Tom is a Rock Star

(this should have posted on 2/22- not sure what happened)

Day: 191

High Temp: 57F

Tom is a rock star. Of course most of you are sitting there saying, "yeah, we know!" But here is a new reason to respect his awesomeness...

Tom has spent this past weekend in Washington D.C., at Arena Stage's Devised Work symposium. Kirk Lynn, a co-founder of the Rude Mechs, a well respected theatre specializing in devised, nearly avant garde original theatre, is one of the presenters at the symposium (along with people from SITI and Tectonic, two very exciting theatre companies working to redefine what modern American theatre is.)

Kirk also happens to be one of Tom's professors at UT. Recognizing Tom's passion for non-traditional playwrighting and collective creation, Kirk approached the University and asked they would pay to bring Tom to the symposium with Kirk. I think he recognized that Tom would not only learn a lot from the presentations, but that he would potentially make lots of really excellent connections that will help him further his career down the road. The University agreed, and said they would pay.

I think it is just so cool that Tom was pulled out from a group of really talented playwrights to have that experience. I also think it shows Tom made a great decision in the program he chose to attend. They are obviously recognizing his talent and interests, and are doing what they can to foster those things. Yay Tom!