A critic once described one of my characters as confused because she used sophisticated vocabulary alongside backwards syntax. But the people I grew up around were never easy reads. They were capable of profound insight and terrible judgment, often in the same afternoon…

This week I’m thrilled to share a guest essay from award-winning playwright, librettist, and poet Jacqueline Goldfinger. BONUS: Check out her new TikTok channel www.tiktok.com/@all.things.... audreycefaly.substack.com/p/art-and-th...

Here's a craft article on taking risks and talking goats. #AlabamaGoatPlay #Alabaster #writingtips #thursdayinspiration #craft #newplay #amwriting audreycefaly.substack.com/p/if-these-g...

The real estate traveled between the moment a loop is opened and the moment it’s closed is where the listener’s attention sharpens. Memory imprints more clearly. Investment deepens.

Everyone: “Chekhov is subtle.” Also Chekhov: “I shot a seagull and gave it to you. Here it is.” Sir???

Most plays aren’t about what happens. They’re about what can’t. What can’t be said. What can’t be undone. What can’t be forgiven. Start there. audreycefaly.substack.com/p/your-plot-...

“No stone unturned. No maggot lonely.” Harold Pinter on Beckett

Art is how we mark the walls of time. A gesture. A sound. A story told by firelight or spotlight or the flicker of a screen. It doesn’t preserve us so much as prove we were here—that we saw, that we felt, that we tried to name the shape of being alive.

Sometimes we are so busy writing the lines that we forget the biggest thing of all: What the room is doing to the people in it. audreycefaly.substack.com/p/playwritin... #playwriting #craft #amwriting #writingtips #writinghacks #subtext

Just made a one-sheet for artistic directors and literary managers and… wow. This play has been places! Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since I directed the world premiere for the Inaugural Women’s Voices Festival. Grateful. Gobsmacked. Still going. #maytagvirgin

I don’t trust plays that beg you to cry. I don’t trust characters who “grieve” in tidy monologues about how much they miss someone. I don’t trust weepy music or lighting cues that whisper, now feel this. But reader: I used to.

If you’ve ever written your way into a truth you didn’t know was waiting… this one’s for you. audreycefaly.substack.com/p/writing-fr... #playwriting #memoir #twins #amwriting #mondaymotivation

“How Is Live Theater Still Alive?It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the believers still believe. Why? And does the world really want a new musical about … Abraham Lincoln?! (Part one of a three-part series.)” freakonomics.com/podcast/how-...

My top 10 playwriting hacks. Happy writing! open.substack.com/pub/audreyce...

Theater makers give their "beyond the textbook" take on what makes a stage play theatrical. #playwriting #newplay #amwriting #writingtips audreycefaly.substack.com/p/what-makes...

"Now we face our greatest test. Running theatre companies is harder than ever, but not only because we have at least 30% less funding than two decades ago. Not only because arts subjects in schools and universities were systematically depopulated..." www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/fea...

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ht Michelle LaCroix for posting this over on Substack.

Had a blast recording this podcast with @dennishensley.bsky.social Hensley and my writing partner, #CarolynMessina. TOPICS: #AlabamaGoatPlay (aka #Alabaster), writing trauma, comedy, and what it was like getting published by #SamuelFrench. Have a listen! #playwriting #amwriting #dramaturgy

My husband and I started a thing. Join us! #pridesquatch

The final mission is the total subjugation of children to parental control with no recourse for their right to information or an open future

For those of you that like to listen to me drone on about my writing world, here I am talking about the evolution of Alabaster (#AlabamaGoatPlay) with James Elden. TOPICS: stagecraft, theatricality, hypnotic language, playwright vocabulary, and the rules of the card game. Have a listen!

Los Angeles peeps, go see my show tonight at Fountain Theatre. It's Pay What You Can! “A magnificent piece of Southern women’s storytelling at its best and brightest.” hollywoodtimes.net/review-fount...

Theaters, actors, artistic directors—if you're seeking a play that strikes a chord in an era of natural disasters and climate denial, Alabaster should be on your list to read and produce. Listen to the full interview: www.lucypr.com/Projects/Web...

Something I've been doing a lot of lately, both personally and professionally. #allthecake #cheaperthantherapy #playwriting #amwriting audreycefaly.substack.com/p/audrey-cef...

As truth seekers, we are gifted with the unique ability to ask important questions of ourselves and of one another and to implore a heartfelt response. Your work is not confined to the page or the stage; it’s in every chat room... audreycefaly.substack.com/p/you-are-th...

ht @playwrightnow.bsky.social

You never forget the first person who declares themself a fan of your writing. Make sure you remember to be that person for someone else. #writingcommunity #authorsky #writersky #authorsofsky #WritingBlueSky #WritersofBlueSky #playwriting #playwright #theater #amwriting

Been wanting to put this in writing for a while now; finally got around to it. Maybe this will help someone looking to write or wrangle a 10-minute play. Enjoy!

When so many theaters are closing, what a refreshing bit of news to see that a wonderful theater like CAST Carolina Actors Studio Theatre is in a moment of revival with my play Alabaster in Chaarlotte! qcnerve.com/cast-returns...

My latest article, How to Write the 10-Minute Play. #playwriting #playwrights #newplay #amwriting

Head up: I'm working up a 3-part series on Hypnotic Playwriting. Watch this post for the first installment and follow my free Substack for updates. audreycefaly.substack.com

This is how silence in playwriting can work and I will die on this particular hill. The air is charged with electricity, and 500 people lean forward in their seats, seemingly frozen for fear of breaking the spell. 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vm1...

I just suggested a line change to a play already published and actively in production at five theaters. I will be six feet under and still editing this play. #pathology

Good happy vibes from my Baltimore art table.