My show The Quest For Don Quixote is being produced by the Main Street Theatre Works in Jackson, CA. I’m honored to be part of their 20th anniversary at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre.

The show is directed by Allen Pontes, who directed my show Around the World in 80 Days at Main Street Theatre back in 2009.

The cast includes:

Blair Leatherwood as Ben, the playwright. (I can’t even lie and say the role is loosely based on me. It’s pretty much completely me)

Ken Nitschke at Don Quixote

Paul Fearn as Jeffry (completely based on my old manager Jeffry Melnick, RIP)

Kevin Menager as Sancho Panza

Lisa Derthick, who plays about 9 different characters

Donna-Lisa Otto, who plays about 8 different characters

Here’s a bit about the show from the press release:

“The Quest for Don Quixote is a hilarious retelling of The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha, but with this adaptation beginning in a Starbucks. Playwright Ben Eisenberg is feverishly working on his stage adaptation of Don Quixote, with rehearsals starting tomorrow. But there’s one big problem ~ he hasn’t written a single word. With help/pressure from his agent and a possible near-lethal dose of caffeine and Xanax, Starbucks transforms, with patrons becoming characters in the rapidly developing story. With windmills, horses, and demons, this fast-paced comedy is sure to keep the audience on the edge of their camp chairs.”

The Lowdown

When: June 16th – July 15th

Where: Main Street Theatre Works at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre

Tickets: $20 (Link to tickets)

Why: Because it’s a fun show and I need every penny to pay for my daughter’s college education.

Why else: Amador county has more than 50 wineries. Come see the show. Visit all of the wineries, come see the show again.

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I love the theatre. It’s been the one constant in my life. Well, that and my depression. I love the theatre because it is magical to me. It’s a place where people come together for the purpose of telling a story. Actors, writers, directors, lighting designers, set designers, costume designers, the list goes on and on. All coming together to tell a story.

Brandi Underwood, the founding artistic director of the Fat Turtle Theatre Company in Indianapolis, has made a wonderful film about what it means to be part of a theatre community. The film was made as part of the marketing campaign for my play The Quest for Don Quixote. But it could be about any show and any theatre. From a $1.98 theatre to a multi-million dollar theatre.

It’s a beautiful and moving film that sums up my love for the theatre.

“This is a story that is for everyone who knows what it means to be part of a theater community and family. For the people who know the struggle of telling a story, and for the people who understand what it means to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

This film is about doing just that.”

If this doesn’t want to make you go into theatre, nothing will.

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The Fat Turtle Theatre Company (I love that name) in Indianapolis just closed an extremely successful run of my play The Quest for Don Quixote.

“In adapting the unadaptable, this hilarious play about a play about an immortal character that transcends his literature, bends the rules enough to blend medieval chivalry with Pinkie Pie from ‘My Little Pony.'”

Yep, one character is a closeted bronie. You can read the whole review here: Fat Turtle hilariously handles impossible quest to dramatize Don Quixote. 

The show starred:

• Jason Page as Ben, Horseman #1, Sanson Carrasco, Knight of the Wood
• Dan Flahive as Jeffry (based on my real life manager), Innkeeper, Horseman #2, Mambrino Barber, Fernando, Squire of the Wood, Duke of Tierra Malvados
• Jeff Maess as Don Quixote
• Nan Macy as Barista, Housekeeper, Horseman #3, Crapbeater, Inkeeper’s Wife, Shepherd, Domingo, Marge, Duchess of Tierra Malvados
• Savannah Jay as Antonia, Death Horseman, Crapbeater, Maritornes, Shepherd, Princess Micomicona, Not Dulcinea, Dulcinea
• Justin Lyon as Sancho Panza

It was directed Aaron Cleveland (who is shooting for the Mark Brown canon award, having done Tom Jones, Around the World in 80 Days and now The Quest for Don Quixote).

Live Guitar Accompaniment was by Chris McNeely

Thank you to everyone at the Fat Turtle Theatre Company for doing the show. I really appreciate it. Now which one of my shows do you want to do next?

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The Fat Turtle Theatre Company in Indianapolis, IN is producing my new-ish play The Quest for Don Quixote.

It’s my most personal play, based on real events in my life. It’s about a writer who struggles with the fear of failure, depression and the sometimes paralyzing fear of life. And it’s a comedy.

I sat down, via Skype, with director Aaron Cleveland, the other day to talk about the play. I believe this is the third play of mine that Aaron has directed. If you have grown weary of watching paint dry, take some time to watch this interview.

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In two weeks I’ll be heading to Tahlequah, OK to the Tahlequah Community Playhouse for its production of Around the World in 80 Days.

Last year the theatre produced The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge and the people running the theatre are foolhardy enough to do another one of my shows.

When I was at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR last November for the opening of its production of Around the World in 80 Days, some people from Tahlequah made the hour drive to come see it.

Everyone at the playhouse is lovely and they are extremely generous to fly me out for a few days. Bryn Smith, the president of Tahlequah Community Playhouse came to see every production of The Quest for Don Quixote when I was at the Arkansas New Play Festival at TheatreSquared. She’s a glutton for punishment.

I’ll be doing a talkback with the audience on opening night and I’ll be speaking at Northeastern State University earlier that day.

Look, it’s me talking to the Department of Languages and Literature. I feel sorry for the kids.

And word has it the mayor of Tahlequah wants to meet me. Please let it be about giving me the key to the city and announcing Mark Brown Day.

If you’re in the area come on out to see me and have a drink or ten.

Tahlequah Daily Press

A duck and cover drill yet they’re still rehearsing. Dedication.

Here’s the story from Tahlequah Daily Press about my visit.

Tahlequah Community Playhouse Inc. will present “Around the World in 80 Days” on Nov. 13-15 and Nov. 20-22 at the Tahlequah Armory Municipal Center Auditorium, 100 N. Water Ave.

The play was written by Mark Brown, based on the novel by Jules Verne. Brown will appear at a TCP member-only event on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 9:30 a.m. in the TAMC. Those interested in becoming members can do so by downloading the form from www.tcpok.com. Membership is $10 for individuals and $15 for a family.

 The author will also give a talk-back presentation after the Nov. 14 evening performance.

Tickets for the dinner theater are $25 for dinner and the show, and $15 for show-only tickets.

TCP is a member of American Association of Community Theatre and Oklahoma Community Theatre Association. The organization meets the last Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at St. Basil Episcopal Church on Vinita St. Check out the TCP website or Facebook Page for more information.

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My show was the featured production at the Arkansas New Play Festival at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR. The three weeks I was there gave me a fantastic opportunity to focus on the script.

The rewrites I made worked very well. I came into the second day of rehearsal bearing chocolate truffles for the two actresses because I cut two of their scenes from the first act. (Thankfully they didn’t hate me for too long. Ruby, the costume designer, is another story).

If you’ll allow me some bragging, we did five public performances and got five standing ovations. People came up to me after the shows to tell me that they laughed and laughed but were surprised that they cried at the end.

Laughter, tears, and standing ovations.

I’m very happy about that.

Here are some photos of the workshop. You can see more photos here.

Bill Rogers as Quixote and Bruce Warren as Sancho Panza.

Quixote and Sancho on the lookout for the evil enchanter Freston.

Quixote and Sancho getting ready for a night in the fields of Montiel. There’s a sun on the other side of the moon.

I believe Sancho is waxing poetic about Maritornes, a foul smelling nearly blind hunchbacked dwarf-like wench.

Ben being stabbed to death by Don Quixote. Or is he?

Quixote telling Sancho about the Knight of the Sun, who was bound and given an ice-water and sand enema.

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Well, it’s not really an update since I haven’t written anything about The Arkansas New Play Festival but I couldn’t think of anything witty.

In the Dallas airport with Mark Jacobson

I’m here in Fayetteville, Arkansas at TheatreSquared for the previously mentioned Arkansas New Play Festival, to workshop my play The Quest for Don Quixote. And it’s going swimmingly. I’m fortunate to be in the featured play slot. That means the show gets 2 1/2 weeks of rehearsal before the first public reading. And mine isn’t just a reading. It’s a full-fledged staging of the show. Actors off book. Costumes. Lights. A wee bit of a set.

Mark Shanahan pontificating

After the first read-thru I made a huge cut in the first act and moved some scenes around. It seems like it’s going to work well. David Emmes, founding Artistic Director at South Coast Rep, had suggested I make some snips in the first part of the act so it was already in the back of my mind. (David also said he thinks I have a wonderfully theatrical piece that should do very well. Just saying).

Our first stab at a horse. (Comment courtesy of my old friend Ray Wagner)

Along the way I’ve been cutting, moving, and rewriting. Which is exactly what should happen at a play festival.

I’m lucky to have some friends working on the project. My dear friend Mark Shanahan is directing and he has been invaluable. Wait. I think I mean unvaluable but that’s not a word.

My good friend Bruce Warren is knocking Sancho out of the park, and new friend Mark Jacobson has captured the neurosis of his character who is more than loosely based on me. Okay. It is me.

Bruce Warren hard at work.

Bill Rogers is Quixote, Jason Engstrom is Jeffry, Liz France is the Housekeeper, and Lupe Campos is the Niece. Ashtyn Nilsen, who did music for TheatreSquared’s production of Around the World in 80 Days, is composing music for the show.

Me and the lovely Ashtyn Nilsen

In the “Theatre is a Small World” category, Jacqueline Cox, who is the lighting designer, discovered a week into rehearsal that she designed lights for a production of my show China – The Whole Enchilada in Birmingham, Alabama. Go figure.

Some of the cast and crew at Lucky Luke’s BBQ

That’s about it. I’ll post soon about my search for the best BBQ in Fayetteville.

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I’m thrilled to say that my play The Quest for Don Quixote will be headlining the Arkansas New Play Festival this June at Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

That is completely Judy Dench!

The Swank Press Release

Playwright Ben Eisenberg sits in a Starbucks, just one day before Don Quixote begins rehearsal. There’s just one problem — he hasn’t written it. His agent is apoplectic, the advance is long since spent, and adapting a 1000-page Renaissance adventure is beginning to feel a bit like, well, tilting at windmills. But then—whether from a stroke of genius or a near-lethal dosage of caffeine and Xanax—Starbucks itself begins to transform, and the errant knight arises in this delightfully theatrical, hilarious retelling of Cervantes’s classic tale. Playwright Mark Brown’s adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days (T2, 2014) was one of the nation’s top-produced titles in 2014.

A Second Life

I wrote The Quest for Don Quixote a few years ago. I was going through a particularly hard time in my life. More importantly, I wasn’t happy with the script. So I shelved it. But I always thought there was something in the idea that I hadn’t quite tapped into yet.

So last year I resurrected the script and did major rewrites. I wanted to see if it was worth moving forward with so the Hangar Theatre graciously put together a reading of it so I could hear the first act. The response was very positive so it was full steam ahead.

Flash forward to Theatre Squared getting its hands on it when they flew me out to see their production of Around the World in 80 Days. They liked it enough to make it part of their new play festival. And they liked it enough to give it a full, no scripts in hand, three-week workshop.

You Gotta Have Friends

I’m really looking forward to working with some of my friends on this project. My dear friend, Mark Shanahan, will direct the show. Mark directed a killer world premiere of my play Tom Jones last year at Florida Studio Theatre. He also directed Around the World in 80 Days about a thousand times last year. (Mark’s play The Ding Dong is also be part of the festival. It’s hilarious).

My good friend Bruce Warren will be playing Sancho Panza. Bruce was in the world premiere of Tom Jones and two productions of Around the World in 80 Days.

My alter-ego friend Mark Jacobson will be playing Ben Eisenberg. He’s almost as neurotic as I am, which is one of the many reasons we get along so well.

The Lowdown

What: Arkansas New Play Festival

Where: TheatreSquared, 505 West Spring Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas

When: June 19 – June 28.

The Quest for Don Quixote Dates:

THURSDAY, JUNE 25 AT 8PM
FRIDAY, JUNE 26 AT 8PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 27 AT 8PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 27 AT 2PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 28 AT 2PM

If you’re in the Arkansas area, come on out and see the show. Plus there’s great BBQ there. Come for the BBQ, stay for the show.

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