Opening Night

tonight is opening night.

tonight begins the four performance run for the 2010 10x10 festival of new plays. my nerves are steady. but then i'm still at work. a volunteer brought me "good luck" opening night flowers. lovely....

so my nerves are in check.

i have finally seen my piece... at dress rehearsal on tuesday.

i see it again tonight.

i'm the second play in the second act (bad position... i'm just sayin').

i COULD give you my opinion of the play now. the acting. the direction. but i want to see it in front of an audience. audiences can always make a HUGE difference on how a piece plays.

as a professor told me once: "without an audience, theatre is simply masturbation."

so you shall read my thoughts late tonight or, hopefully, tomorrow. no later than saturday (i promise).

and, as always, i'll post my thoughts on all ten plays after the run.

okay... my throat is starting to close up. maybe my nerves aren't in check.

breathe.

e.

AAAH! Scorpions!

sooooooo...... my director asked me for musical suggestions to open my play at the 10x10. it takes place a few days after a hurricane... a couple sit, hot, no electricity... no wine. a conversation begins about the direction of their relationship.

i instantly thought of "stormy weather." why not? weather. storms. kinda lazy..... sent her the lena horne version and an even better billie holiday version.

i always think of old jazz pieces for my comedies. classical for my dramas. it's the same genre of music i use to write each.

so guess which piece my director decided to use.........?

"wind of change" by scorpions.

.......?

ummmmmmmm....... sure, okay. i can see the thought process. i mean... billie holiday to a heavy metal band is quite an easy jump, right?

one song is a bluesy ode to a lost lover... the other is a cheesy 90s rock ballad about war and the fall of communism.

i mean, she's clearly interested in carrying through with MY vision, right...?

oy vey... so quickly forgotten are the opening remarks of our initial 10x10 meeting: "directors are here to honor the vision of the playwrights."

i still haven't seen it. maybe tomorrow night...?

(i may develop an ulcer.....)

e.

Disconnected

okay, so.... i entered the scriptwriters/houston annual 10x10 festival of new plays again this year.

i know, i know.... i swore after last year's debacle i was through with the 10x10. but i had several friends entering and they encouraged me to enter and we would take over the 10x10!

plus.... they changed artistic directors. brought in someone younger. brought in younger directors. it felt like something new. like it had promise this year.

so i entered.

and somehow, quite beyond explanation, i was accepted. yes... my profane-laden plays have made it into the 10x10 festival for five straight years.

now, the 10x10 felt very different from the beginning. the old troll was replaced and the new artistic director was brought in. yes, she seemed a bit full of herself. she was bossy. but one of the first things she said was "we're returning to the 10x10 to serving the vision of the playwright."

hallelujah!

yet.... after that initial meeting. after the auditions... things started to slip. most of the directors are new but most of the playwrights are repeat winners. and i know most of them.

and most of them have told me the same thing: "i attended the initial read-through but i haven't been to a single rehearsal since."

well... i went to the first read-through but haven't been to a single rehearsal since.

my director - who i have great faith in - has pulled together a fabulous cast for me. top notch, from what i can see. and both actors were our top choices. the director seems to understand the play. the actors seem to understand it and agree with the direction.

at least, from what i can tell... but this is well over a month ago. and now we're just over a week away from tech week. in fact, the show opens two weeks from TONIGHT!

so i'm feeling a bit disconnected from the entire process.

my director has scheduled rehearsals for 1pm every wednesday. my director nor my two actors work. i work. 8am-5pm, monday - friday. so i haven't been able to make rehearsals.

so i'm feeling a bit disconnected.

what have they been doing? do they understand the characters fully? have they found the humor in the piece? what direction have they taken my creation?

i have one last chance to see a rehearsal before tech week... that would be this coming wednesday. i'd have to take off work. my director asked me to come an hour late to a three hour rehearsal to give the actors a chance to warm up....


fuck it.


i'm waiting for tech week... i'll go in and see what they've done. it might be horrible? it might be the best 10x10 i've had! who knows...? but i know i haven't been stressing over it.

but i also know i've been wondering why a director and actors wouldn't want to take advantage of their play's author when the author is available. i don't want to direct. i don't want to give line-readings. but i'd like to be involved.

even if it just means being there to watch. to answer questions. to affirm my director and her direction of my play.

but i'm disconnected.

so.... i'd like to make a promise now (and i hope i can keep it) - that i'll blog about the first run-through, tech rehearsal on tuesday, august 24th. (the 23rd will be cue to cue and i'll have NO idea what they've done. cue to cue is along, boring, horrible rehearsal.)

luckily the show i'm helping to produce is taking up all my time and stress.

so more on THAT... soon.

e.

4th Time...? Not the Charm

hello, my lovelies.... welcome to the long-awaited, much-anticipated wrap up of the 19th annual scriptwriters/houston 10x10 showcase of new plays.

but who am i kidding...? that was two weeks ago... (more?) we've moved on... we've digested the highs and lows of the weekend. but i feel i must revisit this go-around and express my thoughts and insights on the whole operation.

let me begin by saying: this is it. i'm done. i'm out.

this fourth affair with the blue hairs of the 10x10 left little enchantment in my heart for the group. unorganized. amateurish. the whole thing left me wanting. not that any given year has been 100%. but we know how rocky this experience started and, well, it didn't end much better.

i should preface this with stating i enjoyed working with my director very much. yes, he thought my characters were gay when they clearly were not. yes, he left town for nearly three weeks in the middle of rehearsal time. and, yes....he obviously didn't work closely enough with tech to really hammer down the problems with my play.

but before i get to all of that... let's revisit the other 9 plays first.

family portrait
i like the writer and there were some moments of very clever snipes. but, ultimately, the piece is 8 grating moments of hate and slur....with an attempt at putting a positive face on it with a false ending. "i wasn't able to give my children a proper childhood." why not? and is being the screaming banshee of hoboken really the better option? love your children... try your best... don't harp on every flaw, belittle every aspect of their lives and try to pass it off as love. i simply didn't buy it and the lead actress's affected performance only made it more painful.

this play came in third with the judges. i also heard some muttering that this piece had been performed somewhere before...which should have disqualified it. but whatever...

the workshop
it read so funny on the page... but then lost its way in performance. too much going on? too much dependence on slapstick and physical humor as opposed to the words written? the fact that the actor who delivers the final, HI-larious monologue was almost unintelligible didn't help. most people i know tuned out and hated this piece.

it won judges favorite.

dance with me
nine minutes of poorly written dialogue and a buried message. it redeems itself in the final moments when we're all allowed to watch an old lady dance to "the cupid shuffle." that moment won over the entire audience....enough for them to ignore the other nine.

the final dress rehearsal for this was a logistical nightmare. wrong music, wrong timing, wrong sound effects. the first night the older actress lost her lines and the piece lost two minutes of dialogue. it was saved by the booth when they brought in the sound effects early to move the action along.

it was runner-up for audience favorite.

mornings
the sombre, gay play of the year. the first few minutes are jumbled and distracting. dialogue switches back between two gay couples (2 men, 2 women) and much is lost. i think it has it's moments when it allows just two people to settle down and discuss in the second half of the piece. ultimately, however, it's all cliche' and retread. nothing original. some fine acting, i thought... some of the best of the night.

oh....and i still don't see any part of that piece that really shows one of the gay men at the beginning is the one that's dead. so you have a current conversation and a past conversation. how do we know that? where is that said? the only way to know "jeff" is seated at the table at the beginning is to read his name in the program. otherwise, i honestly feel it's never clear.

this play tied for runner-up with the judges.

unleashed
another charmer from the charmer of the 10x10. he writes unoffensive, safe, whimsical, down-home plays and the goblins of the 10x10 love him. i actually really like the play too. it benefits greatly from a talented cast... and it's clever and funny. but safe. always safe. i'm never big on safe.

this play won audience favorite overwhelmingly.

target
some interesting moments... but it feels as if it goes on five minutes too long. again, not necessarily benefited from its lead actor (also its author). originally, the entire show felt like a high school UIL one-act. stilted, stiff, cheesy lighting. the director originally had each "extra" come on and off the stage. made the entire piece feel even longer and dragged it out. finally, she put everyone on stage and it helped. still... ultimately a deeper message lost with a lot of excess.

cuteness
cute. very cute. harmless and aimless.... i actually kinda liked it. the chemistry between the two actors added much. i dunno? beyond the underlying misogyny...i liked it.

forbidden fruit
for some odd reason...this play did not connect with most audience members and friends i've talked to. it's my favorite play out of the ten. it starts off on a very bizarre note and just continues down the rabbit hole. interesting and fresh... funny but dark. the play, i think, provides the most daring ending of the night. a friend of mine was pitch-perfect as the bartender... and i just really enjoyed the ride.

critic's choice
this play runs about 15 to 17 minutes in a TEN minute competition. it feels about 25 minutes long. pointless, self-indulgent. it's a wink to the inner circle that has nothing really to say but attempt to skewer the very person who wrote it. anyone who has to place the PhD after their name in a THEATRE program, is self-indulgent. i do not know a single person who enjoyed this piece.... BUT...

it tied as runner-up with the judges.

upstairs dirty bomb
what can i say about my play....? it never quite lived up the promise of its title. i do think it's better than the production it was given (a familiar feeling of mine when discussing the 10x10). for some reason people laughed more at the second half. of course, my play only runs about 7 minutes. but after the 17 minutes of the prior piece of shit.... i think everyone was simply ready for the show to be over.

so maybe i was partly screwed by placement?

but mostly...i was screwed by the booth. not to mention a bit of slapdash direction and a novice actor who tried his best but simply couldn't bring what was needed to the play.

and again...i really enjoyed working with my director and my cast. two of them i would work with easily again. and one of them received a lot of laughs.

final dress rehearsal was a nightmare, as previously stated. opening night... the sounds were all off. turns out, the booth spent so much time fixing the other plays they royally fucked up during the final dress rehearsal, they forgot to update the changes for my play.

so the vacuum cleaner that was supposed to be over the opening music took the place of what was supposed to be the first big boom from upstairs. and... the booth decided to play the vacuum cleaner noise for a while. which threw off other sound effects. all in all...it just threw off my actors, threw off the timing...and the entire piece came across as flat.

saturday night... music and vacuum cleaner is right... then when it came time for the first big boom...................

nothing.

my actors paused, looking up...waiting. nothing. so he stomped as loud as he could in place of the sound effect. the first half of the play had my actors stomping where sound should have been.

again...threw off the actors. threw off the timing. the piece fell flat.

sunday matinee.... crappy, unappreciative audience all around. matinee audiences always suck. but guess what...?

music and vacuum cleaner fine. first sound...perfect. every sound after that... perfect. on time and rather funny.

remember: this was the first time i'd actually heard all the sound effects in their proper places... after a week of tech and two prior performances... this was the first i heard it all.

it changed everything and i was actually happy with the piece.

i think i took some chances... yes, it probably isn't as funny as i had hoped. but it at least challenged individuals... especially those on the left who think so highly of themselves that they're beyond reproach.

and i'm guilty of this too. hell, it was a pretty autobiographical piece. many of the lines i have said to my friends verbatim.

but anyway... i can't put up with the lack of professionalism and the drive to put on the best shows possible. it's amateurish and i'm done.

i want to focus on longer things and better productions.

the 10x10 has served its purpose for me over the past four years... it got me writing again. it put my name back out there.... and it's put me in contact with a lot of really plugged in theatre people.

but the curtain is down on that part of my life.

onward and upward!

e.

p.s. i'd love to read any comments people might have who actually saw the shows... so don't be shy.

Quick Update

we have sound.

we got some laughs.

it's not perfect. and there's a lot of openings for mistakes.

but it's promising.

we'll see....

e.

Initial/Random Thoughts

so tonight was the second evening of tech rehearsal for this year's 10x10 festival of new plays. tech rehearsal. that's "technical rehearsal" for you non-theatre types.

so one might hope that during TECH rehearsal....they might have working sound. you know, for timing, etc.

yeah...not last night. not tonight.

some backstory: i swore after the first year i did the 10x10 i would never write anything that depended on sound effects or music. it was a nightmare that first year....wrong music. late music. music not working. just not good.

but now i've gone back on that promise to myself...and i have A LOT of VERY important sound effects. please note my unusual use of all caps... they're THAT important.

and now....we've yet to have sound. two full nights of tech rehearsal. no sound.

joy.

tomorrow night is the final dress rehearsal before we open on friday. i'm nervous... but suddenly excited. allow me to explain....

i had felt a bit disconnected... just not a lot of rehearsal and i've had to miss some that we have had. i didn't feel a strong connection to my cast and i just felt separated from the fucking thing.

but now i'm loving what the cast is doing with the play. and my director has just been a blast the past two nights. especially tonight when he showed up to the theatre ten sheets to the wind. oh. my. god. you could smell the cabernet on his breath. it was fabulous.... and hilarious. and made the cast comfortable... and we were all joking about it and having fun with each other...

and they got up there on stage and just had FUN with the piece.

the first night of tech... they were still a bit stiff. lacking projection, as well. but tonight....they got some laughs (from the handful of people who were still there) and i think it might just be okay.

my director from last year stuck around and i went up to her and asked: "funny or offensive?" and she said, "funny." she seemed to have had a good chuckle. i'm sure some of it shocked her, the sweet thing... but i feel better.

they dropped some lines..... there's still some minor tweaking... but it's looking good.

if they can work out the sound effects and if my actors can remember their lines (and my non-actor avoids freaking out the first time he's onstage in front of a full house) - we should be fine.

so...two funny things and then i'll give my initial thoughts on each play.

a) i was told the most fabulous phrase for babies tonight: "crotch fruit." i plan to write an entire play around these two words.

b) we were all sitting around joking with my drunken director when someone asked me if i would write them a part where they could play a pedophile. i looked at him and said, "yeah... ask the gay guy to write a play about pedophilia. because we don't have enough problems." another playwright put her head on my shoulder and said, "i like him."

just making friends everywhere i go....

okay, the plays and my initial thoughts. names avoided (for now) to protect the innocent.

1. may have had promise at one time... but completely destroyed by a single actress who makes it beyond painful to watch.

2. another play i liked on the page....but here's it's a muffled mess. and the best part of the play (the final monologue) is HI-larious... but killed in delivery. disappointing.

3. not bad...some nice moments. overall, more strongly directed and acted than written.

4. confusing at first... disjointed. but then two actors are allowed to come together and it's very touching. major props to the two actors.

5. harmless. charming. well-crafted. a nice piece. very funny with some very talented actors.

6. why do they always start off the second act with the most bizarre play? a jumbled mess. not helped at all by the lead actor. the lighting and the staging all feel very high school UIL.

7. very cute. doesn't really go anywhere...but you know i love that. and very cute.

8. perhaps my favorite. starts off bizarre and just continues down to it's dark conclusion. well written, well staged. excellent actress involved.

9. still a bit of a mess.... saved by some very good performances (one in particular). goes on WAY too long. when i timed it last night, it ran about 17 minutes.

10. well, you'll just have to wait and judge for yourself.

more thoughts after the run...maybe even after dress rehearsal tomorrow night. i also owe you, my lovelies, some thoughts on the festival of originals (FOO).

nightie, night.

e.

And Last Up...Racism?

now.....you probably read that subject heading and thought this entry might be about the cambridge police, professor skip gates and barack obama.

well, you'd be wrong.

it's about my 10x10 play. and there have been some surprising developments. most of them good... a couple of them odd.

let me begin by discussing the rehearsal i attended this evening... the cast if off book. that's the first big relief. as previously discussed, one of my actors is not an Actor. this is his first time on stage.... and i had a feeling once he got off book he might be a lot better in the role.

luckily, i was on to something.

now, i'm not sure if it's because the director wasn't there tonight or if it was something else... but they were really enjoying themselves and the material. the actors were joking around, it all felt much looser. and that's what the play needs.

i keep telling everyone... if we play it too seriously, the play runs the trouble of coming across as simply racist, as opposed to a comment on racism.

i feel much better about it after tonight's rehearsal. daryl continues to be the standout and he's doing some truly fabulous and hilarious things with his part. he should totally steal the show. but all the actors seem to understand they should play around with the material more and focus on having fun rather then delivering the deeper message. if we do it right, the message will come across... and, hopefully, people will laugh and not be offended.

which brings me to my next point: some good/interesting news. i was told by the actors tonight that my play will be presented 10th. yes....i am closing out this year's 10x10.

so two things: 1) that means i get to sit longer before my play goes up and i'll be a nervous wreck even longer.... and 2) i have the coveted position of being the play that leaves the final impression on the audience.

this is a big deal, actually. the troll that runs the 10x10 likes to finish the night with a play she thinks is the funniest and one of the strongest.

so i was kinda flattered.

then i received a more complete explanation: the troll believes, in short, if people are offended by my play they can simply walk out and they won't miss any of the other plays.

jesus fucking christ! thanks for deflating my ego. i mean....seriously?!?

yes, apparently, the troll is so afraid that my potentially racist play may offend so many blue hairs that she's placing it last so they can feel okay about walking out and not missing the other nine gems.

first of all.... if i haven't offended anybody by now... i'm not sure this play will do it. yes, there are several racial and sexual slurs in it...including the n-word. and yes...it has my usual amount of profanity.

but dammit.... the play that closed out the first act of the 10x10 last year had an actor calling the audience "a bunch of assholes" and talked about one actor "sucking cock." and that same playwright, this year....has a character uttering that all offensive word: CUNT!

but it appears the troll is more concerned with my play where the language is actually used to make a point...than a play where the word "cunt" is delivered for a laugh, yes, but also out of anger.

whatever... i'm pretty sure this is my last year for the 10x10. i've kept up a four year streak and i want to focus on bigger things from here on out. and, really, they just don't understand my work.

here's hoping, however, the audience will appreciate it. if not... (to steal a line from the first play of mine ever produced) fuck 'em!

i can't wait to see what happens....

e.

Theatrical Update

so just a few notes for those of you who hold some sort of interest in my theatrical endeavors.

as some of you know... i had submitted two short pieces for two separate competitions earlier this year.

the first was a 20 minute piece for theatre southwest's annual festival of originals. i have never submitted to this competition and i was really looking forward to breaking into something new. however, i was also conflicted over the piece i submitted and the rawness of the subject matter.

well, i was not selected. so i didn't have to stress over my conflicted emotions. but...it did bring up another emotion i hadn't experienced (theatrically speaking) in some time: rejection.

with modesty i submit to you: i've had a pretty good track record. the first year i submitted to albee (back in the mid 90's) - i was an alternate. the next year i was selected...not even the playwrighting class, but the production class. then the following year albee wrote me personally saying he would like to do another one of my plays, but felt he should give others a shot. then he selected another piece of mine the following year for his production class.

then i went on my loooooong writing hiatus. but when i submitted to the scriptwriters/houston 10x10 in 2006, i was selected. then i was selected again the next year and the next.

when i submitted to the wordsmyth reading series late last year... my play was selected for the march debut of this new series.

but then i hit a wall with the FOO. i'm actually quite happy with the play i submitted so my writer's ego was bruised when i wasn't chosen... and i found myself hit hard by the rejection. it actually took a week or two to heal the wounds. and others have made me feel better by letting me know who you need to know and what you probably need to do to get into the FOO... so i'm not as upset.

also helping matters... i was selected for a fourth straight year into the 10x10. i have officially impressed even the most seasoned of 10x10 activists.

and again... i was surprised to be chosen. the subject matter is a bit different for me... i mean...it's political... but different from my past three plays. and, i hope, funny.

it's interesting... i finally got the director i've wanted to work with for the past three years and, as it turned out, he completely missed the mark on my play (initially). my reputation must've proceeded me because my director thought...for some odd reason...that my characters were gay.

i told him, "no, i've purposely written them straight this year." and he said, "well, i don't know why i thought they were gay." and i answered: "probably because you saw my last three plays." and he smiled and said, "probably."

but he had precast my play and had some nervous nelly in the main role... i was not happy. and i went round and round for about three days wondering if i could compromise my original vision to make my director happy.

luckily...he recast and the latest conflict was put to rest.

and the cast has promise. we had our first rehearsal just about a week ago. the director has some nice ideas... he is a bit more concerned with "business" than i care for in a director... but i know actors like to have shit to do around stage. i'll never quite understand why they can't allow the words to do more of the work for them.

but anyway... one actor - he will be superb and will totally steal the show. he's hilarious and i really lucked out. the actress has also shown some nice insight and some very funny timing. i have no worries.

then there's the "lead." it really is an ensemble piece but one actor has more of the heavy lifting. we had trouble finding a replacement so a "natural" was recommended by the actress in the play. turns out... she's dating him and he's never been on stage before.

here i have some concerns.

my first play in the 10x10 was destroyed by a cast that couldn't really handle the comedy. this play has an even trickier subject matter and, therefore, a steeper comedy mountain to climb. i hope he can handle it.

he was very stiff during the read-through and the short amount of time we spent blocking. but after we finished the rehearsal and stood around chatting... he did some impressions and told some stories and was really very funny. so he has the ability. he simply needs to translate it to the show.

so....my theatrical calendar isn't as busy as i had hoped... but two out of three shows isn't bad. and i now have more time to fine-tune the two act and get it to a place where i can start submitting it again for a full production.

i've also been asked to read submissions for the wordsmyth fall reading series and have seven plays waiting for me to read. so it's not like i'm not busy.

in fact... i'm crazy busy.

i also have two ideas for the next full-length i'd like to act and i'm waiting to see which one fights to prominence in my head first. i hope to get a good first draft of that finished by year's end.

and i have seen some shows. including a string of musicals, oddly enough... three very fine productions of grey gardens, hedwig and the angry inch and cabaret).

so... at this point i feel a bit caught up on the blogging (if not with two truncated entries) but will once again attempt to be better about forcing my thoughts on you, my loyal readers.

hope you had a nice holiday weekend. and now, if you'll excuse me, i have some plays to read.

e.

Post Play Post

and just like that... another year with the 10 by 10 has come to a close.

i have a mixture of emotions coming out of the scriptwriters/houston 18th annual showcase of new plays. overall, my best experience with the 10 by 10.

my director, while i believe hesitant at first, came through and really invested a lot in my play. i think the subject matter initially made her uncomfortable, but she ultimately embraced the themes and the relationship and gave it her all.

she told me she was pleased people would get to see the play because it would probably be a new experience for most.

my actors were the best i've had in the three years.... they both put a lot of emotion into their performances and i think they were roundly applauded for their efforts.

unfortunately, i think the order of this year's ten plays were probably the worst they've ever been and (in particular) i think my play was lost in the shuffle. i followed an over-the-top play about terrorism, torture and even a jesus reference... and then i was followed by an over-the-top, convoluted absurdist play about... well, there is still some debate.

my play was probably the most subtle of the evening. an experiment in dialogue and relationships more than plot twists and clever gimmicks. the entire concept of my play was built around what wasn't said... two individuals incapable of expressing their emotions coming to a point where, maybe, they could.... but ultimately, stop short.

it was obviously lost on some. understood by others... but again... i just think it was lost among all the rest.

some reviews... very varied.

wrote one:

Gay lovers on the brink of breaking up, don’t. Or do they? Travis Springfield and Kelly Williams soak the stage with recrimination and almost make you believe there’s a story here. Lots of subtext, no question, and it all gets laid out. But where’s the beef? You have to wonder, how many times have they had this same fight? [e.] gets a lot of mileage out of his scenario: miles to nowhere. If there was a point to this piece, I couldn’t find it with a spotlight.

ummm.... ouch. but i think this person missed the point. immediately following this review, however, someone wrote they wish mine had been expanded because they would like to have seen more. And goes on to write:

Travis Springfield and Kelly Williams were superb in their roles and showed the strongest relationship in the night. And I easily could have seen this done at minimum as a lengthy one act piece around 45 minutes, or as a full length play, including in the play when the younger man is at the bar being picked up by a stranger, but to deny him only to go home to his older lover to engage him. And for their conversation to pick up the following day, and perhaps the older man to return to drinking, to see what he was actually like before, as the younger man described. Anyways, it was the best piece of the night.

the last line, in particular, means i at least reached one person. and that's what writing should be about. reaching people. making them think. forcing them to reexamine what they believe or misunderstand.

overall, it was a good year. i was pleased with my play even if i felt the majority of friends and family found it lacking compared to my other pieces.

it was different. less obvious. more stylized. my favorite description so far was my friend who called it "theatrical."

but you win some... and you lose some.

this past weekend was a win for me.... even if i didn't come in first, second or even third. it was something i was proud of and i think i'll look back on it next year and still find myself pleased.

to all of you who came out and supported me and the other nine houston playwrights.... thank you.

and for those of you in the know... the saturday night "after" was fucking fabulous! a great group of friends having great food, drink and conversation. thanks to all who stopped by, provided their feedback and just let go and had fun.

a special thanks to those four friends who put it all together and made it happen.

presently, i'm not sure about next year. my gut tells me "no" but my desire to be on stage and see if i can keep the streak alive tells me "yes."

maybe something comedic next year? maybe something more accessible?

or maybe i'll just fuck with everyone again and make 'em work for it?

who knows? i mean, somebody has to shake that shit up?

e.

That Old Familiar Feeling

well...here it is, my lovelies. it's hell week for the 10x10 and i've been experiencing all those old familiar feelings that hugged me like a needy lover this same week the past two years.

part of it may be revisiting those oh-so familiar themes that haunt the works of scriptwriters/houston year after year....

just like the 10x10s of past you will find plays filled with the same ole spectres of those we've wronged, young women dealing with incest, wannabe french sex farces and, of course, plenty of relationship abuse. oh - and the twists! don't forget the scriptwriters' twist!

fuck me! they do love a good (or not so good) twist.

as for me... my familiarity runs beneath the themes and into my own insecurity.

monday night... i hated my play.

tuesday night... i loved it.

tonight.... i hated my play in new ways and i'm certain it'll flop.

and there are factors for my insecurity. top of the list: my actors still struggle with some lines. it's a tightly written script and one flub really starts things tumbling.

i also follow a rather intense 10-minute play chock full of torture, screaming and the one word i've yet to have uttered on stage in one of my plays (even though i keep trying).

i keep thinking, "great. we've just spent ten minutes watching this guy get the shit tortured out of him... now let's watch the fags fight!"

oy....

last night i really felt parts of my play were close to poetic. one of the other playwrights told me i made her cry.

an actor told me he wanted to do my play more than any of them and he thinks it's the strongest of the ten.

while another actor continues to bemoan the fact that he wasn't cast but he's certain mine will still be the best of the night.

and yet i watch it and i wonder.....

mind you, i look back on my piece from last year and find it overblown and melodramatic. a piece of shit, almost. just way too preachy. and yet it won runner-up as the audience favorite.

so the fuck do i know, right? i mean...please forgive the cliche' but i am my own worst critic.

i just hope the little, blue pills i've started taking help me from becoming a nervous wreck opening night.

so.... the next big question is: do i hope tomorrow night is a shitty night so friday will be spectacular? or do i hope for a stellar evening, full of passion and energy....and hope it carries through into friday.

maybe i should just plan to start drinking early....?

gotta love those old familiar feelings. and hey! don't worry about me... this is all par for the course before any of my openings. truly....

if they can remember their lines... we'll be golden.

if not... well, i'm happy to show you the script any time.

e.

What Is This Strange Feeling...?

oh... i think it might be optimism!

i had the first rehearsal this evening for my new 10x10 and....um.... it went surprisingly well.

the actor playing "B" had not yet seen the entire script so he cold read it. and he was about as good as i could've hoped for had it been opening night. i'm very pleased.

the actor playing "A" read the play for a salon reading back in february and i like what he brings to the performance. he understands the withdrawn quality of the character. the only problem is sometimes he's so withdrawn you have trouble hearing him.

the director seems good and trusts the actors to move fluidly and instinctively.

so we had an initial run-through and went through the entire play two or three times to get the preliminary blocking down.

i have to say.... i'm really happy with this first rehearsal and probably feel better about it than i have any of my previous 10x10s. i think i might actually be content with this production.

in fact, i'm oddly pleased with the play overall... every word i wrote. i currently wouldn't change a single word of this play and that is unheard of for me... i'm never pleased. i just think it's really tightly written with some very nice moments.

crazy....

two funny points:

the director and the two actors all have extensive directing experience and all bring a long career on stage to the project. so it's funny watching three directors ultimately trip over each other and suggest different blocking and interpretations of the play. in the long run, however, i can tell they're gonna get it.

the other thing... it's so funny to listen to this short, ten-minute play after hearing the reading of my two act. it was so clearly a precursor for me to write the longer piece. almost like an exercise at getting into the head of my main character.

i laugh because if you just changed the ages of the characters in the short piece, it could be a break-up scene between two characters in the longer play.

so don't let anyone tell you that writing short pieces is a waste of time. they're good practice. good exercises for honing skills and developing dialogue.

and i'll be goddamned if i'm not looking at my glass of wine and thinking... "it's half full."

how 'bout that?

i'll keep everyone posted....

e.

p.s. the photographer showed up again and took more photos for the potential outsmart article. two photo shoots and somehow i survived. but it was not easy going. luckily, this photographer has great interpersonal skills and made me feel really comfortable in my least comfortable situation.

When It Rains...

suddenly, the writing thing appears to be in high gear.

don't get me wrong...i'm ecstatic! i'm just surprised.

i feel like i've been slowing trying to re-emerge into the houston theatre world over the past couple of years (houston - a decent place to start). first i uneasily dipped my toes into the 10x10. and while the experiences haven't been stellar...it's been a nice reintroduction to houston crowds.

then i started taking part in these afternoon readings at my friend's house. no major exposure - but nice exercises and it helps keep my writing sharp. and one of them has now been accepted into the 10x10 this year.

so three consecutive 10x10s (not a bad record).

then i finish the full-length play that's been rattling around in my skull for eight years....hold a reading... and it hasn't stopped since.

i have actors wanting to do my work. other writers telling me where i need to submit the play... everyone wanting to know when it will be performed.

on saturday.... i had auditions for the 10x10. i thought they went well (i got the cast i wanted) and afterwards, an actor that did my play two years ago stopped me to compliment the four pages out of the 13 pages he was able to read during the audition.

i felt guilty...i had just slagged him off to another playwright... but there he was, telling me how much he loves the way i write and the common themes that run through my pieces. he particularly likes how my plays "say so much by saying so little." and he really hopes he can work with me again.

i can't lie... i was flattered. i was flummoxed.

a couple of hours later... my director from last year's 10x10 called me expressing his interest in performing in my play at the 10x10 this year. "have you already cast it?" he asked. and then he went into how much he likes my writing and how my plays "say so much by saying so little."

i guess my desire to write withdrawn, uncommunicative characters is shaping up nicely.

and finally...to cap it all off.... yesterday i'm contacted by outsmart magazine (a gay mag here in houston) and they want to profile me or something for their august issue... highlighting the gay playwright thing (of course) and the 10x10.

this includes a photo shoot.... which does not thrill me. but hey - press is press.

it's almost overwhelming at this point. i went nearly six years without a blip on the theatre scene... and suddenly i seem to be known in certain circles. and i've had at least one person ask: "why haven't i heard of you before?"

the actor from two years ago tells me people still ask him all the time about the play he did for me and who wrote it.

my current director wants me to get involved in the annual festival of originals (foo) and - again - everyone has ideas on what my next step should be for the long play.

obviously, first, i need to tweak some parts of the play. but i'd love to move forward and seek out a production as soon as possible.

it feels like, maybe, this is the time. my time (to be pointed and somewhat egotistical about it).

but goddammit.... this is my passion. this is what i want to do.

my mind is confused by this near-constant, unfamiliar sense of... (contentment? happiness?)

but all the while...my past keeps whispering in my ear: "just wait for the rug to be pulled out from under you."

maybe that paranoia and disappointment can finally be put to rest?

fuck me, i hope so.....

fingers crossed.

e.

Holy Shit! Take II

i was accepted into the scriptwriters/houston 10x10 festival of short plays again this year. if you were sitting around me during the announcement, you heard me utter: "ho-ly shit."

i honestly did not expect to be chosen this year.

i submitted a piece i wrote for an afternoon reading series that a friend ask me to take part in. i wrote it over the weekend....with about another hour of some editing/reworking. i didn't even plan to submit anything... some friends told me i should. one friend kept telling me the play was a piece of shit... so i almost didn't.

but i did... and they chose it. i was actually the first winner announced... so it really took me by surprise.

i guess i did what i set out to do.... i've submitted three consecutive years and three consecutive years i've been chosen. it feels good.

oh! and this one is chock full of profanity and man on man intimacy. i can't wait to crack the faces of the old people who attend these plays.

tee-hee.

i'll fill you in on more details later...... right now, i'm enjoying a celebratory glass of wine.

e.

Don't Ask Me Why...

i decided to submit another short play for this year's 10x10.

i realize i wasn't 100% satisfied with the past two productions and i bitch and moan about scriptwriters every year.... but i just felt i had to.

i mean... the average age of a scriptwriters member must be about 102... so it's nice to inject some youth and vulgarity into the proceedings.

and i didn't create anything new this year... it's a piece i wrote one weekend for a friend's afternoon reading. a break-up scene between a may/december relationship.

i don't find it all that interesting, actually... but i do like the dialogue.

funny thing... there are strict submission rules for the 10x10. 12-point font. 8-10 pages. scripts exceeding 10 pages will be disqualified.

well, i'll be a sonovabitch if my script wasn't 13 pages....

"the fuck am i gonna do now?" i thought. so i went to work.

i adjusted some stage directions, shortened some descriptions. moved line reading cues (such as "dryly" or "a bit louder than anticipated") to the same line as the dialogue...

and then i set to cutting lines...

as i said... what i like most about the piece is the dialogue. very terse and incomplete. my favorite kind. so how do i cut it?

well...i came to the decision that i'll make some strategic cuts... mainly cutting back on some repetition in speech that i like for rhythm. and if i'm chosen... BOOM! the original script is slipped back in for performance.

it will be under ten minutes...trust me. it's quick, short dialogue... it just takes a lot of space to write that shit.

anyway...

in all honesty, i'd be a bit surprised if i'm chosen. the subject matter may not be all that interesting... and maybe it's been done before... but i think my take on it... and the dialogue... is better than most things i've seen come out of scriptwriters.

but again: in all honesty.... i'd be kinda pissed and disappointed if this group snubs their nose up at my writing.

i'm going for 3 outta 3 here.

in the end...i think i entered a piece because.... well.... having something done (even something only ten minutes and not performed overly well) keeps me motivated and going. keeps my work out there...

and there's nothing like hearing your words spoken up on a stage.

i guess i'll know around june 2nd.

oy! the waiting....

e.

My 3 R's: Relief, Regret & Reinvigoration

the 10x10 is over and i feel a great amount of relief. as always, i stressed out a good deal and my nerves seriously kick my ass working up to any performance. but i have to say - i was pleased with how it went.

was it exactly what i was hoping for? no.... but it was not anywhere near as horribly awful as last year. my director was excited and involved. my actors gave it their all. it wasn't exactly my vision but it was close.

i'm perhaps spoiled by the earlier productions of my longer plays where i had a lot of creative control. but i have to learn to let go and trust the talent that has taken over my writing. the audience was pleased - i came in second once all the audience votes for "best play" were tallied. the play that won clearly deserved it. well written.... perfectly executed. my envy was palpable.

my regrets are few but they are there. i still feel the play was overwritten.... a bit too preachy. i don't think my director and actors' instincts to play up the melodrama of the piece helped any. most nights i felt the play came across as described by this snippet on theatreport.com:

"Commit for Life" by [e.] is so preachy that I thought the only thing missing from the set was the pulpit. Well directed by John Kaiser, and well acted by Larry Hermes and John Dunn, like Kaiser's written piece this point could've been driven home a LOT quicker and to greater effect. About a gay man that wants to give blood for his injured mother, but is denied because gays can't give blood according to the blood bank by laws. What could've been a shorter, play with more impact, feels like beating a dead horse. It's not that the idea of how the blood bank discriminates isn't heinous, but the point is hammered home so many times in this piece the audience finds itself feeling like a collective nail, and the "twist" at the end of this one is so predictable the entire audience could've written it on their program midway thru the play.

so - i'm not the only one that found it preachy. but maybe that's because i'm so close to the material and know all the information i talk about. i do think this review is a bit harsh... i know the piece isn't perfect but i think the second half is more powerful - less preachy.

now, having said all this.....i must have connected with the audience to come in second, right? obviously - they felt something other than being preached to. and i have to admit - at some point each night i looked around the audience to see if i had lost them.... if they were looking through their programs or around the theatre. they were not. they were watching the action on stage. i had several people each night ask if it were true. one person had gone to the website to see for herself. so a conversation has begun. maybe one day the discrimination will end...?

and i saw some people crying... and i was told about others. about a person whispering "oh god" when she realized the ending. so the piece connected and that's what i wanted. and i'll take a write up like this any day (also a post on theatreport.com):

COMMIT FOR LIFE – Next up, Hermes père shows us how it’s done (no pun intended), as a TV-style cop grilling gay madcap John Dunn about his bad behavior at a hospital blood bank. Both actors deftly alienate us then win us over (especially Dunn), and [e.] has crafted a quietly shattering script. In his 10X10 directing debut, Kaiser wisely stands aside and lets his cast probe the material, with Norelia Reed eloquently presiding like a moon in eclipse.

"quietly shattering" ---who wouldn't take that?!?

i'm not really sure i'll enter the 10x10 again. i've never been truly pleased with the experience and i'm not sure my work connects with most of the members (who average about 20-30 years older than me). but we'll see... should inspiration hit for another 10 minute play, i might.

the one good thing about the whole experience is that it's reinvigorated me and my desire to really set aside the time i need to write. i've had too many obstacles over the past several years (mostly no privacy with roommates and no time to write) - but that's no longer an excuse. i have several plays in the work and i should finish one soon. my goal is by year-end to finish my next full-length play.

where it goes from there..... i can only hope.

but at least i had something out there this past weekend. it was only 10 minutes, yes.... but it is 10 minutes that keep me going, encouraging me to follow my dreams.

e.