In the fall of 2010, just before I was set to go to Hartford, Connecticut to direct JOURNEYS OF IDENTITY at the Old State House, the Full Circle Theatre and The Tank asked me to be part of an intriguing new concept: they would choose ten plays in the public domain and ten directors of various backgrounds and abilities. Creating a website, they listed a brief synopsis of each play and a brief bio of each director, then invited the public to vote on which director would be assigned which play, each of which would be performed as a reading over the course of ten months, one play per month. As fate would have it, I was elected to do PHILOCTETES by Sophocles as the inaugural production. I found a translation in the public domain, came up with a concept that seamlessly incorporated American Sign Language and deaf culture into this centuries-old work, filled the roles with my friends, and went for it. It was only after I saw the succeeding productions that I realized I could have rewritten the script myself instead of using the translation verbatim, which was a bit tedious, slow, and talky at times. You mean, I could have cut all of that? Oh, well. I'm still proud of what we were able to accomplish and grateful to my friends for their time and incredible commitment. Leading the cast as the long-abandoned Philoctetes was John McGinty, Corrie Pond as Neoptolemus, Rocco Arrigo as Odysseus, Carm King as his interpreter, and Tyrone Giordano in a cameo as Heracles. The Greek Chorus was filled out by Stephen Drabicki, Jared Lopatin, Jari Majewski, Catherine Mueller, Heather Paradise, and Erin Wagner. And, no, I still can't pronounce any of the names, so don't ask me.