Building the Table When Nobody Pulls Up a Chair
When I returned to New Jersey from Los Angeles, I made a commitment to my creative growth: I was starting over artistically in my hometown, but I wasn't going backward.
If you move back to where you started and operate the exact same way you did before leaving, two things are guaranteed:
You haven’t grown.
You’ll only advance as far as you did the last time.
My vision for "Round 2 NJ" was simple—maintain the same artistic drive, hustle, and creative freedom I cultivated in L.A., while leveraging the local resources right in my backyard.
My golden rule for this chapter: USE YOUR ASSETS. USE YOUR RESOURCES.
So, I took stock of my creative network:
NYC Theater Community: Across the river were The Actors Gym and Naked Angels—trusted spaces to test new work and explore deep playwriting. (late I added New Ambassadors)
Original Creative Network: My day-one collaborators, best friends, and local artists were close by, while my West Coast network remained accessible virtually.
Creative Freedom: A stable non-industry job covered expenses while granting total artistic independence.
Local Regional Theaters: Surrounding me were active Equity theaters, stages, and film production companies across Central New Jersey.
The 20-Year Brick Wall
So, I started knocking on doors.
My goal was simple: join a local New Jersey playwriting group. I wanted a collaborative space to read drafts, exchange constructive script feedback, and develop new theatrical works alongside fellow writers.
I submitted applications, mailed published play scripts, and emailed regional theater artistic directors and their assistants regularly for two years straight.
Radio silence.
No response from any major theater within a 30-minute drive. Aside from my dear friend AJ Ciccotelli and La Strada Ensemble Theater (which eventually closed), no local theater had produced my work since 2001.
Two decades of closed doors.
Then came the breakthrough. A short play of mine was accepted into a theater festival hosted by Dragonfly Arts in Plainfield, NJ.
Sitting in the audience, fate stepped in. Gail Woerner — an old friend from my days as a high school drama director — and Jeff sat down next to me.
Gail looked at me and said four words that changed everything: "I have a theater."
Finding a Home at Brook Arts Center
A few days later, I toured the Brook Arts Center in Bound Brook, NJ, and fell in love with the historical space.
Gail asked me point-blank: "What do you want to do here?"
My answer came instantly: "I WANT A WRITERS GROUP!"
I envisioned a dedicated table where playwrights could gather weekly, read fresh pages aloud, deliver honest feedback, refine their scripts, and present staged readings to a live audience before sending their plays out into the wider theater industry.
Gail gave us the green light. Because mainstream regional theaters said NO, The Brook Writers Group was born.
What is The Brook Writers Group?
The Brook Writers Group is a creative hub designed to empower New Jersey playwrights, theatrical storytellers, and emerging writers. We offer a structured incubator for artists to develop raw scripts in active conversation with peers and the broader Central NJ arts community.
Core Program Features:
Twice-Monthly Script Incubator: Members gather to share works-in-progress, test dialogue, and refine narrative structure.
Professional Development Workshops: Direct access to industry panels, speed-meetings with theater directors, financial literacy workshops, and masterclasses led by professional theater artists.
The Spotlight Series: An annual festival of professionally produced staged readings showcasing brand-new plays written directly within our circle.
Empowering New Jersey Playwrights (And It’s Completely FREE for the artists!)
My personal mission behind this movement comes down to four words:
TO EMPOWER NEW JERSEY PLAYWRIGHTS!
With or without an established institution backing us, this movement will continue. We launched with 6 dedicated playwrights sitting around our table; today, our cohort has grown to 9 active writers developing original work.
This is our first official step into the world, and we want you to experience these new American plays in their earliest, rawest form.
Admission: 100% FREE to the public.
Mission: Cultivating fresh, original local playwriting in Central New Jersey.
Come join us, support local theater, and see a showcase of brand-new works crafted right here in NJ!
Editorial by Tom Cavanaugh.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on June 23, 2026. All rights reserved.