Me, on Zoom

Patricia MiltonBlog, Quote

Bookcase-prop and real or fake bouquetbehind you, well-dressed only to the waistas if in a casket, top half on display,here’s another weirdness to be faced:you’re in the Gallery. You’re shown as oneof your own satellites—as if the sunwere both a planet and the Copernicanmagnet for all planets. Yes, I canundo all this and activate the HideSelf feature . . . where was that again? …

won’t you celebrate with me

Patricia MiltonBlog, Quote

By Lucille Clifton won’t you celebrate with mewhat i have shaped intoa kind of life? i had no model.born in babylonboth nonwhite and womanwhat did i see to be except myself?i made it uphere on this bridge betweenstarshine and clay,my one hand holding tightmy other hand; come celebratewith me that everydaysomething has tried to kill meand has failed. Lucille Clifton, …

Terrific Reviews for “Escape”

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays, News & Stuff

The critics are raving about “Escape from the Asylum!” May all playwrights receive the blessing of such an amazing cast, director, and production company. (photo of Chelsea Bearce and Danielle O’Hare by Robbie Sweeney) “This comedic play charms with quirky characters, clever dialog, feminist issues, and a plot twist leading to a surprise ending. The four actors, three of whom …

AI Criming

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays

I’m back to rewriting (extensively) my AI play. From targeted phishing campaigns to new stalking methods: there are plenty of ways that artificial intelligence could be used to cause harm if it fell into the wrong hands. A team of researchers decided to rank the potential criminal applications that AI will have in the next 15 years, starting with those …

New video

Patricia MiltonBlog, Video

Here’s a new marketing video for “Escape from the Asylum:” enjoy!

Madwomen … in their own words

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays, Quote

“After my daughter’s birth, I couldn’t take care of the house right any more. My husband told me a maid would be better than me, that I was crazy. He took me to the hospital for ‘observation.’” ~Carmen, quoted in Women and Madness by P. Chester, PhD. “My husband told me to get shock therapy, that my multiple sclerosis symptoms …

Escape from The Asylum

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays, News & Stuff, Plays, Video

… opens March 19! Get tickets. You can read about it here. In 2019, Central Works premiered the Victorian Ladies Detective Collective–three determined “lady” sleuths fight crime and prejudice in Victorian London. Now they’re back at it! A famous female explorer has been committed to Belfry, a notorious asylum for the mentally ill. Has her unscrupulous husband had her falsely …

Places With Terrible Wi-Fi

Patricia MiltonBlog, Quote

by J. Estanislao Lopez The Garden of Eden. My ancestors’ graves. A watermelon field in Central Texas where my father once slept. Miles of rivers. The waiting room of a hospital in which a doctor, thin-looking in his coat, shared mixed results. A den of worms beneath the frozen grass. Jesus’s tomb. The stretches of highway on the long drive …

Smelling Salts

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays

During the Victorian Age (1837-1901) most women carried a bottle of smelling salts in their handbag: they were inclined to swoon when their emotions were aroused. It was believed that, as postulated by Hipocrates, the woman’s wandering womb disliked the pungent odor, so would return to its proper place in the body, allowing the woman to recover her consciousness. In …

You’re Just Being Emotional

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays, Quote

Here is a key concept behind my new play “Escape from the Asylum,” in a nutshell: “Even if a woman has a well-thought-out reason for being upset, a guy might say, ‘You’re just being emotional.’ It’s a way to discredit her instead of having to listen; the words ‘you’re acting crazy’ really mean ‘I don’t have to pay attention to …