Writers’ Block {Party}
One of the most thrilling—and terrifying—challenges this company is undertaking is to write our own scripts. Notice I use the word undertaking. It popped into my head of its own accord when thinking of the task of writing original plays. It presented itself in both the formal “I HAVE TAKEN AN OATH AND I SHALL COMPLETE THIS MISSION” sense and in the heavy, funeral parlor sense. I guess that’s because writing is bloody hard if you are serious about it. Sharing it with others, even (or especially, in my case) your colleagues is even harder. You know, it’s a good word—undertaking, that is—if you think about it. Maybe I’ll pocket it for later when I'm stuck staring at a blinking cursor and one line of dialogue. *pats myself on the back, pockets it for later*
We decided the best way to workshop our plays was to commune at the same spot where we last broke bread and mingled our blood together: Ye Olde Cabin in the Woodes, Property of Michael Mead & co. Only this time was different. This time was colder and incorporated less exercise. In fact, the entire retreat comprised of mostly sitting in flannels and sweatpants reading each others’ plays.
This was euphoric for some of us—i.e. me! I love sitting and reading and eating and talking in long, emotional sentences about how certain things affected me! If I never had to break a sweat again, it would still be too soon, honestly—and a bit of a strain on others—some of us were more interested in watching the March Madness games than in engaging and responding to their peers’ work; youknowwhoyouare. *focuses my binoculars, lowers them and stares, slowly places a chip into my mouth and crunches, chews*
Nevertheless, this trip was successful for a myriad of reasons. For one thing, it was humbling and exciting to hear all of the work the handful of writers had put into their scripts. And, to allow ourselves a moment of gloating, I think we were all surprised—nay, impressed(!) with the quality of the pieces. I’m sure most of us were concerned that there would be at least one play that was set in a living room and involved a newly married couple realizing life isn't a bowl full of cherries—it’s more like a chair full of bowlies! Ha ha.
Yeah, no, none of the plays were like that, thank Baby Jesus and Dionysus.
For another thing, it was extremely helpful to hear the plays read aloud. Areas that needed work were detectable in others’ voices; characters that were strong were noticeably more alive sounding than ones that were flat; errors that a writer missed were pinpointed in the read-thru. And after each read-thru, we held discussions that allowed for honest feedback. We had a total of five plays to get through, so our discussions really only touched the surface of our responses. Still, just having those responses helped narrow the scope of our first drafts and prepare to EDIT THE KAKA OUT OF THEM.
Furthermore, considering we are a bunch of lame theatre kids at heart, sitting and reading plays out loud, getting to play several different characters in the course of a day…well, that’s like our version of sniffing glue, you know? Little mini trip. At least, I’m assuming; I’ve never actually tried that. But if so, some of us were so giddy by the end of the evening, that it wouldn’t have been surprising if someone was passing around a bottle of Elmer’s. We were also suffering from mental exhaustion, but that’s secondary information.
To give you a taste of the work we read—and to get you chomping at the bit with anticipation for our upcoming seasons—here is a specific element or plot point from each of the five plays:
- Living animals made of pages from books.
- A creature with talons and feathers.
- A river ghost woman.
- The Rapture.
- Gulliver’s Travels without Jack Black in modern clothing.
Even if these eccentricities don’t grab your attention, you have to admit, it’d be fascinating to see how they played out on stage. Whether your question is, How will those things fit into the stories being told? or, How will they create those images?? or perhaps a combination of both questions matters little. Hopefully at least one of them is playing with fire up there in that noggin of yours.
I’ll give you a hint: the first clue about the animals is from a play written by our fellow Impostor Mallory Swisher, and it will be the first show we produce for our premiere season. Titled The Wood, it is a contemporary fairytale chock full of images similar to the paper animals. *fist pumps*
You can be one of the first to hear this new play read aloud. If you’ve been checkin up on our website and social media pages, you probably noticed our first event is on the near horizon. It’s a staged reading of The Wood. I’ll feature Mallory on one of next posts so we can have some insider scoops on her work. *rubs hands together*
In the meantime, keep checking up for more from me and KEEP READING!
Cheers!
P.S. If you have any questions or queries you’d like me to cover in future posts, please contact me! Literally click on “Contact Me,” and you can shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from you! *raises coffee mug in an air toast*
