After a very long day.... two shows, a talkback and a photo shoot.... the cast of Departure Lounge performed at Composer Exposure 2009 last night.  I accompanied them with my friend Micah.  You can see Adam Feldman, Time Out New York Theatre Critic, watching us.  He hosted the evening.  Check out a clip:

So, the show’s been open for a couple of nights and already the end is in sight.  Can’t quite believe where the times gone. There are many things I thought I would do on this trip, few of which I will probably achieve. Oh well. Just have to come back then.

I’ve been surprised and very happy with how audiences have taken to Departure Lounge. I genuinely had no idea how Americans would relate to what is a specific aspect of British culture, but people keep telling me they find the boys charming and universally appealing! Amazing how far a few jokes about a potato will get you…

I’m missing you guys- by god I had the time of my life. I’m having that bizarre experience (re)discovering that I just don’t connect very deeply to Australians and Australian culture, which is something I definitely did not find in NY where meeting people and creating felt so easy! What a bizarre exp of NY, everybody comments on how hard it is! Proof that I should (and will) be living there. Fingers crossed some major funding comes my way cos I’ll jiump on a plane and move there!

Some thoughts after the final performance of The Happy Sad:

Well, The Happy Sad is open and and I couldn't have predicted the overwhelming positive responses that the show has gotten. It was a crazy few days leading up to opening night. I did a major rewrite of a scene on Friday, the set threw us a few curveballs during tech, and Trip and I realized that The Happy Sad is a big big show. The shows keep getting better and like all of us SPF playwrights (I imagine) I am really hoping the show has a longer second life. I am been amazed at how much older audiences like the play. I also hear that subscribers are scared of sex and frank material. But the folks who have come to see Happy Sad have not had that reaction. I watch in the audience every night I can and see how engaged they are. I haven't seen the show for the past two nights because I had to go to Williamstown for a reading and to receive the Weissberger Prize (another big highlight of the summer). I can't wait for the final three shows. I know the actors will have grown even more confident in their roles. Right now, despite  the exhaustion and this summer cold from hell, I am very happy. Come Sunday after we close, I can tell I am going to be very sad.