"Russ Miles"
(Frank Buzolich as Russ Miles at the BloomingPlays Festival.)
Russ Miles tells the story of a man and his arch-nemesis: an angry drunk who is chemically imbalanced and unable to show any form of healthy love. Unfortunately, it's himself. With his lover just having walked out on him and his beloved dog missing, Russ Miles puts the final nail in his coffin when his favorite son comes to visit him.
Russ Miles received its first reading by the University Players at Indiana University. Afterwards it underwent a workshop at Starrynight Productions and the Bloomington Playwrights Project. From the readings at the Bloomington Playwrights Project it was selected for production in the BloomingPlays Festival. It recieved astounding reviews with Katelyn Coyne from the Fun City Finder writing, "Smallwood's writing is sensitive and honest with a deep understanding of the intricacies of the relationships between her characters." Director Daniel Student commented that "Russ Miles follows in the footsteps of classic American playwrights like Arthur Miller and Sam Shephard in examining the legacy of self-loathing fathers whose destructive behaviors nearly tear their families apart. Audiences should expect to see a well-crafted, classic American comic-tragedy from a playwright whose name they should expect to hear a lot more of very soon.
Russ Miles received its first reading by the University Players at Indiana University. Afterwards it underwent a workshop at Starrynight Productions and the Bloomington Playwrights Project. From the readings at the Bloomington Playwrights Project it was selected for production in the BloomingPlays Festival. It recieved astounding reviews with Katelyn Coyne from the Fun City Finder writing, "Smallwood's writing is sensitive and honest with a deep understanding of the intricacies of the relationships between her characters." Director Daniel Student commented that "Russ Miles follows in the footsteps of classic American playwrights like Arthur Miller and Sam Shephard in examining the legacy of self-loathing fathers whose destructive behaviors nearly tear their families apart. Audiences should expect to see a well-crafted, classic American comic-tragedy from a playwright whose name they should expect to hear a lot more of very soon.