assembled, not yet titled.
Heinecke art Piece doc
On 31 May, at the Caelum Gallery, Sophia Valera Heinecke (2023) presented her new art work about the “granularity” of knowing another person well, Manifold Sands.” The documentary Sophia made to capture the piece is available to watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isBnT2ftFs8
PUTT Christmas Play published
Kinsman Avenue will publish A Home for Christmas by Barry M. Putt, Jr. (2018) in time for the holiday season this year. The play centers on two homeless boys who befriend a stranger on Christmas Eve and discover a new sense of family.
Tofte Wins $20K GRant
Amy Tofte (2022, ‘24) has won a Los Angeles New Play Project (LANPP) grant of $20,000 for “Righteous Among Us,” read at the Depot in 2022. The LANPP grants were established by producers Paula Holt and Nathan Birnbaum, who, in collaboration with the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, the UCLA Foundation, and the gift of an anonymous donor, seek to bring new work to small and mid-sized Los Angeles theaters. “Righteous Among Us” was produced at Little Fish Theatre.
Amy thanks the Depot for our assistance in the development of “Righteous Among Us.”
Shen’s YZ Rep wins obie
Sally Shen, Executive Director of Yangtze Repertory Theatre, announces that their production of Jeremy Tiang’s Salesman/之死 has won the Obie Award for Outstanding New Play.
cooney on “best of” list
Amy Goldschlager, for Oprah Daily, has selected Claire Cooney’s Saint Death’s Daughter for her top 20 most transporting fantasy novels. Goldschlager notes the novel’s “morbid comedy, intricate wordplay,” and “sweetness and charm,” and she ranks Saint Death’s Daughter 11th on the list.
Depot featured on radio
The Depot was featured on the Wayne Norman Show, WILI AM. Audio of Wayne’s 20-minute conversation with Anne is available here: https://media.transistor.fm/3bb41a75/a3f45216.mp3
Powers named Poet Laureate
The Board of Trustees of Scotland Public Library has named Susan Powers the town’s first Poet Laureate. To encourage poetry writing and appreciation, Susan has taught classes at Parish Hill High School and leads a monthly poetry workshop at the Scotland Public Library, as well as organizing poetry readings at the library and elsewhere. For more information, visit the Connecticut Council of Poets Laureate website: https://ctpoetlaureates.com/
For Susan’s poem about Scotland, CT visit https://ctpoetlaureates.com/poems-about-towns/scotland/
Mcgoldrick makes a CarToon
Michael McGoldrick (2021) has begun a new venture in writing and producing cartoons. Check out his first show, “Trick Me!” a humorous Halloween story, available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYjoV-YWyyE
Houlker at Yale
Surrey Houlker (2023) begins her second year at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale as one of the three MFA candidates in the Class of 2027 in playwriting.
Blak wins Getchell
Cris Eli Blak (2021) has won the 2024 Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest, sponsored by the Southeastern Theater Conference, for Between Dog and Wolf.
Latham play online
Eclectic Full Contact Theatre presents a new short play by Donna Latham (2021, 2022), “Memento Mori,” a love story set in a nineteenth-century post-mortem photographer’s studio. The audio play and interview with Donna are available here: tinyurl.com/EFCTHHAH
Latham monologue published
Smith and Kraus have published Grumio’s monologue from the short play “Best Beware My Sting” by Donna Latham (2021, 2022). The monologue appears in the 2024 edition of The Best Men’s Stage Monologues, edited by Debbie Lamedman.
Shames wins guild fellowship
Germain Shames (2021) has been selected for a 2024-2025 Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellowship. Germaine joins a class of eleven playwrights. Through the program, Germaine will be able to attend workshops and receive mentorship in developing her work for productions.
Anne is Podcast guest
Anne appears on Rachel Feeny-Williams’ Theatrical Shenanigans podcast, season 2, episode 6. The podcast features an audio performance of Ryan Kaminski’s “The Deal” with Vivian Howard and Arthur Nelligan. Afterwards, Rachel and Anne discuss the play. To listen to this episode and other episodes of Rachel’s podcast: https://theatricalshenanigans.podbean.com/e/s02-e06-episode-6-the-deal-anne-flammang/
Anne also appears as a guest on George Sapio’s Onstage/Offstage Podcast, Episode #171. You can find the podcast here: https://onstageoffstage.podbean.com/
Both podcasts are fantastic and quite distinct in format, so check out other episodes and support theater podcasters!
Sapio Named Macdowell fellow
George Sapio (2022) was named a 2023 MacDowell Fellow. George was resident at the Peterborough, NH campus in March: “I could wax prolific about my time there, but suffice to say it was a watershed….”
BOSTON PODCAST Players
Season Three of Boston Podcast Players features interviews with playwrights who reflect on the impact of the pandemic. Highly recommended listening. Find the podcast on iTunes and on the BPP website.
