"Melissa Skirboll has directed Straight Faced Lies with economy and verve. Her fine cast inhabit their roles intelligently..."

"Snappy dialogue, superior plotting, and powerful use of space make “Straight Faced Lies” a delight." (Oh and by the way stage buddy, that "powerful use of space" was created by the director - yeah me.)

For the third year in a row I'm participating in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity here in NYC. This year I'm directing the world premiere of Mark Jason William's STRAIGHT FACED LIES. We opened Sunday night to positive feedback from the audience and the audience last night seemed to laugh non-stop (which made me happy!) Sometime today we should see a review from Martin Denton at NYTheatre.com - will post it when it's up! It's been fun to work on this - the cast is very talented, the script is a delight -- and this year I don't have the added responsibility of being the producer as well as the director, which certainly simplifies things! Hope you can  make it out to see one of the last four shows - I know there are seats left to our show today 4:00 p.m. at the Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette St, NYC - see you there? https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/921739

 My play Blood is Thicker will get its first reading (directed by me!) as part of the Abingdon Theatre's Swan Day celebrationAbingdon Theatre Company
312 West 36th Street, just west of 8th Ave.
June Havoc Theatre
Abingdon Theatre Company
312 West 36th Street, just west of 8th Ave.
June Havoc Theatre

Abingdon Theatre Company, whose mission is “to develop and produce new plays by American playwrights,” has driven the development of more than 300 original plays since 1993.

The Closet was nominated for FIVE awards at this years Planet Connections Theatre Festivity And I WON Best Director (short form play)!

http://www.stagebuzz.com/2012/06/planet-connections-interview-melissa.htmlWhat is your show about?
THE CLOSET is the story of Ruth, a woman struggling to come to terms with her past. It explores the nature of memory and reality. Ruth has glossed over and buried her family history, but her past has come back to haunt her. Ruth, played by Maureen Van Trease, imagines a series of conversations with her long dead mother, Mara, played by Susan McBrien, and with each conversation she gets closer to the truth.  

Melissa Skirboll talks to Patrick Hickey at Review Fixhttp://reviewfix.com/2012/05/review-fix-exclusive-interview-with-the-closet-director-melissa-skirboll/

5 Things To Know about the Closet at The Happiest Mediumhttp://thehappiestmedium.com/2012/05/the-closet-5-things-to-know-about-the-show-before-you-go-2012-planet-connections-festivity/  

Finally! We get to be in the theatre - if only for 30 minutes to load in our set pieces - but still! We're all excited to see the space we will be performing in. The crew from BED is coming to pick up my bed - I donated it for the performances; both BED and THE CLOSET need a bed and I have been wanting to replace mine for some time. I was going to wait until I moved; but I figured this was a great opportunity to clear out some of the old and put it to good use. So they are coming to get the bed and our other set pieces. We get to load it into the theatre and see what we are dealing with. Thursday we have our tech rehearsal and then WE OPEN SATURDAY!!!!!

I just want to take a moment to share here a little about the people I'm working with; this is a small production but it is full of incredible talent and professionalism. 

The two actresses I am working with are pushing themselves further and further each time we rehearse. I find myself getting chills each time we meet - even though I've now seen it 100's of times, each time they bring something fresh and profound to play that moves the story into an even more profoundly disturbing place. Thank you Maureen Van Trease and Susan McBrien for taking this journey with me and trusting me along the way.

And Steven Albano - our stage manager. In his NYC "professional" debut is doing a yeoman's job at keeping us on course. Thank you for rising to the challenge, for being cool, calm and in control - and for being able to translate my directions when they aren't making sense!

And my graphics partner; William Johnson. What would I do without you? You donate your time and creativity to support my vision and I am profoundly grateful to have you in my life as a friend, a collaborator, a co-creator and co worker. He takes the ideas I have bouncing in my brain and gives them shape.

And last, but certainly not least, the playwright. Amy Gray Piper wrote a play that I loved from the get go. And then she willingly let me take it and shape it. I am so thrilled to be given a chance to tell the story she wrote. And so touched that she trusted me enough to give me carte blanche in shaping it. Amy, I  hope you find we gave the story wings, and that it matches or even surpasses your vision for it.

I've been incredibly blessed on this journey to have such amazing people to collaborate with; theater is a group project and it can be a trial if all the members aren't working well together. This has been a dream team and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I hope you get a chance to see what we created together; I think it will knock your socks off!

Thank you all - I've been having a blast working witha ll of you!
xoxoxo