February 2026

January was a strange month in this country, but I was fortunate enough to have a number of good projects and collaborators during my 4-stop road-trip, and happy to see old friends and colleagues in the Bay area, the Midwest and Southeast Texas.

I spent two weeks in Berkeley helping Pamela Gaye Walker develop her one-woman show Little Big Mouth. I knew her from a class I'd taught a few years ago at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre. She's also an old friend and cast-mate of John McGivern, so that's how I ended up helping her with her show. She’ll perform it at the Marsh Theatre, Berkeley, at the end of this month and again in March at SoloFest 2026 at the Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles.

I also spent two weeks in Milwaukee, directing my long-time collaborator John McGivern in a new collection of stories which he calls A Man for All Seasons. The show premiered in the Visiting Artists Series at the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center and has upcoming performances elsewhere in Wisconsin.

In Houston, I met with Central Asian students at North American University. We talked about leadership and what’s it like for them now as international students in the USA. It's changed a lot since they arrived. I also met with board members from the Texas Kyrgyz and Qazaq Foundations to talk about the growth and goals of their communities.

And finally, I spent a few days in Beaumont, TX, teaching workshops in physical theatre and creative process for students at Lamar University, where I directed my play, So You Can Look Ahead, back in 2021. All in all, it was a rich and wonderful month.