I woke up this morning, feeling a little congested: that's what happens when you live in southern Cali and February temps reach 80 degrees and wild fires plague the hills in every direction. Yesterday there was literally ash falling from the sky. And, no, that ain't the first time. My neighbor even had her front door wide open and says Isn't it a beautiful day? I'm like, what part of the day is beautiful? That huge plume of smoke drifting across the sky or how everyone's car is littered with ash? She smiled 'cause she thought I was joking. And I'm like: Is she an idiot? We're sucking down embers, woman. Don't be surprised in five years if we have BLACK LUNG!

Anyway... I check my email: and to my surprise my short film INVISIBLE SCREAM was selected for the 5th Annual Arizona Black Film Festival. Good news! Now I have a legit excuse to travel to Phoenix in mid March. Which means I can also travel to Sedona—the amazing spiritual haven that's nestled in red mountains and word is there some healing vortex surrounding the place that stirs your spirit so much you can't even sleep. MY KIND OF SPOT!

I also received an email from a playwright-friend who's down at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival this week workshopping her new play. Another actor-friend emailed me yesterday explaining she was there acting in Carlyle Brown's play PURE CONFIDENCE, and how she didn't understand why I wasn't there. So, here's the deal: ASF commissioned me to write a play about George Washington Carver. And I did. And after four years of development and readings the former artistic director, Kent Thompson, decided to produce it February 2006. Well, Kent Thompson left to AD at Denver Center Theater, and some kat named Geoffery Sherman took over at ASF. And in June 2005 Geoffery called me and told me he didn't like my play, that he let his "black" friend read the play and he didn't like it either, AND he wasn't going to produce it. Nasty, right? Well add on: the tone is his voice was curt, uncaring and rude. Imagine my shock. I never met this man in my life. The former artistic director LOVED the play, everyone was excited to produce it, and then this guy comes in and yanks the rug. It took me a good two months to get over that completely. There's a lot more I'm leaving out, but I'm trying to control my impulse to fly down to Alabama, walk up to Geoffery and @%*$&(#)%*#)#**$* all up and through that theater.

So... six months later. I get this email from my playwright friend who tells me Geoffery is treating her very unprofessionally. After a succesful reading of her play [including standing O], she walks over to Geoffery to say Hello and get a sense of his response. The first thing that comes out of his mouth was: Do I owe you money? THEN... she tells him all is good, but that she wanted to express her excitement about the audience's response. He tells her, Well, I guess I wasn't as moved as everyone else. Then he laughs. She then sees him the following day and he pulls her to the side and says: Too bad you're not black. She said she just looked at him. He then apologized and said that was a horrible thing to say. Things you need to know immediately: my playwright-friend is white and she's written a play about black quilt-makers. Geoffery Sherman is white and a JACK ASS.

I don't know how this man is getting away with this behavior. And why the Alabama Shakespeare Festival community is tolerating it. Especially with their reputation of embracing, developing and producing such heavy-hitters as Kia Corthron, Regina Taylor, Carlyle Brown, Romulus Linney.

I'm really disturbed by what's going on down at Alabama Shakespere Festival. And that this Geoffery is getting away with being horrible to playwrights. If you see a letter to the editor of American Theater magazine, don't be surprised. I just feel I owe it to myself and the theater community to expose this man's TOXIC-NESS. I probably need to take my butt to Sedona, Arizona first and think it over. Maybe Sedona will shed some sincere spiritual light on how to deal with a man who's obviously so no right for the business of empowering art and culture.

Well, I'm off into the ash-filled air of L.A.

Until next time,

Keith