Jeffrey Neuman
Playwright, Dramaturg
& Literary Events Coordinator
What YOu WiLL
World Premiere ~ Denver ~ November 2018
On November 30, Benchmark Theatre will present the world premiere of my newest play, What You Will. 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.
What You Will brings together the disparate worlds of wedding invitations, anonymous sex, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night to explore the unspoken contracts we make in personal relationships and what happens when the terms of those tacit agreements come into question.
The play will be directed by the amazing Kate Folkins, my collaborating partner on Exit Strategies, and will run through December 22. Individual tickets are not yet available for the play, but season tickets are available at benchmarktheatre.com or by clicking on the image to the left.
What You Will brings together the disparate worlds of wedding invitations, anonymous sex, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night to explore the unspoken contracts we make in personal relationships and what happens when the terms of those tacit agreements come into question.
The play will be directed by the amazing Kate Folkins, my collaborating partner on Exit Strategies, and will run through December 22. Individual tickets are not yet available for the play, but season tickets are available at benchmarktheatre.com or by clicking on the image to the left.
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:
- 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."
