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Life & Arts

Rising writer reaches for the stars with work 

UH playwright takes part in competitive workshop for emerging authors 

by LEE CLARK
The Daily Cougar

Theatre senior Brady Alland and veteran Hollywood actor, director and playwright Sam Shepard share something in common: Both have "the right stuff."

Shepard had "the right stuff" as astronaut Chuck Yeager in 1983's The Right Stuff. And according to Alland's peers, the script for Sticks & Stones has "the right stuff."

"Sticks & Stones has the right stuff because it has truly interesting characters and realistically portrays the human condition," theatre graduate student MJ Wilson Emig said. 

Alland's script and four others were chosen by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson for development and production in the 19th annual Edward Albee New Playwrights Workshop.

Over the spring semester, Alland and the four other playwrights went through the challenging process of working and reworking their scripts until they were ready for production.

Now the five scripts are plays, and they are currently showing at UH's Jose Quintero Lab Theatre in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center . 

Sticks & Stones is a romantic comedy about the challenge of finding the right person to fall in love with.

"It's mainly about people waking up to what's right and what's real," Alland said. "Your match could be closer to home than you realize."

Alland talked about the honor it was to collaborate with Lanford Wilson.

"It's incredible. I mean one day I read about Wilson in a chapter on contemporary theatre in my theatre history textbook and the next day I'm actually sitting in his class. It's really kind of awe-inspiring," Alland said.

Alland, whose tract is acting and directing, not only takes theatre seriously, but academics as a whole, too.

After completing his senior's honors thesis this semester, Alland will graduate honors. After graduation, Alland wants to pursue medical degree. 

"I like stability and it's kind of hard to get that in the theatre," Alland said. "I think the smart thing for me to do is to invest in something stable, so I am looking at going to medical school and becoming a doctor."

If Alland does become a doctor, he said he still wants to write, act and direct on the side.

"I kind of want to be a triple threat like Sam Shepard," Alland said.

As a doctor, Alland would probably be a quadruple threat.

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