Mike Mariano

Work continues on The Egypt Play, but the second act appears just as tepid as the first. Plus I found out that I cannot write with a British voice. All my years of slavish Anglophilia have gone to waste; I’m hopelessly American. How did the Hull College production of Couchophilia deal with lines like “Best goddamn Presidents Day weekend of my life.”?

Despite my inadequate service to the empire, I may begin a side project based on an English fairy tale: Jack the Giant Killer. I haven’t yet read the tale as linked, but the story’s format may make for something episodic.

Oh, and my Menage a Sartre expansion is finished. But while I have added roughly seven minutes to the play, I discovered that the play is nearly fifteen minutes shorter than my 2004 estimate. The expanded Menage has a duration of only 36 minutes. At least, I think it does. To be more accurate, me reading Menage out loud has a duration of only 36 minutes.

I’m concerned: what are the real running times of my plays? I read them aloud, I count pages, but these aren’t exact methods. Everyone reading this now has to put on one of my plays, if only to get an accurate time length. Bonus points if you’re British.

Here’s the thing about Dean.

(7:21) Dean Hurley: btw - i noticed this thing with u and peeps interacting with inanimate objects

(7:21) Dean Hurley: couch, stuffed animal

Sometimes you ask questions.

(7:53) Mike Mariano: Wait—

(7:53) Mike Mariano: You just noticed this NOW?!

(7:53) Dean Hurley: lmao

(7:54) Dean Hurley: i am slow

(7:55) Mike Mariano: This has been my oeuvre for years!

Sometimes you don’t.

(8:13) Dean Hurley: i want a cat

(8:32) Dean Hurley: I WANT A FUCKING CAT

Has it really been almost four years since Tony first expressed physical love for his furniture? Indeed yes; the act of Couchophilia has existed for a long while. So why was the play’s last production in 2002?

All of that will change this month. Couchophilia will be performed at Hull College in the UK!

This, production, my first play in England, will have just one performance Wednesday, November 23 at 8pm. The performance is part of the Arts Festival at Hull College and will take place in The Riverside Theatre, Horncastle Building, Charlotte Street, Hull, UK.

As always, performance is mandatory for all Mike Mariano dot com readers. So for all you Americans, you need to get out your rowboats and start paddling.