Playwright's Spotlight with Mark Harvey Levine

In this episode of Playwright's Spotlight, I speak to the master of the 10-minute play - Mark Harvey Levine. With over 1900 productions of his work around the world, Mark offers a plethora of information when it comes this short-form content - from the challenges to the opportunities that come along with it. We discuss structure from exposition to the inciting incident to resolution. We also touch on comedy, plots, and struggles in playwriting and how to build one's confidence as well as payment vs production and his issue with submission fees. His tidbits on surprising your audience and being specific in the little details is also wonderful advice. As with past interviews, I learned something new. I hope you do the same. Enjoy.

Mark Harvey Levine has over 100 entries on New Play Exchange and has had over 1900 productions of his short plays nationally and internationally. His plays have won over 45 awards and been produced in more than ten languages. His work has been published in over two dozen anthologies by Applause, Smith & Kraus, Routledge, and Vintage. Full evenings of his ten-minute plays, such as "Cabfare For The Common Man," “Didn’t See That Coming,” and “A Very Special Holiday Special” have been shown around the world, including at the Edinburgh Fringe and in a multi-year tour of Brazil. A Spanish-language film of “The Kiss” (“El Beso”) premiered at Cannes and aired on HBO and DTV (Japan). Two of his plays were adapted for Brazilian television. Other plays include – The Interview, Save Hamlet, Oh, Tannenbaum, Scripted, and Making It Up as We Go Along. He has taught workshops sponsored by Cary Playwrights’ Forum and teaches playwriting at the Indiana Writer’s Center.

Links to sites and resources mentioned in this episode -

Gi60 (Gone in 60) - The One Minute Theatre Festival -
http://gi60.blogspot.com

Misfortune (Play) and New Play Exchange -
https://newplayexchange.org/plays/1214714/misfortune-ten-minute-play

Indy Fringe Festival -
https://indyfringe.org

Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis) -
https://www.phoenixtheatre.org

Talkwalker -
https://www.talkwalker.com

Contact information and socials for Mark Harvey Levine -

Mark Harvey Levine New Play Exchange -
https://newplayexchange.org/users/1748/mark-harvey-levine

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/markharveylevine
Twitter - @markle9
IG - @markle9

Websites and socials for James Elden, Punk Monkey Productions and Playwright's Spotlight

Punk Monkey Productions -
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir -
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
- @playnoirla
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
- @playnoir_la

FB - fb.com/playnoir
- fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html