The Playwright

Alan began writing plays in 1989 and to date has completed 17 full-length plays. He has previously received honors from seventeen national playwriting competitions. Works of Alan's you may have seen include (aside for Theatre Americana's production of Standard Deviation in Altadena, California): Theatre on a Limb's Off-off- Broadway production of King of the Mutants at the New Actor's Workshop in New York City; The Dresser, the Duck, the Deity & the Drum Major, four one-acts also produced Off-off-Broadway by Theatre on a Limb at the Mazur theater in New York City; The Advantage, produced as part of WBAI's "Shelf Life" series; sketch comedy for the troupes Out on a Limb, Bonner & Company Comedy Connection and the cabaret One Desperate Hour; and sketches for The Bozo Show in Chicago. In addition, there have been numerous productions and presentations around the country of his full-length play Nobody Knows I'm a Dog, including Taiwan, Reno, Nevada, West Haven, Connecticut, Lakeport, California, Anaheim, California, Forest Hills, New York, and New York, New York.

Alan was seen only twice on the Parkside Players' stage -- first as a barrister in Witness for the Prosecution, and second as Inspector Williams in Heaven Can Wait. He's also sat in the pit orchestra for The Fantasticks, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and has functioned as Head Producer for their productions of The Mousetrap, Beau Jest, Fools, A Few Good Men and ...Superman.

Alan currently plays Solo Eb Tenor Horn for the Imperial Brass in Highland Park, New Jersey, and continues to play French Horn, Tenor Horn and Mellophone in musical organization and pit bands in and around the New York area. Previously he has been a member of the Doctors' Orchestral Society, the Brooklyn Camerata, the Queens Symphonic Band and the City of Mobile Symphonic Pops Band. He enjoys producing community theater for the Parkside Players in Forest Hills, as well as a challenging career as a systems administrator for a New York law firm. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, an Eagle Scout and a Sinfonian. Currently Alan is learning how to play the Theramin and (much to his wife's chagrin) ride a unicycle (though not at the same time).

About Playwriting...
To me, the first rule of playwriting is that it be interesting. All too many times I've seen or read plays that may be structurally sound or have great dialogue, but are the most boring things I've ever had to endure. I won't write anything I wouldn't want to see myself. I've even once been accused of "horseracing" the plot and skimping on character. A good actor can make a weak character jump off a page, but a weak story will always lie there.

About This Play...
I lived a majority of my life in Alabama. On a recent visit, I began to appreciate the differences between living in a tiny, rural town versus, well, New York City.

My wife and I would frequently play with the fact that our I.Q.'s were tested as being 3 points apart (mine was higher) and this was the source of much ribbing between us, though we knew it meant nothing. Somehow I came up with this idea of bringing the two together with this story (also, watching some episodes of "Cops" helped).

The original title was "3 Points," but after a suggestion of my friend and colleague, Jordan Auslander, and some studying up on I.Q.s and the testing of such, I went with "Standard Deviation" -- which also has cultural ramifications as well. Though the characters are drawn with extremely broad brush strokes, this play became one of my most solid comedies.

By the way, the very last page has undergone a lot of changes. Though the content of the play isn't contingent on the last page, it's still that last zinger that plagues me. To date there are four alternate "zingers." No winner has been named.