First things first: I want to extend a big ol’ congratulations to my sister-in-law for her contributions to getting some people up and around the Moon and back down. For casting a moment of unalloyed wonder into the world and letting me feel again for a moment, and then a moment more, like a child agog at the infinite potential of humanity, Linda, I salute you! (For context, she works for the Canadian Space Agency).

Tidings, or what comes with the waves.

Okay so I have a lot of updates to share. As a result, there won’t be an essay in this newsletter, just, uh, news. It turns out when I’m busy with other work, I end up doing that instead of sitting and stewing and writing! And boy am I busy all of a sudden.

Last Thursday, I joined a group of wonderful actors at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, performing excerpts from the winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s 2025 Sloan Student Prize screenplay competition. You can read more about it here, if you want; a very cool and fun time (and a dope museum). I got to play Sam Altman, everybody’s favourite bag of hot air; the revulsion folks felt when I did just the slightest characterization of him was really something. Kids, don’t live your life such that an actor affecting your voice inspires loathing in a packed room of strangers. Shout out to Mêlisa Annis for bringing me onboard, and Sarah Matteucci for bringing it to the finish line!

I’m currently working on a feature film as a creature under the movement direction of Terry Notary. I’m kind of unclear on what I can actually disclose so I’ll say for now that our team of artists on monster duty are locked into a rigour and curiosity that’s absolutely thrilling. It’s also a lovely returning-to-my-roots kind of thing, because I first learned acting through ensemble movement, and the pure application of these tools at such a high level isn’t something I get to do so often these days. Also Terry is the kind of brilliant that feels like hyperbole when people talk about it, but it’s the real deal. It’s a gift to get to learn from him on this.

I applied for and was invited to participate in the Fiasco Theater Free Training Initiative classical intensive next week. Folks, I’m stoked. I’ve long admired Fiasco but haven’t really had the chance to get in their orbit until now, and this feels like the right time in a big way. It’s spring, things are coming alive, we’re digging our roots deep and throwing our flowers high. Less poetically, because my movement practice is so invigorated by the movie stuff, throwing Shakespeare into the mix feels a bit like I’ve built a mini conservatory program for myself. Call it the four-year tuneup (four years acting in the city!? Jesus Christ!). Anybody have any on-camera class recs to round it out?

My wonderful friend Yibin Wang is coming back to town from some time at home in China, and we’re getting right back into things. He’s directing and I’m performing in a reading of Oleksandr Zhuhan’s dramatic monologue New York, Donetsk, Ukraine: 100º F, as part of the Ukrainian Drama Showcase. May 8th thru 10th, will share more when there’s more to share. Like a ticket link.

I’m producing a process-experimental workshop of Machinal with a team of remarkable artists, representing the intersection of a few notable theatrical communities here in the city. This in particular will be very much a more-to-come kind of thing, but keep your eyes, hearts, and calendars open for May 22nd.

I got phished. I luckily had the impulse to use my burner email on the fake login, and was quick enough with changing my passwords and not engaging the duped recovery text and all that jazz, so I think any damage was mitigated. But if you receive a Paperless Post email from me inviting you to a party or something, don’t click it. (Scams like this often keep working because folks are too embarrassed to admit they got duped; not me, baby! I humiliate myself thus for your safety!)

It’s also been a period of seeing incredible art. I want to give a shout out to my friends who worked on the Krymov Lab Vanya for letting me sit in on rehearsals and attend the dress. You made something new out of something old; what more could we ask for? I had very similar feelings re: the New American Ensemble Ivanov. While we’re thematically in Eastern Europe, me and my pal Michael went to see Sátántangó at the Lincoln Center, all eight hours of it. What a staggering miracle of a movie, what a special and singular object. At the screening, I bumped into the director and a producer of the feature I shot last year (Dying Alone), Caden Rodems-Boyd and Tris Arthur, and got an update that things are rolling along nicely with that. What a small world.

Speaking of which, below is a fun video about some pictures from the Moon.

Cheers,

C