Sweet Release?

Ooops, I spent the evening narrating a video for my play and putting together a press release for newpapers like the Connecticut Post and forgot to do something for my blog post. So killing two birds with one stone, here's the press release before it hits the presses - a blogsclusive! 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: December 8, 2010

Press Contact:  Mike Wood, author, 203-922-1377 or mikewood_3@yahoo.com

RE: Local Novelist Turns Playwright; Premier to Take Place at Huntington St. Cafe on 1/10/11

Local Novelist Turns Playwright; Premier to Take Place at Huntington St. Cafe on 1/10/11

SHELTON – To his students, he’s Mr. Wood – West Shore middle school’s 6^th Grade English teacher. To readers of nostalgic fiction, he’s Mike Wood – author of the acclaimed novel, Alchemy. And to theater goers, he’s absolutely no one. But that could change once his first play, "Ecnalubma," hits the stage in early January.

Premiering at the Huntington St. Café on Monday, January 10^th, "Ecnalubma" can be viewed as a modern fable about a young man resisting the urge to become an adult. Or maybe it’s a metaphor about the predictable uncertainties in life. Or it could just be a funny story about three guys getting high in a car that turns into a dark look at the seemingly meaningless moments that ultimately make us who we are. Using a multi-media approach that allows the audience to journey along with the main character as he revisits several milestones in his life, “Ecnalubma” is all of the above and more.

Wood, 40, said he was looking for unique ways promote his book and realized that as a first time author, he couldn’t rely on simply selling the story, he had to sell himself. And thus a play was born. The story he brings to the stage is both very personal - “Too personal,” Wood jokes, and universal. “There’s something for everyone, so long as they’re over 21,” he cautions, referring to the adult content of the play.

In addition to Wood, the play features two former Shelton residents, Geof Johnson and Gary Perez, childhood friends who the author recruited to play themselves on stage. “That was probably the hardest part,” Wood admits. “They have been very supportive of my writing, but I wasn’t sure how they’d feel when I turned my pen on them! Luckily, they not only approved of it, they agreed to star in  it!”

You can see the results for yourself on Monday, January 10^th, 2011 at the Huntington St. Café (90 Huntington Street, Shelton, CT (203) 925-9064) There will be two performances of the 45-minute play, 6:00-7:30 and 8:00-9:30. The Café’s bar and kitchen will be open for food and drink. Tickets are $5, and can be reserved by calling Mike Wood at (203) 922-1377, or emailing him at mikewood_3@yahoo.com