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.

New Experiences

so i think i mentioned that i've entered the cock-sucking realm of producer... yes, that horrid individual that is responsible for money and worrying about what works and doesn't work....

and essentially sucking the life out of art.

well... fuck that noise. i'm a new kind of producer. allowing everyone to create and express........ while still worrying about money and making a profit and casting and rehearsing and.... ganesha help me! it never ends.

but i've had some new experiences over the past couple of weeks as we really hit hard on advertising our production.

press releases
my father was a newspaper man his entire adult life. a copy editor for most of that time. i grew up knowing every copy editor mark for the editing process.

so you would think press releases would be easy for me...!

no.

first task? write a long press release. okay.... so i had to dissect a video for quotes. listen to sentences over and over again to make sure i got the exact words. i had to fish through synopses and construct the story of the production, the plays... all in a coherent fashion that would make people interested in possibly writing a story about the production.

then i had to create a calendar/event listing press release. short and to the point. this is the show. here. when. how much. done.

and then a third press release which is a shorter version of the long one but a longer version than the short one... for those that want a bit more than the bullet points for the listing but not a graph on every play.

it was... exhausting. and i've spent the last week or two sending them out, tracking down email addresses and submission ports for websites and generally spending all hours of the evening doing this.

fucking crazy. and a lot of late nights.

but i've learned a lot. (and i feel good about what i created.)

logos
yes... now i'm neck-deep in graphic design. two of the other producers have been working with an artist on the poster/program design. i haven't even seen anything.

so i approached a friend to design a logo for our production company. we have a website... but it needs some serious work. i told him we were looking to rush...and he rushed. came up with three good graphics.

LOVE the first one.... but it needs some tweaking.

the second one is a bit corporate for my taste. not creative enough.

third one is good... the graphic could be better but the concept (with some tweaking) could make a fabulous letterhead.

anyway.... trying to get feedback from the other three producers. trying to send the designer the feedback.... then receiving even more feedback from someone who isn't even part of the production company.

and it's been crazy, as well.

but all these new experiences.... marketing. branding. networking.... these have been fucking great lessons for me.

in the matter of a week i've had two individuals (now three, actually) ride my ass about marketing myself better and getting my name and my work out there. i'm taking this seriously.

i need to make a move. going to work everyday and doing work that i believe in but don't necessarily love anymore... while all this exciting theatre work is out there for me. when i'm casting and rehearsing and seeing my plays performed.

it makes that day job hard.

so... i'm trying to do what it takes. i even got (hold on to your hats...) some better pictures of myself taken so i can have a decent headshot to send out. (and you know i hate having my picture taken.)

i'm working on getting a website. i'm updating my resume. and i'm getting my fucking name and work out there.

it's a lot of work and it's stressful. but it's also...... incredible.

and i still have so much more to tell you!

more. soon. (i promise, my lovelies.)

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.

Damn My Jewish Guilt!

okay.... so i'm not really jewish. but fuck it all, i should be. i mean, i suffer guilt like nobody's business.

i learned a hard lesson in theatre tonight. and i hope it's ended with me backing the right horse.

and i'm using a lot of cliche's in this post. for that i apologize (because i feel guilty).

i don't have a lot of experience in producing a play. i've always been the writer. i've helped with casting. i've provided feedback to the director who then filtered it down in a more palpable way to the actors.

i'm about to have my 7th play produced. i've had two other readings. september will see another play plus a prior play produced. so a total of 9 produced plays.

yet i've always only ever been the writer.

in september a group of three other fabulous writers and myself are self-producing a night of short plays. and fuck me: producing is hard.

we've actually had a rather smooth time of it so far. no major battles of picking the final scripts. no fights over which directors to ask. we even have suggestions of actors for each other's plays.

and even when the directors sent along their top three choices, it appeared everyone would get their top choice.

then i ran into one of the directors tonight. i adore this man. i've worked with him before and i think he's amazing.

the man is fucking talented. and, in all honestly, will be the houston theatre NAME attached to the project. he is well known. well regarded. quite often referred to as one of the best actors working in town.

he did not number his choices. he said he would direct anything by me (i brought him into the project) and then would enjoy directing these other two. well, i thought he was being kind to me and seemed more interested in the other two.

but i ran into him tonight. told him which plays he would probably direct. he was. not. happy.

he wants to direct one of my plays. he feels i brought him into the project and thought he made it perfectly clear that he wanted to direct one of mine.

problem.

i sent an email out to the other playwrights... at this point, also known as the co-artistic directors.

the way i guess i made the email sound made the director sound like a prima donna which he isn't. so i felt guilty that the other playwrights now think he's a dick and basically want to tell him to "fuck off."

but i told them i dropped the ball with the correspondence with the director and, really, i'm the amateurish idiot. and i felt guilty talking to the director tonight and feeling like i screwed up.

but fuck, my lovelies.... my co-producers are amazing. they refuse to allow me to blame myself. in fact, they are making sacrifices in order to appease the director they want to tell to " fuck off."

so i feel guilty about that.

and i told them i didn't want to leave a bad taste in their mouth... about me or the director. because he's not doing it as some favor to us - he wants to work on the project. he's excited about the project. and, yes, he wants to work with me again.

yet i have guilt.

the other playwrights have now all called me since our big group conference call to try and alleviate my guilt. as one put it: i have this cyclical emotion of feeling bad about one thing or another.

i told him: bad feelings and guilt are a huge part of my life.

and i think this is why i'm a writer and not a producer.

and fuck! producing is hard.....

e.

Warning! (and Apologies...)

it's been over four months since i've posted here.... my apologies.

but i plan a return.

soon.

and i plan to refocus the blog back on its original intention: theatre.

talk to you soon, my lovelies.

e.

Buy In

so i just returned from a very entertaining reading of a new play at stages. it's the first of three readings in wordsmyth theater's fall season...once again presented in collaboration with the actor's gym.

well, the same kook who shows up at every one of these readings and then rambles on and on about ganesha only knows what....did it again tonight.

and he went off on his favorite bash-worthy subject: homosexuality.

yes, he went off on my play and it being "gay." he's gone off on other plays for having a gay character.

tonight's play: part comedy of manners. part thriller.

written by a happily (i assume) married gentleman probably in his sixties. teaches writing.... seems very pleasant.

there is one moment....ONE moment...where a person says she's bisexual and likes to kiss other women. probably made the whole thing up to fuck with the guest. but guess who pounced it?

"why did you bring up the gay thing?"

what...?!?

"i can't believe you've bought into the culture."

i had to laugh. the people around me, knowing me, looked for my reaction. i simply turned and said: "well...i'm glad he's bought into the culture. we have this big march coming up and we could use all the help we can get."

what a jackass....

e.

p.s. seriously, though... if you want to buy into the "gay culture" - we're always accepting recruits. thanks....

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.

On the Boards

well, i'm trying to focus this blog a bit more on theatre as of late... the blog title would insinuate that it should involve more theatre musings. and i've been hitting up the theatre a lot more lately. i've decided it's shameful how little theatre i see since i want to make a life in that arena. and there's so much theatre in houston. i want to try and see AT LEAST one play a month. i've actually been seeing much more than that.... i'll try to take these in order.

rabbit hole by david lindsay-abaire
i have great respect for this play and i thought it was incredibly powerful in its simplicity. simple plot. simple language. linear construction. deep, conflicted characters. everything i think i strive for when i write.

the play focuses on a couple dealing with the loss of their four year old son. "dogs chase squirrels. boys chase dogs." it's really about how different people grieve in different ways and how a simple phrase can bring back a memory that causes sadness or anger. it's about finding or attempting to assign blame when it's truly an accident. you blame yourself. you blame the driver.

stages repertory theatre really put on a top-notch production here. and the play quietly makes its way to a quiet conclusion. a fitting one: the couple still trying to cope but giving hints that they will move on. it's a quiet conclusion one without a big dramatic blow out. it's what i want for my play. so this play gave me comfort in what i've created with stop, traveler.

and - it won the pulitzer.

the only down-side....? i submitted a piece to the FOO (festival or originals) about a couple dealing with the loss of their 16 year old son. it hits on a lot of the same themes and i'm afraid people will think i stole the idea. oh well.

five flights by adam bock
a curious play... more interested in language and the absurdity of organized religion than much else. this was put on by unhinged productions which is a local theatre group that is committed to putting on plays that deal with gay themes. they are a group i want to submit to but i've been less-than impressed by the majority of their past productions.

but this was a fine piece of theatre... better actors (save for one laughably bad dolt) and a better theatre space..... the play focuses on three siblings who have to decide what to do with an aviary built by their late father that he built to house the soul of his wife that died years earlier. birds as vessels for the human soul in a constant theme and one character even wants to turn the aviary into a church (the church of the 5th day - the day god created birds). two of the siblings are seen... ed (gay) and adele (possibly gay). the other brother we never meet... but his rigid and anal wife is there and tells us all we need to know.

the themes were really interesting and i liked the simplistic staging. again - something i want for my piece. so i may look into this partnership a bit more. but the play was good.... not great... but there are moments of poetry and real intimate realizations.

mr. bock could be someone to look out for in the future.

in the bar of a tokyo hotel by tennessee williams
how could i pass up an opportunity to see tennessee williams in a black box production?

this is a seldom-produced williams play that came late in his career. 1969, i believe. it is also very personal.... and somewhat uncomfortable to watch.

depending on who you ask will depend on how they see the plot. mark and miriam are a married couple staying at a tokyo hotel. miriam likes to drink away the day and flirt with almost any man - but in particular, the japanese barman. mark is a painter clearly suffering a mental collapse. he is developing a new form of art... and actually thinks he is the first to discover color.

one person may say this is the two parts of mr. williams. the conflicted, insane artist and the alcoholic letch.

someone else may say tennessee has constructed a portrait of mr. and mrs. jackson pollack.

i tend to lean towards the former. although i believe this production decided to bring out more of the latter. it's a really interesting little play. a long one act drawn into a two act for this production. there is some great use of language in this piece. most of the crowd i saw it with seemed lost, confused and joked about the oddness of the play. i found it rather compelling. and placing it in a black box theatre made it very intimate. i'm in love with intimate theatres.

the lead actress and the barman were the standouts... although - it's odd to see the stereotyping of the japanese barman. i found the other two men a bit weak... in particular the actor who played mark....who seemed too incoherent and lost from the beginning... it gave him no place to go.

i found the original review of the first production in the times. it seems to hit everything pretty well. plus - it's just a funny, snarky read.

wallflower by deborah stein
this was a world premiere at stages repertory theatre. i was really excited to see this.... a revolution is started by a simple youtube posting. the girl (she's 16, i believe) is then holed up in an apartment when the authorities begin looking for her. her sister and her lover become her only companions and her link to news of the outside.

the use of technology was very interesting in this play... the idea of a youtube video starting a revolution seems very prescient. of course, the revolution quickly takes a violent turn....a turn unwelcomed by milena (the poster) but just the ticket for her lover.

there are odd moments of misogyny in the play which is particularly strange considering a woman wrote the piece. i can only assume she intends for us to see the lover in this way.

ultimately, however, what we see on stage does not seem nearly as interesting as what we hear about taking place outside.

stein struggles to fill just under 90 minutes with the three stuck in the apartment... and i think the idea would be better served if she had opened the action up to the outside.

who are these followers? how does milena react when actually faced with her revolution and not just hearing about it?

a disappointment.... and i've heard that the majority of audiences have felt the same way.

all the pretty little horses by nancy geyer
this was the second play in the wordsmyth reading series. what i heard from individuals the most was the dichotomy of the two audiences between my play and this one. there was about a 30 year difference in the median age. it was crazy.

but a very nice turn out and just as odd a talkback.

i found the play about a lonely woman who is taken prisoner in her remote farm house by a younger, overtly religious man who may or may not have killed his mother somewhat intriguing.

my friend told me it reminded her of a lesser "good country people" by flannery o'connor and i went home and reread the short story and she's right. similar but different... but definitely the same feel of the warped, southern gothic.

i felt there was too little push back from the woman when the man barges into her home. and i say "barges in" but he's almost let in (or so it felt). and you immediately know where the story is taking you.... they will fuck and they will profess love... but ultimately, of course, they part.

i recommend the o'connor story much more. i forgot how much i enjoy reading ole flannery. i'm sure i had read "good country people" before but i didn't remember it... the description and characterization of joy is really something special. interesting that she's so hard and, really, dislikable going into the story... and then this horrible thing happens to her.

of course, o'connor's greatest talent is combining the southern gothic with the darkly, humorous.

next weekend
my friend steven and i see the seven year itch next weekend. i'll be sure to include some thoughts.

now go out and see some theatre...

e.

A Final Curtain Call for Bea

long before women and gay men around the world started asking each other "which sex and the city character are you?" - they were asking "which golden girl are you?"

the answers were always clear for me: miranda and dorothy.

and today we lost dorothy.

yes, the great bea arthur passed away from cancer today at the age of 86.

she will be best known for her stints as maude and dorothy but long before her days on television she was a diva on broadway. she originated the role of vera charles in the musical mame. she was the original yente the matchmaker in fiddler on the roof.

a few years ago i was fortunate enough to see ms. arthur on broadway in her one woman show: just between friends.

i had already seen elaine stritch's one woman show on that trip and thought we might be better served seeing another show... but my friend james was insistent and since i dragged him to stritchie's show (of which he followed little, i think), i owed him.

he found us tickets on the third row.... center.

it was an amazing show. hilarious. sardonic. classic bea.

she started the show with a simple phrase: "i'd like to talk to you about lamb..." then she quickly rambled into a story/recipe before stopping suddenly and asking: "you are interested, aren't you?"

and of course we were.

we hung on her every word. laughed at every joke. loved every song. it was one of the highlights of the trip... listening to bea sing "the man in the moon is a lady" from mame. or "what can you get a nudist for her birthday?" asking "tell me on the level...can i send her a muff?"

or explaining that angela lansbury has "a mouth like a longshoreman."

i adored bea arthur. she was the type of quick-witted, strong, independent woman i love.

i'm sitting here listening to my cd of her one woman show (yes, i'm the type of fag that collects cast recordings and the like) and i'm a bit melancholy knowing this talented actress has left us.

she will be missed....

but i thought she deserved one last chance to take a bow at curtain.

farewell, bea.

e.

Notes From All Over: Theatrical Edition

well, my lovelies.... even my apology for the neglect is rooted in the theatre. it's been crazy. in just the past couple of weeks i've had a public reading of my full-length play and then i needed to complete a satisfactory version of a new twenty minute play for theatre southwest's annual festival of originals (FOO). the deadline was the 15th. it was dropped in the mail on the 13th.

at rise...

at home with albee
really, the past month or so has held a lot of theatrical goodies for me. it started with a farewell reception for dr. sidney berger at the university of houston. i never really took a class with dr. berger, who was responsible for making the UH theatre department such a successful program, but he did sit in and offer insight on both of my plays performed through the albee workshops.

plus.... the evening held tickets for the houston premier of albee's "at home at the zoo." this is an evening created by combining two albee one acts. back in 1958 albee shook the theatre world with his the zoo story...an in-your-face deconstruction of the american dream. thirty years later, he has given a prequel to this piece: homelife.

i had not had the opportunity to read or see homelife and since albee's zoo story is what first ignited my passion to write, i was beyond curious to see what albee had concocted for peter prior to his encounter with jerry in zoo.

homelife is really albee at the top of his craft. honing his use of words like a master. and while zoo is a bit less shocking 30 years later, homelife adds a new layer of intensity to the piece while providing fascinating insight into peter.

rutherford cravens, who has long been one of my favorite actors in the houston community, dominates both pieces as peter while i thought caleb george, a student at UH, was a touch out of his league as jerry. he started zoo too big, too agressive and did not allow himself enough room to grow in intimidation and urgency.

of course, having mr. albee in the audience probably didn't help with nerves.

yes, edward albee was in the audience and i was able to speak with my former mentor before the reception. i immediately regressed to calling him mr. albee when i first approached him. i had become comfortable enough in my second workshop class with him to call him edward... but that was some time ago.

i was relieved to learn he still remembered me and we fell into simple, if not brief, conversation. he remains very busy, which is good. not terribly long ago he lost his partner, jonathan, a sculptor who's work i had seen at an exhibition here in town several years ago.

we are both skeptical of the UH theatre department and its future under the new leadership. he and i have both heard individuals express concern. plus, it was dr. berger who was responsible for bringing in all the world-renowned talent such as albee and lanford wilson.

he asked what i'd had produced recently and i told him i've been writing and that i had a reading coming up.... he was pleased. i said otherwise i've mostly been doing "smaller things."

"what do you mean, 'smaller things'?"

"you know, ten minute plays."

"oh, god."

"i know... aren't they horrible?"

"the only good ten minute plays are either four minutes or 20 minutes."

it was classic albee....and i felt refreshed.

scene 2: a legend passes
i'd be remiss not to mention the passing of horton foote. the pulitzer prize-winning playwright was a texas native and had a unique gift for making poetry out of the simplicity of rural life.

he won two oscars: one for adapting harper lee's to kill a mockingbird for the screen and other for his original screenplay, tender mercies, with robert duvall (he's actually in mockingbird too).

and while i love both of these films, especially mockingbird, for me he will always be the author of the trip to bountiful with the immortal geraldine page. i've long-loved that movie and the charm and wit his writing brought to the script.

i was also fortunate enough to see some of his plays on the boards, most notably his pulitzer prize-winning the young man from atlanta.

another major voice lost.

scene 3: back on stage
i've been on stage once... maybe twice. but the only time i really remember is as a freshman in college in a production of ionesco's exit the king. i doubt i was very good... but in a production that went full-tilt-boogy with the absurdity of the script, i at least made people laugh.

but i'm not an actor and my nerves at having to mingle in large groups, not to mention SPEAK to large groups, have not only led to my little blue pill habit, but also to the realization that i prefer to write for the theatre than act in it.

when a friend asked me to help with a staged reading of his play, however, i couldn't turn him down. he's been beyond supportive over the years and is a very loyal and generous patron of the theatre here in houston. so i agreed to read stage directions.

and while stage directions may not seem like much, just the idea of getting up on stage in front of an audience to read stage directions called for one full blue pill and several halls cough drops to keep my throat from closing up due to nerves.

i will say, however, it was interesting being on a different side of the creative process again. i'm used to being the author....working closely with the director to cast, probe, discern meaning.... but here i was....utilized not as an actor per se but in an actor's capacity.

strange to see actors go through the discovery process. to watch the director lead actors through exercises of deconstruction of meaning and intent of the scene. all the while really being on the outside of the process. i didn't dare make directorial suggestions... and i was not there as editor/author.

but i was treated generously and, oddly, as a plus to the production. the other actors were very encouraging and allotted me additional applause at curtain call. probably because they all knew how uncomfortable being on stage made me... and the host of the reading series even asked me to plug my own reading.

so it was a good - if not nerve-wracking - experience. the oddest moment was the pre-performance....tradition(?) not sure if it's tradition for everyone... but this group liked to come together, hug, and then pass a kiss around the circle.

now, those that know me know i'm not big on the warm-fuzzy, touchy-feely shit.... so the hug itself made it uncomfortable. but i was also responsible for passing along a kiss on the cheek to an expectant father.

yeah.....

act II: the reading
so i had a reading of my play.... it was at stages where my first two plays were produced back in the late 90s. i can't tell you had good it felt to be back in that space.

it was the full length play that i finally completed last year after 8 years of distraction, obstacles and reworking of every bit of it in my head. after all that time gestating in my cranium, i thought it had turned out well. and a smaller reading last year received an excellent response.

but this was bigger than that reading. the theatre company that put out the call for scripts (they chose 3 out of 15 submitted) provided a director and a group of actors pulled from a very prestigious "actors gym" in houston. most members are on company at the alley theatre.

i have to be honest when i admit that i was really stressed going into this. they decided to put my play up first and i was cast less than a week out. i met my director for the first time face to face the friday before the monday performance.

but justin, my director, was amazing. the first thing he said to me was "i feel like it needs to move." and that's what he did. he took the reading and put it on its feet.... stripped the entire play of the majority of its stage directions and had characters move in and out of the scene. he wanted everything focused on the words.

as a playwright..... how could you ask for a better director?

and what he put on stage was a very sophisticated, very honest representation of my work. i honestly feel that out of every director i've worked with over the years.... he understood best what i wanted to accomplish with the script.

and i was honored with a very strong group of talented actors that brought amazing depth and emotion and humor to the characters.

the rehearsals had been slapdash versions of the play so i didn't know what to expect... and the morning of the play i made my debut on KUHF's "front row." it was surreal hearing my name and play discussed in the opening of the program... and then listening to myself discuss the finer points and benefits of a staged reading.

i thought, actually, it went well... but it took half a blue pill and several cough drops to get through it.

then walking into the performance without any clue what to expect took the other half of the pill and even more cough drops. but ultimately, i was very pleased. it was what i had hoped for on stage and more (the stage itself, however... leftover from the always patsy cline show... that i didn't love so much).

scene 2: the talkback....
that was different. as discussed, i hate being on stage. well, here i was....onstage and placed before an audience for vivisection.

for the most part.....the comments were helpful. i felt some were off base. i felt some were well-intentioned but perhaps not germaine to what i had hoped to accomplish.

a dramaturge from UH (PhD and all) helped moderate and i hope to talk with him more. he made an interesting comment about chekhov not seeking a climax so much as letting the play fade to its conclusion. not realizing this was, perhaps, what i was going for... it is exactly what i want.

mostly there were comments about dramatizing more of the monologues or cutting back on the self-realization of emotions on the part of the characters. i thought these were excellent points.

i did not, however, agree with the big-mouthed nut job that went off about "feminine mode" plays and how i care more about characters and relationships than plot. i really just wanted to say, "so you found the play faggy? is that what i should take from this?" and then he went on and on about mamet (who i love) and how the theatre has lost its sense of dialogue.

now.... i'll take lots and lots of criticism....BUT....if there's one thing i know i know: it's dialogue. my dialogue is good. it's solid, it's realistic..... it's stylized enough for my taste where i feel like playing with it.... don't come at me with dialogue.

then there was the "mother" who wanted to know how old the children who never even appear in the play are... my answer was "hell if i know?" but if i had taken a moment i could've given her a range. but she felt that was important to know.

and then there was mr. psycho-babble who talked about the "gay cancer" and the second, third and fourth chromosomes and the 2nd and 4th months of gestation and bladdy, bladdy, blah.....

oh - the guy at intermission who told me i looked like dom deluise and then went on to tell me about his historical book that takes place in the days of custer and the indians but how he has trouble with "small talk." and all i can think about is "why the fuck do you need small talk when your characters have arrows being shot at their asses?"

but my favorite....? the actor who had a lot of good points during the talk back.... had made it all the way to his car.... came back.... and decided he HAD to perform a monologue from cyrano de bergerac in two different ways in order to illustrate a point.

yes, my lovelies... i got it all that night.

but most all.... i got the realization that the play i had hoped was completed, still needs some work. i don't think it needs a lot. but it needs some fine-tuning. i think it can only help the strength of the play.... breaking up the constant two people in every scene... dramatizing more action.... cutting back on the sentimentality that still exists in the play. cutting the entire final monologue and allowing the final dramatic moment to close the piece.... all this can only help.

it was a tough night.... it was hard to sit up there and not say much and not defend my work. but i also hope i'm evolved enough as a writer to know when criticism is valid.

it's all turning itself over and over in my head at the moment... i'm waiting for a follow-up discussion with the dramaturge, and then i hope to polish the piece... and shop it around.

scene 3: the next piece
just a quick coda... i was able to complete a 20 minute piece for the festival of originals (FOO) at theatre southwest. not sure when the five plays that are chosen are announced.... but i expect late april, early may. a long time to wait.

it took me exactly a month to conceive the play and drop the finished product in the mail for competition.

it was not the play i originally planned to write. i had planned to condense a full-length play about two lesbians i have in my head down for the FOO.... but something very tragic happened at work and it set my brain in motion.

i have extreme guilt over writing the piece... a friend, an employee.... had something incredibly awful happen to her and she lost a family member. at first i was really struck with how hard it hit me.... in all honestly, it knocked the wind out of me.

and then i found myself dealing with it the way i always deal with such events.... i started thinking about how i would deal with the situation. what would i feel? how would i react? and the scene started developing itself... and then i was suddenly in front of my laptop writing it out.

so i have guilt over it.... am i taking advantage of a friend's tragedy? am i simply expressing my emotions in the best way i know how? and what if the play is chosen and performed? do i warn her? do i try and keep it a secret because i feel so guilty?

or as one friend put it... should i never censor myself and simply acknowledge the fact that this is how art is often created? out of tragedy?

i'm conflicted.... but i'm trying not to worry about it too much. at least, not unless it's chosen for the festival.

on the upside.... i'm writing. and i'm writing consistently.

scene 4: (in an attempt to change the mood and subject)
so....? any ideas for a 10 minute piece?

curtain

e.

New Year's Blah Blah

happy new year...exactly one week late...and my apologies, my lovelies.

i've been busy, tired, movie-watching and just all around sluggish. so i thought i'd wrap up some end of year/beginning of year thoughts in a nice, tidy post.

i have made some tentative plans for the new year. call them resolutions, if you must.... i prefer to think of them as ways to improve my happiness. maybe "improve" is the wrong word. increase?

like much of the masses and against the sage advise of my beloved epiphenita.... i do plan to diet and lose some of my excess tonnage. i do it for a couple of reasons.... but (and i don't think most people can argue against this) mostly because i am simply unhealthy at my current weight and i'm finding simple tasks taxing once again:

--walking up to the top row of a movie theatre.
--bending over to tie my shoes.
--simply finding a comfortable way to sit as my stomach pushes itself up into my chin.

two years ago i lost over 50 pounds... i have slowly and successfully put all 50+ pounds back on.

hooray for me!

so, yes... the dieting, the exercising....the probable veganism is back in my present.

i am being smart and not using january 1 as my start date. for this i think sister epiphenita of the disapproving sneer can congratulate me. i do agree that january 1 is too arbitrary a date.

i have some left over remnants from the holidays that did cost money and i refuse to throw away. these are mostly various cheeses from the wisconsin parental units and other yummies. it's also the big BCS week and i plan to enjoy my games.

this weekend, however, it's on.

but i've also wanted to make some other decisions to help better myself.

--cut back on t.v. viewing. this has been helped immensely by the cancellation or season end of several of my favorite shows. (fuck you, ABC, for canceling my pushing daisies.)

--attend the theatre more. it's embarrassing how little i attend the theatre considering i plan a life in the venue.

--i've always wanted to draw a subject out of a hat and then research it for the month.... pick twelve topics that have always interested me and then look into them. i hope to start that this weekend.

--and finally.... i want to write at least one thing new each month. it could be a short play... a scene in a new, longer play. it can be a short story or an entry into a book of essays i'd like to pull together à la david sedaris and sloane crosley.

i need to keep my creative juices flowing. last year was a great year for me creatively. another 10 minute piece produced and the completion of my two act. this year i will focus on shopping around the two act and creating my next two act.

plus, hopefully, a 10 minute (see if i can keep the streak alive) and a 20 minute piece (to enter for the first time in theatre southwest's festival of originals).

these are mental and health improvements i'd like to make... i realize they are assumed to be resolutions and i don't mind the label. but i need to continue the creative flow and get back to a healthy weight so i don't start losing appendages to diabetes.

plus...a heart attack at 35 is just embarrassing.

boy, ya know.... i had plans to talk about all these other topics: rick warren, the obama inauguration, the "oops" richardson appointment.... frost/nixon, slumdog millionaire, doubt, the texans, the longhorns.....

but i think i'll keep this entry devoted to thoughts on the new year. i'll do an NCAA football wrap up after tonight's championship game... and there will be plenty of movie and oscar posts in the coming two months.

for now... i hope everyone had an enjoyable new year's eve. i wish you all the best in 2009.

and thank vishnu bush #43 is gone in 12 days!

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.

Notes From All Over: M.I.A. Edition

oh, my lovelies... you have no idea what fresh hell i've experienced the past couple of weeks. please forgive my absence but work has dragged me down into a level of hell that not even dante could have imagined.

i realize i've been missing in action so i present to you a quick recap of the past couple of weeks from all angles.

work
it has been beyond busy, beyond terrible. for two straight weeks i was basically working ten hour days. i was unable to break free for lunch i was unable to do any of my work. i was focused on the digital upgrade my program made and it has not been fun.

i have finally passed a good portion of the digital responsibility on to other people and this past week i've been able to focus on projects that i need to do. but i've also had meeting after meeting, i've had to tour other facilities, i've had to find a new front desk person, i'm dealing with a 20 year old A/C unit that is about to go out on me..... not to mention every other little fire that's been coming up and the still straggling questions and pesterings about the digital upgrade.

and all the whining and bitching that goes along with it.

in short.... i hate my job.

but hey! what's new, right?

family
is it sad that i just put family after work? and that friends will come after that?

oy.

the baby is home and doing well. apparently she thinks the days are for sleeping and the nights are for raising cain (which reminds me of my days as a waiter), but she's healthy and parents are doing well. if not just exhausted beyond all belief.

but you know... who told them to go off and have a baby?

i may make a trip over there in september to see the little rugrat (for those of you pushing the issue).

looks like my parents will be coming down in august to see the baby and to see my play in the 10x10. they're good parents. they really are. i'm fortunate.

friends
i haven't had much of chance to see them but last weekend we did throw a white trash theme party for my friend steven. he went into detail about the party on his blog (stevensvox.blogspot.com) so i won't bore you with too many additional details.

let me just put one thing in the public record: i was MORTIFIED when i had to purchase strawberry cake mix with strawberry icing along with two boxes of double cheeseburger hamburger helper.

i've not been able to take enough showers to wash off the dirtiness i feel.

but steven is worth it.

the lesbians really went all out with their tuna surprise, their giant dingdong and their outfits. it was hilarious...

and - believe it or not - a great time was had by all (i believe).

the dark knight
saw it. loved it. ledger is brilliant in it. watching him i felt the way audiences must've felt when they first saw brando in streetcar. just something wholly original and fresh (and frightening).

see it.

brideshead revisited
i finished reading evelyn waugh's novel yesterday and i simply devoured it. beyond the initial shock at just how fucking gay the book really is.... it was a fascinating blend of sensuality, family drama, religion and politics. it's the first book by waugh i've read and i'm very interested in reading more by him.

if you haven't read brideshead, i highly recommend it.

politics
what a bizarre couple of weeks in politics. obama becomes the new david hasslehoff in germany and mccain puts him in an ad with britney spears and paris hilton.

some thoughts.....

i thought the trip through europe could have some downfalls. we can all agree that obama has an ego. but hell, you better have an ego if you're running for the ruler of the free world. i'm sure mccain has an ego to boot. he's just not eloquent enough for us to see it.

but comparing obama to britney and paris is just silly politics. they're vacuous airheads and i don't think anyone can accuse obama of that. but i understand the message mccain is trying to make. obama is a celebrity but he's as empty as these two.

for the record: i don't see any parallel between the blatant "protect your white daughters" message in the 2006 harold ford commercials. but it's all still pretty ridiculous.

what concerns me more is this new mccain ad titled "the one." and all week we've been hearing words like "arrogant" and "fussy" and "ego" and it boils down to a very disturbing message on behalf of the republicans and the mccain camp.

please forgive me for putting this in print....and i hate the word i'm about to type.... but they're basically saying: "look at the uppity nigger. don't he know his place?"

it's the same tactic used against hillary. "that bitch. doesn't she know the proper place for a little lady?"

the GOP has a record of running these divisive sexist and racist campaigns. they can't beat obama on substance so they're driving home the message to blue collar whites that this black man may be a little too big for his britches.

it's disturbing. and i finally heard david gergen bring it up on this week this morning. and it's a particularly clear message to racist, southern voters.....

it's the worst kind of politics but it's the politics of rove and bush and mccain is now using those same tactics. they don't win on the issues... they win on bringing the other candidate down.

and worst of all... it seems to be working.

instead of a huge bounce coming out of his tour of the middle east and europe... obama has actually slid in the polls since mccain has come out with these ads. the latest gallop has them tied, i believe.

i hope the media is smart enough to attack this issue and not pussy-foot their way around it because everyone is so afraid of talking about race.

i hate to break the news to you, kiddos, but race is a factor. it's the big-ass elephant in the room and we need to talk about it.

we need to discuss the positives. and we need to discuss the negatives.

we need to be grown-ups in this process. not break out ads with paris hilton and charlton heston.

silly and childish. is this "straight talk"?

shame on you, john mccain. didn't you promise everyone better than that?

god, this is probably a very long, rambling entry without a lot of insight or good things. and it suddenly made me kinda cranky.

i'll add an update to my veepstakes here in a bit and cheer myself up.

that's getting good.

have a great week, everyone. (i promise to be better.)

e.

p.s. the play is going really well and i think i'll be very pleased with my 10x10 this year. actually, rehearsals have been the bright spots during the past couple of weeks.

also.... i'm in the current issue of outsmart (in the news briefs). i look nice and plump... but hey, i'm smiling. you can find it in print or online at outsmartmagazine.com.

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.