Is it possible to write a play and not realize the theme until it's completed?
It'd say emphatically....yes.
Writing "Public Displays" was a unique process for me. Or I should say, it continues to be a unique process.
Until the first draft was done, I didn't recognize that so much of the play was about healing. Greta is a psychiatrist, Justine is a physical therapist. Greta and Isaac have accidents and physically heal over the course of the play. Many of the characters heal emotionally, some resist coming to terms with what they need to do to heal.
Becoming aware of this theme and wanting to expand upon it meant a scene was deleted and three new scenes were added in the second draft.
Almost all the scenes were trimmed, edited, re-shaped and now....I await the first read-thru tomorrow and see how I feel about it all then.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Next Play
"Public Displays" will receive a staged reading as part of Cleveland Public Theatre's "Little Box" series on Saturday, November 20th at 7:30 pm.
The challenge I've set for myself with this play:
Every scene takes place in a public venue.
There are 8 characters, none of whom are the protagonist: they're all basically the protangonist.
The characters are divided into couples, but they all interact with each other. In fact, their relationships to each other are only made clear as the play progresses. However, there are 4 distinct story arcs that criss-cross, divide and merge.
The challenge I've set for myself with this play:
Every scene takes place in a public venue.
There are 8 characters, none of whom are the protagonist: they're all basically the protangonist.
The characters are divided into couples, but they all interact with each other. In fact, their relationships to each other are only made clear as the play progresses. However, there are 4 distinct story arcs that criss-cross, divide and merge.
Friday, July 23, 2010
An Extravagant Notion
At Cleveland Public Theatre's Annual Artists' Meeting last weekend, Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan commented that theatre is the only art form that requires all parties involved to continually grow and stretch themselves. In other words: no resting on your laurels.
Perhaps this is because in the intimate world of the theatre it is easier for the audience to detect the honesty and commitment of the performance. But there must also be honesty in the words the playwright selects and the artistic vision of the director.
The ulitimate mystery of theatre (all forms of storytelling, you could say) - is how through artifice, it reveals universal truth. Telling lies to uncover truth is antithetical, but sometimes it takes a heightened sense of reality - a theatrical bang to the head - for the audience to sit up, take notice and listen.
There is an unspoken contract between the audience and the play. The playwright and performers are saying, in effect, "I'm taking you on a journey." As in all journeys, there must be discovery: for both the characters and the viewer.
Must this discovery be revelatory? Yes. The revelation, however, doesn't need to be monumental in the scope of the world, But it must be of such extreme importance to the characters, that these are the moments the playwright has chosen to unveil.
Perhaps this is because in the intimate world of the theatre it is easier for the audience to detect the honesty and commitment of the performance. But there must also be honesty in the words the playwright selects and the artistic vision of the director.
The ulitimate mystery of theatre (all forms of storytelling, you could say) - is how through artifice, it reveals universal truth. Telling lies to uncover truth is antithetical, but sometimes it takes a heightened sense of reality - a theatrical bang to the head - for the audience to sit up, take notice and listen.
There is an unspoken contract between the audience and the play. The playwright and performers are saying, in effect, "I'm taking you on a journey." As in all journeys, there must be discovery: for both the characters and the viewer.
Must this discovery be revelatory? Yes. The revelation, however, doesn't need to be monumental in the scope of the world, But it must be of such extreme importance to the characters, that these are the moments the playwright has chosen to unveil.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
It's All About the Wig....and the Pants
This is the photo that captures it all. Alfred's romantic yearning...and George just wanting to get on with the business of writing.Val Kozlenko as Alfred & Jennifer Justice as George.
Photo credit: Antonio Feo
Lynna and Pam - not in character - at last evening's publicity photo shoot.Photo credit: Antonio Feo.
What a difference a wig makes...and a pair of period pants!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
29 Days and Counting
We finally have a full cast, set in stone (fingers & toes all crossed):
The Landlady...........Lynna Snyder Metricin
Gertrude Stein.........Anne McEvoy
Alice B. Toklas..........Pam Matthews
George Sand.............Jen Justice
Alfred de Musset.....Val Kozlenko
Several weeks ago, we held a second reading at the Cleveland Heights Public Library. For that reading, Gilgamesh Taggett took the part of Alfred.
Although we had only a few guests in attendance, the reading was very energetic and muscular.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with Curtis Young at CPT to look through their stock of set pieces and props. Curtis has already informed me that they do not have a bed, which is perhaps the most important part of the set.
I went to see Mark Goodman, who owns an Antique Emporium in Larchmere. He has a good option for the writing desk there and also has a roll-away bed that we can use. It may not be so dramatic as Alice dragging a day bed onto the stage, but it may have its own theatrical effect.
I had called Mindy Herman to inquire about the brochures...and lo and behold, there was an e-mail waiting for me when I returned home. A generic e-mail from Mindy telling all Big Box participants that the brochures were ready. I must have been on some psychic wavelength with her today.
The Landlady...........Lynna Snyder Metricin
Gertrude Stein.........Anne McEvoy
Alice B. Toklas..........Pam Matthews
George Sand.............Jen Justice
Alfred de Musset.....Val Kozlenko
Several weeks ago, we held a second reading at the Cleveland Heights Public Library. For that reading, Gilgamesh Taggett took the part of Alfred.
Although we had only a few guests in attendance, the reading was very energetic and muscular.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with Curtis Young at CPT to look through their stock of set pieces and props. Curtis has already informed me that they do not have a bed, which is perhaps the most important part of the set.
I went to see Mark Goodman, who owns an Antique Emporium in Larchmere. He has a good option for the writing desk there and also has a roll-away bed that we can use. It may not be so dramatic as Alice dragging a day bed onto the stage, but it may have its own theatrical effect.
I had called Mindy Herman to inquire about the brochures...and lo and behold, there was an e-mail waiting for me when I returned home. A generic e-mail from Mindy telling all Big Box participants that the brochures were ready. I must have been on some psychic wavelength with her today.
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