Jeffrey Neuman
Playwright, Dramaturg,
& Literary Events Coordinator
December 2018
On November 30, Benchmark Theatre presented the world premiere of my newest play, What You Will, in Denver. The play tells the story of Adam, a forty-something gay man living a quiet but seemingly contented life. He’s married to a man he truly loves and runs a stationery shop, where he expertly designs custom wedding invitations. However, when he simultaneously meets two different individuals — a rather seductive married man in a gym steam room and a joyful, yet frenetic bride in desperate need of assistance — he begins to realize that marriage may have clear boundaries, but it certainly does not have very clear rules.
The play ran until December 22 to nearly sold out houses every night, earning generous praise from audiences and critics, including,
The play ran until December 22 to nearly sold out houses every night, earning generous praise from audiences and critics, including,
- "A witty, incisive and sometimes prurient reflection on loyalty, truth, marriage and relationships ..... “What You Will” gives a nod and a wink to “Twelfth Night,” but the genius of Neuman’s story – and it is stunning – lies in examining the fabrications large and small that we tell ourselves and those dearest to us.". ~ The Denver Post, Claire Martin
- "Literate and deeply felt .... You’re likely to find yourself holding your breath and then tearing up at the answers, because the truths Neuman uncovers strike deep." ~ Westord, Juliet Wittman
- "A powerful play with a powerful message." ~ Marlowe's Musings, David Marlowe
- "The dynamics between characters and the universal issues that are highlighted are reason enough to go see the show." ~ Addison Herron-Wheeler, Outfront Colorado
November 2018
Marginalia at Bite Size: An Evening of Micro Theatre at Bookbar
It's been so joyful to see this play brought to vivid life by such a consummate, thoughtful, generous, and talented production team. Emma Messenger and Regan Linton have been wowing audiences as they trade off in the roles of J and M in the play, which was skillfully directed by Mare Trevathan. In her Westword review, Juliet Wittman calls the evening a "theatrical feast," writing that my play "has captured some of the mystery and magic of used books. Marginalia," she writes, "communicates a sense of wonder about the connection between writer and reader, and between a current reader and those unknown souls from other times and places who perused the book before her."
It's been so joyful to see this play brought to vivid life by such a consummate, thoughtful, generous, and talented production team. Emma Messenger and Regan Linton have been wowing audiences as they trade off in the roles of J and M in the play, which was skillfully directed by Mare Trevathan. In her Westword review, Juliet Wittman calls the evening a "theatrical feast," writing that my play "has captured some of the mystery and magic of used books. Marginalia," she writes, "communicates a sense of wonder about the connection between writer and reader, and between a current reader and those unknown souls from other times and places who perused the book before her."
Kindred Spirits at the Exit Theater in San Francisco
BESTIES: They say some friends come and go like waves in the ocean, but best friends stick around like an octopus on your face. Let's face it, sometimes friendship can be sticky. (What is a brojob anyway?) Left Coast Theatre Company's newest collection of hilarious and heartfelt original shorts will have you reaching for the tissues and crying with laughter as they share six original tales of the unpredictability and wackiness of queer friendships in the modern age. The anthologized evening, includes my one-act play, Kindred Spirits, starring Nick Leonard and Eric Berglund, and directed by Christian Heppinstall.
Kindred Spirits was important for me to write, because I think there are so few portrayals of gay men of or past a certain age dealing with issues of love, intimacy, and sex. Gay relationships and queer identity are definitely finding representation in mainstream entertainment; but, how these issues play out as we age, as we get older, as we mature with our friends and our partners is a terrain that’s really yet to be fully explored in theater, movies, and TV. Kindred Spirits is my first, but probably not my last attempt at tackling … well, let’s just call it Senior Sexuality.
Additional Productions in November & December:
As if I couldn't be riding a higher wave of excitement given the premiere of What You Will and the concurrent productions of Marginalia and Kindred Spirits, there will also be other readings and productions of my work occurring between now and the end of the year, including Assisted Living at The New American Theatre in Los Angeles (11/4-11/180, On The Horns of a Dilemma by What's On Tom? Production in Kilkenny, Ireland (11/8- 11/17), On The Rocks at both Queens Theatre in New York (11/18-11/19) and Questionable Theatrics in Denver (11/26), as well as Dangling Participles at Metropolitan State University in Denver, beginning 12/6.
BESTIES: They say some friends come and go like waves in the ocean, but best friends stick around like an octopus on your face. Let's face it, sometimes friendship can be sticky. (What is a brojob anyway?) Left Coast Theatre Company's newest collection of hilarious and heartfelt original shorts will have you reaching for the tissues and crying with laughter as they share six original tales of the unpredictability and wackiness of queer friendships in the modern age. The anthologized evening, includes my one-act play, Kindred Spirits, starring Nick Leonard and Eric Berglund, and directed by Christian Heppinstall.
Kindred Spirits was important for me to write, because I think there are so few portrayals of gay men of or past a certain age dealing with issues of love, intimacy, and sex. Gay relationships and queer identity are definitely finding representation in mainstream entertainment; but, how these issues play out as we age, as we get older, as we mature with our friends and our partners is a terrain that’s really yet to be fully explored in theater, movies, and TV. Kindred Spirits is my first, but probably not my last attempt at tackling … well, let’s just call it Senior Sexuality.
Additional Productions in November & December:
As if I couldn't be riding a higher wave of excitement given the premiere of What You Will and the concurrent productions of Marginalia and Kindred Spirits, there will also be other readings and productions of my work occurring between now and the end of the year, including Assisted Living at The New American Theatre in Los Angeles (11/4-11/180, On The Horns of a Dilemma by What's On Tom? Production in Kilkenny, Ireland (11/8- 11/17), On The Rocks at both Queens Theatre in New York (11/18-11/19) and Questionable Theatrics in Denver (11/26), as well as Dangling Participles at Metropolitan State University in Denver, beginning 12/6.
September 2018
Pen & Podium, Monday, September 24
I’ve been trying to pull together the right words to describe our spectacular evening with George Saunders, who was as smart as he was funny as he was genuine as he was generous. And, I can’t come up with them, the words, to convey the amount of kindness, magnanimity, humor, and intelligence he brought to our stage. So, I’ll let him speak for himself:
“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another; rather, it teaches us to abide with the fact that, in their own way, all things are true, and helps us, in the face of this terrifying knowledge, continually push ourselves in the direction of Open the Hell Up.”
You Opened us the Hell Up, George, and it was amazing, inspiring, and one helluva a good time! Thank you for an unforgettable lecture, one of the best that Pen & Podium has ever hosted.
I’ve been trying to pull together the right words to describe our spectacular evening with George Saunders, who was as smart as he was funny as he was genuine as he was generous. And, I can’t come up with them, the words, to convey the amount of kindness, magnanimity, humor, and intelligence he brought to our stage. So, I’ll let him speak for himself:
“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another; rather, it teaches us to abide with the fact that, in their own way, all things are true, and helps us, in the face of this terrifying knowledge, continually push ourselves in the direction of Open the Hell Up.”
You Opened us the Hell Up, George, and it was amazing, inspiring, and one helluva a good time! Thank you for an unforgettable lecture, one of the best that Pen & Podium has ever hosted.
Cast Announced for
Bite-Size: An Evening of Micro Theatre
Off-Center, the Denver Center’s most unconventional line of programming, announced casting for Bite-Size: An Evening of Micro Theatre. Bite-Size is an evening of original short plays and performance pieces by Colorado artists performed off-site at Denver’s BookBar and designed as a 360-degree experience, where audience members will journey through a variety of spaces in and around BookBar, located at 4280 Tennyson St., encountering each new play in an intimate group of just 10 other audience members.
Bite-Size will run for 24 performances from October 23 through November 18. This event is conceived and led by Meridith C. Grundei, who performed in the DCPA Theatre Company’s Frankenstein and was featured as one of Westword’s 2017 100 Colorado Creatives.
I'm thrilled that my newest short play, Marginalia, will be one of the five feature pieces in Bite-Size. Marginalia, directed by Mare Trevathan, will star Emma Messenger and Regan Linton (pictured above), who will trade off in the roles of J and M nightly, so every performance of the run will truly be a different play-going experience.
Tickets for Bite-Size are available at https://www.denvercenter.org/tickets-events/bite-size/.
Bite-Size will run for 24 performances from October 23 through November 18. This event is conceived and led by Meridith C. Grundei, who performed in the DCPA Theatre Company’s Frankenstein and was featured as one of Westword’s 2017 100 Colorado Creatives.
I'm thrilled that my newest short play, Marginalia, will be one of the five feature pieces in Bite-Size. Marginalia, directed by Mare Trevathan, will star Emma Messenger and Regan Linton (pictured above), who will trade off in the roles of J and M nightly, so every performance of the run will truly be a different play-going experience.
Tickets for Bite-Size are available at https://www.denvercenter.org/tickets-events/bite-size/.
August 2018
Rough Draught in HowlRound
So proud of Leslie C. Lewis' killer article about Rough Draught Playwright's commitment to supporting, engaging, and stregthening our Colorado playwriting community. Leslie, one of RDP's co-creators, does a beautiful job painting a picture of the night and giving a sense of the joyful collaborations and exciting networking that occurs at our quarterly open mic events. I encourage you to take a look at the article, post a comment if you're moved to do so, and consider creating a similar event in your own community. Please click on the photo below to link to the full article.
June 2018
"Lost and Found" -- Denver, Colorado -- On Sunday, June 3, the good people at One Night Stand will present one of my monologues in their showcase "Around the World," a theatrical spin around the globe through performance, scenes, and stories. My contribution, "Lost and Found," details one woman's experience literally (and figuratively) losing her husband in the Musée d’Orsay. This is the first time that "Lost and Found," which was published by JAC Publishing in their collection InterJACtions: Monologues at the Heart of Human Nature, Volume 3, will be performed in Denver, so I hope you'll consider coming out to see and support it as well as the other featured writers in ONS' latest production.
May 2018
Marginalia -- Denver, Colorado -- I'm beside myself with joy to announce that my newest short play, "Marginalia" has been selected by Off-Center, the Denver Center for the Perfroming Arts' most unconventional line of programming, for Bite-Size, an evening of original short plays and performance pieces by Colorado artists — all with bookish twists — to be performed environmentally this fall at Book Bar, an independent book store and wine bar in the Tennyson Street Arts District in Denver. The play is being described as a "charming, intimate and sly play," in which "a reticent customer at a used bookstore is confronted by the shop’s manager when caught defacing some books." The play will be directed by Mare Trevathan (Associate Artistic Director of Local Theater Company, www.maretrevathan.com), an amazing Colorado-based actor and director, with whom I've been hoping to work.
For more information about Bite-Size and and article about this exciting Micro-theater project, please click on the image above, which shows all of the featured artists selected by a blind submission process for this exciting endeavor.
For more information about Bite-Size and and article about this exciting Micro-theater project, please click on the image above, which shows all of the featured artists selected by a blind submission process for this exciting endeavor.
Pen & Podium -- Maria Semple -- "Writers must write. If you are a writer and you don't write ... you WILL become a menace to society." ~ Maria Semple
In all the years I've been working with authors, I don't think I've ever had more fun than I did on Monday, May 13, when I had the great privilege to host Maria Semple. It started in the car ride over, when we met and instantly starting gushing over and SQUEEing with one another about our mutual love of musical theater. Then, she presented one of the most entertaining lectures we've had at Pen & Podium in recent years -- funny, heartfelt and wildly, unashamedly, unabashedly genuine. After the lecture and book signing, Maria and I headed to a hotel bar, where we spent hours drinking Moscow mules and talking about art, books, and theater in a haze of ginger-scented laughter. (She also introduced me to my new obsession, Broadway Backstory, a documentary-style podcast that explores Broadway musicals from conception to premiere. Check it out at https://www.todaytix.com/broadway-backstory!)
Again, HOW did I get so lucky? I'm incredibly grateful for books, authors, and readers and to be given a platform through Pen & Podium to have these three amazing forces come together in my life.
Multiple Short Works -- Laramie, Wyoming -- Three of my short plays (Award-Winning Entry, Date with Destiny, and On the Horns of a Dilemma) were selected by students at the University of Wyoming at Laramie to be performed as part of the Theatre Department's Senior Directing Workshop. It was a pleasure working with the students and to model effective and collaborative playwright/director relationships with and for them.
In all the years I've been working with authors, I don't think I've ever had more fun than I did on Monday, May 13, when I had the great privilege to host Maria Semple. It started in the car ride over, when we met and instantly starting gushing over and SQUEEing with one another about our mutual love of musical theater. Then, she presented one of the most entertaining lectures we've had at Pen & Podium in recent years -- funny, heartfelt and wildly, unashamedly, unabashedly genuine. After the lecture and book signing, Maria and I headed to a hotel bar, where we spent hours drinking Moscow mules and talking about art, books, and theater in a haze of ginger-scented laughter. (She also introduced me to my new obsession, Broadway Backstory, a documentary-style podcast that explores Broadway musicals from conception to premiere. Check it out at https://www.todaytix.com/broadway-backstory!)
Again, HOW did I get so lucky? I'm incredibly grateful for books, authors, and readers and to be given a platform through Pen & Podium to have these three amazing forces come together in my life.
Multiple Short Works -- Laramie, Wyoming -- Three of my short plays (Award-Winning Entry, Date with Destiny, and On the Horns of a Dilemma) were selected by students at the University of Wyoming at Laramie to be performed as part of the Theatre Department's Senior Directing Workshop. It was a pleasure working with the students and to model effective and collaborative playwright/director relationships with and for them.
March 2018
Pen & Podium -- Tony Kushner -- On Monday, March 12, I had the incredibly ridiculous pleasure of hosting Tony Kushner onstage for a ninety minute interview at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado. I don't know what to say or where to begin about Tony's grace, generosity, intelligence, and humor. I really don't. He was an absolute joy to host, and the 900+ member audience responded to his warmth with the most resounding applause, appreciation, and laughter.
Over the course of our conversation, Tony spoke candidly (and brilliantly!) about the art of playwriting, the joys and challenges of collaboration, the relationship (or lack thereof) between artistry and activism, and the beautiful "treacherousness" of words, among other things. At one point, as we giggled and gushed about musical theater, Tony even provided us with some thoughts and insights about his new screenplay for the upcoming Spielberg reboot of West Side Story.
It's always such a joy to meet an author you respect; but it is a pleasure-beyond-words when an author you respect also turns out to be a lovely human being and and artist worthy of both heroism and esteem.
In addition to a spirited and engaging conversation with Tony, the night was also very exciting because we finally announced our 2018-19 Pen & Podium season, which will include:
Over the course of our conversation, Tony spoke candidly (and brilliantly!) about the art of playwriting, the joys and challenges of collaboration, the relationship (or lack thereof) between artistry and activism, and the beautiful "treacherousness" of words, among other things. At one point, as we giggled and gushed about musical theater, Tony even provided us with some thoughts and insights about his new screenplay for the upcoming Spielberg reboot of West Side Story.
It's always such a joy to meet an author you respect; but it is a pleasure-beyond-words when an author you respect also turns out to be a lovely human being and and artist worthy of both heroism and esteem.
In addition to a spirited and engaging conversation with Tony, the night was also very exciting because we finally announced our 2018-19 Pen & Podium season, which will include:
- George Saunders,
- Amor Towles,
- Celeste Ng,
- Louise Penny, and
- David McCollough
Benchmark Theatre named "Best First Act" in Denver
March 31, 2018: In their annual "Best Of" issue, Denver's acclaimed alt weekly, Westword, names Benchmark Theatre the "Best First Act" for its bold and noteworthy first season. The citation reads, "As the first offering in its new and permanent space in Lakewood (first pioneered by Edge), Benchmark presented A Kid Like Jake, a thoughtful and well-executed play about a four-year-old who loves princesses and wants to dress as Snow White for Halloween, and the efforts of his worried parents to get him into a first-rate preschool. The rest of this inaugural season will introduce local audiences to interesting and critically acclaimed works that are still relatively unknown here, along with a new play by local author Jeffrey Neuman. And then there's the second annual Fever Dream Festival, a "celebration of science fiction, fantasy and horror featuring new and original works." Helmed by actors Haley Johnson and Rachel Rogers, Benchmark promises to bring an entirely new sensibility to town."
February 2018
Pen & Podium -- Katherine Boo -- "Hope is not a fiction."
I can't tell you how inspirited, inspired, and entranced I was by Katherine Boo's lecture at Pen & Podium on February 6. Rather than speak about her writing and her process, instead Kate told us about the lessons she's learned over the years by dedicating herself and her career to active listening, exercising empathy, and uncovering the stories that remain untold and the injustices that remain unchallenged. "Injustice anywhere," she reminded, "is a threat to justice everywhere."
I can't tell you how inspirited, inspired, and entranced I was by Katherine Boo's lecture at Pen & Podium on February 6. Rather than speak about her writing and her process, instead Kate told us about the lessons she's learned over the years by dedicating herself and her career to active listening, exercising empathy, and uncovering the stories that remain untold and the injustices that remain unchallenged. "Injustice anywhere," she reminded, "is a threat to justice everywhere."
