Playwrighting chat
Subject: Playwriting folder
Author: lots of people
Uploaded By: THopeB
Date: 9/21/1995
File: Playwriting folder (288085 bytes)
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This is an archive file of the Playwriting (New & Improved) folder from the Screenwriting message board. These postings date from 5/10/95 to 9/20/95; enjoy!
8/27/56 12:48:38 PM Opening ÒSystem Log 8/27/56Ó for recording.
Subj: Re:Agents 95-05-10 00:53:08 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Shakespare:
Get a copy of the Dramatists Quarterly (If you're not a member of the Dramatists Guild...Join NOW!!! -- e-mail me for more detail if you need it) Or a copy of The Dramatists Sourcebook, and look in the section for agents. Write a nice query letter and add a resume, and ask if they'd be willing to read something of yours (It's best to have something specific in mind, and they prefer full-lengths.) Do this a lot. Also, ask everybody you know wha has an agent, or can recommend an agent. Connections always help.
Good luck,
Robert
Subj: My play in SF 95-05-10 13:09:31 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
No, I can't be there. :-( So anyone in the Bay Area, I'd REALLY appreciate some words about how it went. Detailed info below:
EUREKA THEATRE COMPANY (San Francisco, CA) presents:
1994-95 DISCOVERY SERIES
Sunday, May 14, 1995 at 7:30 p.m.
THREE THE HARD WAY by Linda Eisenstein
Three sisters, the likes of which Chekhov never dreamed, meet in Reno to sort out whatever their gambler father may have left behind when he died.
A staged reading
directed by Nicole Galland
with Zachary Barton*
Carolyn Doyle
Stephanie Hunt*
John O'Keefe *member, Actors Equity
at: SOMAR GALLERY THEATRE
934 Brannan (between 8th & 9th), SF
Admission: NO CHARGE Contributions: REQUESTED
Reservations: REQUIRED
Eureka Theatre Box Office: 415/243-9895
Subj: Spinal Transplant 95-05-10 13:38:20 EDT
From: PattyASFSA
Posted on: America Online
Thanks to all of you for the wise words about what-ifs.
So.....IT'S GONE. It's winging its way through the U.S. Postal Service and it's out of my hands. I'll keep you updated.
Would like to hear some more input from people who also hold down busy, demanding day-jobs. How do you a) find time and energy to write? b)manage working on readings and productions?
My problem is that I'm a writer by day, too. I edit an 100-page, association magazine, for which I do alot of writing, editing and rewriting. I love it. But it doesn't leave me with much creative energy to put into other pursuits. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
Thanks again all!
Patty
Subj: Re: Day jobs 95-05-10 15:20:48 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Patty --
Boy can I ever relate. I write commercials for a living, and then have to write plays when I get home!!!???
It ain't easy. I just squeeze things in the best I can. For a while, I had a three-day-a-week arrangement at my job which was less money but more life. Alas that ended when business picked up.
My favorite thing to do is take a vacation week or two and stay home and write intensively. Who needs sun, fun and cocktails with umbrellas in them?
Aren't you jealous of all those playwrights who are A) born rich
B) successful as playwrights or
C) have a really attractive and generous sugar daddy or mommy?
Love,
Robert
Subj: A, B, and C 95-05-11 08:21:19 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Robert -
I'm jealous of all those people.
As a struggling freelancer - I spend all day marketing non-fiction work (mostly manuals for businesses), and then try to fit the creative stuff into the cracks and crevices of what is left of my day.
Of course, when the freelancing is slow - I get lots of playwrighting done.
Of course, when the freelancing is slow - I'm so broke I can't afford to eat - so I write plays to take my mind off food.
Subj: Re:Finishing the play 95-05-11 11:35:41 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
What about when you have two plays finished but! can't seem to get them out the door? I've had one play produced in NYC (my first). The two I've now finished are better I think but I'm horrendous on the business scene. Is it a matter of walking the streets and pounding on doors (like actors) or brilliant phone work or...? I've submitted to the "biggies" and been rejected. Talking The Public, HERE, Lincoln Center etc. Does any one have any suggestions esp re NY theaters and who is open to new, wild comedy? It's so ... um, discouraging when you've written some good stuff but it remains non-existant. appreciate any remarks, vic
Subj: Re:Finishing the play 95-05-12 00:28:16 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
TheOldVic --
Get resourceful. And creative. You can, if you like and have a few bucks, produce them yourself. (Obviously on a small scale, but it can be done...even in NYC)
Also, get the Dramatists Sourcebook (at Applause or Drama Bookshop) and read all the listings. Also, join the Dramatists Guild (If you haven't.) They have tons of info, mostly in their quarterlies.
Read the voice listings, and New York magazines, and check out all the little theatres in NY, like Dixon Place, The Kraine, LaMama Galleria, Intar, Alice's Fourth Floor, The West Bank, Manhattan Class Co., Naked Angels...and on and on.
Also, try to get an agent (see above publications.)
Chances are you're not gonna get into Lincoln Center or the Public unless you're Shanley or Jon Robin Baitz or Teresa Rebeck. Get the work done however you can, and keep doing it til people notice.\
Also, even though it's my favorite place, more and more great stuff is starting OUT of New York. Seattle, Chicago, DC, Portland...
Love,
Robert.
(If you really want specifics, e-mail me. I live in NY and have done a bunch of stuff around.)
Subj: Re:Finishing the play 95-05-12 09:58:14 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
The Old Vic-
Also, it is important to make sure you are involved in the theater community. This is important in New York, of course, but everywhere else, as well. Go to readings, or set up a reading series; you'll meet writers and directors who are also interested in new work. If you find someone you click with, work on a project together. I remember being on a panel at The Wrier's Forum fall seminar in DC, back when I was an agent, and you'd be surprised how many people had written plays who never went to them. The more directors who are familair with and like your work, the more chances you have.
As far as getting an agent - make sure you have something they can market. In other words, in order for representation to do you and the agent some good, you need two finished full-lengths - one to open the door, and one to follow up with when the literary manager says, "we liked this writer, but we are looking for a more issue-driven piece," or whatever. One acts, no matter how terrific, don't mean much to an agent, because the venues that do one-acts don't require agent submission and don't, usually, pay much. Having he best agent in the world won't help you with the competitions and showcases that do one-acts. Which is, when you think about it, a good thing, as it gives unrepresented writers a place to get their work seen.
And just keep writing.
Robin
Subj: Black Elvis, the last notice 95-05-12 10:13:48 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Black Elvis
by Pennell Somsen
directed by Valentina Fratti
The Miranda Theatre, 259 W 30 St. NYC
May 12, 13, 19, 20 at 10:15 pm
Tickets: $5
Res: 212.268.9829
"A fast-paced comedy about a topless dancer, a Baptist, and two idealistic lesbians ensnared in a media hyped custody battle over a child star."
I have enjoyed the rehearsal and rewrite process with this play more than I ever have and I've had several productions some directed by other, one by myself. As for directing my own work my first choice is to have a fabulous director like Valentina Fratti who helps me find things in my work I didn't know were there, who helps me weed out the excess verbiage, who is passionate about my play and who works well with actors. My second choice is me. I have had my best and my worst (and the worst were pretty bad) theatre experiences having others direct my plays. When I direct my own I'm taking the easy way out. The way I feel now as long as Valentina is available I have no desire to direct my own work. Black Elvis is a much better play for our collaboration. So come see it!
Subj: Writing for someone else by day 95-05-14 13:35:38 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Patty:
I edit two business newsletters, and I enjoy the work. But it is extremely difficult to write anything longer than a skit at nights or on weekends. It's also tough when the husband figure complains that he's always the one vacuuming while you're sitting here reading and writing on the message boards.
Gotta go!
Beth
Subj: Re:Finishing the play 95-05-15 12:58:07 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thanks so much for your replies. I've just joined AOL and it is so important to get some advice/support. It's like a blood transfusion sometimes. Ciao! Victoria
Subj: a lil' announcement for NYCers 95-05-15 13:30:51 EDT
From: JennyLynB
Posted on: America Online
Some people online and in life have been asking me about my theatre company's production of Ecstasy by Mike Leigh (screenwriter of High Hopes, Naked, and Life is Sweet) - just to clarify, for any interested parties, Mike Leigh fans, or people with outdated invitations or flyers: The play has been extended until June 4, and the new number to call for tickets is (212) 279-4200. It is produced by the New Group, in residence at the John Houseman Studio Theatre. So that's the story... :)
Subj: Joining while in progress 95-05-15 15:56:15 EDT
From: Beekilda
Posted on: America Online
I just got through reading the last month's worth of messages posted on this board and I am so happy. Hearing about others who write is rare, write plays: huh-uh. So I'm enjoying listening. I have to remind myself, though - Reading is costing money! Get back to writing.
But before I go I can't resist giving my take on Maria Irene Fornes. I think the reason this playwright fails to win the hearts of audiences is because her writing wounds so deeply that only the strong can stomach it.
Subj: Re:The joy of plays 95-05-15 23:01:57 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I've been scrolling around the boards for some time now, and just wanted to say, here, on this board...thank god for you all.
Most of the other boards are devoted, at least partially, to screenwriting. I have nothing against screenwriting, really, but it's nice to come to a place where you hardly ever read the words "treatment," "high concept," "deal," "pitch..." you know what I'm sayin'...
Love,
Robert
Subj: Question 95-05-16 06:59:16 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
I need to know, and you all ain't gonna believe this, but can anybody tell me who the catholic saint of artisans, like painters, is/was???
As you may guess, this is central to a script I'm working on and I need to give a character a name, and it needs to be this patron saint's name. So any of you who had catholic upbringings, or anybody else, can you help this lapsed methodist playwright???
The patron saint of artisans was __________?
Thanks,
Thomas
Subj: City Advice?... 95-05-16 14:13:23 EDT
From: JerSoule
Posted on: America Online
I'm looking at different cities for possibly living in for playwrighting opportunities. Is there life beyond NYC? Pros and Cons for there vs. Chicago would be very helpful. Thanks.
Subj: Re:City Advice?... 95-05-16 18:57:33 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Seattle
Houston
Louisville
Minneapolis
San Francisco
Denver
Chicago
Sante Fe
Boston
am I missing any folks? All are certain treasures - each specialize in certain things ... depends on what kind of life you want to lead.
Subj: Prepartum Announcement 95-05-16 21:51:50 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
I've actually signed the contract, so I guess it's okay to announce this...
My play KIM'S SISTER will be produced by New York Stage and Film at their summer season at Vassar College July 26 - Aug. 6, the third and final production of their series of new plays at the Powerhouse Theater.
The director is Max Mayer, and the cast, as of right now, will include John Heard, David Strathairn, and Jane Adams.
Of course, any and all who might be in the area, please come. I'll be the one in the back with the look of disbelief on my face.
P.
Subj: Patron saints and neonates 95-05-17 04:18:52 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
The patron saint of actors is Genesius. PS of artists is Luke.
Hello-I'm new on the 'Net. I've spent the past few cautious days lurking about, reading the entire Playwriting (shouldn't it be playwrighting) Folder and I finally feel ready to admit to my existence. I want to tell you that I feel as if I've "come home"-it's been such a treat, in many ways, reading through the last few months. I wish I could know who knew whom in reality and who lived where and all the other neat-o "back stories" floating about out there, but it's so heartening to hear/see/read playwrights all over the country trouping along together.
There are about a dozen things I'm tempted to respond to from the last month's worth of postings, but I think information is more interesting than opinion so for now let me just reveal the following: I had the honor and the great delight of directing the SF staged reading of Herone (Linda E)'s production of THREE THE HARD WAY this past weekend. I luuuuuved it. Wish Linda coulda been there. If any of you are literary managers, for heavens sake get the script from her. We did it for the newly-resurgent Eureka;I am personally pulling for a full production next season.
Speaking of the Eureka, I will now also reveal, with hesitation, that I'm the new Lit. Mgr there. I say hesitation because there are SO MANY scripts piled up already from the years when the Eureka was dark; we're almost out of the backlog but not quite and there's still a 6-month turn around time for most responses.(Down from an 18-month turn around time when I first came on board) I welcome new scripts (send synopsis/sample first) but if you wait until next fall sometime, I will be so much saner. Which means I will enjoy your script more.(Our season opens this fall with R. Kalinowski's BEAST ON THE MOON and Clarvoe's SHOW AND TELL)
Final bit o' rambling: I will be in NYC (where I assume the majority of you are based?...) from about June 20 thru June 28, and then again a few days in early July. I'd appreciate any input about what to do, where to go, what to see, what companies won't laugh in my face if I walk in the door and slap my one-woman show on their desk...whatever. By the by, are any of you Bay Area dwellers? There's something disturbingly voyeuristic about not quite knowing who anyone really is.
Finally- mucho gracias, P., for guiding me into this area.-
-Nicole
Subj: Re:Question 95-05-17 04:29:36 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Whoops, sorry, thought you said "actors". "Artisan" is too vague an area: in medaeval days each guild had it' own saint. Here's a few:
Architects: Barbara
Book Binders:Peter Celestine
Bricklayers:Stephen
Carpenters:Joseph
Glassworkers:Luke
Jewelers:Eligius
Painters:Luke
Plasterers:BArtholomew
Printers:Augustine, Genesius, and John of God
Sculptors:Claude
Vocations:Alphonsus
and of course...
Writers:Francis de Sales
"I'm not really a Catholic, but I play one on the Internet." Hope it's helpful. -Nicole
Subj: Re:Patron saints and neonates 95-05-17 11:59:27 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Welcome Nicole...I have also discovered this section of cyberspace and think it has the best conversations going...also know Herone ( linda Eisenstein) and saw her play Three the Hard Way in Cleveland and think it will have a long life....Linda and I are devoted to finding the perfect dim sum on earth.... glad to hear Eureka's back...I got a nice letter from you when you returned my script Nightwalking and yes, I will send more to you this year and appreciated the good response to my writing. Playwrights just need that sense that a person did respond to the craft -- even if it is not right for the theater...keep up the good work.
Subj: Re:a lil' announcement for NYCer 95-05-17 13:34:19 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Mike Leigh is too cool! He's really quite unbelievable. I look forward to seeing his play and am so glad you posted this reminder. By the way, do you need anyone to work for your company? I'm a rather lonely playwright with quite a lot of time on my hands. Extensive background doing all sorts of various work in theaters starting with The Rocky Horror Show in London.... Thanks! Victoria, NYC (TheOldVic)
Subj: Re:The joy of plays 95-05-17 13:36:11 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Yes yes! I agree with you completely Robert. Why don't they (we) just have a category called Playwrighting wo the Screenwriting attached?
Cheers. Victoria
Subj: Re:Prepartum Announcement 95-05-17 13:37:53 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Wow. Congrats! Have fun. Victoria, NYC
Subj: Re:Question 95-05-17 13:41:28 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
What an amazing list! You must have an incredible library. Thanks for this neat information. Who the he..ck was Francis de Sales?
Cheers. Victoria, writer
Subj: Re:Prepartum Announcement 95-05-17 19:47:03 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Wow congrats Peter! woohoo! I love hearing about this stuff ... that's really terrific and I love the cast.
Subj: Re:Patron saints and neonates 95-05-17 19:52:39 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Congrats Nicole on the lit job. the Eureka is a great little theatre ... knowing that "Angels ... " came out of there makes me want to take a look see the next time I come home ... You should give D. Esbornson a call at CSC ... take a peek at the Vineyard ... MTC ... you are also welcome to drop me a line ... I think I'm finally getting things pretty wired around here ... any help I can give ... just ask ... and yes there are a lot of NYC's here.
Subj: Re:Question 95-05-17 20:41:42 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
Nicole,
Thank you for the info. This list is going to be very helpful. Where the heck did you come up with it? What is your reference book? Is it on line?
I know what you mean about Playwriting New and Improved. It is like home. There are some of us that live in Kansas and it's hard to be further away from than NYC than here. This take place of the playwrights group I belonged to in NYC when I was there. Besides, all of you people have great things to offer. Hope to send something to Eureka some day.
Peter,
Congrats.
Thomas
Subj: Re:Question 95-05-18 00:53:22 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Deasr Victoria- I don't know who Francis de Sales is, I guess some French dude (which would render his name "Francis of the Dirties"?).
Got the Info from the New York Public Library Desk Reference book, a book every writer should own (but don't buy it until you have about a week free to just sit back and lose yourself in its fascinating trivia. Glad I was of help....Nicole
Subj: Re:The joy of plays 95-05-18 15:39:53 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Let's just eject the screenwriting part of our title into cyberspace? I don't know enough about all this to change it but I vote for that anyday. The play's the thing here and that is a big change from the other categories where movie talk dominates...not that I would not like to see a play possibly on the screen AFTER a good production...like a cigarette in the old days after good sex -- but only AFTER the production because they will never be exactly the same in both mediums and that is the reality of it.
Subj: Writer's Club Schedule 95-05-18 16:46:45 EDT
From: Beekilda
Posted on: America Online
I noticed that on a schedule of discussions in the Writer's Conference Room there isn't one for Playwrights. Maybe someone with motivation and experience could schedule a 'chat' for us on a weekly basis. Anyone? (At, selfishly, a time when the Pacific Time Zone would be awake.)
Becky
Subj: Re:Writer's Club Schedule 95-05-19 00:37:49 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
good idea - i wouldn't know who to contact - that's not true - I will drop a line to phylwriter and see what can be done -- I know of a few others who would be interested - and most of the nyc people (myself included) don;t come on line until at least 11pm EST
Subj: Re:Question 95-05-19 14:09:03 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Nicole! It's funny, Francis of the Dirty! Will check it out sometime. Vic
Subj: Re:Writer's Club Schedule 95-05-19 14:10:33 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
I'd definitely be up for that. Email TheOldVic if this happens?
Subj: Re:Miscellanea 95-05-20 00:36:50 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
The noun is playwright. The verb (gerund) is playwriting. (In the noun, the "wright" is as in "wrought" or "made" (I know most of you know this...but I suspect not everyone does...)
Peter -- big fat hugs and mazel tavs on your Poughkeepsie project. Enjoy.
Nicole -- congratulations on your literary managership -- you're a brave woman to post something like that in the midst of a mob of lean and hungry playwrights...
Love,
Robert
Subj: Re:Prepartum Announcement 95-05-20 15:18:07 EDT
From: Iktome
Posted on: America Online
My congrats as well!
A success for one is a success for all...
Subj: Re:performances everywhere! 95-05-20 17:12:06 EDT
From: LeMeegFlys
Posted on: America Online
Beth,
Try The Drama Book Shop in the city. Number is:
800 322-0595 or take the Bonanza bus to the Port Authority. They're nearby at 723 7th Ave. (corner of 48th) on the second floor. They have virtually every script published. Second choice would beThe Samuel French Theater Bookshop at 45 W. 25th (between 5th and 6th). Phone is 212 206-8990 FAX is 206-1429.
LeMeeg
Subj: script reading 95-05-20 23:25:26 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
LeMeeg: Thank you, that posting was a keeper.
Peter: Congrats! It sounds wonderful. How about a little synopsizing to whet our appetite?
Everyone: Yes we _are_ wonderful, brilliant, witty, and by far the most interesting board bouncing off the satellites. And god if this isn't the best way to procrastinate rewrites!
Subj: Re:Introducin' myself 95-05-20 23:39:54 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
I also am pretty new to AOL, and brand new to this area of it. I'm a NYC playwright, also Artistic Director of a small company, called Common Ground Stage and Film Company (I myself am called Andrew Ordover, when I'm not prowling around AOL). I've had plays produced in LA, Atlanta, and here in NY. I'm the only writer in the company, at the moment, but we're looking for more--especially writers interested in poetic language, presentational style, archetypal stories. No sofas, in other words. And I'm looking for more places to have my work produced, naturally.
Well, that's me.
Subj: Re:Sofas 95-05-21 02:41:20 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Thurberj --
Nice to meet you, but I gotta ask...What's the sofa thing? Is this playwright shorthand for something I've missed? Does it indicate a play in which people simply sit and talk? Am I the only person who doesn't get the reference? Should a gentelman offer a Tiparillo to a lady?
Love,
Robert
Subj: Re:Sofas 95-05-21 07:31:13 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
Now, Shaff, I even got <the sofa thing> out here in KS.
Hey, Thurber, it's nice to meet you and have you on board. Good luck with Common Ground. Where are you in the city? What part of town?
Thomas
Subj: Re:Sofas 95-05-21 15:22:38 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Perhaps Andrew is speaking about the realm outside the livingroom drama ... re: playwrights write something for the theatre not something that can be watched on the boob tube.
Subj: Re:Sofas 95-05-21 17:50:55 EDT
From: WreckGlory
Posted on: America Online
Sofas are boring unless the sofa is a character named Frank.
I hate sofas. Sofas have brought about the downfall of theatre. Sitcoms do it better. You can't get better than "Friends."
Seriously, though. Really bad, indulgent avant-garde theatre is just as responsible for audience alienation as bad sofa/living room dramas are.
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-21 21:42:45 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
I agree- I tell my classes, "if you want to do two people talking in a kitchen, write a Movie of the week - you'll make more money, reach more people, and little stories are what tv does best." We have the ability to go deeper with our work, to give the audience an experience that will really get under their skins - and it makes no sense to limit ourselves to straight naturalism when there are so many other tools at our disposal.
BTW, I just saw CRUMB last night, about the life and work of artist Robert Crumb. It's a profoundly disturrbing film - but it makes a case for art as a true saving grace, even if that art is itself difficult. Crumb's work is dark, often violent and very misogynistic - but it seems it's a safe place for him to put these terrible fantasies. It brings up the question of what we owe ourselves vs. what we owe our audiences. Has anyone seen it?
Robin
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-22 00:34:21 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I don't wanna beat a dead horse, but I'm still a little hung up on this sofa thing.
Are we talking about all naturalistic theatre here? Kitchen sink drama? What about stuff like "All My Sons?," or lots o' stuff by Odets? How 'bout "A Raisin in the Sun," one of my all time favorite plays.
Okay, potboilers and melodrama can be irritating...but I hate to just ignore an entire "category" of plays. Neil Simon, Arthur Miller, Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Herb Gardner...ya know what I mean? Or am I still misinterpreting this thing? And am I obsessing? And do the little birdies go tweet tweet tweet?
Love,
Robert
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-22 13:31:23 EDT
From: Beekilda
Posted on: America Online
Robert,
I agree! And! The power of theatre to move us, haunt us and challenge us has less to do with the props we choose to frame the words than the power of the words themselves.
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-22 16:05:32 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Robin, I'll bet I was walking past you on your way to Crumb (last night) as I was walking away from The Hairy Ape. Has anyone seen this!? God. Talk about a wake-up call. I was told to see this 2 months ago and finally got around to it. Willem Dafoe is heroic. I imagine it really lights up men who see it, all those pumping pistons etc. Absolutely worth seeing though. It give me new inspiration for my ailing play. (Extended only for a couple more weeks.) Wooster Group Ciao, Victoria
Subj: Re:Introducin' myself 95-05-22 16:08:32 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thurberj, can I e-mail you at that name? I'm very interested in joining a theater group. My stuff is definitely poetic and if there ever happened to be a sofa in a play of mine, they would do some damn interesting stuff to it. Ciao! Victoria!
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-22 20:41:08 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Robert - I wouldn;t call Odets or O'Neill or any of those "kitchen drama" - the fact is those plays reach an audience - they are what I call active - active voices that use the theatre - the constructs of the theatre to raise people - "Waiting for Lefty" if you recall had people rioting in the damn theatre and around the corners...
The idea of the kitchen sink drama or the sofa drama is that from point a to point b it is no more or no less different then any experience you might have yourself in your own living room and baby ... that ain't theatre - that's regurgitation.
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-22 20:44:00 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Victoria I saw The Hairy Ape about three months ago - you are so right - it is invigorating ... defoe - incredible and the use of the space and the ... well - it is unmistakeable - this is theatre ...
Are you going back to see it in the fall in its entirety? I know I certainly will.
Subj: Selling screen rights 95-05-22 23:14:55 EDT
From: DJC78
Posted on: America Online
Usually, the fee for an option is 10% of the final price. Confused yet? A "big budget" film is anything over 20M. Small budget is under. Usuallly, the term of option is for six months. That's usually. In fact, a producer will try to get rights for as few $ as possible for as long as possible. What actually happens is that 1500 for 1 yr. Is not unusual. IIf you are the playwright, *never* give an option for free. Not ever. Never. Ever. The man/woman who puts their money on the line puts their butt in a financier's offcie. If they don't have good money they probably don't have good contacts or high ambition either. I always insist on an option no longer than six months. Any longer and the script has been shopped all over town and you can't sell it anyway. $3000 is plenty for somebody to wear out my idea.
Subj: Re:Introducin' myself 95-05-22 23:25:40 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Welcome Andrew -- were you with a theater in Atlanta at some time? I think I remember the name -- perhaps the face from a LMDA meeting? Also -- tell us a little more about your theater company -- do you only cast within in because that means a lot these days. Beyond the poetic language and presentational style -- what kinds of things are you really looking for in a play? And how do the playwrights who read about the theater here make contact with your theater? Prowl on -- Perl2
Subj: Re:Naturalism 95-05-22 23:38:07 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Murphy:
Thank you. (seriously.) If the definition of Kitchen Sink includes inaction, I'm with ya all the way. The stage is no place for mere conversation...that's what we all have AFTER the play.
I'm glad for the clarification.
Robert.
Subj: Playwriting talk in conf area 95-05-23 01:13:41 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
There has been a lot of interest in getting a time slot on the conference area board for a playwright's chat.
I am taking the reigns and organizing it. I will hook up with those at Dramatist Guild and folks around NYC and with all your help let's come up with a well organized game plan of how we want to set this up and have it roll out.
I'm thinking around 11pm some night during the week so east and west can meet.
If you have any ideas or questions drop me an email.
I'll be out in California for the next two weeks doing a reading of my new play and finding her a REAL home, but will be checking in on the old email - so you know - have powerbook - will travel.
Luck to all and unite ... hope we can get this thing off the ground.
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-23 02:06:21 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
Shaff - I can't answer all your questions, but yes, the little birdies do go tweet tweet tweet. They're right outside my window, nesting in our house, in fact.
And I agree that Raisin is one of the all time greats, sofa included.
Subj: furniture and the arts 95-05-23 22:38:51 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
If anyone were to offer me a Tiparillo on a sofa, I can promise you the consequences would be a least dramatic.
But anything a sofa can do, can be done by anything else. Don't be so hard on our spring-supported slaves. And anytime we make rules about our art, someone comes along and breaks them in a most effective way.
Love ya,
Beth
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-24 15:05:26 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hey hey! I didn't know it was continuing in the fall, or that it wasn't 'entire' now. Thanks for that bit, yes I think I might go back. This is certainly something to take someone from out of town to show them what theater really can be. Although, it doesn't leave a lasting 'message' like, I think An Inspector Calls does... but the experience is total immersion.
So exciting.
I want to work for them! Think there's any possibility?
I keep meaning to call but then I don't. Vic
Subj: Re:Naturalism 95-05-24 15:07:03 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
i.e, Anna Meara's 'Afterplay' !
Subj: Re:Playwriting talk in conf area 95-05-24 15:08:37 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
As I e-mailed, I'm interested. That's awfully late though! Will do it if necessary.
Subj: Style, schmyle 95-05-24 20:05:47 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Wonderfully said, PNNMTN - what matters most is what the piece does- how it reaches you - even a static piece (Like Beckett's "Not I") can sometimes be powerful enough to get right inside you.
I don't think it's subject matter, it isn't style (although I do like the imaginative use of the tools unique to theater), it isn't size or production values, it's something else. I read the posts here on "The Hairy Ape" and the way it moved people and I know it's there. That thing that makes a play a powerful, transcendent experience. It's something within the work, something we all know when we see it, in works as different as Duchess of Malfi or Cloud Nine or Bus Stop. What is it?
And is it available in handy-take home sizes?
Robin
Subj: Re:furniture and the arts 95-05-24 21:26:33 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
To expand the sofa conversation -- some of my greatest moments in the theater have been during images conjured on a stage BECAUSE of the words that have come before but actually happening BETWEEN them -- in the text silences -- like an incredible production of The Bacchae up at the Guthrie where the Mother is rolling wordlessly on the floor when she realizes that the head of her son is in her hands -- or a Peter Brook Chekhov moment in the Cherry Orchard or the first scene-- so white and so empty in Plenty... lots of Wow moments that I sometimes think about and am amazed at ( as one who loves to write the words) that they are a function of theater that comes from a moment experienced together during a good script and because we are with other people watching live actors... ...etc. and I'm not just talking about technical firecrackers but something much more difficult to describe...any other reactions?
Subj: Stuff 95-05-24 21:40:48 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
Much to cover:
A synopsis of my play KIM'S SISTER: A woman comes to Los Angeles to recover the body of her sister, who died mysteriously. In trying to find out what happened to her, she meets a variety of strange characters, including coroners, movie directors, and a detective with a thing for Armani.
About sofas: I thought George Wolfe laid all this to rest with "The Last Mama On the Couch Play" in The Colored Museum.
And Andrew Ordover, also known as Thurberj: I know you. You and I came up with the idea of a Straight White Guy Performance Art Festival at Roots '92. How's by you?
P.
Subj: Re:Wordless moments 95-05-25 00:30:11 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Perl2 --
What you were talking back hearkens back to an earlier exchange on the board -- that of directing one's own plays. It is very often these brilliant, shocking, moving moments BETWEEN the words that are what's brought to a play by a good director -- frequently one who is a different person from the writer. (Not to mention wonderful actors, who fill in the "between the words" bits with such personal truth and imagination.) These are the things I look for from a director -- moments that aren't necessarily on the page, but which are lurking in or behind or under the play. Moments I may not, as a writer, have even known were there to be mined.
All this to say that, yeah, I agree. Next?
Love,
Robert
Subj: Re:Playwriting talk in conf area 95-05-25 16:05:21 EDT
From: LeMeegFlys
Posted on: America Online
Good for you. Let me know if I can help. (DG member).
Lemeeg
Subj: Young Director lookin for script 95-05-25 18:40:40 EDT
From: AVSOHO
Posted on: America Online
All right, all you playwrights! I'm looking for some great new scripts. I'm a young director looking for a few playwrights to collaborate with. It might get us all a chance to get our work seen and that's what it's all about, right? I've been in the city for about 4 years and have worked at the three major non-profits in NYC. PennellS (I believe) has seen a play I directed at EST last year; maybe she can vouch for me I like to think I do good work, but I need material to work with: YOURS!
If you just want feedback, have showcase that you want to put up and need a director, or ...whatever, let's talk.
Please mail me any scripts or correspondence at:
A. Volkoff
55 Mercer St., #2F
NYC 10013
I'm looking forward to hearing from you all! Oh, feel free to E-mail me too!
Subj: The new Stoppard play 95-05-26 13:35:10 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
I'll be in NYC for just a couple of days in late June. Is it worth making sure I see it? Or is there any other one play that I absolutely should see? Whaddya think?
Subj: Young Director lookin for scr 95-05-26 17:48:23 EDT
From: Ndrusoho
Posted on: America Online
All right, all you playwrights! I'm looking for some great new scripts. I'm a young director looking for a few playwrights to collaborate with. It might get us all a chance to get our work seen and that's what it's all about, right? I've been in the city for about 4 years and have worked at the three major non-profits in NYC. PennellS (I believe) has seen a play I directed at EST last year; maybe she can vouch for me I like to think I do good work, but I need material to work with: YOURS!
If you just want feedback, have showcase that you want to put up and need a director, or ...whatever, let's talk.
Please mail me any scripts or correspondence at:
A. Volkoff
55 Mercer St., #2F
NYC 10013
I'm looking forward to hearing from you all! Oh, feel free to E-mail me too!
(Yes, this is the same message as AVSOHO. I'm getting his mail for him now.)
Subj: The hidden meaning... 95-05-27 00:54:24 EDT
From: Graciela16
Posted on: America Online
It is my belief that the end table, as a genre, has been criminally ignored as a motif in modern theatre.
Same goes for the ottoman, and the billions of theatrical possibilities of "shag carpet" dramaturgy.
<tee hee tee hee>
Recently lurking but forever present,
Gabriel
aka Gracie
Subj: Re: Sophie or her sopha? 95-05-27 13:07:05 EDT
From: Rocklaw
Posted on: America Online
To all who have gone before:
The question is not what articles of furniture can be invested with personality [remember, we all rode in on Walt Disney's horse looking at teapots and candlesticks] but what emotional response the furniture can elicit in the theatergoer. That is a very serious inquiry. If Mother Courage drove a Ford F-250, would she have been as pathetic at the end or as devil may care at the beginning? It is the state of her wagon which chronicles her fate in the war. Let's step back and take a serious look at the inquiry "on sofas." It disguises a very important question.
Subj: Re: Sophie or her sopha? 95-05-27 15:06:39 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
Adding to Rocklaw's observation: another subtle yet important aspect of the so-fa is that embedded in the sofa (so to speak) are musical references, i.e. to shape note singing, also known as Sacred Harp, in which the traditional do-re-mi-etc. is replaced by fa-so-la-fa-so-la-mi. The tradition of singing the shapes the first time through the melody gives rise to possibilities such as "fa-la-fa-so-fa." And who can argue about the inherent drama in falling off a sofa?
Subj: On sofas 95-05-27 17:29:38 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
A recent production of DAYTRIPS here in Minneapolis, directed by Steve Kent, relied on a sofa as a central prop; it was used as a car, a bed, a table, and, of course, a sofa; he directed an earlier production in LA which used similar furniture similarly.
And who can forget that play by Jonathan Marc Sherman -- the favorite of many correspondents here: "Sofastry"?
P.
Subj: Re:On sofas 95-05-27 18:54:45 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
About this board...
so fa so good
Robin
Subj: KANDIDE Reminder 95-05-27 23:01:07 EDT
From: Holvoe
Posted on: America Online
Dear Fellow Playwrights,
If you're on the west coast at the end of June, hope you get a chance to catch my play, KANDIDE, which won the 1995 Lee Korf Playwriting Award. (Hey, I can kvell a little, I've earned it!) It's at The Original Theatre Works, June 28-July 2.
Sorry, can't resist pitching a little:
KANDIDE, very loosely based on Voltaire's satire, is the story of a naive Jewish boy, his shikseh girlfriend, and his Rabbi, circa Poland, 1937 -- the worst of all possible worlds.
This wild, funny and ruthless tragicomedy is directed by TOTW Artistic Director, Robin Huber.
KANDIDE will be produced JUNE 28-JULY 1 @ 8PM, JULY 2 @ 2:30PM. Tickets: $6-$7.50 (even playwrights can afford it :) )
The Original Theatre Works --
Burnight Center at Cerritos College, 11110 East Alondra Blvd. Norwalk CA 90650
For tickets, please call (310)467-5058
******
I'm heading out for a week of rehearsals next week, so if anyone has any suggestions for maneuvering around LA or stories/experiences with TOTW specifically, do e-mail me -- it's my first trip to the coast & I want to make it count.
Wish me luck :)!
Subj: Re:The new Stoppard play 95-05-28 00:16:23 EDT
From: WreckGlory
Posted on: America Online
I hated Arcadia. I thought it was very dry and very boring. The science was not that difficult nor that interesting. But it did have some lovely, subtle moments, especially in the second act.
Subj: Polish sofas 95-05-28 04:10:21 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
PLease, somebody, give us another sofa joke. I'm stuck in writer's block - ARGH!!- and you have all been easing me through it with daily giggles. But I'm not over being mentally constipated. Come, caress me with your wordplay!
I know this isn't for screen-related arts, but I must mention an extraordinary experience I've been lucky enough to fall into: Kieslowski's 10-part series, Dekalog (ten one-hour films each based thematically on one of the ten commandments). He's a brilliant writer, and he knows what to do, not only with sofas, but also instant coffee and computer screens and stove tops and baskets of laundery. He is a Zen master, I think. He can squeeze gallons of subtle meaning from sofa pillows. I've been spending this entire week in SF trekking over to the Roxy to see this masterpiece unroll itself. If you ever get the chance to see them all on the big screen...oooo....sell your first-born. Has anyone else had this excruciating pleasure?
Subj: Re:Writer's block 95-05-28 10:57:18 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I hate this expression. A lot. It turns some perfectly simple, ordinary, understandable circumstance into "A CONDITION." Then it's used for self pity or therapeutic intervention or an excuse to indulge oneself in unattractive behavior. It's not diabetes, for Christ's sake. Call it what it is, or better, what it feels like. It de-mysities it (and takes away your lovely excuse for self indulgence.) Call it "I haven't written much for a while." or "Gosh I can't seem to think of anything to write," or "I seem to have a bit of trouble getting started." If you Name It, it turns into Godzilla. If you simply describe it, it doesn't have to power to eat Tokyo.
Love,
Robert
Subj: Re:Writer's block 95-05-28 11:54:16 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
I didn't mean to be posting a message re:writer's block - but I guess it's fated -- I tend to agree woith Shaff - don't turn a block into a monster. There are millions of things to do to get "unstuck" before you wreck yourself into a whirlwind ...
Topics - should you need something to get you going
1> write about some one you dispise and why
2> write about some you love and why - wrute about the freckle on their left thigh
3> write about not writing
4> write about your first love/you best love - it could even be the bottle of scotch you have in your cabinet.
the point is - in order to "unblock" you must begin writing - about anything!!! and then what usually happens is that once you get going - your brain clicks and you start on to something wonderful ... after you get all the sludge out of your silly brain.
Also - it's a little silly and twelve steppy - but even I the greatest cynic in the world - love this book - it's only $15 and it is all about "blocks" and helps you get unblocked - FOREVER (yes, that is like "Cats" now and forever). The book is called "The Artist's Way."
I loved it so much that I got it for a few friends and will be buying it for several more - so we can "do it together." Go check it out.
It will show you how to be free ... you will find the book under self help (artistic recovery) at you Barnes and Noble.
Ta. Murphy
Subj: Re: Daytrips 95-05-28 12:22:01 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Is that Daytrips by Jo Carson? I saw the first performance down in Virginia and thought it was a wonderful piece of writing -- particularly in its use of the structural device of using two characters who represented the one narrator. How was the production received in Minn? Also your point illustrates how technical theater is meant to SERVE the text so that we can move away from the narrowness of discussing a sofa -- a table -- a park bench -- and look at how we use theatrical devices to enhance and deepen the text -- of course that presumes there is a text to deepen. Perhaps the original discussion was just underscoring those plays in which the props are more interesting than anything else going on. And in these days of too little time, too much work and too many other competing diversions, if an audience member comes out of their home they want to believe it was worth the trip. In many cases that trip seems to be more and more about connecting in some way -- or simply being overawed by the spectacle of the entertainment (as in the case of musical theatre which is all about PROPS).
Subj: Re: Daytrips 95-05-28 15:58:27 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
Indeed, the very same. Ms. Carter and I became good friends when the play was premiered (at least LORT premiered) at LATC in 1989; I was Lit. Mgr there and had some small thing to do with it being produced, of which I am inordinately proud.
The play was fairly well received here, though not as well in LA. The positive newspaper review fatally described it as a disease play, which its not, and I can't think of anything less likely to draw audiences.
I also thought that this production was a good deal more sentimental than the one in LA -- odd, since the director was the same in both cases.
P.
Subj: Daytrips 95-05-29 05:29:43 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
I loved "Daytrips" by Jo Carson also. I know her. Saw the play in L.A. with a superb cast. Then those fiends at the Women's Theatre Project got ahold of it and it got killed in NYC. Yuk! But yes, yes, it is a fine piece of work. Also loved a reading I saw here of another of her pieces, a big epic, at LATC before it died. She had some of the same actors that were in "Millenium Approaches"! Good stuff.
NOW, does anybody know anything about a play called "Niedecker" about the poet? I saw it in Lansing, MI, at the BoarsHead Theatre (great place, BTW) and was blown away, but I haven't heard anything about it since. Help?
MurphWrite
Subj: Hello? 95-05-29 05:31:21 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Yo, Peter DS
It's CARSON, JO CARSON, not Carter. Wouldn't want you to miss picking her next hit (good eye there buddy)!<g>
Subj: Re: Audience prep 95-05-29 12:10:49 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Thanks for the info about the Jo Carson play. I think you bring up an interesting problem for playwrights -- and that is how the audience feels about the play coming INTO the theater -- I guess I'm talking mindset as well as marketing. I saw that recently with a play that one theater here in Cleveland wanted to market as a real family tear jerker ( with maybe a few dysfunctional words thrown in) when it really had quite a bit of humor. So then the playwright -- and others -- explained that it had humor and they went in the opposite direction and marketed it as a real comedy. I think this is a real obstacle for those of us who try to have a meaty play with both humor and tragedy but because it is new work the theater often feels compelled to fit it into their schedule as one or the other. Of course, there is the other problem in which the director loses the sense of lightness early on and goes only for the heavy message -- I just had that happen to me and saw two totally different versions of my first act within days. In version number one it was all business and serious and the audience only looked on - then in version number two the audience was laughing and involved in the first act and then appropriately allowed to be much more serious in the second act. Of course I have also seen this taken to the extreme -- Cheryl West's Jar the Floor here in Cleveland was very extreme in the two acts from almost flat our phsysical farce to the most serious-- almost -- melodrama. I think it may have been difficult for the audience to change gears. But getting back to Jo Carson's play -- it definitely was NOT a disease play -- it was a play about living and family and had great warmth and humor -- so when playwrights talk about writing something "director proof" they really are not living in the real world where work has the possibility of being much more and much less than we envisioned. Thanks for the Memorial Day ramble. Must be watching our little town's amazing parade which inspired this -- three fire trucks, two scout troops, every local politician and 4 very young Marines -- that's all folks. Perl2
Subj: composer iso writer 95-05-29 22:36:14 EDT
From: ACancelino
Posted on: America Online
Extremely versatile young composer would like to speak with writers in NY interested in future collaboration on musical theater pieces, I don't care about what you've done, just what you do. Serious replies only.
Alan
Subj: Re: Audience prep 95-05-30 00:12:29 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Perl2
I think you raise an important point - what does the audience expect coming in? Theaters need to spend more time with this than they do. Audiences are often afraid to trust their own gut reaction to a piece (although they shouldn't be) Lots of people are loathe to go to previews, not only because the play might not be good, but because they haven't read any reviews and don't know what to think about it.
Any ideas about this?
Robin
Subj: Time Flies 95-05-30 14:36:01 EDT
From: PattyASFSA
Posted on: America Online
Hi all--
My last post was about the demands of day jobs--way back pre-Mom's Day. Case in point: I haven't even had time to lurk here since then.
Overwork has led to lingering illness (if only t'were something like consumption [romantically described in Victorian literature as opposed to the real unpleasantries of tuberculosis] where I could be confined to bed to read and write....sigh).
Anyway--it's great to go through the past three weeks and catch up on so many intriguing discussions.
Thanks Robert for your post on day jobs--and I remain admiring that you can give up sun, fun, umbrellas for a working vacation---I'm still reluctant to give up a total veg vacation. In fact I get very greedy about my down time. That you can be disciplined on "vacation" time is awe-inspiring!
PNNMTN--For the last 6 months I've heard persistent whispers about "The Artist's Way" that are turning into a low roar. What IS this book--and why is it so helpful? I keep hearing about it, but not enough to understand WHY.
And did Crate and Barrel, The Door Store or IKEA get someone to start the never-ending furniture discussion? Fascinating--and yet mystifying.
Alright--enough procrastinating. Back to writing, instead of just admiring others who are DOING it!
Love,
Patty
Subj: Re:Daytrips 95-05-30 18:38:24 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
How amazing you saw a great play in Lansing Michigan! That's where I ran away from way back when. Don't know the play--will let you know if I hear more of it. Vic
Subj: Lansing 95-05-30 22:29:28 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Hey, Old Vic (love the name, BTW),
Yeah, Lansing was interesting to me (this was between 1981 and 1984). Since it's the capital of the state there are people from all over, which makes for an interesting mix. The BoarsHead Theatre is run by really dedicated people who are especially adept at doing new plays because they strive always to give the playwright what he/she wants rather than giving a lot of advice and trying to get them to change it. The philosophy is -- if it doesn't work then the playwrights will see it and want to change it themselves. Cool!
They also have the BEST ACTRESS on the North American Continent -- CARMEN DECKER!
But I understand running away. I did that from Tennessee!<g> And yes, please, keep an eye out for "Niedecker" (or is it N*ei*decker?). It's fantastico!
Merci.
MurphWrite
Subj: Superman Reeve 95-06-01 06:57:49 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
Yesterday, I was a mess. I was at work and it was slow. I had my VOICE with me showing 40 years of the OBIES. I read through all the winners and events of the 40 years. I also had NPR on. Early in the afternoon, the news said that Christopher Reeve was paralized with a broken neck from the fall he took in the horse jumping competition. I teared up real good.
I have watched fascinated every time I've seen him act. One of my favorites was DEATHTRAP opposite Michael Caine. But equally important, whenever there has been anything to do with the NEA, Christopher has been there. From the free speech rallies in NYC in the 80s until last month before the senate, he has been an advocate. He has spoken out for the NEA, for national funding, for freedom of speech and, I feel, for us.
And now, he cannot even breathe without life supports. They must operate to stabilize his condition.
Maybe if all of us playwrights concentrate all of our positive energy together, we can help him pull out of this. I want him to be in one of my plays someday. I know my positive thoughts are all converging around him right now.
Thomas
I hope, sincerely sincerely hope, that Christopher makes a recovery.
Subj: Superman 95-06-01 11:13:13 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Nice note, Thomas.
Thanks. I'll send out as much energy as I can.
phead
Subj: LA and the O'Neill 95-06-01 18:59:53 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Just wanted to check in and report that the radio production of THE VALUE OF NAMES was a very happy time. They got me a pretty sensational cast -- Garry Marshall (better known as a director), Hector Elizondo and Sally Murphy (who was Julie Jordan at Lincoln Center). Gordon Hunt directed it, then it was performed three times in front of sold-out houses in Santa Monica. It'll be broadcast in LA in July, I think. Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a better production. They were all wonderful, but working with Hector is the realization of a longtime dream. I've wanted him to do this play for years.
Latest news is I'm going to teach at the O'Neill for a week. I've been asked to run workshops in improvisation and playwriting for the National Critics Institute. THAT should be a hoot! The point is to teach the attending critics something about this form they're prone to throwing adjectives at. That'll be in July. After that, going to the Adirondacks to run an improv workshop for actors and writers in collaboration with Gary Austin (who founded the Groundlings) and Michael Gellman (a Second City director). Looking forward to that. If anybody wants info on this, drop me a line.
Who's doing what?
Subj: Re:Lansing 95-06-01 21:17:54 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hey Murph.... Thanks about the name. The Old Vic in London is one of my favorite theaters, although I discovered The Young Vic last year and they have extremely good productions of really neat stuff. In fact I saw a children's show there for some strange reason, and that children's show has stayed with me so much! because of the incredible imagination they used with hardly any stage set. Absolutely fantastic.
But re, Lansing, I have bunches of weird tales to tell & guess that's why I'm writing... my mother used to HATE to go there, preferring dirty Flint, poor Flint, Michigan, because she once said 'it's too many strange people, FOREIGNERS!!!' (with disgust in her voice) Shocking, even at my young innocent age. I thought the saris were beautiful, the people fantastic compared to the usual Michigan people... etc.
Now, if only I could get the Boarshead to produce my favorite play that is weeping in the corner. I didn't know they did good work--don't they just do the already-successful stuff? My play, Priapic Miasmagora, is very strange. Somewhat stream-of-consciousness / surreal and I haven't been able to get a thing interested in it. But I don't try hard enough. Maybe, soon. (I love this play too! Damn.)
I am so happy to have seen Orson Welles in the Ed Wood movie say to Jonny Depp: You have to fight for your vision! It helped lift me up a bit from my periodic writers' rage/blues.
Cheers, Vic
Subj: Re:Superman Reeve 95-06-01 21:24:48 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thank you so much for saying what you said.
I just found out today & am amazed. It's too horrible. And I just recently found out about Elizabeth Montgomery dying so I've been walking the streets with my head rather down. My friend told me Christopher was playing a paralytic? in a play also. Is that true? I just mentioned Death Trap today and how much I've always loved his acting. My husband and I used to fight about it because he didn't think he was very good. Christopher Reeves is a great actor & because of superman, I think, probably doesn't get all the respect due him from some people (like my husband). Yes, my prayers join yours. Cheers, Victoria
Subj: The BoarsHead Theatre 95-06-01 23:23:32 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
To OldVic and whoever else:
I cannot stress strongly enough the value and wonderfulness of the BoarsHead Theatre as a place to do NEW PLAYS. They have done their share of "revivals" etc. but they really do an EXCELLENT job with new plays. When I was there in the early-mid 80s they had a whole festival of one-acts as well as several new longer plays. And they have the best actress (of a certain age) on the North American Continent -- CARMEN DECKER. She always works for them even though she has done New York, Chicago, etc. She just likes always being able to work (who can blame her).
So yes, send your play to the BoarsHead. And if you're near Lansing, go there and support them. They are fantastic!
MurphWrite
PS: My partner and I even gave them a point of the royalties from our recently published play. So far that amounts to about $70 but who knows...
Subj: Mr. Reeve 95-06-01 23:25:34 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
I second, third and fourth all good vibes, prayers, candles lit and praises sung to Chris Reeve. He is not only a fine and dedicated actor and father but a great human being.
When I think of the idiots who fill themselves with drugs and wrap their cars around telephone poles and walk away from it and now this happens to poor Chris. Please, please let him get well. Really well.
MurphWrite
Subj: Summertime 95-06-01 23:48:20 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Congrats, Peter, how wonderful`that you got to work an actor you really admire.
As for me, this summer I'm teaching three Playwriting/Screenwriting classes at Gotham Writer's Workshop. Finishing up the rewrite on my new play (at last) which I've been promising my agents since April, working on a screenplay with a friend and doing lots of the cool summertime stuff that I love in NYC - like taking long walks late at night and listening to voices and radios wafting out of all the open windows.
Robin
Subj: Arcadia 95-06-02 00:39:15 EDT
From: Jeffrey880
Posted on: America Online
Sorry, any play whose program includes 8 freaking pages of explanatory notes to illuminate the experience is no play for me.
A snob hit. Brings new meaning to the word "dense."
Or is it me who is dense?
You decide.
Subj: Re:Chris Reeves 95-06-02 21:21:49 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
It's terrible to hear the news about him, a serious artist in a world of Hollywood knuckleheads. By the way, he was in a recent TV movie entitled ABOVE SUSPICION in which he plays a paralyzed cop. It was co written by W. H. Macy and also starred Joe Mantegna. The style was a la Mamet, which shouldn't be surprising considering the casting and writing. I think I will dedicate my next play to Reeves (unless, of course, it's commercial, mindless, banal, predictable, insipid, juvenile, moronic, condescending, etc.)
Subj: Playwrights improv retreat 95-06-02 22:39:28 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
When I started writing SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY, a book about the early
days of improv at Second City and the Compass, I had one idea about the
theatre. When I finished it (particularly after conversations with Viola
Spolin, Paul Sills, Mike Nichols and Del Close), I had substantially
different ideas.
I used to think that the theatre existed for the glory of the playwright.
This may be because I was (and am) a playwright. Since my travels in
improvisation, however, I've become convinced that the only two necessary
elements for theatre are actors and audience, and all the other disciplines
in the theatre are in some way extensions of those functions. From this
perspective, then, playwriting is an extension of acting.
If you look at the history of playwriting, you'll see that an enormous number
of the best began as actors or had significant acting experience. (Not very
many successful playwrights came from backgrounds as novelists however. This
leads me to believe that playwriting is NOT primarily a literary activity.)
Anyway, while I was doing SOMETHING WONDERFUL, I began to realize that the
same challenge that the improviser faces onstage (to keep the audience
interested in the action) is what I face when writing. And I began to see
how improvisational techniques could be applied to writing.
In fact, I started experimenting. An early experiment in improvisational
writing resulted in a piece called "Cover." It began as a scenario I wrote.
Then two friends -- Stephen Johnson and Sandra Hastie -- sat around a tape
recorder with me and improvised our way through the scenario a few times. I
typed up transcripts, identified the sections I thought were the strongest,
bridged these with new material, and there I had a short play. (In fact,
it's in the first 10 MINUTE PLAYS FOR ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE anthology.
It gets done a lot.)
Next, last year, I tried a longer piece. Working with two actresses -- Beth
Lincks and Kristine Niven -- I started to explore an idea for a piece I had.
Again I used a tape recorder. This time, I didn't end up using as much
material from the improvisations, but my knowledge of the characters was so
strong from our sessions that I was able to swiftly write a four-character
play called WITH AND WITHOUT. That was recently broadcast on WFMT in Chicago
in a production starring Lindsay Crouse, Jill Eikenberry, Tim Halligan and
Michael Tucker. It will open onstage in a new production at the Victory
Gardens Theatre in the fall.
Obviously I'm encouraged by these experiences. I was talking about them with
Gary Austin (who founded the Groundlings in LA) and Michael Gellman (who
acted with Second City and currently is one of their directors). They
suggested we get together to run a weeklong workshop with people who might
also be interested in using improv as a tool to write.
We're hoping to get a group of people from around the country with improv
experience to join us for a week in the Adirondacks in July. We've found a
rather rustic place called the High Peaks Base Camp not far from Lake Placid
and are going to explore different approaches to developing new characters
and finding out how to build new pieces around them. (This is not too
different, I suppose, from what Mike Leigh has been doing onstage and in film
for the past several years in London.)
It's going to cost all of us a little to take over High Peaks for the week
and to cover some of the expenses involved in bringing Gary and Michael in
front LA and Chicago, but I think it's going to be an exciting week.
Anyway, if anyone wants to pursue this, drop me a line, either at
DGSweet@aol.com or 73707.772@compuserve.com.
By the way, if you haven't heard, Severn Darden -- one of the founding
geniuses of the Compass and Second City -- died last week in Santa Fe. If
you never got a chance to see him perform, you missed something special. (I
was lucky enough recently to get my hands on some rare video of h
Subj: Re:Playwrights improv retreat 95-06-03 14:28:35 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Thanks DgSWEET for bringing up an important aspect of playwriting -- which is the positive interaction between the playwright working directly with the actor. I had a similiar experience many years ago when a wonderful director named Gail Smogard came to my area and we worked on a One Act from an idea and a few words I had jotted down. I would meet once or twice a week with two actors ( we added another one when that character edged into the action) who would improvise from the new text under her direction talking with me and all of us having a very good chemistry. We would also discuss the new text that was now "set" from the last session. It was a wonderfully challenging few weeks which resulted in a play called Uniform Love which was performed at a new play festival at the U. of Cinn. and also at the Porthouse Theater here in Ohio. An impoirtant aspect of this process for me was knowing that in the end I had to make the final decisions on who each character will be and where the final direction of where the play will go. This may be arrived at through discussion or not -- but it is not, or was not for me, a collaborative decision. I will say that many of those choices were arrived at because of what I say and heard and was contributed by each of those people -- but in the end someone has to make the ultimate aesthetic and artistic choices and that person was me as the playwright. This process has also brought up problems of who then "owns" the final piece. And how should the final royalties be directed? Interestingly, when Tony Kushner was here for a speech last fall, this question did come up in our conversation and he mentioned that he has assigned some % of his royalties to those special actors who worked and contributed directly to the final script and vision of Angels but that he doesn't talk about it much in public -- I am not privy to % or how many of those he is talking about -- but it is an interesting question since playwrights are the only artists who always own their work and don't sell the rights but only "rent" them to theaters --so how did you decide to deal with that part of this process?
Hope the workshop goes well. Also, hope that your experience with the Critics at the O'Neill goes well. Sensitizing them to a greater sense of the process may allow them to illuminate a play for an audience rather than simply do the old thumbs up or down. But then audiences often want to be told whether to spend their time and money at a hit -- and how to avoid what someone else has told them is a "loser". Ah, nothing is so easy anymore -- but maybe it never was. However, you stimulate some good thought. I am dying to return to that collaborative process and hope that this fall I will be able to with some new opportunities around here. It is good to let playwrights know that the only way to write a play is not the Emily Dickinson school ( or David Rabe I guess would be more appropriate since I am told that he chooses to write alone and not workshop anything) Also -- I believe that you are talkingmore about the early stages of collaboration that may result in a finished good DRAFT and not the problems and pitfalls that have often flattened out a script from having too many "readings" and "workshops" . Perhaps we can get some comments on those differences. Thanks. Perl2
Subj: Re:Improv, Severn Darden 95-06-03 20:39:45 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
I've had the pleasure all this school year (and two previous ones) working with a very talented group of young actors in an improv-based theatre project that addresses issues of dating violence. Some of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen have been performed one time only in some 9th grade health class or senior family issues class. When the actors are grounded in character and situation, their choices become very powerful and alive and not necessarily predictable, just like good playwriting. I agree, Dgsweet, that there is much in common here. When I am writing, I hope to achieve the same sense that my characters may simply run away on me and I'll have to work to keep up with them.
Re: Severn Darden - He was brilliant, and I'm sorry to hear he's no longer with us. His Metaphysics Lecture amuses me to think about to this day, and I probably heard it thirty years ago once.
Subj: working with actors 95-06-03 21:45:14 EDT
From: Sofiekatz
Posted on: America Online
I'm having a terrific experience right now working with Susan Ruttan (L.A. LAW) and Max grodenchik (Deep Space Nine) on my one act play BEHOLD A PALE BRONCO - They are so open and enthused about working on new material. We're exploring this new territory together and it's an exciting time for us all!
By the way ...
BEHOLD A PALE BRONCO will have a public reading Tuesday, June 6 8pm at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street --
Admission is free.
Subj: Re:Announcement 95-06-03 22:55:08 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I'm hereby inviting everyone in the NY area to attend some of my short plays. Here's the info: (I'lll try to make this clear and simple.)
They're being done in an evening along witha short play by screenwriter Shawn Schepps (I hope I'm spelling that right...) at Alice's Fourth Floor, 432 West 42nd Street.
On Sunday June 11, two of my plays will appear along with Shawn's. (Mine are called "The Doris Day Collection" and "I am My Own Canvas. Shawn's is called "Group)
On Monday June 12, only "Doris Day", along with "Group, will be performed. (can't do "Canvas" due to an unavailable actress.)
The # for reservations is (212) 967-0400, and there is a suggested donation of $5.00 at the door.
Please come. Comedy works ever so much better with an audience, I find.
Love,
Robert.
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-04 15:18:50 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
From the halls of ON THE WATERFRONT's Brando' improv moment "I could have been somebody" to the shores of ALTMAN's overlapping dialogue, the importance of process in playwriting and screenwriting is well and good, and it's nice that critics could be more appreciative of it. But getting bogged down in "process" can also be the old acting teacher routine of keeping students in the classroom, while picking their pockets. It's fine to do improv but I don't think one should think it will be one's ticket to a richer (in both senses of the word) creative life. The ultimate goal of any theatre artist is to become her/his own teacher. You are the answer to the question of your life. You can have guidance along the way, but ultimately you must find your artistic destiny. There are many roads that lead to a certain, if subjective level of creative craftpersonship in playwriting. Studying acting and doing improv is but one side of a multi-faceted prism. To whit, the number of members in Actor's Equity has tripled since 1970. Can we say the same for the number of quality plays? I believe strongly in Uta Hagen's view of the theatre artist. She or he must be attuned to EVERYTHING, from early renaissance art to anthropology to quantum physics to body awareness and the subtlties of the human voice and everything in between. I think that's one reason I found Angels in America the only truly engrossing play in many years: issues of relationships, gender, theology, psychology, history, ideology, politics, philosophy, among others, and it was fun too. Playwrights of the world. Be beacons of light in the darkness of these times by taking it all in. You'll have the added advantage of being an interesting person to talk to at parties (far more inspirational than "Did you know that BLANK's play is being produced by BLANK and features BLANK in the leading role.") Personally, I'm not very concerned about whether critics or the "public" appreciate process. I find it fulfilling in my life, and that's satisfying enought for me. To be honest, I don't think many people--other than artistic colleagues--are interested in process in any art, be it theatre, painting, music, etc. In Sidney Lumet's new book, Making Movies, he relates the story of someone asking Kurosawa what went into the choice of a particular camera angle. He said that he had the frame set up that way because an inch to the left was a SONY building, demonstrating that process can be transcendental as well as mundane. Ultimately, only you the artist can truly appreciate your process.
Subj: playwrights in Hampton Roads 95-06-04 15:21:19 EDT
From: JeanHK
Posted on: America Online
Looking for new members for Tidewater Dramatists Guild. We meet to read a critique new plays and share marketing info. Critics are tactful but honest. E-mail me if you're interested.
Subj: New Play 95-06-04 15:22:47 EDT
From: JeanHK
Posted on: America Online
Looking for producer for witty play about 18th century scandal involving a patron of Samuel Johnson. Could work for stage or screen
Subj: Doris Day and other adventures 95-06-04 15:40:21 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Robert - All the best with the short plays. Wish I could be there!
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-04 16:14:59 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Well, we disagree on the use of workshops and process and so forth.
You mention Uta Hagen. She apparently thinks process is worth exploring in class because she co-founded the HB Studios where she teaches. And where I taught an experimental workshop in improvisation for playwrights.
I find that the texture of material that originates in improvisation is richer in behavioral detail and the illusion of spontaneity than does the stuff that originates at the keyboard -- and I've written successfully both ways. My point is that it's another technique for developing works for the stage.
If it's a technique that doesn't interest you, well and good. I doubt that Shaw would have been much interested either (not to mention David Rabe). But I've had occasion to have long conversations on the subject with David Mamet and Lanford Wilson, both of whom credit exposure to Second City with having a substantial influence on their work. (In fact, David was a busboy at Second City, and SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO sounds very much like a series of Second City sketches; in Chicago it was revived starring Second City actors and directed by a Second City director).
I always think it's wise to examine a potentially stimulating idea before rejecting it.
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Re:playwrights in Hampton Roads 95-06-05 11:54:21 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hi. Where are you? Hampton Roads as in The Hamptons? If you're in the NYC area, I'd be interested. Thanks, Victoria
Subj: Doris Day and other adventure 95-06-05 19:05:36 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Yes, Robert, here here and break many extremities!
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-05 22:04:57 EDT
From: DYLAN NYNY
Posted on: America Online
Mr. Sweet, you are exactly right in one thing. Exploration prior to dismissal of any technique is appropriate. Now, that said.....I've explored improvisation as a method of "development" anf found it without merrit for me (note I said for me). I would go further to say that if you are using Uta Hagen, Lanford Wilson and even David Mamet as examples of people who endorse this method I am more convinced of my stance. Knowing Guare finds it useless...and imagining that Orton would as well, I'll stick to my guns. We are working in an era when ecinomic risks being what they are plays are "developped" to death. I am happy to be earning my living the old fashioned way: Writing plays--not developing them. If it works for you....more power to you. I suspect I'll stay home.
Subj: Re:Announcement 95-06-05 23:01:10 EDT
From: Sofiekatz
Posted on: America Online
Congrats on your upcoming event! I'll be thinking about you this weekend. I'm in the midst of biting nails for tomorrow night's stage reading of mine.
Have fun!
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-05 23:11:35 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Oh, I doubt that John Guare finds it as useless as you think. I know John and have been produced with him. He's done a lot of work with improvisational actors in his casts.
Modest suggestion: thumb through DRAMATIST'S TOOLKIT and/or SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY at the Drama Book Shop and see if something doesn't (in spite of your reticence) resonate.
I return to the thought that it is prudent to examine something before rejecting it. I believe Galileo would agree with me.
Subj: Re:Announcement 95-06-06 00:08:37 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Same back to you! Best on your reading. Try not to go below the cuticle line...
Robert.
Subj: Re:Adenture in playwriting & imp 95-06-06 00:40:31 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
For me the first goal of the playwright is to avoid redundancy and to provide information (using both terms in the cybernetic sense), that is, if one character utters "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight," and the second character responds with "nine," that's redundancy in other words no new information has been provided. But if character one utters, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight," and character two responds with "Ten," Now that's information, something new and informative in a playful way. It may not be inspired theatre but it's a start. I think anyway you get from eight to ten is legitimate. I think they'res just quite a few ways to skin a cat, which is a particularly apt homily, since as we know, a cat has nine lives.
Subj: Re:audience prep 95-06-06 12:44:05 EDT
From: Humdeb
Posted on: America Online
Preparing an audience is akin to preparing a brain to think a thought - good luck with all that excess time on your hands. Audiences become one entity, like one brain, (genius level, believe it or not) when they sit down and the lights go up. And preparing them is pointless, it's more productive to work on your play, instead of the audience. If the play works, the audience will be with you on the ride. They are very honest, unless of course, the audience is full of your close friends. Which means you're better at making friends than writing.
Question - any thoughts on Arthur Miller's belief that it takes a year to invent the story? What's your schedule?
Subj: Re:working with actors 95-06-06 14:46:27 EDT
From: WreckGlory
Posted on: America Online
When I studied directing with David Greenspan, I used two actors to create an improvised play. I ended up writing a script, and had ideas of what I wanted to happen from the beginning of rehearsals, but what happened among the three of us was extraordinary. I continue to write plays on my own now, but I find it so much more interesting to get in a room with some intelligent, risky actors, and "make stuff up." It's very liberating and I hope to be able to have the chance to work this way in the future.
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-06 17:47:03 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
I'd have to agree with Dylan - the development process can kick the hell out of a play - steal the life right from it. I even go so far as hating the act of the public reading ... plays were meant to be seen... as a playwright if I need to work on it - I'll do it the old fashion way - call up some friends and read in the living room. Save the life of the pay for the stage - where it belongs.
Subj: Playwright's chat 95-06-06 17:50:46 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Well, I am back from my excursions west. And if everyone remains interested - I'm will to do the leg work to get the playwright's chat off the ground - all up for it email me - those in nyc - let's get together to discuss and quafe a few beers ... smoke if we can find a place.
Please send your suggestions to PNNMTN ...
Thanks, Murphy
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-06 23:06:47 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
That is very interesting to hear because I've been suffering under the illusion that my play is in great need of a workshop process. And I've also dreaded a simple 'staged reading' (so much so that I haven't got around to doing it) because it's frigging crazy, surreal, and will sound flat just being read. I think what I really want deep down is to have a studio and some great actors and play with it in private. Not being a very experienced playwright, (one play produced) I haven't gone ahead and done what I want to do. Anyhow, appreciate these bits. Victoria
Subj: Re:Playwright's chat 95-06-06 23:08:36 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
I'm up for a chat, beers, smoke, cheers. Vic
Subj: Re:Playwright's chat 95-06-06 23:13:47 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
P.S. The Dublin Inn on 79th allows smoking. The White Horse too. I probably have a whole list somewhere in my head. The Boat House is beautiful at 4:00 or 5:00 pm. Cheers.
Subj: Re:Miller's theory 95-06-06 23:30:34 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
A year to invent the story? Sometimes. Sometimes more. Commonly, with me, a little piece of gristle gets stuck in my brain just sits there, sometimes for years, until something about it breaks free. Then it turns into a play. (unless it doesn't.) Then again, there are those lovely times the whole mishegas just pours out quickly (at least until the rewrites.) A schedule? Not really...but then, I 've got this sort of day job, which prevents me from actually structuring my life around writing plays.
Anybody else?
Love,
Robert
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-07 00:06:41 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
It depends on if you're in charge of the development process. I run the improvs, I choose the material I want to use, I don't invite comment from off-the-street audiences. I hope I am smart enough to take good advice from colleagues I trust. I know my plays have improved because of workshopping. But, NOT ALL WORKSHOPS ARE THE SAME. To say you don't like workshopping is to say you don't like food because you once got food poisoning.
I suggest again that it is not wise to reject out of hand what you don't know. Most of what you learn starts as something you don't know.
Jeff
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-07 00:13:19 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Different plays are served by different processes. Some plays are primarily verbal and are very well served by private readings around a table. Some plays are more visual and simply make little sense read around the table. My play THE VALUE OF NAMES lent itself to around-the-table work and was much improved by a workshop process -- I discovered I had an unnecessary character early in the game and so saved myself painful rewriting later on by heeding colleagues' advice. (Of course, my colleagues in the workshop included Donald Margulies, Jane Anderson, Keith Gordon, Anne Meara, Winnie Holzman and some other people who've gone on to prove their credibility in the writing game.)
On the other hand, a big play of mine called AMERICAN ENTERPRISE sounded stupid being read around the table. Went through three very productive workshops in Chicago. The resulting play won the American Theatre Critics Award, was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award, was awarded a Fund for New American Plays grant, was nominated for the Joseph Jefferson, and was chosen as a bonus selection for the "Best Plays Annual."
Neither of these plays would have turned out to be what they were if I hadn't chosen colleagues whose honesty, kindness, taste, intelligence and friendship I didn't trust.
The theatre is, by definition, a social form. To abjure the company of others in creating theatre is, I think, to cut yourself off from a lot of what theatre is meant to be.
IMHO
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Re:Miller's theory 95-06-07 02:38:59 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
I would like to back up a bit and say that one long term study of creativity that was being done had theorized ( after analyzing the biographies of hundreds of artists from a variety of genres over several centuries) that it took an average of ten years to develop one's craft -- I don't mean to throw the discussion into a new direction, but I do believe that as we are developing a greater understanding of what makes a play successful for US, there is also an accumulation of stimulii, information, experiences, people, names, places, political events, etc., etc., that build up and often become the force of a new play -- we also gain new skills which may make it possible to write something we have been thinking about but didn't have the experience or skill to deliver. Some of the plays I have labored over for years seem "labored" ( and interestingly, some of them are still laboring in the computer )-- while some that have been hatched in relatively few weeks and months seem more successful -- and I wonder if that is a by-product of this craft "thing" that has become infinitely more part of my process -- more subconscious and yet obviously there. In fact, the last two plays I have had produced have had NO workshopping process and have needed little re-write. Though the most recent, Nightwalking, which dealt with the 1970 shootings here at Kent State and used some oral histories went through 8 or 9 drafts. It also benefitted from one good group critique with the playwrights group at the Cleveland PlayHouse as well as a 24 hour talk session with a good friend and dramaturg who also seems to ask incredibly good questions. Good questons rather than someone else's answers often force me to focus on what I am trying to say and see if I am achieving that goal. I must say that yes, DgSWEET -- I agree we must get a few good people to listen to and not listen to everyone -- the changes in rehearsal on this last play were minimal and I was very happy with the final results. What's the lesson? Who the hell knows. The next play may be totally different. I won't know until I get through the process. I don't think there are hard and fast rules -- there are individual styles of working that do evolve if we listen to and for them. I just throw this out into the compost heap for discussion.
Subj: How long for Story to Develop 95-06-07 08:40:58 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
In March I finished writing a play. The idea, however, was more than 10 years old and had been bouncing around in my head all that time before I could get it on paper.
That's TOO DAMN LONG.
Fortunately for me the average is more like three years for idea, 3 months to write.
Subj: NS, ME, DG 95-06-07 10:27:29 EDT
From: SubtleRash
Posted on: America Online
To write well you have to write badly!
Subj: Re:How long for Story to Develop 95-06-07 12:07:00 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
My non-schedule of story development varies wildly. Sometimes I wake up with a play, stumble to the computer pausing only to get a cup of very strong black coffee and type it in. For a couple of one one acts I've done little to them since except for editting (mostly cutting) in rehearsal. A full-length of mine (Beer & Chocolate), which has had several readings but never been produced has been lurking in my hard disk (and on dozens of floppies) for nearly four years. I wrote the entire full-length play in two days. That was Draft 1. I've worked on it on and off since then, although I haven't really touched it in over a year. But Beer & Chocolate in it's present form is very different form the play I typed into my computer nearly four years ago. Scenes and characters have come and gone. The play has had three readings and I've worked on it with each reading.
As far as the ten years to hone my craft (as someone suggested) I've been writing plays for four and a half years. It will be interesting to see if I plateau at about ten years. If I do I'll proably get bored with writing plays and become a brain surgeon or sell Mary Kay or go work in a factory.
Subj: Re:How long for Story to Develop 95-06-07 13:39:46 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
How long it takes to go from first idea to final script varies for me (most often years, but sometimes months or weeks), but what doesn't seem to vary is that I never truly finish one script until I've begun another. In order to find the end that surprises me, I have to look away, focus on something else, and let some other part of the brain work on it. Then, when I'm about 25% into the new work, I can go back and finish the first one.
Subj: PROCESS & PONTIFICATING 95-06-08 00:26:21 EDT
From: DYLAN NYNY
Posted on: America Online
Mr. Sweet--
I am, I must admit, tire of pontification for or against these various "processes." Years ago, someone asked me about my "process." He said to me, "When you write something do you fiddle with it and fiddle with it?" I said, "No. I do 3 drafts and I'm done....untill I have a reason to work on it, like a production." He responded by telling me that I did not have a writers personality. Well, it's 10 years later and I earn my living writing plays which get produced in NYC and around the globe, he's.......Hmm. I don'y know where he is, but he aint in the theater. My point is, there are as many methods as there are writers. And I was speaking for myself, which I think I made clear. I have always found improvisation utterly useless--and frankly destructive. That's me.
Also, do try to refrain from dropping names. It's unbecoming--particularly since none of the writers you mention --with the possible exception of D Margolies--have proven their litterary credibility to me. Harumph!
Subj: Re: Improv, Playwriting, Process 95-06-08 00:58:57 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Vic - if you want I'll help you if you want to "hear it" - pull a couple folks together - sit in a living room - the right way
Subj: Re:PROCESS & PONTIFICATING 95-06-08 01:26:04 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
I really hate improve. I'm not into the living theatre thing. I write my plays. I eat my plays. And I have another four years to go before I have put in my ten years ... no ones process is wrong ... you write the only way you know how ... pick up a pen when you are ready ... empty your brain ... start all over again ... and remember that you write for theatre ... not your therapist.
Subj: Re:PROCESS & PONTIFICATING 95-06-08 09:42:00 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Ah, Mr. Silver --
Sorry you find only Donald Margulies to your taste. I admit to liking television, and I think Winnie Holzman did lovely work with MY SO-CALLED LIFE and Jane Anderson did fine work with THE ADVENTURES OF THE ALLEGED CHEERLEADER-KILLING MOM (others did, too; she picked up wht Emmy and the WGA for that script). And I think Keith Gordon's script and direction of A MIDNIGHT CLEAR were first-rate. And I think Anne Meara's AFTER-PLAY has provocative things in it.
But then I don't like taking shots at other people's work online. When I have something critical to say, I try to show respect for the people whose work I'm addressing by doing a longer, more considered piece.
The point of the "name-dropping" was that, with the exception of Anne, who already had a reputation as an actress and comic, none of the people who were in the Writers Bloc (which, God help us, is what we called ourselves) at the time (late Seventies, early Eighties) had any significant credits. Something about the process of the Bloc -- which included a number of improvisational sessions -- helped most of us advance in our craft to the degree that some people (if not you) choose to produce our work a lot. (Incidentally, the Vineyard, where you ply your trade, has also produced two of my plays and one of Jane's. So, if you take shots at us, you're also taking shots at the taste of Doug Aibel, whose wisdom you'd presumably endorse.) If details interest you, there's a chapter in THE DRAMATIST'S TOOLKIT where I go into greater depth on both improvisation and the Writers Bloc.
Were you punning when you wrote "litterary credibility" or did you misplace your dictionary?
I've covered some of my other thoughts in a private letter to you. You have my admiration, though not my agreement.
all best -- Jeff
Subj: Re:PROCESS & PONTIFICATING 95-06-08 09:50:31 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Improv is not living theatre. And it is not therapy. And it is not psycho-drama. Maybe that's where some of the confusion entering this topic comes from.
If you listened to some of the early Second City stuff, or Nichols and May (which came out of the same gang), or some of the stuff the Committee did at the height of their runs in San Francisco and LA, you'd have a better idea of what I mean. It's not touchy-feely stuff. It's sharp, smart, observant social comedy, frequently with dark undertones.
I don't mind people taking shots at something if they're familiar with what they're taking shots at. But those who are not familiar with the work of VIola Spolin, Paul Sills, Mike Leigh, Alan Myerson, Del Close and Keith Johnstone are not REALLY familiar with what I'm talking about.
Ah well, one of these days you'll have a chance to see WITH AND WITHOUT and get some idea of how I use this stuff. It opens in Chicago and Houston in the fall, and a radio version was recently recorded. I assume it'll be published in the next year or so.
Later --
Subj: Re:PROCESS & PONTIFICATING 95-06-08 09:53:05 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Oh, I want to add one thing --
It's fine to choose a process that works for you. I do think, though, that you make a better choice when it is indeed a CHOICE. That is to say, when you've had the chance to examine a number of options in some depth and then choose the one that gets the best results for you. To start off on one path and never look left or right at other options or possibilities is not my idea of choice, it's artistic inertia.
Jeff
Subj: Re:PROCESS & PONTIFICATING 95-06-08 13:18:00 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Whoops I see some of the messages have turned more into barbs the last day or so -- I liked this section because I thought people were interested enough in other people's comments ( whatever they were and wherever they came from ) and would felt safe -- to leave a "message" -- share some insights, talk about process -- etc., etc., without the threat of immediate judgement, censure, id, ego or worse yet -- a pissing contest -- which God knows we get from enough other sources. Let's not kill the messenger here. Writing is intensely personal -- and like the old game of Uncle Wiggly -- we all get to to the end in our own individual way with all of our own quirks, triumps and tragedies. I did just finish a wonderful little book called The Writing Habit: Essays by David Huddle . The chapter called "The Writing Habit" was a gem and related well to the prior discussion on working on piece. There were other wonderful chapters on "Memory's Power" and "Story Truth" which also hit home. I recommend it highly. Hang in there and let's not lose the thread. Perl2
Subj: Re: improv 95-06-08 13:45:53 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
DgSweet- Yes, improv is largely defined by Second City, Spolin, etc. etc. (the list you listed) - but there are a number of other improv-based theatre techniques, movements, call them what you will that are not based in sharp satire, political commentary, etc. They're still improv. I take exception to your post only in that I think your definition was a little too narrow. The work we do in New Options is improv but it wouldn't fit your definition. Another term that gets involved here is interactive theatre. I'd ponder on about it, but don't have the time now. Maybe later.
Regards,
jcm
Subj: Re: improv 95-06-08 16:09:45 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Oh yeah, there's as wide a range of improvisation as there are players and companies. Improv was put on the map, though, by the Compass Players (Nichols & May, Shelley Berman, Barbara Harris, Severn Darden) in the Fifties and by Second City (Harris, Darden, Paul Sand, Dick Libertini, Tony Holland, Joan Rivers, Melinda Dillon, etc.) in the Sixties. One should also not forget the heyday of the Committee in San Francisco (Howard Hesseman, Peter Bonerz, Chris Ross, Carl Gottlieb, Barbara Bosson, Leigh French, Rober Reiner) or the Premise (Tom Aldredge, Ted Flicker, Joan Darling, George Segal, Buck Henry, Gene Hackman, Godfrey Cambridge, Diana Sands) also in the Sixties. The Living Theatre took some of Viola Spolin's transformation exercises and went in a different direction. And theatresports and improv olympics are going in different directions. But the immediate impulse was a kind of urban folk theatre in which dissidents could say onstage what nobody was printing in the newspaper in the days of the Red Scare and the button-down Eisenhower era. Since there isn't the same kind of political and social repression to buck against, improv has tended to move on to other fields. Not saying this is bad, just that it's evolved in some areas from its initial impulses and purposes.
Subj: improv is life 95-06-08 23:04:15 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Improv? Just Wednesday I was observing the first rehearsal of a play I wrote last year, finally getting a workshop production. In it, a young man is trying to manipulate his mother, and she's a pretty hard sell. The actress's young son interrupted our rehearsal to ask if he could play outside. She told him, "no, now go sit down and don't bother us." He immediately came closer to her and kind of brushed his nose against her neck.
Guess what. I used it.
Subj: Re:improv is life 95-06-08 23:52:18 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
May I add my two cents to this clash of the titans here? You both are right, okay? You both win. I studied with Paul Sills in college, I loved "Something Wonderful," and I do think it is possible to learn a lot from improvs. I also think that writing is an intensely personal process and if a playwright doesn't want/need to use that process, and their work is powerful and profund and clear, than that's fine, too. As writers, of course, we are interested in process, but in the final payoff, what matters is the work. An actor who writes a twelve page bio and researches a character for months and someone who "feels" their way can both give a brilliant performance, and it's the performance that counts.
Personally, I am glad I work in a profession where there is no "right" way to do it. How stultifying it would be otherwise.
Robin
Subj: Re: meta-writing & writing 95-06-09 00:09:09 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
I'm spending too much time lately musing on writing; I'm getting back to writing. May all playwrights pursue their craft with love and compassion, and a fresh mug of their favorite beverage. I leave temporarily with a couple of quotes
"An artist never completes, only abandons." Don't know the source.
"Art is necessary. If I only knew what for!" Jean Cocteau
Subj: Re: meta-writing & writing 95-06-09 00:10:12 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
I'm spending too much time lately musing on writing; I'm getting back to writing. May all playwrights pursue their craft with love and compassion, and a fresh mug of their favorite beverage. I leave temporarily with a couple of quotes
"An artist never completes, only abandons." Don't know the source.
"Art is necessary. If I only knew what for!" Jean Cocteau
Subj: Contracts and Such 95-06-09 01:21:22 EDT
From: Cyrano111
Posted on: America Online
I want to hear about experiences with getting directors or producers to sign a contract of your liking...or unliking.
Rideaux
Subj: Re:improv is life 95-06-09 02:21:14 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Putting real life into a script! Isn't that cheating?
:-) Jeff
Subj: Re:improv is life 95-06-09 02:25:51 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Robin --
Thanks for the nice words on SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
I don't claim that "improv" is right or the only way -- just that it can be useful to a writer and so might be worth exploring.
Just as I would expect an actor to take a look at Stanislavski before dismissing him.
A choice is only really a choice when you know what you're NOT choosing, too. Which is why I continue to check out other people's ideas on writing. Sometimes you learn by having to articulate why you reject a theory or approach.
Anyway --
all best to everyone -- Jeff
Subj: All Writing Is Improv 95-06-09 12:43:13 EDT
From: WreckGlory
Posted on: America Online
What's the big fuss about improv? No matter how you write your plays, it's all "improvised." Whether you sit in front of your computer and compose, or whether you get a bunch of actors in a room without a script and emerge four weeks later with a play -- you made something out of nothing. There's really very little difference. I like working both ways; both ways will teach you something.
DgSWEET, why do you always have to plug your Dramatists Toolkit all the time? By now, anyone who reads this board *knows* you wrote it and *knows* you really like it a lot and think we should all read it. We get the point!
Subj: Re:All Writing Is Improv 95-06-09 17:32:37 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Dear WreckGlory,
Believe it or not, new people do come on and I do get mail asking me to re-explain stuff. I don't mind re-explaining some of it, but when I've gone into depth in the book, you're darn right I'm gonna refer people to it. I worked hard on it, am pleased with it, and pleased with the value people seem to place on it.
If you've done something equivalent you're pleased with, you're perfectly free to do the same, and I will be happy to celebrate your accomplishment.
As to the improv question: on one level you have a point, it does all get whipped out of nothing. But on the level that I find interesting, there is a profound difference. When you're writing a place by yourself, you're throwing your voice through different characters, but it still originates out of your single voice. (Everyone in a Tom Stoppard play, for instance, seems to have the same vocabulary and speak in neatly-parceled paragraphs.) When a piece begins from improv, however, the voices must necessarily be distinct because they are emerging from different people. The rhythms and the syntaxes and the vocabularies tend to be more individuated, and instead of what frequently happens when a piece is written by one person -- where the characters tend to taken turns letting each other speak -- in improv, you get a lot more of the real texture of conversation -- interruptions, misinterpretations, diversions, stutterings. This may not be what you're aiming for if you're writing poetic drama, but it's darn useful for naturalistic stuff. And it's particularly good for comedy.
As I probably said somewhere in THE DRAMATIST'S TOOLKIT ...
Cheers.
Subj: Re:All Writing Is Improv 95-06-10 13:31:02 EDT
From: WreckGlory
Posted on: America Online
The author of the Dramatists' Toolkit writes:
>>>As to the improv question: on one level you have a point, it does all get whipped out of nothing. But on the level that I find interesting, there is a profound difference. When you're writing a place by yourself, you're throwing your voice through different characters, but it still originates out of your single voice. (Everyone in a Tom Stoppard play, for instance, seems to have the same vocabulary and speak in neatly-parceled paragraphs.) When a piece begins from improv, however, the voices must necessarily be distinct because they are emerging from different people. The rhythms and the syntaxes and the vocabularies tend to be more individuated, and instead of what frequently happens when a piece is written by one person -- where the characters tend to taken turns letting each other speak -- in improv, you get a lot more of the real texture of conversation -- interruptions, misinterpretations, diversions, stutterings. This may not be what you're aiming for if you're writing poetic drama, but it's darn useful for naturalistic stuff. And it's particularly good for comedy.<<<
I had a professor who offered some very interesting excercies that I found very helpful in my own writing.
1. Write a monologue. The person speaking should be someone you know in your real life who you LOATHE.
2. Write a monologue, this time with a speaker who is someone you really want to like you.
3. Read a story, a poem, or else think about the lives of people you know. Then take their imagery and their themes and make them your own; "translate" them, or see where their imagery impacts/inlfuences your life.
4. Write a short play about your PARENTS. But write about them Before you were born. "The Courtship of My Parents." Stop before you are born.
5. Write a scene in which each character is really an animal, and think of that animal when you're writing the character's dialogue.
There were more, but these are the ones I remember at the moment. It's probably obvious, but what these excercies want you to do is write OUTSIDE of who you are. Create characters that "are not you" and that don't come "freely" from your own mind.
This strikes me as very similar to improvisation w/ actors. I should also say that simply improvising with actors has helped me later, when I've gone and written a play "sitting at the computer." I start remembering that there are "infinite possibilities," that anything can happen, things "beyond my control." As a writer, it feels good giving up that control, and maybe that is why so many writers HATE improv -- loss of control. If the writer is "God' and is "creating a world" it's only natural that s/he wants complete control over that world. I find theatre, and life, much more exciting when one "gives up" that control. That's when the truly surprising, interesting things start to happen.
Subj: Re:All Writing Is Improv 95-06-10 16:13:15 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
I like the sound of the exercises. They seem to be designed to get writers away from the special pleading that too many young writers do on behalf of their autobiographic characters. (Of course, I'm not a fan of autobiographic characters anyway -- they're almost always passive and frequently whine.)
Just had a lovely class, the last third of which was devoted to encouraging the writers in the group to improvise using a game I stumbled on called six lines. Two of the members of this forum were there and did some nice work. The set-up was this -- everyone was in some way involved in a block party. Any one person could start a scene with any other person in the group, but it could only be six lines long. We swiftly built a complex community of characters and relations, some of it funny, some of it potentially explosive. What's most interesting is that the group began extrapolating from why improvisational scenes were working what elements could be applied to written work. Which was partially the point of the workshop to begin with.
Anybody else in New York who is curious, we meet on most Saturday mornings at 11:00 AM at the 78th Street Theatre Lab. It's fun to see what some of the correspondents here look like.
regards -- Jeff
Subj: Jenn's Baby 95-06-10 21:15:40 EDT
From: LilaWrwolf
Posted on: America Online
Congrats on the newborn Jenn! Really - you'll have to tell how you manage to write plays and be a mother ... one day I may take the plunge
Subj: Re:Might as well tell you. 95-06-10 21:18:00 EDT
From: LilaWrwolf
Posted on: America Online
Welcome Brian ... also if you are interested - possibly Gabriel has informed you that I am organizing a playwrights chat - one night during the week - send your suggetions on ... all of you.
Arlo is a good name and so is guthrie -- milk it.
Murphy
Subj: Looking for Comrades in Arms 95-06-12 21:00:52 EDT
From: JeanHK
Posted on: America Online
Hi. I'm new to AOL. Looking for playwrights--producers welcome also-- with some experience--publication or production to correspond with. (Sorry for ending sentence with a preposition!) I've had some productions and some non-fiction book and magazine publications. Live on the East Coast. Director of Tidewater Dramatists Guild in the Hampton Roads area. Write if you have have any areas of interest in common.
Jean
Subj: Genius GRants 95-06-13 14:21:26 EDT
From: WreckGlory
Posted on: America Online
In great news for the avant-garde theatre (or theatre in general) Elizabth Le Compte and Richard Foreman have been awarded McCarthur Genius Grants this year -- $300,000+, and free health insurance also!
Interesting though -- these two seem to be doing great work w/o such funds -- how will this money improve their work? it would seem to more valuable to give such money to people who are "up-and-coming" and unable to do much because of their financial situation.
In horrifying news, Sandra Cisneros also won a grant. I dare you to read her work without either vomitting or laughing. She is one of the worst writers I have ever read.
Subj: Conversational? 95-06-13 19:21:20 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Wreck--thanks for the news. I always wonder who gets grants, for what, and how do they spend them.
I have a question for everyone. How "conversational" should plays be (i.e., broken sentences, use of vernacular, like everyday speech)? Is there a continuum of types of plays for which this technique works better (and therefore for some, worse)?
Any advice on gauging how "conversational" a play is, how to "converse" it down or up? Just curious. My director and I seem to have differing opinions on this.
Many thanks!
Beth
Subj: Voyeur No More 95-06-13 20:20:47 EDT
From: Niddy
Posted on: America Online
Greetings from the land of Bourbon and Branchwater, magnolias and
mosquitos, people so damn happy and polite I think I've died and gone
to Disneyworld.
During a recent move from New York to Atlanta I've loved peeking in
on this board. In the way that cyberspace can suck out your sense of
reality I feel that I TOO have received NEA grants and glowing reviews
when in fact I'm just a budding Playwright with more enthusiasm than
productions...
I already love Atlanta beyond reason. I immediately joined the Southeast
Playwrights Project (SEP), a group all over the map in terms of experience and ability. Might be frustrating for some, works for me.
The group is nicely racially mixed, which I never found in New York (I'm
not saying it ain't there, I just didn't see it).
Theater down here is mixed as well, some strong African American stuff,
decent experimental stuff, and big, silly flips in the air for anything that
comes down the pike from Manhattan. Right now everyone is pissing
over the arrival of "Jeffrey" and "All in the Timing" and can't believe that
I've already seen both of them. It's, you know, cute.
Of course, "everybody" is twelve people, theater being theater. But I
like the raw energy of theater in a town not known for it (well that
would be everywhere but NYC, huh?) And it's easy to get "in" here.
They always thought of me as a Mom in New York. They think of
me as a writer in Atlanta. Not bad for two months, I call.
Thanks for listening. Hey, I think I hear the kid crying. Now, where'd
I put that bourbon?
Subj: Re: the south and all that 95-06-13 21:27:00 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Niddy -- don't forget to check out an organization called Alternate Roots ( I think that is the name) they have a big theater conference in the summer and I'm told by Jo Carson -- a playwright in Tennessee -- that it is a wonderful time. Enjoy Atlanta and get ready to put all your new found AOL playwright friends up for the Olympics! I'm told they are having some theater events for the Olympics -- is this true? I can just see those critics holding up their cards now with the scores. Ugh! But then it might be intersting to see how they rate a play by degree of difficulty and execution ( I think that's the gig on the diving) that could be fun. -- Perl2
Subj: Playwright-run groups 95-06-13 21:43:03 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Well, gang, a decade-old member-run playwrights' circle here in Cleveland has finally gone down for the third time. (Knowing some of the members, I have my own theories why.) I just got a letter from the last active member asking the question: "Do you want to see a playwrights group and reading theater continue in greater Cleveland, independent of the mission of any specific theater or university? If so, what would prompt you to participate?"
I thought of all of you, my AOL-pals, and wondered aloud: How many of you are or have been active in a writers' circle that self-produced readings? If you've ever been in one, what made it work? Or what made it implode, explode, peter out? Did you get actors and directors involved, and if so how? How diverse -- gender, age, race -- was the membership? (I was happy to see Niddy's recent post about the multiracial SEP in Atlanta.) Were there dues? A leader/facilitator? Anyone paid? How often did/do you meet?
Jeff, I know you've been active in several. I'm especially curious about those writers living outside NYC, in cities where there are mostly small theatres, one big regional, and/or community theatres not particularly used to working on new plays.
Linda Eisenstein
Subj: Re:Playwright-run groups 95-06-13 23:53:10 EDT
From: WEENUS
Posted on: America Online
I ran a playwrights group in Hoboken called the WaterFront Ensemble for four years. As far as I know it is still in existance and run by a director by the name of Marc Duncan. It was a great place to be on a Tuesday night to hear a play read (or several plays read). The energy ran up when we produced two showcases in New York, but inevitably egos were wounded when the showcases didn't include everyone.
In hindsight, I probably would have been more discriminating in who joined the group, and we would have never been in the business of producing plays--or at least we could have encouraged the group who wanted to do the producing to spin off and do it.
It was extraordinarily useful and fun while I was involved with it. I eventually pulled out because of family reasons (my Dad was sick with AIDS) and then I got sucked into academia for my third useless theatre degree-and there I remain.
As a brief advertisement I'm having a one-act "The Source of All Our Goodness" produced by the Phoenix Ensemble at the Hamlet of Bank Street at the end of this month. Email me if you are interested in finding out more about this group for your own work. I think they do a very professional job.
David
Subj: Reading Groups, etc. 95-06-14 03:24:05 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
I ran a play reading group for three years out here in L.A. We were funded by a lone benefactor (playwright and actor Felton Perry). It was just the rental of the hall every week, but he was very generous.
We literally had zillions of really good actors at our fingertips. Of course, READING is a special talent that not all talented actors have. So we eventually got together a core group of good "readers" who could do just about anything very effectively. Sometimes we had trouble filling all the roles and people doubled up but usually we had very fine readers. I almost always read the stage directions and really enjoyed that. We had discussions at the end of each reading. If the playwright could not attend (it was FOR them, after all) we made a tape of the reading and the discussion (we always did that, actually).
Sometimes the discussions got a little stupid. That's really okay with me, though. Sometimes the goofiest comments give you the most help in the end -- I said SOMETIMES. Anyway, the Writer's Theatre in NYC used to always say that the playwrights could listen but not respond to comments about their work and I think that's a good rule. Just listening, taking notes, drinking it in, is good. It will only make sense later anyway.
Our group has gone on to other things. We keep in touch a little, lost touch with a lot of them. I miss it, but it was a lot of work. Maybe I'll be able to fund another group myself one of these days. Would love to be able to. We also produced a play but it wasn't as a "group", however it did grow out of that experience.
Keep on writing! (I'm talking to myself, of course.)
MurphWrite
Subj: Australia for God's sake! 95-06-14 07:19:55 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
I just got the word that one of my one acts is being produced in Australia! It goes on at the end of June. Needless to say I'm not going to be able to attend, but it's interesting to have my work produced so far away!
Subj: Playwright Groups 95-06-14 07:23:53 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
There was a group here in Gainesville, FL for about a year. It disintegrated when one of us (me) started getting produced regularly.
And NO! I didn't spend all my time talking about my plays. It was apparently a case of people resenting the fact that I was starting to get attention outside of the group. As long as we were all totally unknown, it was a good experience.
The minute I had a play accepted for production by a professional theater in Miami - the other playwrights quit showing up for the meetings! No explanation. I would call them and they would say, "Oh, sorry, I was busy and forgot."
I'd like to think I wouldn't have been that big a butt-hole if the roles had been reversed.
So - there is not playwrights group (as far as I know) here.
Subj: Re:Playwright-run groups 95-06-14 11:56:53 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
In the late seventies to early eighties Seattle's first incarnation of the Playwrights Guild had a reading series of new plays by members. What made it run well was an excellent facilitator, who kept the discussion on track and useful to the writer. He had a wonderful gift for analysis himself, too, so when the discussion identified some problem in the writing, it was usually Bob who could make a small and right-on-the-button suggestion as to how to address the concern. (For example, in a play of mine, several people said they were very curious about one of the two main characters, who was already somewhat overwritten in my opinion. Bob said "I don't think you need to work on that character. Work on strengthening the other guy, and the resulting increased tension between the two will give us what we need." Bingo.
When he got too busy to stay involved, the group sagged, faded, and almost disappeared. Since then, there have been at least two resurrections of playwright-run reading series through NWPG, but I've not been involved with either, so I don't know how they're doing.
Subj: young director 95-06-14 19:01:38 EDT
From: Ndrusoho
Posted on: America Online
Young director in search of scripts!
I'm looking for some exciting writing, some great plays to read and try to get produced. I'm young (4 yrs. in NYC) but have got much energy enthusiams and intelligence. Ask WreckGlory; he worrked on a play I directed.
So, send scripts or give me a call at:
A. Volkoff
55 Mercer St, #2F
New York, NY 10013
212-925-4024
Hope to hear from you soon!
Subj: Re:Looking for Comrades in Arms 95-06-14 20:11:46 EDT
From: HenryS32
Posted on: America Online
Hello, Comrade. I'm a VERY experienced writer (try thirty-odd years of it). However, my play writing experience goes back only five years. God knows why I got into it. I'd heard that it was highly unprofitable, that you would most likely lose money (via postage) and that the response was incredibly late (if ever) and so forth. But I plunged anyway, wrote plays, sent them, and what did I learn. THEY were right. Just the same, when my first play was produced, I was hooked. Live theatre is special (I've written a ton of TV). Had about sixteen, seventeen productions since, of some six plays, including a one-acter. Also an east coaster (NYC) but used to spend a lot of time on left coast (for TV reasons.) Now far too old to get jobs there, and don't really want to. Although I'm still writing for money (it's my living) I have to confess that the Play is still the Thing .... HenryS32.
Subj: Re:Australia for God's sake! 95-06-14 20:17:55 EDT
From: HenryS32
Posted on: America Online
Okay, how did it happen?
I've been to Australia a few times. My mother-in-law lives there, lucky me. (Lucky it's not NYC). And I've had a number of plays produced Up Over (some seventeen productions) but would be interested to know HOW one gets produced in Oz. Agent? Direct solicitation? Kangaroo pouch? Very much appreciate a reply to HenryS32. Thank you.
Subj: Re:Australia for God's sake! 95-06-14 21:39:06 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Sarah, congratulations! What fun to be produced out of the country.
Pennell
Subj: Re:Australia for God's sake! 95-06-15 20:24:56 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Hey Sarah --
A trillion Mazel Tovs!! Australia's great, the people are cool, I hope they love you to death.
Robert.
Subj: Re:Conversational? 95-06-15 20:30:58 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
JZSBCS --
Tough question...but I think it all comes down to the style of the piece, which comes down to the style of the characters, which comes down to...(ya know what I'm sayin here?)
Shakespeare? Mamet? Pinter? Simon?
Rather than question your style (unless it's inconsistent or unclear) I think the director should key into YOUR (and the characters') voice, and work from there.
Then there's the question of acting styles. Arthur Miller can sound very "conversational," but he can also sound like poetry. What's the intention of the production? What's yours?
I write "both ways." Some of my stuff is very "naturalistic." Some quite "stylized" in its language. The piece dictates. (and me...)
Is this at all useful???
Love,
Robert
Subj: Writer's Lab 95-06-18 17:20:16 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Common Ground Stage and Film Company, in NYC, is initiating a Writer's Lab, to begin in September. The Lab will meet twice a month, on Monday evenings (probably somewhere in the East Village). Participating writers (we are looking for 6-10 people) will be able to bring work they are developing and have 10-15 minute sections read by actors from the company. Each writer will get spoken and written feedback from the actors and the other writers in the Lab.
Work will be chosen for reading on a first-come, first-served basis, at each session. Writers are invited to bring work to each session, or to come just to listen and give feedback. Writers are expected to bring 4 copies of whatever they want read, for the actors.
The lab will be moderated by Common Ground's Artistic Director, Andrew Ordover, and is modeled on the lab used by the Southeast Playwrights Project, in Atlanta.
Writers in the lab will also have opportunities to have staged readings of completed plays, on off-nights of Common Ground productions throughout the year.
There will be a nominal charge of ten dollars a month, for participation in the lab.
If you're interested in joining, send a cover letter and a short sample of writing (no more than 10 pages, please), along with a self-addressed, stamped postcard, to:
Andrew Ordover
Common Ground Stage and Film Co., Inc.
332 Bleecker Street, Suite K114
New York, NY 10014
For more information, answers to questions, etc., send email to Thurberj.
Subj: Re:Australia for God's sake! 95-06-18 19:09:30 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Congratulations on Australia. I have a friend visiting with me from Canberra. Where will your play be performed? He will return there next week and was interested in knowing what theater was producing your work. ( And what's the name of the play?)
Subj: Friend from Canberra 95-06-19 11:50:04 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
I know it's somewhere in Queensland (yeah, Sarah, that narrows it down a LOT) - I'll have more details soon. I do know the name of the one act, SHOOTING DOVES, and that the publishing company is in Mareeba - so maybe the theater is somewhere close to there.
I'll post details when I get them. (Supposed to be coming to me this week.)
Subj: Baby On the Way 95-06-19 21:55:36 EDT
From: WEENUS
Posted on: America Online
Just thought I'd share the news - My wife has informed me that she's pregnant with our #2 baby!
It is exhilarating to be working on a third theatre degree, and expecting a second child.
Or maybe it just hasn't hit me yet.
Subj: Monolog script format 95-06-19 22:13:41 EDT
From: GGrant2178
Posted on: America Online
I left a post on the usenet rec.arts.theatre.plays on the internet and haven't got any responses yet. Hopefully you folks can help me. What's the correct format for writing a one person show? Does one just center the name of the character once at the beginning and then write page after page of script?
Subj: Jane Chambers Playwriting Award 95-06-20 21:45:20 EDT
From: JeannineMW
Posted on: America Online
I'm new to this folder, so forgive me if this has been discussed, but does anyone know what gives with the Jane Chambers folks? They were supposed to notify everyone who entered by May 30th. Seems odd that they haven't...
Subj: Re:Jane Chambers Playwriting Awa 95-06-20 22:17:18 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
They're probably just behind schedule. They have to make a decision by the ATHE conference in SF in early July, so I'm sure the decision is forthcoming in the next few weeks.
Linda Eisenstein
Subj: Re:Monolog script format 95-06-22 14:04:51 EDT
From: Humdeb
Posted on: America Online
How to create a one person show:
Find yourself annoyed with sharing the stage with others, become incredibly self absorbed and move to San Francisco. After that, it's easy.
Subj: Playwright's chat 95-06-24 18:12:44 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Playwrights - the playwright chat is actually going to happen - and now that my head is emerging from a hiatus from a dark cavern ... and since Gay Pride will be over this weekend ... How about we start over ...
Shaff, Dylan, OldVic ... Linda etc. Please contact with ideas for the playwright's chat night - when you want it; what time; NYCer's let's get together and talk about this over smokes, coffee or drinks.
Thanks Murphy
Subj: Re:Monolog script format 95-06-24 19:29:06 EDT
From: GGrant2178
Posted on: America Online
Hey Humdeb
I think most of us in the theatre have a little self absorbtion. My question wasn't so much about getting a show produced (or related to promoting myself). It was a dumb amatuer question about the correct format for putting the dialog, etc. on paper. Any ideas?
Subj: Re:Playwright's chat 95-06-25 00:35:47 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
I'd love to know when the chat's going to be. But I've going to be off-line next week (out of town). I'll check in when I get back.
Ciao,
Linda
Subj: Re:Playwright's chat 95-06-25 16:05:45 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Murphy
NYC meeting? I am there. (except mon, tues and thurs nights, when I teach until ten)
Robin
Subj: Re:Playwright's chat 95-06-25 22:06:56 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Here here or is it hear hear! I'm all for it if these #1*!!# boards will start taking postings again. (Why is it so difficult? It's NOT on Internet?)
By Thursday, Friday we're all pretty tired (aren't we) so maybe it should be on Mon or Tues nights? I don't know, I don't care, I'd just like to see it happen cause I have lots of questions. Etc. Cheers, Robin
Vic
Subj: Re:Playwright's chat 95-06-25 22:11:15 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Here Here or is it Hear Hear? I'm all for it whenever as soon as possible. I have lots of questions & this would be really neat. Earlier in the week might be better than later in the week, but I just hope it happens soon!
Cheers, Vic
Subj: Re:Monolog script format 95-06-26 07:49:47 EDT
From: Stan Nevin
Posted on: America Online
Are you near a store that sells play scripts? I'm in Chicago, so if nobody answers your question in the next week or so, I'd be glad to stop in and check out some published scripts for you.
Subj: Australia 95-06-26 11:30:57 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Hi - I got asked for details about the Australia show of SHOOTING DOVES. I still don't have the name of the theater, but - it's a festival of one acts (I've been told) being done in Brisbane, Australia - starting 6/30/95. It runs for 2 weeks and there will be four performances of my play. The director is Sandra Harman.
Wish I knew more.
Subj: Chat 95-06-26 11:31:29 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
A chat would be nice, but I may not be able to participate much. (Money, money, money - the great limiting factor of my life)
Subj: Re:Chat 95-06-26 16:38:20 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Murphy for doing the finger work on organizing a chat. I'm voting for early in the week as well. I should check the boards more often or I might miss it!
And congrats Sarah on your down under run!
Subj: Re:Chat 95-06-27 00:20:56 EDT
From: Shakespare
Posted on: America Online
Remeber me? Shakepare?
I'm back and I'm interested in this chat.
Let me know
Subj: Genius Grants 95-06-27 14:17:47 EDT
From: Shakespare
Posted on: America Online
I like Sandra Cisneros. I like her imagery. She writes on the subjective level and does so very well IMHO.
Shakes
Subj: Monologue Script 95-06-27 14:18:41 EDT
From: Shakespare
Posted on: America Online
GGrant2178
Yes, that is the correct format. Center the name on the page. The colum of dialogue should be 3 to 4 inches wide cented on the page but left aligned. You should put continued on the top of each page unless there is a shift in time or complete shift in subject. (This last is a judgement call.) There should be breaks in the dialogue i.e. skipped line, so you don't lose your place. Remember white space makes any script more pleasing to the eye and gives space for comments and/or edits.
Appearance is important. Every person that has read my scripts comments on how easy it was to read because the pages looked so nice.
Hope this helps
Shakes (Playwright and professional typsetter.)
Subj: Miranda seeks scripts 95-06-27 15:06:08 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
The Miranda Theatre Company, Valentina Fratti, Artistic Director, is considering scripts for the following:
Winter reading series beginning in January
Mainstage productions 96/97
Moonshine late night/off-night workshop productions
One-Acts by Women in March 1996.
Miranda, now in it's 7th year, has a new theatre space at 259 West 30 St in NYC. We are an Equity Tier I Not-For-Profit theatre. We look for plays, both one acts and full lengths with social relevance that offer hope and explore new theatrical forms. We do only new plays, and are particularly interested in playwrights who want an active involvement with the casting/rehearsal process.
To submit please e-mail me (Pennell Somsen, Literary Manager) a query and brief synopsis.
Subj: Checking In 95-06-28 19:27:21 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
I've been away for some time -- very busy with this and that, not least of which getting ready to head to Poughkeepsie to start rehearsals for my play KIM'S SISTER at the Powerhouse Theater at Vassar. For those of you in the Hudson Valley this summer, here are the details:
The play will be produced by New York Stage and Film at the Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College on these dates. (All performances at 8:00PM unless otherwise noted) July 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th (2:00 PM and 8:00PM), 30th (3:00PM and POSSIBLY 8:00PM); Aug 2, 3, 4, and 5 (2:00 PM and 8:00 PM).
The play will be directed by Max Mayer, and the cast will include David Strathairn and Jane Adams, as well as Elizabeth Albrecht, Kate Grant, Kristen Johnston, John Bedford Lloyd, Matt McGrath, and John Slattery.
Vassar College is in Poughkeepsie, and is, I'm told, just about an hour and a half from NYC by train. I'll be in residence at Vassar from July 3. You can reach the ticket office, or leave a message for me, at 914-437-7021.
And yes, I'd love to chat live with all you folks.
Peter Sagal
Subj: Re:LMDA Conference 95-06-30 10:59:42 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Did anybody go to the LMDA conference in LA? How was it? Any cool stuff we should know about? The last one I attended was in Philadelphia, and it was really fun and informative.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Robin
Subj: Re:Playwrights' summer conferenc 95-06-30 18:54:30 EDT
From: JeanHK
Posted on: America Online
Tell me more. I'd like to go into that area. Screen Name JeanHK
Subj: Re:Chat 95-07-01 09:59:06 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
how does Tuesday night at 11pm or modnight sound to everyone ... as I narrow it down to hours ... Murphy
Subj: Tuesday nights online playwright 95-07-01 10:26:05 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Tuesday nights I am coordinating the first online playwright's chat. You all may have heard the rumblings. Now to choose what is better 11pm or 12a EST - I want to be fair to all those who don't live in NYC ... because as we all know all playwrights don't live in NYC ... thank God.
We'll network. Talk about the business of playwrighting. Perhaps by putting people in contact with each other from same cities you can spin off and have actually reading groups in the real world.
But what I have found is - that playwrights tend to meet everyone in theatre but other playwrights ... unless you are in or went to a named grad school where you meet more playwrights than you can handle.
The networking and sharing experiences and the business of playwrighting - like WHAT IS A LORT CONTRACT ... how do I get my play produced? How do I do a reading. Help I need a dramaturg -- What is a dramaturg. Also inviting playwrights who have been in the game for awhile to share their experiences ... if this sounds good to you ... please tell your other THEATRE friends online -- directors, playwrights and dramaturgs especially and help me decide what time ... AGAIN the choice is 11pm or 12a Tuesdays EST.
Also for those seasoned vets -- please post to Playwrighting tips - in the business of writing file in the writers club.
Thanks, Murphy
Subj: Re:Tuesday nights online playwri 95-07-01 15:27:54 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hey Murphy, sounds good. 11 might be a little easier but either way I'll show up. If I don't have a reading soon I think I'll explode. !!*#**!*#*!!
"NYC: Playwright Pieces Found on Pavement"
Subj: Tuesday Playwright's chat 95-07-02 12:00:28 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Update:
Perl2's suggestion for an 11:30p EST on Tuesday nights is an excellent suggestion for the playwright's chat. So it shall be. Details to follow, as to when we will actually start.
Murphy
Subj: re: Tuesday night 95-07-02 12:32:04 EDT
From: GreggNYC
Posted on: America Online
I know I'm just one small voice out there, but I have to work in my day job at 6 in the morning, and can't possibly stay up till 11:30. How about making it earlier? Just one suggestion!
Gregg
Subj: Re: Tuesday night 95-07-02 19:40:04 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Murphy -
11:30 sounds terrific. Thanks so much for doing all the work to set this up.
Robin
Subj: Re:Tuesday Playwright's chat 95-07-02 22:38:21 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
All playwrights - lots of you do not have profiles, so, it makes it difficult picking you up on the directory under such searches as: playwrights, playwriting, dramaturgs, theatre, or theater. Please drop me an email with your online address so I can put you on the mailing list for the playwright's chat.
Also, helping me get the word out would be most helpful. Let you friends know about this.
Tuesday nights beginning either July 11 or July 18 at 11:30pm in the Writers Conference room.
Please send on suggestions, topics anything thing you want to have discussed as a group for these weekly meetings.
Thanks a lot. See you around. Murphy
Subj: NYC Writer's Lab!!! 95-07-03 18:14:16 EDT
From: Peborah
Posted on: America Online
Common Ground Stage and Film Company, Inc. announces the creation of a
Writer's Lab, to start in September of 1995. A group of 6-10 playwrights
will meet twice a month (Monday nights, most likely) to have sections or
scenes of works-in-progress read by actors of the Common Ground Stage and
Film Company. 7-10 minute sections will be read, followed by written and
oral feedback from the actors and other writers in the lab. Members of the lab may develop plays, session by session, or may bring new projects in each
time. Work to be read will be chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis, at
each session.
Completed plays developed out of the lab may be given staged readings by the
company, during off-nights of their regular productions, throughout the year.
The lab will be moderated by Andrew Ordover, Common Ground's Artistic
Director and Resident Playwright. There will be a nominal charge of ten
dollars a month, for participation in the lab.
Interested writers should send a cover letter and a brief sample of work (no
more than ten pages, please) to:
Andrew Ordover
Common Ground Stage and Film Company, Inc.
332 Bleecker Street, Suite K114
New York, NY 10014
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hi, I'm a member of the Common Ground Stage and Film Company, as well as
a student at NYU's Performing Arts Administrative program. This is a
legitimate offering for interested playwrights in the NYC area.
This year Common Ground is starting a residency at the Greenwich Street
Theatre in Tribeca. We spent the last few years producing plays, mostly
original plays by Andrew Ordover, at the OHIO theatre in SOHO.
If anyone has any questions about the writer's lab or about Common Ground
please e-mail me!
-Debbie Malkin
Subj: NEW PLAY COMPETITION 95-07-05 12:31:39 EDT
From: Mercer48
Posted on: America Online
AONIAN PRODUCTIONS
NEW PLAY COMPETITION
Prize: Showcase Production and $300
ENTRY DEADLINE: AUGUST 30, 1995
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Open to all playwrights of any citizenship who reside in the United States.
2. Contestants may submit one, two or three original full-length plays on any topic. Any treatment of the play is acceptable, musicals and children's plays excepted.
3. Plays must not have been previously published or produced. Plays submitted which have had workshop productions or staged readings are eligible and encouraged.
4. Plays submitted to the Aonian Productions New Play Competition may have been previously or currently submitted to another competition. However, such plays must not be under option for publication of professional production.
5. Submissions must be accompanied by a $10 entry fee per script. Checks should be payable to " Aonian Productions". Plays submitted without entry fee will not be considered. Checks returned for insufficient funds will result in disqualification of the entry.
6. Scripts must be legibly typed, firmly bound and include:
* The title, together with the name and address of the author.
* A brief plot synopsis, cast list and character description.
7. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped, manuscript-size envelope if return of the script is requested.
8. Winner will be notified on or before Nov. 15, 1995. No phone inquiries please.
9. Postmark deadline for submission of entries is August 30, 1995.
10. Winning playwright reserves first production rights for Aonian Productions.
Mail manuscripts and enclosures to:
Aonian Productions
48 Mercer St., 5th floor
New York, NY 10013
Subj: Re:NEW PLAY COMPETITION 95-07-06 08:33:59 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Excuse me - $10 to enter and the prize is only $300?
Even with production this is not much of a prize.
Subj: Looking for Playwright!!! 95-07-07 13:28:19 EDT
From: Timbrwl 1
Posted on: America Online
Hi All,
I'm looking for a guy named David Michael Slater that submitted play called "Sink or Swim" to Buckham Alley Theatre's Playwrights forum about 1 1/2 years ago. I don't know if he's on-line or if anyone knows him. He was then living in Pittsburgh but no longer and we can't find him and we'd like to produce his play!!! Please E-mail me at Timbrwl 1 if you have any ideas!!! Thanks Bill
Subj: Re:Looking for Playwright!!! 95-07-07 13:35:14 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Well geez, can we submit a play to you anyhow? What a strange thing, a playwright who's play is wanted & what happened to him?!
Where is Buckham? Would you mind our submitting? Thanks, Vic
Subj: getting technical 95-07-07 14:13:06 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Hey, I have a question. When you add stage direction to dialogue, and you have someone saying something while someone else is doing something, where do you put it? In parentheses inside the first character's dialogue? Or before that character's dialogue in the right column? Or what? Can you have dual dialogue and stage direction columns? I can't be the only one to struggle with this.
Just curious.
Love and kisses,
Beth
Subj: Re:getting technical 95-07-07 15:46:47 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Beth when I do put stage direction in my plays - which now is quite rare -- directors usually ax them anyway -- mine look something like this:
CAROL
I love peanut butter sandwiches ...
(Marsha hanging from a schandalier knitting)
CAROL
but the thing is the peanut better always sticks to the roof of my mouth ...
Subj: Re:getting technical 95-07-08 13:53:05 EDT
From: Stan Nevin
Posted on: America Online
Caryl Churchill has a radical but brilliant method for dealing with overlapping dialogue and stage directions, which I'm now copying in my scripts. Look at her script for Top Girls.
Subj: Re:Tuesday Playwright's chat 95-07-10 20:35:49 EDT
From: HenryS32
Posted on: America Online
Fine idea. Not absolutely sure I can make it on the eleventh (tomorrow) but will do my darndest. I'm a professional writer who does NOT rely on playwriting for income. Unless you hit B'way, there ain't any money in it. But it's still an unresistable medium, and I've written six plays (some one-acters) and eked out about 17 productions so far. Member Dramatists Guild, which I highly recommend to anyone who has been produced at least once (it's a requirement.) Anyway, I hope to learn more on Playwright's chat. Thanks. HenryS32.
Subj: still technical 95-07-11 11:13:47 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Murph and Stan. Will look into Top Girls. But Murph, I had tried it that way and got slammed by a director. Of course, she offered no help to solve the problem, only criticism (isn't that always the way). So I put all my little stage directions into other characters' dialogues. Oh well.
Isn't there someone at NASA working on expensive research projects to standardize this business? I mean, what are we paying them for?
Looking forward to chatting tonight.
Beth
Subj: Re:still technical 95-07-11 11:24:00 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
You got slammed by the director ... I think the director is over reacting a bit - especially because they don't really care about written stage directions in the first play ... oooh that's controversial ... the only time I really worry about any of that stuff is if I am about to send something to Dramatist Playservice -- and I haven't done that for some time.
Beth, honestly it sounds like you and your director are scratching elbows - tonight's discussion could be interesting for you. : Collaboration -- working with directors .......................
Subj: Ecstasy Moved - Off-Bway news 95-07-11 19:02:09 EDT
From: TheNewGrp
Posted on: America Online
As Mark Twain said, the report of my death has been greatly exaggerated... Ecstasy, our show that opened at the John Houseman Studio Theatre, did close while we moved theatres - but it reopened! So if you missed it, you haven't missed it.
It's now in the Judith Anderson Theatre, also on Theatre Row. We received some wonderful reviews and an Obie Award. The play is written by Mike Leigh in case you know his film work. The number to call for tickets is still Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200. Come and see what we're up to!
-The New Group
Subj: Re:Ecstasy Moved - Off-Bway news 95-07-12 12:40:52 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
It's absolutely incredible.
Subj: The Act of Writing 95-07-13 08:11:13 EDT
From: Stan Nevin
Posted on: America Online
Anyone interested in a discussion of how we write? What is a writing session like for most of you? Do you use outlines? Do you do daily exercises? (I've heard that Brahms did counterpoint exercises every morning of his life.) Do you sit down with a bottle of gin and wake up next morning wondering what you wrote?
Here's an idea that I've been using lately: When I've finished a decent first draft and I'm ready to get serious about rewrites, I read through the play each day, "acting" one of the characters. All the other parts I read silently, but that character's lines I read out loud, just as though I were acting the part. Although I'm not an actor, I find that going through the play with that viewpoint helps me to weed out some of the clunker lines, and to identify the places where motivations are unclear (or non-existent).
I'm not asking everyone to contribute a "helpful hint." I'm just interested in what routine - or lack of routine - works for all of you.
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-13 08:51:57 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
I never read my plays aloud to myself because I don't want to hear my voice saying the words. I work very hard getting another voice into my head. Sometimes (not always) I "cast" one or two of the main roles. In the week or so before I write the play I watch lots of videos and read about the actors I have cast. I try to get their voice and physicality in my head. Then when I sit down and write the play - I'm hearing that voice and seeing that person. It really helps.
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-13 14:29:04 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
I find I go back and forth between the screen and the hard copy phase of early drafts -- something about the written word to me has to be SEEN -- which brings up the fact that I love working on a full page screen -- again --the need for the full page and words around the words. One other quick thought -- and I like both of the other comments and the topic -- I always must BEGIN a work session at the first page of the play and start reading it in my head - or out loud -- until I am IN THE SCENE and up to speed at the point of new writing. It often means that I re-write the first pages endlessly -- or so it seems -- but then the strength of that does seem to help keep the flow and thru line of the other pages that follow. And yes, I read out loud and to myself -- which caused my husband in the early days to think he was living with SYBIL... Of course nothing seems to take the place of that time when you are ready to have someone you trust read it for good questions and then nothing replaces a good reading when you are secure enough to keep from having the actors influence you too early in the process. A good actor can make a problematic character better than they really are -- the reverse has also been the case. Ah, if this was only a science!!! Nah! Perl2
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-13 22:32:06 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
I have, at times, made dates with my characters. I guarantee them that if they show up at a certain time, I will listen to what they say. Clinical, I suppose, but it works for me.
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-13 23:22:23 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
JC--that is such a cool thing. Wow. I can't wait to try it actually.
Thanks.
All the comments here are so helpful to read.
I have this problem of my play giving off warning signals to stay away!
That sounds weird. Let me try again. I have a play written (almost) but
it's dialogue dialogue monologue monologue. 2 women but heavy
emphasis on one woman doing all the talking (it's about depression)
(but humorous, not just complaining!) I know it has to be cut, but everytime I read a different monolog, I like it. Then I heard a rule (or piece of advice) about not letting one character sit up there being a
'listening post'. Yet, it's integral that one woman do just that.
I find you can easily (or I can) get overwhelmed by your creation. It's grown too big for its britches. Then it intimidates you.
Hm. Don't know if I'm asking or question or...just looking to see if any of you have had problems with dialogue-driven plays? Well, there, I asked a question anyhow. Cheers, Vic
Subj: NYC ...here I...um...come... 95-07-14 00:36:15 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Remember all that natty gossip we were enjoying a few months back about Circle Rep? Well, it seems I'm going to be working there. As Austin Pendleton's assistant. As of October 1. So if all you New Yorkers keep me appraised of the talk-about-town, I'll let you know what's up from Their point of view. Deal? (It's just an internship- they'll have thoroughly worked me over, chewed me up and spit me out by June '96)
This means that on September 28 (after my 1-woman show closes at the Marsh in SF) I will be packing my shtuff and leaving my very-beloved Bay Area, and all my friends, neighbors, hippies and earthquakes. help. I will (somehow) continue to be the Literary Manager at the Eureka in SF (I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm going to make it work). Meantime, I am frightfully eager to meet the NYCers, especially those of you who know about cheap sublets, where to buy cheap eats, and all that good stuff. And what a treat it will be to meet people's faces and voices! AND see their work done. Y'all feel free to e-mail me, now (ndgalland). Shalom- Nicole
Subj: A coupla' wimmen sittin' around. 95-07-14 03:04:41 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Vic,
Just re-read "The Stronger" and *get a grip!*<G>
Murph
Subj: New job 95-07-14 03:06:33 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Hey NDGalland,
Congratulations on your show, your job and your move. I'm sure you'll learn a lot and have a great time. I gave up NYC after 17 years so if there's anything you want to know that they won't tell you just e-mail me.<g>
Murph
Subj: Re:NYC ...here I...um...come... 95-07-14 09:09:07 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Congrats Nicole -- it sounds as if you are at the top of the luge ride ( I think that's the spelling -- you all get the picture) and ready to go! Enjoy. Perl2
Subj: Re:NYC ...here I...um...come... 95-07-14 12:15:13 EDT
From: Martingrau
Posted on: America Online
Nicole:
many congratulations. I took classes at Circle last year, and I'm just up the block. Good luck.
Martingrau
Subj: Re:A coupla' wimmen sittin' arou 95-07-14 13:12:58 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Get a grip is right. For god's sake!
Buy hey, what is The Stronger? Strindberg? I forgot. (If I ever knew)
Vic
Subj: Re: The Chat, the Chat 95-07-14 15:03:16 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Is there going to be a log of the Tuesday night chat posted to the Writers' Chat Log section sometime? I only stayed a little while, and would like to download and scroll thru it if I could.
I noticed that no one's said anything about it so far.
Linda
Subj: Re: The Chat, the Chat 95-07-14 16:15:10 EDT
From: Iffmax
Posted on: America Online
BTW what's the name of the room where the chat is held?
Subj: Re: The Chat, the Chat 95-07-14 19:16:49 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Linda -- no but I've gotten some mail about it. Since I was booted Bradley (Phylwriter) also logged it ... ut his wife is about to bring a child into the world ... I'll send him a quick email ... my log of the chat is incomplete.
Murphy
Subj: Re: The Chat, the Chat 95-07-14 19:17:56 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
It's in the Writers Conference Room - Tuesday Night's 11:30pm EST ... Keyword: writers ... then writers club chat rooms and then writers conference room. TADA!!
Subj: Re:NYC ...here I...um...come... 95-07-14 23:16:46 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Nicole --
Mazel Tov. Sounds like a good gig to me. I recommend an apartment with an air conditioner...
Robert
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-15 01:25:44 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
If the character who isn't speaking is just being a post that may be a problem, but if it is the very act of listening that is an action to which the other character responds, I say why not?
Subj: The Stronger 95-07-15 03:50:10 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Yeah, Strindberg. Two character play. Two women. One talks. One doesn't! Too cool. Lee Grant made a nice film of it. Don't know if it's rentable though.
Anyway, just words of encouragement and a warning to turn off that internal censor!<g>
Murph
Subj: Mute Characters 95-07-15 12:10:27 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
I just recently had a conversation with several playwrights about how powerful a non-speaking character can be on-stage. I didn't know about the Stringberg -- but Pearl Cleage also has a 2-woman play where one speaks, the other doesn't -- very powerful. The mute character's silence can be enormously eloquent -- becoming the repository of the audience's projections.
Linda
Subj: Re:The Stronger 95-07-15 12:12:48 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Ah yes Murph! Now I remember. Actually a long time ago, I saw 2 women do this scene in a class with (what a long time ago) Jack Garfein.
(Does anybody know of him--if he ever came back from Paris?)
I would like to reread this actually.
Thanks for words of.... I need them sometimes. Cheers, Vic
Subj: 'Listening Post' 95-07-15 12:14:56 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thanks for these opinions. It's funny, first I wrote the play--then I read about this 'rule' in some playwrighting book & thought, oh hell, there goes my play. What? Whither does my faith fly?
I feel better now.
Subj: Chat 95-07-15 17:01:28 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Wait a minute, Murphy, are you saying they kicked you out of the chat room? Is that what you mean by booted?
Sorry I missed it. As I said on another board, I blamed my GenX short attention span. I forgot.
Wished I could have heard a good debate on working with directors. In reference to the one who slammed my stage direction format (I don't put many in, IMHO), I didn't work with her for very long. But I am currently on shaky terms with another director, who cast his wife in the leading role. As it turns out, neither of them understand sarcasm.
No wonder playwrights put stage directions in.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Re:Chat 95-07-15 21:06:41 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
No I did not get kicked out of the chat -- but the system booted me -- that's when they get overloaded or when you have call waiting and dont deactivate -- I didnt deactivate and got booted when someone called
Subj: Rings a bell 95-07-16 00:37:07 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Jack Garfein rings a bell in my head. Don't know why. I was in NYC from 1971-1988. Was he teaching then? Maybe I had friends who studied or something.
Hey, I'll be needing those "words of..." back so stick around.<g>
Murph
Subj: Re:Directors 95-07-16 02:31:52 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Beth --
I'm just writing to commiserate. Ain't finding a good directer a bitch? I think it's how come Marshall Mason directs os much Lanford Wilson, and Joe Mantello so much Jon Robin Baitz, etc. etc. When you find a good one, one who hears your voice and really gets it, you stick with that one like glue.
Bottom line, especially with a new play (which is all I write these days...), is that if the director's "agenda" is different from the writer's, ther's gonna be a problem. And guess what? The writer's agenda came first!!!
Love and empathy,
Robert
Subj: Robert Wilson's Hamlet 95-07-16 08:04:56 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
Hey, gang, did anyone see Robert Wilson's HAMLET A MONOLOGUE? It was at Houston's Alley Theater and at Lincoln Center on July 7 & 8.
Dying to know what anyone who saw it thought.
Thomas
Subj: Re:Directors 95-07-16 11:02:02 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Shaff and Beth,
I always love it when a playwright asks what to do with a director they don't get alone with. Well according to our rights under the Dramatist Guild - you can fire them.
I've been working with the same director for six years and now because of proximity (she's in CA, I'm in NYc) I am looking for another --
The relationship between playwright/director is an exquiste one when it works. .... Looking again ... YIKES!
Subj: Re:Rings a bell 95-07-16 12:41:54 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
HI Murph--Yeah, Jack Garfein was teaching then. He owned the Actors & Directors Lab on 42nd Street for quite a long time. He was once married to Carol Baker (we heard that story too many times). Very intense guy, good teacher. Worked with Alan Schneider. But then one day he just split to Paris & I don't think he's come back. He was a good teacher.
Speaking of good teachers--I'm thinking of going back into an acting class because I'm missing the ... well, all the stuff actually. Problem is, I don't know who is interesting, challenging to work with right now. I've studied with T. Schreiber, Betty Buckley, well, I've studied with a lot of people, jaysus, but anyhow--would appreciate a few tips from you in-the-know people.
glad the heat wave is over, eh? Vic
Subj: Silent Partner 95-07-17 08:33:43 EDT
From: Niddy
Posted on: America Online
Another word of encouragment about the "listening" character on stage:
as a playwright I tend to only create people who can't shut up to save
their lives. But as a theatergoer, I'm obsessed with whoever isn't talking
on stage. I saw a play last night and at one point two characters spent
one long scene just hanging out on a picnic bench.I couldn't take my
eyes off them....
Also: is it mean of me, or can I be just a little bit happy that I just moved
from NYC down to Atlanta and y'all appear to be having a worse heat
wave? (:
Subj: Re:Silent Partner 95-07-17 10:46:03 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Niddy for your point of view. I agree.
Lucky you! To have moved! I had a friend named Niddy who I haven't seen in a long time--a model who was based in Paris for a while. I assume that can't be you? An unusual name however, didn't think there could be two. Enjoy Atlanta! Vic
Subj: One Acts 95-07-17 17:06:06 EDT
From: PrquoiMoi
Posted on: America Online
Hi all.
Well, my school is having a One Act Plat Contest, and I just can't seem to get started. I'm not asking for people to give me ideas. I think it's cheap to ask people that, and besides, I have plenty of ideas floating around in my head already (too many, in fact =) ). Well, I have a couple of pretty good characters, this whole morality theme that I'm enthusiastic about, but I just can't seem to get a plot to firmly gel.
Can anybody tell me what strategies they use to brainstorm? I'm stuck.
Thanks!
Subj: directing directors 95-07-17 20:15:23 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thank you Robert and Murphy--commiserating is good for the soul. However, I'm not in the class where I can fire him under some kind of contract. This is community theater for developing the talent in all of us (we're unpaid). And this guy came up to me in a meeting with all the enthusiasm of "Busby Berkeley's doing a play!" and wanted to direct mine. Without having read it.
No one else wanted to direct it, and I needed the workshopping for the play. It is stronger now, but I'm wondering if I should invite any of the bigshots from NYC (like any of you would drive 3 hours) to come see it, when the most important role is being trashed by the director's wife.
If only I could fire them both and have no community repercussions. Such is art is life.
Subj: Re:One Acts 95-07-17 20:17:40 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
ProquoiMoi:
Have a brand new character come in and ask you what's happened between these characters. Tape it as you're telling it to him (or her) if he (or she) is impatient and persistent. And if he (or she) doesn't get it, lie.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Re:One Acts 95-07-18 01:22:32 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Beth - I am from a small theatre community -- and am well known as a member of that community -- and still I would have fired the director ... or pulled the play ... I have certainly done that. .02 ... really the integrity of the work is more important than a small unpaid production
M urphy
Subj: Re:Silent characters cont. 95-07-18 03:31:22 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
I'm a Beckett slut myself, and if Sammy used silent characters, then, to my mind, silent characters are a damn effective tool- if used properly. His one-act NOT I, which I love so much I want to eat it, has two parts: a Mouth who talks, and a silent Listener. If it were just a monologue, it would be, all by itself, a great piece, but the silent second character makes it one of the most wrenching, compassionate short theatrepieces I can think of.
I'm also writing to express deep thanks for the kudos and encouragement re: my move to NYC. Do you Manhattanites ever meet in person?...
shalom- Nicole
Subj: Re:Silent Partner 95-07-18 07:47:33 EDT
From: Iffmax
Posted on: America Online
Wait til the fall. All of the playwrights come crawling out of the wood work. Keep a lookout for their gray palor and haunched shoulders.
:)
Subj: NYC Visit 95-07-18 08:38:16 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Hi Everyone -
I just finished the second draft of a new play and I'm buzzing. Getting ready to start a new short play.
BUT - the reason for this post is that I'm going to be in NYC for a few days in August. Any chance of getting together with some of you big city guys? I'll be in on Sunday evening, 8/6 and leaving Wednesday afternoon, 8/9. It's a banzai visit - but all I can afford.
phead
Subj: Re:Silent characters cont. 95-07-18 14:41:45 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
I have to agree with you bigtime about "Not I." I saw a double bill of "Krapp's Last Tape/Not I" with Hume Cronyn and Jesssica Tandy in the leads. This was about 20 years ago (I was in high school) and I still remember it as one of the most powerful evenings I have ever had in the theater.
Shows that all you need is a bare stage and brilliance and you can change the world.
Subj: questions,answers,submissions 95-07-18 14:49:57 EDT
From: TheNewGrp
Posted on: America Online
Hi again. We've gotten some nice letters from y'all about Ecstasy and welcome more feedback. Also, we're thinking of having a discount performance for AOL users; has anyone out there tried something like that? Would people be interested?
To answer some of your inquiries:
We are a company of actors and playwrights dedicated to new works, but we do work with non-members. We've been around for a few years and this year won an Obie for best off-Broadway production. If you'd like to submit a script to us, try our reading series (now at the John Houseman studios on Theatre Row). You can write to our series producer, T. Levis, at levista@ffhsj.com and tell her about your script. She can give you submission guidelines and invite you to the readings so you can see what they're like. She can also forward scripts to us for mainstage consideration.
We look forward to receiving your thoughts and your work.
All best,
Scott, Claudia, and everyone at The New Group
Subj: University of Washington 95-07-18 16:28:14 EDT
From: Beekilda
Posted on: America Online
Seattle Playwrights:
Just finished up the Certificate Program in Playwriting at the U of W in Seattle.
Those of us who have continued to meet as a playwright 'support' group since then would like a past graduate's input on the merits of the program, curriculum, teachers.
Anyone??
Subj: Production Co. Accepting Scripts 95-07-19 00:33:23 EDT
From: Skywrd95
Posted on: America Online
Skyward Production Company located in Washington, DC.
We are searching for plays and screenplays for development, reading, or simply to provide a critique to playwrights and screenwriters.
Please send to:
Skyward Productions
Tony Wynne
1720 Kilbourne Place, NW
Washington, DC 20010-2606
Only scripts with S.A.S.E. will be returned.
All plays will be sent a critique.
Subj: Re:Chat 95-07-19 19:19:02 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Murphy--I'm all for the chat--any night but Monday (unless it's latelate), since I'm trying to put together this writer's lab for that day. Oh well, if it's Monday, it's Monday. Maybe I could come every other time.
Andrew
Subj: Re:Tuesday Playwright's chat 95-07-19 19:23:07 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Tuesday 1130PM sounds great. Are you going to email us about the start date in case we don't check in? I'll be out o town for 3 weeks, driving back and forth across the us of a--but as soon as I'm back, I want to jump in.
andrew
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-19 19:28:52 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
I usually let the play bubble in my head till I'm FORCED to write it--which can take a loooong time. I usually keep notes, monologues, scraps of dialogue, images, etc., on notecards or paper, and let the play swim around in my head. I don't like to write till I know what the play IS--not that I know what that means. The shape of it, I guess. The feel of it. I don't mean that I won't start unless every step is planned out--but I find I like to wait until some kind of sense of the personality of the play is firm in my head. Then I tend to write the first draft really quickly (and the subsequent ones i n t e r m i n a b l y).
andrew
Subj: Re:The Act of Writing 95-07-19 19:31:50 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Hey Vic--do you know the Ibsen (i think) play, "The Stronger?"
It's a two woman play where one woman does all the talking. But the second woman is hardly a listening post--in fact, SHE turns out to be the stronger of the two, the one really controlling things. I think it's an interesting idea, to play with the noise vs. the silence. and anyway, who cares what the rules are??? Every play has its own rules
andrew
Subj: Re:A coupla' wimmen sittin' arou 95-07-19 19:33:27 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Yes, Strindberg. I said Ibsen but I was an idiot. Strindberg. Of course.
andrew
Subj: Re:Mute Characters 95-07-19 19:35:56 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Linda, do you know Pearl Cleage?
I worked with her in Atlanta and thought she was fabulous.
andrew
Subj: Re:Directors 95-07-19 19:39:16 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Bravo Robert!! Ain't it the truth. I think it's really rare to find a director whose agenda is to discover what the play is, rather than what s/he can do to it to make it his/hers. Blame grad schools for that.
I think the best thing a playwright can have is a long-term relationship like Wilson/Mason, where an author and a director can learn together and grow together and feed each other.
andrew
Subj: Re:Silent Partner 95-07-19 19:41:05 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
What brought you to Atlanta, Niddy?
I lived there on and off for about 10 years.
Are you hooked up with the Community there yet?
andrew
Subj: Re:One Acts 95-07-19 19:44:06 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
As usual, I agree with Murphy. I DID have to fire a director last year--actually, the whole company fired him. It was intense and ugly and horrifying (the first time any of us had had to do something like that), and the next 3 weeks, till opening, were HARD. But the play worked, the cast was happier, and the company was stronger for it. If it's the right thing to do, don't be afraid. Or...be afraid, but do it.
andrew
Subj: Re:Silent characters cont. 95-07-19 19:45:40 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Nicole--
I know the others on this board are sick of hearing me talk about it, but my company is trying to put together a writer's lab, where we can meet twice a month and have scenes read by actors--to hear the work and get feedback from the actors and from each other. any interest? if so, email me.
andrew
Subj: Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-19 21:29:46 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Well, gang, I've almost been afraid to post this, for fear that some deity may decide I've had my share of good fortune this year and send me some whopping doozy to balance it out. (Don't the other years count??) But:
I got The Call yesterday. From the Lit Mgr at the Cleveland Play House (our big LORT Castle with the giant moat) -- I've been selected to be one of the new Writers-in-Residence next season, part of their brand new Playwrights' Unit. Workshops, weekly meetings with other writers I already respect (including another on this board), access to CPH productions, staff, actors, photocopiers, and facilities, shots at commissions, expense money to help send out scripts and/or travel, recommendations on swell letterhead, and other fabulous prizes yet to be bestowed. I'm limp, I'm high, I don't hardly even know what to say.
Except: WHEWWW!!!!!
More as I know more. But much love to all those here who are constantly in support --
Linda Eisenstein
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-19 21:48:17 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Linda!!
Bravo. Brava. Bravissimo. Bravomundo. Brav "r" us. (or, as we like to say here on the upper west side -- You go girl!!.)
Subj: Re:Production Co. Accepting Scri 95-07-19 21:49:58 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I'd like to know a bit more about your company. New? Old? You have a mission statement or somethin' like that?
(postage gets costly, you know what I'm sayin'??)
Thanks,
Robert
Subj: Re:One Acts 95-07-19 23:01:22 EDT
From: JoeZarrow
Posted on: America Online
>Have a brand new character come in and ask you what's happened >between these characters. Tape it as you're telling it to him (or her) if he >(or she) is impatient and persistent. And if he (or she) doesn't get it, lie.
That's interesting. I probably just need to spill it all out, and something will
gel.
_Speaking_ of gel (hahaha) I once remember reading about a writing professor (or something like that) who locked his students in a room with a bowl of jell-o and asked them to spill their guts to it. Results were wildly successfull, as I remember.
Thanks!
(in case you were wondering, I used to be PrquoiMoi but am now plain old JoeZarrow)
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 00:11:34 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Congratulations to Linda and to ME TWO!!! as Perl2 joins the fair Herone this year as one of the OTHER Cleveland PlayHouse play-grunts!!! I, too, am zinging and zpeechless -- it does give me a feeling of satisfaction that staying put and working hard at the craft and listening to the music in my head could be recognized by others around. I am sure Herone and I will keep you posted on the happenings. And here's a toast to all of us.... Sandra Perlman ( Perl2)
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 01:02:12 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
Linda -
Congratulations! Forget about the Jealous Fates. What do they know anyway?
jc
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 01:04:16 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
And to you, too, Perl2 - (i.e., congratulations)
Sounds like they've got a great year ahead of them, picking the two of yz.
Jan
Subj: Re:Production Co. (to Shaff) 95-07-20 02:04:00 EDT
From: Skywrd95
Posted on: America Online
Skyward Productions has been in exsistance for four years. Out mission statement is the dedication to the new playwright as well as directors, actors, technicians, screenwriters, and film makers. basically, we are a self run service organization. We do not ask for, or accept any government funding, and we produce a number of shows and film per year.
Our latest play, "Cut Me Down" closed in April of '95 and is currently being picked up for a film option. We provide pretty much as much service as we can to playwrights, screenwriters, and all other aspects of the arts.
Feel free to email me for any further questions :)
Tony
Subj: Director wanted in NYC 95-07-20 06:50:52 EDT
From: Daylilly
Posted on: America Online
The Off-Off Broadway Theatre Studio has approved my play "Private Parts," a one-act comedy about the Swinging Pines Pistol Club, for production and is looking for a director. Interested parties should contact:
Allan Gronros, program manager
A.M. (Ann) Raychel, producing artistic director
750 8th Avenue, Room 200, NYC 10036
(8th and 46th in Times Square)
212-719-0500
You may contact me at:
Catherine Carrigan
5379 Whitaker Trail
Acworth, GA 30101
Or reply to Daylilly via e-mail.
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 07:56:54 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
Yay! Linda.
Sounds like you get the prize behind door number 3. Don't trade it off.
Congrats.
Thomas
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 07:59:33 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
You two, too, Perl.
Congrats.
Something neat definitely happenin' in Cleveland.
Thomas
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 08:59:33 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Congrates to Herone and Perl! Jeez! Are the playwrights on this board hot or what?!
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 11:09:48 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Linda Congratulations! Sounds like a great opportunity. Don't get so busy that you fail to keep us posted about what's going on.
Pennell
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 11:11:52 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Sandra, congratulations to you as well!
Pennell
Subj: Re:ThurberJ 95-07-20 11:36:01 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hi Andrew, yes, as I stated earlier, I did see The Stronger in an acting class a long time ago and it is a pretty neat play. I've started re-work on my play, thanks esp to some advice from Sherpen out in Washington who calls herself the 'slash & burn' queen. Something about those words, helped to get me moving along. And Murphs advice: get a grip.
By the way, I did send you something two weeks ago. Hope you got it.
Cheers, Vic
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 11:37:30 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Wow, that's so cool. Congratulations. (love the bit about the photocopiers) (make lots of copies, quick)
Cheers, Vic
Subj: Congrats 95-07-20 17:27:24 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Wow Congrats to Linda and Perl. Terrific!!!
I'm still waiting for my pass or rejections from theatres I submitted my fall play (Driving Time) ... clicking nails very impatient ... VERY impatient!!
But not in the slightest bit jealous.
Murphy
Subj: Re:Tempting the Jealous Fates 95-07-20 22:20:01 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
HUZZAH! HUZZAH! I don't know Perl2 personally, but I have had the pleasure of meeting Linda and- it's such a great thing when good stuff happens to good people, you know?
Subj: Well Deserved 95-07-20 23:46:50 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Sandra and Linda -
I have to add my own message of celebration - I am so pleased for the both of you. Sometimes the good guys (or gals rather) win!
Beamingly yours,
Robin
Subj: An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-21 00:46:41 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Perhaps it was my mistake to ever mention that I was a Literary Manager in the first place. In any case, several of you (and with increasing frequency, which is why I even bother to post this) have sent queries and in some cases synopses/scenes of your work to my email address. THIS IS A BAD IDEA. Please stop. And those of you who haven't done it yet, please don't. I am more than happy to read anything which arrives at the Eureka office,and if it's one of yous guys, I'll give it extra attention, yes, really. But this is my home computer, I'm just Nicole the Writer when I'm on here. (Sometimes, I'm Nicole the Director, but even in that guise I only respond to specific projects that are announced on the board). We are not on-line at the Eureka yet; once we are, I'll try to accept electronic submissions at the office, but in the meantime, please, PLEASE, don't send the Eureka Literary Manager unsolicited anything at Nicole's e-mail address. Thanks.
By the way, if anyone is planning to submit a script there from October-June, and you want to show off how au currant you are, my Assistant's name during that time will be Michaela Goldhaber (actually, that's always her name-I meant that's when she'll be on-staff). She'll be the one getting a first glance at all the submissions, and if you address her in your cover letter it'll probably make a good impression. Okay- sorry to have to be stern- thanks for listening- shalom- Nicole
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-21 17:05:56 EDT
From: Rocklaw
Posted on: America Online
NDGalland certainly must be an Important Person. She certainly is a Forbidding Intellect. I've never sent her anything, I've never given her anything, but the next cold I have I'll be thinking of sneezing her way. How encouraging to playwrights she is! If Broadway dies, and she's what's left, let's go to the universe next door. At least she won't be there blocking the gates.
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-21 19:24:42 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Rocklaw --
I think maybe you're overreacting a little bit. I only know Nicole a teensy bit from her online postings, but she seems like a swell woman.
I think her request is perfectly reasonable and thoroughly warranted. (You know how, as a playwright, when you're talking to actors in a social setting, and the minute you say what you do, they kind of glom onto you with "Do you have anything with a part in it for ME??" Or, worse, "Why don't you write something with a part in it for ME?" It gets really annoying.
Nicole was simply making a clear distinction between her job and the rest of her life.
It's okay. Really.
Robert.
Subj: Where can one REALLY learn? 95-07-21 22:29:20 EDT
From: AlfredZ
Posted on: America Online
Two years ago I joined a writer's group and in six weeks I had a full-length play. Two weeks later it had a staged reading. Then I was accepted to a special writer's group at The Public Theatre. And last April I had a scene from a new play done there.
Great beginning, right? But I want to grow faster than this. At 52 I can't call myself a green kid, and I want to know how to maximize the writing so I can get better at it faster. Specifically, how/where can I get really creative feedback AND get to see the writing done workshop-like on a continuous basis.
Is this too much to ask? Are there places anyone out there can recommend? Is there ANYTHING anyone out there can recommend? I feel I have talent and I've had great beginner's luck, but I also I feel I'm writing in a wasteful (mysterious) way and would benefit from real learning.
Appreciate your time,
AlfredZ
Subj: Jump Start One Act 95-07-22 02:33:00 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
PrquoiMoi,
You've got two characters. Get them arguing with each other that has nothing to do with your "theme" but the entire subtext is the theme. But really start 'em off high, angry, pouty, in a rage. It's fun!
Subj: Congrats 95-07-22 02:38:34 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
My Dear Ms. Eisenstein:
Congratulations!!!! Enjoy.
Subj: Congrats!! 95-07-22 02:40:27 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Perl2 too? Great! Viva Ohio! Look out for DW!
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 07:38:39 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Hey -
Wait a minute! I think she has a perfect right to expect us to honor her private time. (Do you want your legal clients calling you when you're home relaxing?)
I was one of the offenders who sent her a synopsis by e-mail and I understood completely when she asked me not to do that. She uses her e-mail for herself - her playwrighting/directing contacts and personal correspondence. She asked us to honor that and send her queries to her professional address at the theater where she is "on-duty" so to be speak.
Some of us work at home all the time and we get used to everyone contacting us at all hours and not being able to escape our work.
HOWEVER - that is not an excuse for us to treat everyone that way.
I think Nicole was well within her rights to make the request - and she did it in as non-offending a way as she could.
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 13:07:02 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Having been an agent and a literary manager, I think Nicole's request was incredibly reasonable. Given the long hours, tiny, airless offices, complete lack of prestige and incredibly low pay, no one goes into literary management unless they care a great deal about plays and playwrights. She promised to read your stuff, all she's asking is that you mail it in.
Not to reveal an ugly secret in the development world, but there is a common belief that talent is an an inverse ratio to obnoxiousness. Usually the worst writiers are the ones who send 27 drafts of a script, expecting you to read and comment on each one. Or send a script entirely unsuited to the needs of the theatre (a giant musical to a theatre that has an eight-foot stage) and then call demanding exactly what you mean by "this won't work for us." The best writers send the script and a cover letter, and trust that the work speaks for itself.
I think most (if not all) of us fall into the latter category, thank god.
Robin
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 15:33:52 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Hey, Rocklaw
I just read Nicole's plea and your response, and I think you're misreading her badly. She said she'd read ANYthing sent to her at work, PLUS (and this is something she certainly owes no one) she'd give extra attention to us folk from on line. All she asked was for us to send material to her a
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 15:33:52 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Hey, Rocklaw
I just read Nicole's plea and your response, and I think you're misreading her badly. She said she'd read ANYthing sent to her at work, PLUS (and this is something she certainly owes no one) she'd give extra attention to us folk from on line. All she asked was for us to send material to her at work, not on-line, at home. That's reasonable, isn't it? I was a Literary Manager at Seven Stages, in Atlanta, and it's a thankless, overwhelming job. All the woman wants is to be able to leave work at work. Give her a break.
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 18:34:05 EDT
From: Rocklaw
Posted on: America Online
Phead-- people make professional demands on personal time all the time. That's the price of hanging out a shingle. Nicole hung her shingle out on AOL. She should thankfully take the input she receives. She is paid by her employer to do so.
All you others, does an artist have personal time? Is the artist's life her profession?
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 23:16:24 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Dear Rocklaw -- to partially answer your question -- no one is paid enough as a literary manager for what they have to do at any theater -- it is often a very thankless job because they must read stuff that isn't so good -- and some that is wonderful -- and usually they can't even find space for the good stuff in a season which usually only includes one or two new works -- and having read a few hundred plays for an arts council I can tell you that it is a draining job -- especially if you also have a creative spirit which obviously Nicole does and many of the lit. mgrs. are also playwrights struggling to get their own lives in order and then few of us as playwrights are ever compensated well either. It is a difficult profession this theater life and the least we can do is to be kind to one another. I would suggest that you might want to reserve your anger for the really big moments in your life -- or some of the amazing crap that passes for life in the world -- since I have found that anger is a terrific drain on the creative juices and we need all the serenity we can get to keep our focus on what's really important -- which is, of course, writing the best damn work we can and trying to find a home for it. No one literary manager or theater can make or break us -- or most of us would have given up a long time ago. Here is a good place on line to have support -- and I am grateful for all those who have sent me their good wishes in the last few days. Anyway, that's my 2 cents. To move on, I may get to go to NY next week for a few days so I'd appreciate some feedback on things not to be missed -- though I may have to miss them anyway since there's more to do than I can get in. But go for it. Peace and nitey nite. Perl2
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-22 23:47:55 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Well, you're quite intriguing anyhow. I claim time as an artist.
It's the only way. If you don't claim, who's to blame???
(Hey...it's Saturday night and the rap homeboys are drivin by....)
IS THE ARTIST'S LIFE HER PROFESSION? whoooooooo, who's got the answer to that one?
Subj: Re:An artist's life 95-07-23 01:06:05 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Rocklaw - I see some big ole flaws in your logic. First, just because people make professional demands on personal time doesn't mean it's a postive thing. It's intrusive, presumptuous and narcissitic to assume everyone has to be available to you exactly in the way you want them to be. I see by your profile you're an attorney - does that mean all of us can send you contracts to go over? Of course not.
Second, is my profession my life? Depends on what you mean. Does everything that happens to me change me as a person and are those changes included in my work? I sure hope so. Is whatever I think, feel or dream public property because I am in the business of working with those things? No way.
Finally, as to doing her job - how much time she puts into her job (which I assure you is a huge amount) is between her and her Artistic Director. Her job is to bring good work to the theatre she works for. Asking us to send scripts to the theater rather than online seems to me to be entirely part of it.
Robin
Subj: Re:An artist's life 95-07-23 22:45:57 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Well, in the best way I know how I'm going to discuss maintaining the artist's life (and my hat off to Nicole for standing her ground).
I've been sort of blah lately -- working hard the day job. Writing in the can really. Bummed. In NYC everyone in theatre bails during the summer. Moping, uninspired, crabby - I have remained in NYC.
Well, I guess I sort of exploded Friday because I phoned one of my colleagues up at the Oneill Center in Connecticut and said - hey I know you're stage managing - but can I come up.
What an inspiration that place is. All those people. Being able to enter a room meet someone, exchange professions and not have to give out your resume or explain "what a playwright does."
I went there to relax, to be with my species, to be invigorated, to discuss theatre and it's future (it's a conference so what the hell.) For three days I discussed nothing else. Everyone one there was what they were an then something else. My friend is a playwright who happens to be stage managing ... things like that.
I didnt come back with the answer of the future of theatre. I was reminded that we are the observers of society and its story tellers and teachers. That was cool.
I came away with having started my new play ... good. Next weekend the conference ends. I am going back. I will again be rejuvinated. I will again be reminded what it is I do and for what, and whom I write. I will rub elbows with my species and play ... because that's what we are supposed to do -- giving right to the "play" and "to play" ...
Even if you dont submit a play to the conference in the fall (I didnt) think about taking a weekend and going to see a couple of shows. I saw three that ranged in talent and issue and art form. All were evocative, thoughtful and inspiring.
REMINDER: Tuesday Playwright's Corner - the business of PLaywriting ... 11:30PM EST.
Later. Murphy
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-23 23:55:18 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Re: Rocklaw's outburst --
I agree with Robert. It is very hard to run a literary department to begin with, particularly in these times when nobody has the dough to fund anything in the non-profits properly anyway. The fact that the Eureka is coming back to life at all should be a cause for celebration.
Wow, I'm tired of unnecessary rants in what is supposed to be a forum for civil conversation. What Nicole said and the way she said it was entirely respectful and courteous and deserved reciprocal courtesy. Why are some people so inclined to instantly put the must malign spin on a message?
Jeff
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-23 23:58:59 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Rocklaw --
EVERYBODY has a right to personal time, artist or not.
I notice on your profile you hang out the shingle of being a lawyer. Should we expect you to offer free legal advice via this forum? Maybe review contracts for us?
Maybe attack, attack works in a courtroom or a legal negotiation, but in conversation it just gets dispiriting.
Jeff
Subj: MIssed you at the Oneill 95-07-24 09:09:47 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Jeff - I missed you at the Oneill Michael Feingold said you had already left. That's a drag. Always in passing I think. :)
Subj: Re:Jump Start One Act 95-07-24 14:37:41 EDT
From: JoeZarrow
Posted on: America Online
"You've got two characters. Get them arguing with each other that has nothing to do with your "theme" but the entire subtext is the theme. But really start 'em off high, angry, pouty, in a rage. It's fun!"
Well, let me flesh out what I was thinking of:
The working title was "The Nice Guy". It was about these two high school seniors who were friends. One, Billy, is everybody's pal. He's a nice guy, he's funny, he's friendly, he's a basketball star, you get the picture. Then there's Stu. He's gruff, antisocial, unathletic, etc. The plot was having Billy giving Stu a ride home after the homecoming football game. They get to chatting, and my whole morality theme starts to flesh itself out. Stu, while gruff and not all that personable, is really the more virtuous person. Billy, it turns out, is horribly insincere in many respects blahblahblah that's about where my vision ends. I wasn't ever going to have them come right out and fight...maybe that's a good idea. Perhaps I need to let loose a little more and make my situations more intense, less subtle allegory.
Alas, however, the one act play writing contest for which this classic of American drama was destined for, it turns out, will be judged by me and a few other people at my school. I'm going to end up directing one of them. I guess I'll have to put this play aside for a while...sigh...
Thanks!
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-24 18:41:19 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Rocklaw--
You raise a good point. But it should still be her choice--or my choice, or yours--where the lines should be drawn in her (or your, or my) life. She does have the right to say, "Whoa--I need to make separate boxes for myself, one for work and one for the rest of me." We could disagree, or call it silly, or hopeless, or whatever, but it's still her right...especially since she hasn't tried to shut anyone up or close anyone out.
ao
Subj: An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-24 19:00:24 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Yes, Nicole, hang in there. This is so cool and great PR for her. Could we help but see her at the Circle Rep?
Subj: Up For Air 95-07-24 21:03:55 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
Folks: As I write, the cast crew and director are over at the theater teching my play KIM'S SISTER... I realize that I've only written in for the past few months to advertise a production, but if you don't mind, I'll do it once more. Opens Wednesday night, plays through Aug. 5, at Powerhouse Theater Vassar college. Good people are in it. Set's cool. It's funny. Also a mystery. I think it's okay; it's hard to tell any more.
Without going into too much detail -- who knows who's listening -- This has been the most difficult rehearsal of my life. These NY actors... they can be a handful. But some small part of me believes that All Will Be All Right... maybe when some of the principals have died, I can tell you stories that shall amaze... but in the meantime, come if you can, wish me luck if you can't, congrats to Linda and Perl2 (Cleveland is a good shop) and lay off Nicole because if you cross her she'll kill you. Without batting an eyelid. Trust me. She's vicious. Yow.
P.
Subj: Re:Up For Air 95-07-25 09:40:11 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Peter, good to hear from you. Can't make your play but enjoy.
Pennell
Subj: An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-25 09:49:56 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Nicole, good for you for saying how you feel.
To Rocklaw and any lurking playwrights with attitude - There are a lot of theatres, some of whose submission guidelines won't work for you. So don't submit to those theatres - its very simple.
So Nicole, what do you think, should we have a literary managers folder? Seems there arfe quite a few of us here?
Pennell
Subj: Re:An Uncomfortable Request 95-07-26 04:12:37 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Man O Man...I don't know what to say. I had no idea that my posting would get such a reaction. THANK YOU, those who supported my position. I won't say anything more, as I think that everything I feel the need to say has been very eloquently said already. But thank you for understanding!!!
One thing though- PeterDS has known me for 11 years and does not really think I'm viscious(right? Peter?).
Shalom - Nicole
Subj: Re:Where can one REALLY learn? 95-07-26 06:56:31 EDT
From: Stan Nevin
Posted on: America Online
Five days ago, AlfredZ asked:
<<Specifically, how/where can I get really creative feedback AND get to see the writing done workshop-like on a continuous basis.
Is this too much to ask? Are there places anyone out there can recommend? >>
I can recommend a place in Chicago - Chicago Dramatists Workshop. But Alfred is obviously in New York. All I know about New York is that the buildings are very tall there, and the pretzels are good with mustard.
Subj: Re:Where can one REALLY learn? 95-07-26 10:41:45 EDT
From: Martingrau
Posted on: America Online
The only place I know that has a workshop-like atmosphere is Circle Rep. Occasionally, something out of Milan Stitt's playwriting class gets a staged reading or a workshop. However IMHO, your chances of passing to another level there are extremely thin.
Playwrights Horizons used to have a production workshop, where a playwright wrote a one-act for four assigned actors and it was staged. But they closed their school down and the school (now known as the 42 st collective) doesn't offer it at present.
If anyone else knows anywhere, pls drop a note. I'd like to find a new home myself.
Subj: Vassar 95-07-26 10:53:16 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Peter:
If you have the force of will that All Will Be Well, it will. I can imagine what the performers are putting you through. I've got my share (albeit on a much smaller scale). Wish I could be there, it sounds great!
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: 52nd St. Project 95-07-28 00:51:34 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I'm off for another week in the country with the children of Hell's kitchen. For those of you who don't know, the 52nd Street project is a brilliant program that pairs inner city kids with theatre professionals for some amazing results.
This program, called One-on-Ones, is one in which adult playwrights write plays for kids to star in (ages 8-13). This year, the theme is "Double or Nothing -- The Risky Plays."
My love and I are working with a terrific 11 year old boy...I write, the two of them act. There are 9 other short pieces as well, all done under the same circumstances...in addition to which, the kids have a great time on Block Island. (Kids from Hell's Kitchen don't get there too often, you know??) Some of the others involved in this year's program are Nancy Giles, Lili Taylor, Martha Plimpton, Bruce MacVittie...and 10 wonderful children.
Shows are at Ensemble Studio Theatre (549 West 42nd Street) August 10 (7:30), 11 (7:30), 12th (7:30) and 13th (3PM & 7:30) It's free, but reservations are required, and this thing fills up like crazy. (yes, they'll ask for a donation, and you'll GLADLY empty your pockets.) This is some of the best theatre, bar NONE, that I've ever experienced from any side of the lights. if you're in NY, or plan to be, GET THERE. Reservations: (212) 642-5052.
Love, Robert
Subj: Re:52nd St. Project 95-07-28 09:18:45 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Hi Robert.
I have seen programs by the 52nd Street Project and I join Robert in urging you to go.
Pennell
Subj: P/W Chat 95-07-28 14:40:25 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Can I ask, again, that the log of the last Chat be posted in the Chat Library? I missed the last one and would like to read it -- thanks --
Linda
Subj: Re:MIssed you at the Oneill 95-07-28 14:45:16 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Yeah, I was near Lake Placid, running a joint workshop in improvisation and playwriting. A sensational week. Beyond what any of us expected. Sort of a mini-Woodstock. I'll probably write something up about it as we're all determined to keep doing this.
Take care till I see you.
Jeff
Take care after that, too, of course. -- J
Subj: Re:52nd St. Project 95-07-28 21:53:52 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Robert-
I have heard great and visionary things of the 52nd street project and I hope you have a fabulous time. Gods and goddesses bless ye!
Shalom- Nicole
Subj: Re:52nd St. Project 95-07-29 07:26:49 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Robert -
Wish I was going to be in NY long enough to see this! Sounds exciting and wonderful.
phead
Subj: Re:52nd St. Project 95-07-29 22:01:26 EDT
From: Niddy
Posted on: America Online
One of the first things I looked for in my recent move to Atlanta was something like the 52nd street project. None exists here and mores
the pity. I went to those productions for years and they given me some
of my greatest theater memories. Mark your calendars, New Yorkers-
you won't be sorry!
Subj: Re:P/W Chat 95-07-30 15:09:53 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Hey all - I'm sorry about logging chats. I'm a little technologically feable. I will log them as soon as I get home. Still on the road from the ONEILL conference which just ended yesterday.
Also I will post the August schedule. I've made some interesting changes - you'll all have to let me know what you think.
Subj: Re:P/W Chat 95-08-01 12:04:02 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Murphy:
I will try to remember to stay up late tonight.
Hey, have any of you downloaded the new AOL 2.5? It's a lot prettier, so it must be better. But I can't figure out how to load the playwriting folder into my list of favorite places. Technophiliacs--anyone?
Subj: First chat 95-08-02 00:50:18 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
My eyes are still wiggling from my first on-line chat experience. Wow! Thank you, all you wonderful folk who had such good things to say.
Subj: Women Playwright Mailing List 95-08-02 01:47:20 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Here's the info I promised at the Chat:
Mailing list - International Center for Women Playwrights, aka ICWP-L
This is a membership list devoted to discussions between and about women playwrights around the world. There are some producers who subscribe too. But nonmembers may read and post for 3 months before they decide whether it's worth it.
In order to post to ICWP-L, you must first become a subscriber, because it's an Internet "mailing list" -- meaning that there's a computer out there (a LISTSERV) that has everyone's address, and every time someone sends email to the "list", it's duplicated to everyone else.
Network ID Full address
---------- ------------
ICWP-L LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu
(International Center for Women Playwrights)
Subscribing is easy to ICWP-L. Just send an Internet e-mail message to LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu with a BLANK subject line and include as the BODY of the message (NOT the subject) this line:
SUBSCRIBE ICWP-L Your Name Here
The list-owner will then send you more information. Save it! It'll tell you how to unsubscribe (important, when you go on vacation on stuff). LISTSERVS are literal!! Don't say "please subscribe me" or any alternate: exactly the message above, only with YOUR name.
Happy net-surfing,
Linda Eisenstein
Subj: CPT Festival of New Plays 9/1 95-08-02 01:49:11 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Thought I would tell folks that Cleveland Public Theatre's Festival of New Plays deadline is coming up, Sept. 1. They take one-acts and full lengths -- do 2 staged readings in a well-attended festival format. They usually pay the writer's travel costs to come in. Most desired are "alternative" works -- avant garde, and/or political (to be honest, progressive-left). Particularly interested in women, gays, and minorities represented. Very uncensored. About 1/3-1/2 of the 13-15 writers are from the area -- the rest from around the country. Some things from the Festival go on to full production. Last year they did JUNK BONDS by Lucy Wang in the same season as the Fest.
Send to CPT, Attn: Terence Cranendonk, Festival Director, 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, OH 44102.
If you don't want to consider a staged reading, but think you have a play suitable for that market, query James Levin, Artistic Director, with synopsis and a few sample pages at the same address.
Linda Eisenstein
Subj: Re: 52nd Street Project 95-08-06 22:14:22 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
I'm back. We had an exhilarating week away with the kids, and, yep, I was right -- it's the most remarkable work I've ever done. Also I cry a lot.
Some of these kids have to go through hell and back to get to opening night -- and the spirit of all who paricipate is ennobling and inspiring. (Host families take 2 strange kids into their homes for a week and treat 'em like rich relatives...people come and cook for us 3 meals a day...for FREE...The church down the block donated their space at the last minute when it looked like a storm was brewing, FOR FREE. And on and on...)
And this is coming from a cynic. Make the shows if you can.
Love,
Robert
Subj: August Playwright's Corner 95-08-07 10:34:18 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
The playwright's conference is every Tuesday night at 11:30pm EST.
Keyword: writers
the go to writer's club chat rooms
select "writers conference room"
August 1995 Playwright's Corner
Conference Topic Schedule
* August 1
Women in Theatre
* August 8
How to prepare scripts, How to get readings, How to (and Where to) enter contests. Motivation.
* August 15
Development, workshopping, staged readings
* August 22
Working with actors
* August 29
How to get your finished script out there. Advice from Agents, Artistic Directors, and Literary Managers
**
Please send suggestions for topics. If you would like to be a "guest speaker" for any of the topics please let me know.
Also, I am looking for a greeter each week to help me welcome people into the conference and let them know the topic. Anyone willing to lend a hand during our meetings is appreciated. E* me. Thanks. Murphy.
Subj: Re:August Playwright's Corner 95-08-07 18:10:38 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Murphy for working so hard on this. I have so far found it too hard to stay awake on Tuesday nights, but I check out the chat log library and it sounds great.
Subj: Re:August Playwright's Corner 95-08-07 21:38:19 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
There have been some rumblings about going a bit earlier ... honestly ... I had trouble making it on last week myself - totally conked out 10 minutes before I was suppose to start the damn conference ... some people want to start the thing as early as 10pm est ... I guess it would be possible -- but that's really a hard one to gauge ... theatre in general - if on a Tuesday can go as late as 11p ... so ... anyone ... anyone?
Murphy
Subj: Re:August Playwright's Corner 95-08-08 08:37:15 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
Murphy,
Thanks for taking charge. Wish I could be a part of these meetings, however, I am one that crashes out early. If you can move the gatherings to 10 eastern, I might be able to join.
Otherwise, I am usually up at 4:30 a.m. writing in the dark. Always makes me crash before everyone else.
Anyway, thanks,
Thomas
Subj: Travels and adventures 95-08-09 22:08:05 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Sorry to have been such a stranger, but I've been roaming around and my portable computer's modem isn't fast enough to be practical.
Anyway. News on this end.
James Sherman (who is probably best known as the author of BEAU JEST) is also an actor and a former Second City player. Also an old friend. I'm delighted to report that he and his wife, a fine actress named Linnea Todd, are cast to play leads in my new play, WITH AND WITHOUT, which will open at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago in November. Sandy Shinner (who directed the radio version with Lindsay Crouse, Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker) will direct. I'm very pleased, to say the least.
It also looks as if the musical Melissa Manchester, Pat Birch and I put together, I SENT A LETTER TO MY LOVE, is going to open in a new 800-seat theatre in Chicago in March '97. This time we'll have orchestrations (yea)! And maybe a star. This all came together while I was in Chicago over a breakfast meeting at Ann Sather's (best Swedish meatballs in Chicago). Very exciting. Obviously it's a long ways off, but we've got work to do in the meantime.
Also, the weeklong summer improv retreat that Kristine Niven and Artistic New Directions sponsored at Lake Placid in July turned out to be a blast. Two well-known improvisational directors (Gary Austin and Michael Gellman), a well-regarded acting teacher named Carol Fox Prescott and I agreed to go there for a week and teach a pretty much non-stop series of classes on developing characters and material through improvisation. We had a remarkable collection of 35 people from around the country, and a lot of work was generated. At one point I turned to Michael and said, "There's enough talent here to start a troupe." He replied, "Three." (He knows something of what he speaks. He's directing the newest Second City show in Toronto.) Anyway, the whole thing was kind of like a Woodstock for theatre folk without the mud. We're going to do another next summer, but we're also looking at the likelihood of doing one in Carmel, California in January, and possibly one in Seattle.
This, of course, goes back to my belief that improv is particularly useful for writers. And, indeed, WITH AND WITHOUT is a play I developed partially from improvisational sessions.
So, that's the news. Or some of it anyway. It's been a busy month.
How's everybody doing?
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Re:Travels and adventures 95-08-10 11:29:57 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Let me just tell everyone I was on my way to Jeff Sweet's class in Lake Placid, when I had a fast car crash on I-90 in Massachusetts. Fate? I braced, my car absorbed all the shock, and I walked away with a pulled muscle. I just returned to Mass. and picked up my car yesterday. I had missed it so much, and it rides better now. Those big GM cars are loyal life savers, and I won't forget it.
So just as an aside, I had to go through the ambulence and ER procedure, so I'm thinking the whole time--remember all this, you'll use it someday. But I know I should still get some training. Missing the class is a thorn I won't be able to excavate until I take the class.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Re:openings in Chicago 95-08-10 12:46:41 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
Jeff-
What's your opening date? I will be in Chgo. to direct Most Dangerous Women (which I co-authored) - a staged reading with music, one night only, Nov. 11. Maybe I'll have a chance to see your show. MDW is a musical documentary of the international women's peace movement.
Also - if you keep an e-mail list or anything like that, let me know if/when you come to Seattle.
Thanks.
Jan
Subj: Criticism 95-08-10 13:13:20 EDT
From: Beekilda
Posted on: America Online
Question:
I recognize that the muscle must be broken down to make it stronger but: How do you take criticisms about your work that truly hurt your feelings and use them to improve the play?
(A wimp needs to ask. Sniff, sniff.)
Becky
Subj: Re:openings in Chicago 95-08-10 19:31:58 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
I believe we start previews on November 10 at the Victory Gardens Theatre. This is -- joy, joy -- not a technically difficult play to do, so I expect we'll be in very good shape by the time we start previews.
If you do get to the show, ask around for me. I'll undoubtedly be hanging about, chewing on fingernails (mine, probably, unless they assign me an intern).
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Chicago here I come 95-08-10 20:40:33 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
My play "Hostages" will be given a staged reading at the Chicago Theatre Workshop on September 9th (saturday) at 12:00 noon. Is this some sort of trend? There will be a series of related theatre happenings including workshops and discussions during the weekend. By the way if you haven't been there, don't ask me too much about the place. I've never been to Chicago, so if you do attend the reading, and see a tall lanky curly haired male wandering about looking for the theatre, it might just be me.
Regards,
Alan John Gerstle
Subj: Criticism 95-08-11 02:26:34 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
I have found it is best to take in all criticism of the work -- if it's verbal, take notes, say um hum, let them keep talking as long as they want, what they were confused about, what made them drop out of the play, etc., if it's written, fine -- then forget about it for at least a week. Then pick up your notes (or theirs) and see if there are consistencies, clues, etc. or if they're just trying to re-write your play to tell the story *they* want to tell.
Criticism should never actually touch you, only strengthen the work or be discarded in the round file. But sometimes it helps, if you can only get some distance, some perspective, and then listen.
Hope this helps.
MurphWrite
Subj: Looking for New Scripts 95-08-11 04:25:10 EDT
From: JSLStage
Posted on: America Online
I am looking for playwrights with good scripts to be workshopped and receive a full staged production in the 96-97 season. Workshopping would take place prior to that. If you have a script that you think is suitable for community theatre audiences in the Chicago Suburbs, please E-mail me, and I'll give you my address and answer any questions you might have. Genre is open, and we will pay royalties for production rights. Currently producing in 700-seat theatre in Elgin, IL; audiences ranging from 80-650 in size, depending on the piece. Two week minimum performance contract.
Email me for more info.
JSLStage
Subj: Auto wrecks 95-08-11 08:35:49 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Beth -
Glad that YOU didn't get hurt!
phead
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-11 10:21:59 EDT
From: Stan Nevin
Posted on: America Online
<<Criticism should never actually touch you, only strengthen the work>>
And the world would be a better place if we would all just love one another. ;-)
Subj: Re:Chicago here I come 95-08-11 19:38:06 EDT
From: Aladram
Posted on: America Online
I meant to say Chicago *Dramatists* Workshop 9/9 noon
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-12 10:31:46 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Hey Beth,
Remember, people aren't criticizing YOU, they're criticizing your work. And we all need that as part of the writing process. Criticism is how we learn what doesn't work, so we can make it better. Of course I am talking about criticism that has to do with your play, like "I didn't figure out they were supposed to be ex-lovers," or "the second act seems to drag," rather than the kind of comments that have nothing to do with you - people who don't like your subject matter, or how you've approached it, are talking about the play THEY would write, and you can ignore them. If you see criticism as an opportunity to learn what needs improving, it won't be so hard to take.
Hope this helps.
Robin
Subj: still breathing 95-08-14 13:13:15 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Phead--BTW, how'd your play go in Australia?
Even though Becky asked for the advice, I was glad to read it, too. I have to muster up the courage to do some major rewriting, and I've left my long list of criticisms gathered after a reading to ferment. Should just about be ready to drink.
Oh, and I have a theory about work that I think applies here as well: If you involve your ego in your work, then you're finished before you begin. Many people will understand this already. It is nothing new.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Skin Conditioning 95-08-14 13:58:41 EDT
From: Niddy
Posted on: America Online
Thanks to all of you for your good, smart words on how to handle criticism. It's essential reading for a relatively new writer such as myself.
As bad as it feels to get dissed, it offers a beguiling excuse to bail out on
art altogether...
Well, forget it. Already did that, last decade. THIS one requires a tougher
hide. (Good thing age has been toughening it!)
Subj: Re:Nicky Silver, anyone? 95-08-14 23:39:15 EDT
From: Peeelel
Posted on: America Online
San Diego's Fritz just produced "Fat Men in Skirts." A tough show to swallow (pun intended--show's central metaphor--cannabalism), but i can't deny his honesty and power. he deserves to be produced.
my question is, what kind of shows need to be written for today's (small) audience? Should we be trying to engage a larger audience and be more sensitive to the "mainstream?"
Subj: Re:Nicky Silver, anyone? 95-08-15 08:30:29 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
I think we have to write what we want to write.
I happen to write very narrative, main stream type plays. It's what I write. I couldn't write a Nicky Silver type play if my life depended on it. (Well - maybe if my life depended on it I could do a half-ass imitation.)
There is a place for Nicky Silver and there is a place for me. As long as playwrights don't abandon a form completely - there should be something for any audience to enjoy.
And the point to me seems to be that we each have a specific talent and a way of saying what we want to say.
Having said that - I also think audiences have a right to seek out that which they like. If a writer chooses to write a type of play that only draws small audiences - that's the playwright's decision - and the audience's decision. We can't make people watch anything.
Subj: Australia 95-08-15 08:31:33 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Beth-
The production in Australia went very well. One nice thing was that in the publicity the director of the play stated that she couldn't understand why the play hadn't been done in the USA because it's such a wonderful play.
Made my day.
Subj: Re:Nicky Silver, anyone? 95-08-15 13:23:05 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
I have many words flitting through my mind re 'the mainstream' things like 'run the mainstream up the pole and chop it's frigging ______ off'. Sorry, but words fly fast sometimes, don't usually get posted on here, but perhaps that's an example of exactly what Phead has put so well:
We need to write what we want to write.
Unless you really need to be recognized by some mainstream you have identified as being important in your life, why bother -- Disney's doing it all.
Vic
Subj: Playwright's Corner Time 95-08-15 14:03:47 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Don't know if this has been resolved yet, but I agree completely,
11:30 is ridiculous! I mean, I manage to do it but then I can't get to sleep til 2 coz I'm so wound up. I think 10 would be a much much saner time.
Subj: Re:Playwright's Corner Time 95-08-15 20:17:53 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Totally agree -- 11:30 is toooo late. Sorry for the west coast crew. I have not had a good night's sleep on Tuesday since the group began. It's worse than caffeine. Maybe that's also a compliment but either way -- it needs to be earlier.
Subj: Re:Playwright's Corner Time 95-08-15 21:37:22 EDT
From: Iffmax
Posted on: America Online
ditto
Subj: Re:Playwright's Corner Time 95-08-15 21:50:07 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
I'll see what I can do -- I agree - finding it difficult to stay awake most night to even run the thing and last week I was EXTRA tired ... murphy
Subj: Re:Playwright's Corner Time 95-08-16 12:07:27 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Adding my vote for 10pm Tuesdays--7 on the left coast. I don't think it would interfere with watching Frasier in any time zone.
Subj: Re:Playwright's Corner Time 95-08-16 13:09:03 EDT
From: LeeWochner
Posted on: America Online
"10 would be a much saner time" for those of you on the East Coast, maybe, but that translates to 7 p.m. here on the West Coast. Most of us aren't even home by then.
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-16 18:30:06 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Beek:
You wince, you cry, you shove the pages into a drawer for a week (or a month, or several months) and then, when you can handle it, you pull out the criticism and look at it again. Time wounds all heels. or something like that.
Subj: Re:Nicky Silver, anyone? 95-08-16 18:37:11 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Ole Vic speaks the truth. There IS no mainstream--it's a political myth fostered by marketers and publicists...and hard-right republicans.
Even Disney has to make its employees go thru forced indoctrination and fashion-manipulation to create their "mainstream."
Find an audience and serve it well--whether it's ten people or ten thousand.
Subj: Re:Nicky Silver, anyone? 95-08-16 20:19:32 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Amen, ThurberJ!!!
Subj: Criticism, auto wrecks et al 95-08-17 00:42:43 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
First of all- thank GODS you're alright Beth! That's scary. (It's also the 3rd auto wreck I've heard about this week involving someone I know. Now there's a question - do we know each other? I mean, does communicating on this board make us all acquaintances?)
Second- since PNNMTN-Murphy-Briget organizes the chat, which must be a huge headache, I say the least we can do is make it at a time that suits her! So I vote 10:00 ET, and if my fellow West Coasters don't like that, there are options. Someone out here could organize a chat later on. You can e-mail someone who you know WILL be present and ask them to bring up a particular issue. You can read the "minutes" of the chat later in the library.
And- re: Criticism. I agee with everything everyone has said and I want to add one more positive thought. If you send your script somewhere and you are given any "personalized" criticsm at all (i.e., not just a form-style rejection letter)- that's a COMPLIMENT, man! It means whoever-it-is believes in you enough to take the time to think about your script and what they feel needs changing. I remember reading about a young, now-outrageously-famous (and possibly dead?)female novelist, whose first submission (as a teenager) was rejected with a 13-page critique. She was devastated, she threw the letter away and almost drowned in her own tears, etc etc etc- she didn't write for years. One day she told a family friend about that awful horrible mean 13-page insult and he ( who was in publishing) said he had never heard of an editor caring so much about a piece that they would bother to write 13 pages of free advice about it. Hearing that was like a little Zen slap for her. She started writing and became the big famous possibly dead person whose identity I wish I could remember.
So you see, it's all a matter of perspective. When I'm wearing my "Literary manager" hat, I have 6 different postcards I send out to writers, 4 of which are different kinds of rejections, depending on my criticism of the work. These cards are necessary (time-wise) and I do not feel I am short-changing anyone by sending them one. But what I LOVE are plays that won't let me dismiss them with a postcard. Plays that DEMAND I write a dramaturgical critique of them (which is just an elegant way to say, criticising them). You don't have to agree with the criticism you hear, but it helps to remember that whoever-it-is probably would not be giving you that criticism if they weren't caught up enough in your work to respond to it. Just a thought.
Subj: Re:Criticism, auto wrecks et al 95-08-17 08:38:57 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
I'll second that.
Personal criticism from me definitely means that there is something about the play I like a great deal. I just spent several hours with a playwright whose play we will not produce (casting issues), but I love his play, want to help make it better. I had pages of criticism for him. He, rather sensibly, was anxious to meet with me.
As a playwright I treasure my personal rejections.
Pennell
Subj: Re:Criticism, auto wrecks et al 95-08-17 11:19:35 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Nicole for your sharing this info. It helps! I recently got an article back from a great magazine (ACM in Chicago) and the editor, who is well-known, said parts of it were interesting but when he was done reading it the question was "why?" After looking at the piece I see his point. Now if I can figure out why. It was nice to hear from him in a more personal manner anyhow. Ciao for now, Vic
Subj: Re:Criticism, auto wrecks et al 95-08-17 15:35:06 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Thanks NDGal for your criticism comments. I'm glad you write dramaturgical...stuff for the writers who submit things. I tried to when I was a Literary Manager, but I was told not to by the Artistic Director--ESPECIALLY when I was responding to a play submitted by somebody he knew. "Just say yes or no, and leave it at that. They don't want to hear what you THINK about it." To which I replied (in my mind only, of course), "I'D want to hear it." Ah well.
Subj: Re:Criticism, auto wrecks et al 95-08-17 21:53:05 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
I cherish my rejections, keep them in a special file. I also recently started a "non-rejection letter" file, which is much thinner but equally cool.
Just an aside: if anyone is on the east coast, check out the Felix waves.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-17 22:07:37 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
recently i got a call from the intiman, they had read my play - great. they liked it - great ... but could they do it ... well ... I think that it is SO important if you have the chance, to speak with the literary manager - if they like you're work (such as pennell mentioned in her bulletin) they WILL talk with you. and through the talking you learn all kinds of reasons for a pass ... like pennell and the casting issues ... for me in general the work is so f*(&^King intimate that to have a theatre that seats more than 140 makes it - well less satifying to me ... it's about knowing the theatres and the people you are submitting to.
I think a lot of run in the sort of circles that allow those frank discussions. and if someone flat out doesn't like the work ... well then ... sometimes it is better to not say anything ... opinions can be very distructive ... of course this is part of our topic for August 29 ... I do hope Andrew, Pennell and Nicole will join in that discussion ... all of you are lit managers or artistic directors ... and ... well it would be good to hear how you like to have plays submitted - the kinds of tastes you have ...
Hey you can't get a play produced if it's surreal by a producer that only gets his rocks off on Neil Simon.
Murphy
Subj: Playwright's Corner ... 11:30E 95-08-17 22:10:03 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Just a status report - I put in a request for a scheduled time change for "the group" -- the next 10p or 10:30 slot open will be ours. But I'm afraid we are stuck for a little while.
I'll hang if you all will ... also check out the logs of the most recent weeks ... I also put so interesting debates and tid bits along side ... some good stuff ... check it out. Murphy
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-17 22:36:42 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
I'll try to be there on Tuesday, o murphy. whenever it is
Subj: Noodging Yer Agent 95-08-17 22:58:22 EDT
From: WEENUS
Posted on: America Online
A general query to all of you out there who have agents - how do you noodge them? Being fairly new at having one, I'm interested in the various techniques you all have used to get your agent to work for you.
Also, when an agent specifically is sending out one of your scripts but you are not signed with them, do they have any jurisdiction over other scripts which they have not yet seen?
Thanks for the help.
El Weeno
Subj: Re:playwright's corner 95-08-18 00:54:56 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
do not pass go - go directly to jail ... you may not pick up your $200.
PLAYWRIGHT'S CORNER - schedule
8/22 - actors and playwrights
(unless of course I think of something else or someone writes me a lil note suggesting something else)
8/29
Playwrights, dramaturgs and litmanagers (agents too) ... how to submit a play -- the relationship of the above to another -- how to get ones play on stage ...
LITMANAGERS - please show up.
11:30 est writers conference room ...
how to get there -- enter aol - keyword - writers.
select writers club chats ... then the conference room.
Tada .. i'll be the one wearing bells - murphy
Subj: Re:Noodging Yer Agent 95-08-18 08:51:05 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
I haven't found a good way to noodge my agent - except by writing material that he gets sooooo excited about that he can't wait to send it out.
However - I do talk with him very honestly, and every three months I call him and say "what's happening?" If he's not moving on something I ask him why, and if I know he was expecting a response on something I call him shortly after the "due" date and ask what happened.
What I don't do is call him a lot. I'm not his only client and I don't want him wishing I wasn't a client at all!
I also send my scripts out myself (a lot) and enter competitions, etc. - and just let him know what I've done. If I get a nibble from someone I let him know that, too.
A few times I've gotten someone to say yes, and then I call him and let him negotiate the contract. (That's what I'm paying him for, after all.) That works well because he is MUCH MORE AGRESSIVE about contracts than I sometimes feel I can be.
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-18 18:33:25 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Dear PNNMTN congrats on good words from the intiman-- it's such a good theater that you should get a nice buzz from those good vibes for days. I must respond that it is important for us to know whose criticism we want to listen to -- we don't have to be mere flotsam and jetsom on the stream taking it on the chin from whoever wants to tell us ( and they will) how to rewrite our play in their voice -- hell, even the pizza delivery person has a comment if you let them. No, good people whom we respect -- or theaters we respect, can actually make a big difference while the masses often simply feel the need to dabble and fix -- I know because I find myself doing it and I'm sure you all do to--so, we must know what we are writing about enough to Just Say NO -- when someone offers some inane stuff which though well meaning may be THEIR play. And I will add one wonderful story. many years ago I got back a letter of rejection with a personal letter form a lit. mgr. at a theater in Albany -- can't remember the name, who went to great lengths to tell me how much he liked the play and to encourage me to continue sending him work ( the theater wanted a comedy and my play wasn't) and so we began many years of correspondence. He eventually ended up at Milwaukee Rep -- I think he has since dropped out of theater because he couldn't support himself, but he was a real force for good in my life. Always giving me honest feed back and always saying to keep writing. I hope I can remember his name but his spirit will live on....Perl2
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-19 01:15:48 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Perl2 has a good point re: using your own discretion as to whose advice you take. In fact, let me be the one to say what we may all be thinking (or maybe I'm just paranoid): Just because someone is a Literary Manager, doesn't mean they know what they're talking about, and doesn't mean they don't have as much of a personal agenda about your work as the family member you wrote it about (for example).
I feel good about the feedback I give writers, and the ones I've developed on-going relationships with have made it clear they get a lot out of my comments, but I know I'm not some Omniscient Dramaturg with all the answers.
Noam Chomsky's always urging people to question the assumption of authority/knowledge/integrity in whoever's giving you information. He's so good at it that many (including me) listen to him and think,"Hey- how do we know HE's right?" (Which is a response he'd be pleased to hear, I think.) For Heaven's sake, if it's true for Noam Chomsky it's true for anyone. Use your own gut to decide if you want the "knowledge" that someone is offering you "objectively."
Shalom - Nicole
P.S. I'll make the Aug. 29 chat but my AOL bill this month is already outrageous, so I've gotta miss Aug.22 :(
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-19 11:00:58 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
no problem ... nicole
Subj: Re:Criticism 95-08-19 14:45:30 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
re: what perl2 said about flotsam and jetsam.
How do you know who's opinion is worth listening to? I've had plenty of advice from people who Know Theatre, that was wrongheaded and dangerous, and a lot of advice from the Great Unwashed that was useful. And I've had one person give me great feedback on one piece and then totally miss another.
I think all we can do is be open and receptive to what we hear--write it all down and say nothing in response, as somebody suggested. Take it home and mull it over. I've gotten some truly boneheaded feedback that ended up being useful, just because I could say, "how the HELL did they come up with THAT? Is that how the idiots out there will hear it? Do I care how the idiots will hear it? Is this a real problem?"
Even if you think a response is dumb, it's worth looking at WHY they responded that way to a particular section of your play, and see your work through other people's eyes. I've managed to fix problems that way--not by taking a suggestion I didn't like, but by looking behind the suggestion to see what the problem is, if there is one.
thurb
Subj: Re: Criticism 95-08-19 15:58:44 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Lots of good responses in here. But a special yes to Thurberj's response about never knowing whose comment (boneheaded or no) will help you unravel what you need to do next with a play. I have a principle that I always shared with other playwrights listening to audience discussion: always listen to what audiences say they saw, and what they thought were problems, but not necessarily to their solutions.
You want to know what people saw and what they thought and felt. Only you will know what direction you need to go to counter a wrong turn. For instance, someone might keep saying that the explosion in the next-to-last scene "doesn't work". The solution may not be to rewrite a WORD in that scene -- you might instead need to rewrite things between the characters to better motivate or prepare for that scene. Or someone might say that the character of the uncle is too ambiguous, and should be more sympathetic. But you might want him to be more unsympathetic, and need to go that way.
I'm very partial to hearing the reactions of a mixed general audience as well as the opinions of "experts" or peers. The general audience is more likely to tell you what they say and how they felt, which I personally find helpful. Experts often start telling you how to turn it into the play they would write. Not always so helpful. Having said that, though, there have been theater people who have been marvelously selfless and invaluable in their diagnostics.
But caveat emptor is the word of the day when it comes to critiques that tell you _how_ to fix something.
Linda
Subj: Re: Criticism 95-08-20 02:07:46 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
To echo Herone's sentiment -
Several - actually many - years ago I had a reading of a (primarily) two character play. The characters were a murderer and a reporter, and most of the lines were the murderer's. A number of people responded to the reading by saying they wanted more information about this character. One very astute person said "I don't think you need to write any more for that character. Strengthen the reporter, and you'll get the same effect." It was a brilliant observation.
So, by all means, take in what people say and pay attention to what they note as problems, but let your own wisdom guide you in determining what the solutions to those problems are.
Subj: Herone's Principal 95-08-20 23:54:58 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
<<I have a principle that I always shared with other playwrights listening to audience discussion: always listen to what audiences say they saw, and what they thought were problems, but not necessarily to their solutions.>>
Bravo!
I think perhaps someone else said it in here but if so I'll say it again. I learn an enormous amount about my play by watching the audience watch my play. Where are people restless, where are they watching intently, where do they laugh?
Pennell
Subj: hungry for feedback 95-08-21 11:14:27 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
It's good to see so many writers at peace with the criticism issue--I think writers have a reputation for holding their recorded words as indelible, and it's nice to see a stereotype broken. Especially in the theater, where words are holy.
If I could add to the discussion, which is already rich, it would be to say that good feedback comes from many sources--the little kid who comes up after and asks why one character "knew" something about the other, and you realize you forgot to explain it. Or the sparkling, succinct paragraph written by someone who paid attention while reading, who in a few points suggests conflict points which expand the play and whittle away underlying flaws.
The bottom line: incorporate new ideas--even if they are someone else's--if they make the play more of what you intended. Mull it over, you'll recognize it when you're ready.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Playwriting club 95-08-21 20:43:40 EDT
From: Forrest 37
Posted on: America Online
I am starting a playwriting club with some friends in the
Philadelphia area and would like any advice people might
have about starting such a club. Should there be certain
groundrules? Should everyone be invited or should people
meet some sort of requirement? (i.e. have written a complete play?)
How does one put on staged readings? How does one get
actors involved? Should one charge dues? We have been
thinking about asking people to bring only 10 pages per
meeting. Is this a good limit? Anyone out there running a
playwriting club that might have some good ideas? I 'd
love to hear any ideas or experiences on the matter even
if its things not to do.
Alex
Subj: Cyberwhelmed... 95-08-22 00:13:59 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Just found out that my play THREE THE HARD WAY is getting yet another production in October, this time in Bloomington Indiana -- directed by Laura Lawrence, who runs a marvelous women's theater company there (Godbox Productions). This will make the 3rd full production since March! (Not to mention the half-dozen readings all over the map.)
October must be a happening month for me, because one of my new monologues (THE CLUB) is going to be done as part of a women's cabaret called NEON GIRLS by a company associated with Melbourne University (yes, Australia). I cannot get over what keeps happening because of cyberconnections, and how fast they happen.
Rockin' and reelin',
Linda
Subj: Re:Cyberwhelmed... 95-08-22 00:41:17 EDT
From: Jcmaher
Posted on: America Online
Yeay for the good guys! way to go, Herone...
Subj: Re:Cyberwhelmed... 95-08-22 01:46:07 EDT
From: Ted K817
Posted on: America Online
<<I think perhaps someone else said it in here but if so I'll say it again. I learn an enormous amount about my play by watching the audience watch my play. Where are people restless, where are they watching intently, where do they laugh? >>
Couldn't agree more, Pennell. Not only are audiences a rich source of protein, but of honest reactions as well.
--Ted
Subj: Playwriting Club 95-08-22 09:59:30 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
-Seems obvious but limit the participants to playwrights not screenwriters, not poets etc.
-Think about your guidelines for comments. People can be brutal in a way that isn't helpful. One method that works well is to let the playwright ask for the kind of feedback she wants to hear. "I'm concerned that the relationship between Jed and Missy isn't clear. What do you think?" "Do you get that Jed and Missy were mother and daughter in another life?" etc.
-It's usually easy to get actors to come and read the work because actors love to act. Just ask them. But consider reading each others work. Even if not all the playwrights are not brilliant readers it keeps the group smaller and, I think, more focussed.
HTH
Pennell
Subj: Playwriting Club 95-08-22 09:59:43 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
-Seems obvious but limit the participants to playwrights not screenwriters, not poets etc.
-Think about your guidelines for comments. People can be brutal in a way that isn't helpful. One method that works well is to let the playwright ask for the kind of feedback she wants to hear. "I'm concerned that the relationship between Jed and Missy isn't clear. What do you think?" "Do you get that Jed and Missy were mother and daughter in another life?" etc.
-It's usually easy to get actors to come and read the work because actors love to act. Just ask them. But consider reading each others work. Even if not all the playwrights are not brilliant readers it keeps the group smaller and, I think, more focussed.
HTH
Pennell
Subj: Re:Playwriting Club 95-08-22 14:26:33 EDT
From: Forrest 37
Posted on: America Online
Pennell
Thanks for the feedback. You are right. We do not need
actors all the time to read dramatic works. The playwrights do
a pretty good job as it is. (Most of them have acted.) I think
you are also right that the playwright should solicit feedback
on issues which concern them, not just general opinion.
Well. what do you think of it? Etc.
Have you worked with a playwriting group? And if so,
how did it, does it go?
Thanks again for your help
Alex
Subj: Re:Playwriting club 95-08-22 16:53:12 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
It's a very good idea to limit the amount of stuff someone can bring in each week. That way more people get to participate each week and the group stays together. I sent Linda some material on this based on my experiences with a group I helped found in New York called the Writers Bloc that lasted more than ten years (and if in fact still going in another form in LA). If you want the letter I sent her, I'll see if I can dig up a copy.
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Re: Playwriting Group 95-08-22 16:57:44 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
It's good that most of the members having acting background, because they'll be able to react to the material with both writing and acting muscles. I think it's useful to have directors there; they are in the habit of being useful about what is getting across and making decent editorial suggestions. Anyway, I put together the Bloc with writers, actors AND directors, and the mix worked very well. One side-benefit, most of the people who came in thinking they were only actors or directors also started writing. Some of these are now very successful writers indeed (Jane Anderson, for example, who was an actress when she joined our group and is now doing very well writing screenplays for Amblin Entertainment and is about to direct her first feature.)
Anyway, my two cents --
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Response 95-08-22 17:52:05 EDT
From: Beekilda
Posted on: America Online
Forest,
Regarding Playwriting groups:
My group found that limiting the number of pages wasn't really flexible enough to accomodate everyone. One of us writes a one-act every month (practically), one rewrites short scenes very slowly. Instead, we keep the group small and we schedule only a few weeks out. Depending on the length, sometimes only one person reads sometimes two. (Three has happened but this group is not concerned about getting enough sleep!)
The other 'feature' we include is: critique the critique. If a writer didn't like the way their work was analyzed the week before, they say so (and they give suggestions for improvements). And each of us is open to learning how to give supportive, helpful feedback.
Good luck!
Subj: Re:Response 95-08-24 00:05:57 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
See, the problem is with reading only one thing in a week is that, because only one person's stuff gets read, others feel shut out. Especially if this happens week after week. If somebody has so much material they need a major major chunk of time, I suggest scheduling a separate session, and the people who REALLY want to hear a complete draft of a full-length will show up and not feel frustrated at the inability to present something that week.
There is an entertainment factor to a workshop. If the workshop doesn't engage the majority of its members almost every week, then it dies. The Writers Bloc stayed alive in New York almost ten years based on this idea (and an offshoot has been meeting in LA for almost ten years now).
I have participated in, run or observed many groups, and the ones that give up the ghost the fastest are the ones that let people go on too long. Most stuff being brought into a group is going to be some kind of problematic or less than successful. That's what a group is there to help the writer address. Whereas it's not too horrible to sit through 15 minutes at a time that don't work, to week after week sit through BIG chunks that mostly don't work is to court deep depression.
Jeff
Subj: DIRECTOR SEEKS PLAYWRIGHTS 95-08-24 11:33:22 EDT
From: E Zeis
Posted on: America Online
NY Director interested in the development of new plays is interested in reading and talking with playwrights about projects that they may have. Currently I have a few projects being looked at by regional theatres. If you are interested please in talking with me about your work, please email me at EZeis @aol.com
Subj: writers' groups 95-08-25 14:12:03 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Just curious: has anyone mastered the art of giving feedback to wonderful friends who may have written mediocre scripts in the heat of enthusiasm? What if you start a writers' group with the intention of developing new plays, and your wonderful friend (who really is a wonderful friend) wants to be the first produced? And what if her husband wants to direct and star in it? I'm really on thin ice here, aren't I? (hypothetically, of course)
Looking forward to winter when the ice will thicken,
Beth
Subj: Re:friends 95-08-25 21:36:15 EDT
From: Peeelel
Posted on: America Online
hey beth. i know what you mean. i think gentle but honest feedback is the only option. generally, i have found that not only do my friends value honest, albeit negative feedback, but we all are guaranteed that we will continue to grow as artists. if we refuse to be critical of our friends, the entire industry suffers.......
Subj: Workshops? 95-08-26 17:57:29 EDT
From: RFmoose
Posted on: America Online
I was in San Francisco where I belonged to an excellent workshop run by bay area playwright, Will Dunne. I have just relocated to Longbeach, and I'm looking for a similar sort of open enrollment workshop for playwrighting down here. Does anyone know of anything? Please e mail me if you do. Thank you.
Subj: Great Writing Needs Critics 95-08-27 00:55:47 EDT
From: PKnoll
Posted on: America Online
I have written 8 simple one act plays. If somebody would look at them for me, I'd appreciate it. I can E-mail, Fax etc.
Please feel free to steal these ideas!
Thanks
Subj: Re:writers' groups 95-08-27 22:14:49 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Hi Beth --
I don't think a writers' group should produce anything. In an ideal world, I don't think writers' groups should be affiliated with theatres, cuz then you get members of a group competing with each other for production slots, and competition is dangerous in situations in which people are responding critically to each other's material. One of the reasons the Writers' Bloc lasted as long as it did (10 years in New York, still going in LA) is that we had no affiliation, so nobody was trying to get the inside track on workshops or productions. Funny thing, most of the work that was any good that came out of the group got produced. (One of those plays even made it to Broadway this year. It didn't succeed, but it did make it all the way from the group to Broadway. Others from the group have done very well indeed, though.)
A writers' group -- I think -- should strictly be about reading and feedback. If someone in the group wants to take a script to another stage, then it should be literally ANOTHER stage, I think. (God, I wish you could do italics here!)
Be well -- Jeff
Subj: Re:writers' groups 95-08-28 11:08:49 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thanks Jeff--competition was a little bug in my brain, but we're so small right now, pretty much anyone who writes something gets at least a reading. But you're right. I'll bring this to the next meeting.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-03 10:11:04 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Hey! It's echoing in here. Where is everybody? Look, I know the theater season is starting - but come on, guys! Those of us in the boonies need some contact.
Subj: Re:Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-03 16:28:21 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
I agree -- I was getting nervous that all the playwrights had pushed "DELETE" -- Whooops! Something I've been thinking about lately as I struggle with writing a "serious farce" -- is how difficult comedy is to write in theater without sinking into TV sitcom - historical farce had a lot of clever unspoken rules and also comon ground that the audience understood when they came together for the communal act known as theater. I am trying to use some of those ( mistaken identities --physical comedy ) but also address some contemporary issues that are serious within the context of the character. I have written humor in all my plays and in shorter pieces but sustaining a full length comedy is really a challenge. Any other ideas?
Subj: Re: Non-sit comedy 95-09-04 01:36:09 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Perl2 --
Read Aristophanes. (one of those pre-sitcom writers...)
Also Tom Stoppard, particularly "On the Razzle", a lesser known piece akin to The Matchmaker.
And then there's Chris Durang.
I, too write comedy that all too easily falls into the TV idiom. It's stuff we were raised on, and lives deeply embedded in our subconscious. It was probably the most ever-present form of comedy in our lives.
Harry Kondoloean writes (wrote) interesting comedies, too, and then there's always Kaufman and Hart...
Subj: Re: Non-sit comedy 95-09-04 08:36:56 EDT
From: TomoFinlnd
Posted on: America Online
There are days when I'd settle for tv-sit-com quality farce coming out of my fingers into this damn keyboard. Just kidding, of course.
It is the <<stuff we were raised on>> and does reside <<embedded in our subconscious.>> as Shadd says. Interesting, one of my favorite playwrights is Joe Orton, especially, WHAT THE BUTLER SAW. When you read it or see it, you realize how much has been acquired by tv.
I personally try to take tv, the most <<ever present comedy>> in my life, and somehow turn its mannerisms and quirks into theatre method. I never make it the subject, but try to take everything I've learned from it and translate it to farce on the stage.
Another piece which is accessible and that I'm hooked on, is NOISES OFF. Should be on video tape, I think.
Thomas
Subj: Re: Non-sit comedy 95-09-04 09:35:43 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
The one comedy I've written in recent history has a lot of the element of farce - mistaken/hidden identities, etc. - but I have realized that I am also affected very much by movies and television.
And I think that's okay - I don't fight it. I try to use it but also use my experience in writing drama for the theater to make the characters more 3-dimensional and the plot more layered and interesting.
Do I succeed? I don't know. The play seems to be funny and it has this nice kind of strange bittersweet ending which is very non-tv. Time will tell.
Subj: Playwright's Corner 95-09-04 18:27:49 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
After two successful months we continue on. All previous conferences can be found in the Chat Log Library in Writer's Club Chat Menu. There has been a motion for an earlier time. I have submitted a request for an earlier time for the conference. We will move to 10:30EST when a slot during this time frame opens up - otherwise hold on - drink some coffee -- and jump in.
September 1995 PLAYWRIGHT'S CORNER Schedule. Tuesday Nights 11:30PM EST, Writers Club Conference Room.
How to get there: Go To - Keyword: Writers, then select Writer's Chat Rooms, from the Chat rooms menu, select Writer's Conference Room.
* September 5 - Theatre X wants to p
8/27/56 6:16:52 PM Opening ÒPlaywriting cont.#4Ó for recording.
roduce my play - what now?
* September 12 - Playwright/Director relationship - we're in production now
* September 19 - Collaboration - the roll of the technicians
* September 26 - there will be no conference on this day. Host is on vacation.
*****
Please submit any suggestions for topics. Feedback is always welcome.
Thanks to all those who have participated these past couple of months. Murphy
Subj: Re: Non-sit comedy 95-09-05 02:56:18 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
And then, there's always Shakespeare. Just tonight I saw a production of 12th Night and went almost out of my head with the different levels of comedy- and the "pathetic tragedies" hiding just below the surface. Will's comedy's brilliant, brilliant stuff and one of the most cunning things about it (in my opinion) is directly relevant to the challenge we face today as playwrights: meeting the needs and expectations of all the "levels" of the audience.
London in the 1590's-1620's was as divided by Class as modern American is by all of its many subcultures (race, religion, geography). It was also as united as modern American (London by a common langauge and history and day-to-day reality; America by homogenizing agents such as Television, Hollywood, Mass Marketing, etc.) Shakespeare was able to exploit (for lack of a better word) the commonalities while also giving each sub-culture its own special scoop o' humor and pathos.
Even tonight in the audience, there were at least 3 different groups of gigglers: those who responded to the "bits", the physical humor, and the implied bawdiness; those who responded to the scenario, the nuances and ironies of the plot which everyone could sort of get, but which were clearest to those who were comfortable with the language; and those who allied themselves with a particular group of characters (in this case, mostly Maria/Toby/Andrew/Feste and their plot against Malvolio) and loved anything those characters did just because the characters were acting out their (the audience members') own fantasies. These groups had overlapping membership, but also specific "group-mentality" relationships to the script.
So this is a long-winded recommendation for a writer I think was the Mother of All Western Theatre. Read him. And whenever you can, SEE him performed. That's another thing about comedy- of all dramatic writing, I think it is the least complete just lying on the page. It's the least literary, and the most unabashedly human.
Well, that's my two cents. Y'all have fun at the chat tomorrow- afraid I'll have to miss it. So someone elsebring the milk and cookies, 'kay?
Subj: Re: Non-sit comedy 95-09-05 14:45:33 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Thanks for all the suggestions -- mostly reinforcing my own feelings that the complexity of humor is what I am really talking about -- NDGalland talked about it best with the appeal to different groups within the audience. I had already started back with Will Shakespeare though I must admit that I didn't find myself laughing much in Taming of the Shrew -- And is there a 1990's MacBird being written out there? Anyway, I'm back at the computer and I'm laughing. Perl2
Subj: Re:Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-08 17:49:25 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Now that the season IS starting, why not come by our theatre for a PARTY!
The theatre is the Greenwich Street Theatre, the night is Wednesday, September 13, the time is 7PM.
It's a housewarming/benefit party for Common Ground Stage and Film Company, in our new home (on Greenwich Street, between Spring Street and Charlton. That's SoHo, West).
There'll be food, drink, music, a theatre-game-show (Name That Play) and general fun and festivities. The cost is twenty measly dollars (you can easily drink and eat enough to make that worth your while), which helps us put on our first show of the season, "The Pool of Bethesda."
COME BY!!
Subj: Re: Non-sit comedy 95-09-08 17:50:34 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
I agree with Shaff--read Aristophanes.
Read Shakespeare too, while you're at it.
Subj: DIRECTOR SEEKS NEW PLAYS 95-09-09 12:33:26 EDT
From: E Zeis
Posted on: America Online
Once again I thought I would re-iterate my need for new plays. I have gotten quite a good response from this posting and thought I would post another, more recent message. I am still looking for plays to workshop in New York. Those interested please contact EZeis@aol.com
Thanks
Subj: Re:Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-10 22:54:47 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Thur:
I was in a pool in Bethesda once--and then my companion's wife came by. Ouch!
Subj: miami playwrights 95-09-11 15:34:29 EDT
From: Sjwestfall
Posted on: America Online
The first meeting of the Theatre League of South Florida Writer's Alliance, for area playwrights, composers and lyricists will meet on Monday, Sept. 18 at the Hollywood Blvd. Theatre, Hollywood. 1938 Hollywood Blvd. The meeting will run from 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm. Anyone is invited to bring 5-10 pages of new work, come meet, greet, read, network. For further info, on the Writer's Alliance e-mail me (Sjwestfall.aol) or George Contini (Gmcontini.aol) and we will fill you in.
Subj: RE HELLOOOOO HELLOOO NY PARTY 95-09-12 20:21:45 EDT
From: DIANAHY
Posted on: America Online
Sorry I can't come to your party. What happens at a gathering of this type in NYC? Hilites in five qHere we play slack key, drink beer and eat poi and laulaus, and if you say 'play' they think you like go behin' the luau shack for a quickie. I miss conversation. DianaHY Hawaii
Subj: Re:Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-12 20:22:46 EDT
From: DIANAHY
Posted on: America Online
Thurberj -- And by the way -- what is the Common Ground Theater and Film Company?
Subj: Question Re Submission 95-09-13 14:32:15 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hi all,
I posted this in the literary managers folder but would appreciate anyone's opinion here also: I'm just about to submit my play to
Off Center Theater in Tampa, Florida for a contest they are having.
Dead line is Sept 15. Now however, I'm thinking its rather useless because my play has 1) some nudity 2) foul language (the f word).
Am I wrong to make this pre-judgment? Would a Florida theater even consider doing a play that is wild & wooly? (non-clean)
What do you think? Thanks for any thoughts, Vic
Subj: Re:Question Re Submission 95-09-13 23:38:29 EDT
From: LeeWochner
Posted on: America Online
That completely depends upon the Florida theatre. A play that we did at Moving Arts in L.A., "Cloud Dancing" will soon be getting a second production in Miami; it's about a gay rabbi who may have AIDS and his attraction to his former student, and it's got plenty of "unclean" language.
Subj: Re:Question Re Submission 95-09-13 23:39:38 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
I wouldn't make any assumptions based on "region" alone, Vic. I mean, there were enough "F's" in THREE THE HARD WAY, & it's had 2 Fla. readings this summer alone. And, barring info to the contrary, any company called "Off Center" sounds okay to me. :-)
Linda
Subj: Re:Question Re Submission 95-09-14 00:16:49 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
TheOldVic -- I spoke to someone in the office at the Off Center and she sounded okay to me. I sent my play LOOKING FOR RED there because it had strong women's roles and my play has some domestic violence, some foul language but I didn't get the feeling that would turn them off. I have to respect that theaters running a WOMEN'S FESTIVAL have some understanding that we have come a long way. As long as the use of the language and the physical action is within the context of the play's reality I don't think it should be a turn off. Then again, they might like it, not want to do it in their theater -- but recommend it somewhere else. You know we have to take chances and hope that the right people will connect with the work. This play was a finalist at the O'Neill in 1993 but I didn't get the final workshop and I'm still looking for the right production so I just keep sending it out. You might call them tomorrow and ask if you're concerned. Anyway you do it, good luck. Perl2
Subj: Thanks! 95-09-14 11:07:28 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Thanks for the quick responses everyone. Sometimes hard to clarify things alone. I love this network-thing. Thanks so much, Vic
Subj: 2 New Workshops in NYC 95-09-14 15:23:17 EDT
From: Bessiebloo
Posted on: America Online
The Writer's Wing and The 78th Street Theater Lab are offering 2 new workshops for playwrights and performers.
Short Forms: A workshop that explores character work and monologues, one-act plays, spoken word pieces, and the short screenplay. This is also for people that are working on a longer (full-length) piece who would like to explore their range, focus their work and experiment with new forms...
Solo Voice: This is a "hands-on" workshop that will focus on dramatic structure, the relationship between writer and character and other aspects of creating a solo show.
There will be open readings at the end of each course and guest artists will offer insight and feedback.
Each workshop is $275 for twelve weeks starting September 19 (Tuesday). They are both on Tuesday evenings at the 78th Street Theater Lab (where Jeffrey Sweet previously taught). Please e-mail me for more info.
Bessiebloo
Subj: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 95-09-15 15:24:47 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
I am dancing around in my office and singing to my computer! I just got a letter from the National Repertory Theatre Foundation - I am one of 10 (count 'em 10!) finalists in the National Play Award competition!!!!!!!
It's for my play POWER IN THE BLOOD.
(cheers - applause gladly accepted - thank you, thank you very much)
Yeah!
phead
Subj: Re:Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 95-09-15 16:48:35 EDT
From: Niddy
Posted on: America Online
This will embarrass Phead Head but I don't care: I've read PITB and it's
a remarkably good play, quite worthy of accolades from L.A.
You go girl!
Subj: Re:Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 95-09-15 20:20:38 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Phead
A trillion mazel tavs!!! Now I wanna read the play...or maybe I should just wait for the Broadway production...or the West End...or the National Tour...or the electrifying film version....
Congratulations
Robert
Subj: Re:2 New Workshops in NYC 95-09-15 21:08:31 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
Well, not entirely previously. On September 30th, I'm gonna do a talk on the beginnings of Second City there. Three hours of funny stories, rare video (of early Second City players; stuff you haven't seen, courtesy of Second City in Chicago), and info on how what they did can be applied to writing scripts. Info -- call Eric Nightingale -- 212-873-9050.
Jeff Sweet
Subj: Congratulations... 95-09-16 04:02:11 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
To PHead! Will keep all appendages crossed until you WIN!
Murph
Subj: Re:Congratulations... 95-09-16 14:37:48 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
How terrific to log on and read great news. Nice work, Phead!
Robin
Subj: Re:Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-16 16:37:41 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
HA
Subj: Re:RE HELLOOOOO HELLOOO NY PARTY 95-09-16 16:39:34 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
The party was a lot of fun. Everyone really got into the "name that play" game, and the competion was fierce. Much laughter and wackiness, adn it gave people a chance to see our new theatre and see our actors doing a lot of different types of acting. A good time all around.
But no poi. sorry
Subj: Re:Hellooo (hellooo, hellooo...) 95-09-16 16:40:04 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
i'll email you, so as not to annoy the general public again.
Subj: Re:Question Re Submission 95-09-16 16:41:18 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Oh, Vic!
Yours is not to reason why--yours is but to send in the damned thing.
If they decide to be puritanical, let THEM make the judgment.
ao
Subj: Re:Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 95-09-16 16:42:07 EDT
From: Thurberj
Posted on: America Online
Congrats, Phead!!!
ao
Subj: Yeh yeh yeh! 95-09-17 13:20:37 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Yup Yup, AO, I had some yellow streak or one of those little
demons wreaking havoc on my better judgment I guess.
I sent it. Thanks for the replies...... Vic
Subj: Congrats! 95-09-17 16:34:31 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Way to go Sarah (Phead)--it's gotta feel great. And keep on going, Vic; you'd think Florida could use some meaningful nudity.
Just a little update, my workshop production is finally over, and I got many good advices from the different audiences. The final night was the pinnacle. Everything fell together, as it was slipping into my history. I wish I'd videoed _that_ performance.
Love to all on beautiful rainy day in drought-laden New England,
Beth
Subj: Re:Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 95-09-17 17:24:36 EDT
From: Perl2
Posted on: America Online
Go for it Phead262!!! One of 10 is wonderful. Perl2
Subj: Sticking My Head In 95-09-18 00:08:15 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
'Member me? I was one of the pioneers here, kind of, way back in the dark days of '94. Been absent for some months, dealing with family and work. But things go on: I've got a new production this fall, and work to do, etc. Will be checking in more often, I hope. And congratulations, Phead: I once spent an afternoon reading plays for NRT, and when they say 10,000, they're not kidding. You _must_ stand out in the crowd.
P.
Subj: Re:Yeah, yeah, yeah! 95-09-18 00:15:36 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Congrats, Sarah!!!
Linda
Subj: Top 10 Grad Schools 95-09-18 10:35:41 EDT
From: UTexSenior
Posted on: America Online
Can anyone help me compile a list of the top 10 grad schools for an MFA in playwriting (or theatre or creative writing, w/ a concentration on playwriting)?
So far, I've been told Columbia, Yale, and NYU. Any others I should add to the list?
Thanks for your help!
Subj: Good News 95-09-18 14:04:17 EDT
From: RobinNow
Posted on: America Online
Guess what, y'all,
My agent just called and told me my play, "Future Perfect," is going to be given a staged reading in Middlesex, England at an award-winning theater as part of an "American Women Playwrights" series, with a possible full production.
Yipee, I'm international!
Robin
Subj: Re:Good News 95-09-18 15:34:55 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
Hooray, Robin, Hooray!
Rockets, fireworks, marching bands...
Linda
Subj: Re:Universities 95-09-19 01:20:47 EDT
From: MurphWrite
Posted on: America Online
Ohio is supposed to have a great playwrighting program.
Subj: Hooray for everyone! 95-09-19 03:29:54 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
PHEAD and SARAH-
Yippy kai yai yay...my heart thrills for your good karma. It's weeks like these that I truly wish we could all have enough geological proximity to through congratulatory teas and parties and all-night raves :)
Subj: Au Revoir 95-09-19 03:40:06 EDT
From: NDGalland
Posted on: America Online
Hey y'all:
By Friday, September 22, I will have packed up me bags, computer and all, to ship 'em from this beautiful, bounteous, bright Bay Area to that most [choose your adjective] of cities....Manhattan. I haven't figured out how I'm shippiing stuff so I'm not sure when I'll be back on-line (probably by October 1). Have a smashing interceding fortnight, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and someone remember to bring the chocolate chip cookies to the next few Tuesday night chats, as I must absent myself.
Meanwhile, if any of you are in the SF Bay Area, please come and see a workshop performance of my one-woman show(TELLING IT...) at The Marsh in SF, Wednesdays in September at 8, starring FABULOUS local actress Nancy Carlin. Those of you in NYC...oh, man, I'm a-gittin' skaired, but it'll be good to meet y'all (or re-meet you, JennyLB!:) )
Gotta go. Happy autumnal equinox. Shalom- Nicole
Subj: International Yippee! 95-09-19 08:33:33 EDT
From: Phead262
Posted on: America Online
Robin -
Wonderful news! Hope it goes to full production and is very successful.
phead
Subj: Re:Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 95-09-19 09:24:15 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Phead, just got back missed all sorts of things going on here. Congratulations. I'm very excited for you! Hope you win.
Pennell
Subj: Forgotten Video 95-09-19 09:33:49 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
JZSBCS - glad your production was ultimately a success. I know you had problems in the beginning with a director etc.
Don't regret the video that didn'ty happen too much. In my not very humble opinion those things are worthless. Live theatre is meant to be just that. I have never seen a video of a play that was worth watching - although in some cases the play itself may have been brilliant. I am the pain in the ass Equity actress in the cast who won't let anyone do the videotape which you never get permission from Equity to do anyway. I really hate videotapes of stage plays and I don't like my work to be videotaped.
Just sticking my two cents worth in here. What do the rest of you feel about taping stage plays?
Anyway congartulations on a successful production.
Pennell
Subj: Re:Sticking My Head In 95-09-19 09:35:33 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Hi Peter. Yeah, I remember you. One of the old folks. How many of us are there left. You and Phead and me and......... ? Gald to see you back.
Pennell
Subj: Workshop Update 95-09-19 11:12:15 EDT
From: Bessiebloo
Posted on: America Online
Just a reminder that the 2 workshops at the 78th Street Theatre Lab start today. Short Forms will meet from 5-7pm and Solo Voice will meet from 7-9pm. You are all welcome to stop by and check us out. Thanks for the responses...
Bessiebloo
Subj: Re: Unusual Proposition 95-09-19 11:55:10 EDT
From: TheOldVic
Posted on: America Online
Hi all! Good news abounds on this folder. Congratulations Robin!
That's one of my goals - to get produced in England. I've been going there off & on (each year) for the past almost 20 years and somehow my soul is connected to the dastardly place. That's really great for you!
I have an UNUSUAL PROPOSITION & although this may not be the right place, the people here all seem rather honorable etc etc so this is it:
My guy & I need to get away in the coming month, probably October.
We have an apt on the upper west side & the problem is we have 2 cats that can't always make the trip to Europe, where we'll be off to.. If any of you know anyone who is coming to New York & needs a place to stay for either one or two weeks & would like to look after the babies (2 sweet cats), our apt would be available to you. Could be a mutual benefit type of thing. Ok, that's it. If anybody's interested, e-mail me!
Cheers for now, Vic
Subj: video 95-09-19 12:41:09 EDT
From: JZSBCS
Posted on: America Online
Just a little note on video--Pennell, I agree with you entirely. Just to illustrate, I forbade video at my wedding, and alerted the bridesmaids to keep tabs on my mother from sneaking in a camcorder. . .
Anyway, I just want a record of the reading so I don't have to take notes. It goes by so fast. I want to know when the audience laughed, when they shifted in seats, when a line sounded right and worked, etc. Helps in my analysis (of the play, not psychotherapy) (yet).
Anyway, it's always a hit at cast parties and on New Year's Eve.
Love to all,
Beth
Subj: Real Estate 95-09-19 20:05:35 EDT
From: PeterDS
Posted on: America Online
I can't help Old Vic with their cat problem, but it does inspire me to make a request of my own -- my wife and I are considering making the move to NY are looking for a sublet/cool deal starting in December. We are very flexible, but can't deal with animals (allergies; sorry, OldVic). Please e-mail me if you've got hot leads.
P.
Subj: Re: Au Revoir 95-09-19 21:16:21 EDT
From: PNNMTN
Posted on: America Online
Nicole - I have done the NYC - SF (cali) move um -- lets see about fifteen times now (really) - the best way to ship the puter is to pack it up VERY WELL and take it as baggage on your flight. UPS is great (spensive) but great for everything else ... put your furniture in storage and um -- spring clothes too - you can send for those later -- it's already autumn out here.
Give me a ring when you get settled ... going to go up to calistoga on my vacation -- hoping the mud seeps into my head a bit. Can't wait to meet ya ... in a matter of a couple of days ... Manhattan theatre - add water ... Instant ... Murphy
Subj: Re: Unusual Proposition 95-09-20 00:00:36 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Depending on when in October - I have some friends coming here from Maine - actually at the end of Sept thru the beginning of October who need a place to stay. Let me know if you're considering being gone early in the month.
Pennell
Subj: Kvelling 95-09-20 00:12:15 EDT
From: DgSWEET
Posted on: America Online
I mostly agree with Pennell about videotapes of stage shows usually being fairly worthless, except as instruments of nostalgia. I have seen a few commercially shot videos of stage performances that caught some of the juice. THE GIN GAME looks good on tape and captures those wonderful performances.
Audio can be a different and better story. I just received the cassette version of the performance recorded for radio of "The Value of Names." The cast was terrific to begin with -- Garry Marshall, Hector Elizondo and Sally Murphy. The recorded version makes me tingle with pleasure and indeed has some of the juice of the performance (which was recorded in front of a live audience). I've had a few things recorded for radio and TV -- "Porch," "Ties" and a very nice recording of "With and Without," and though they don't take the place of the experience of being there with an audience as they discover the material, the tapes are very nice company indeed.
hope everyone is flourishing -- Jeff
Subj: Re:Video 95-09-20 01:33:22 EDT
From: Herone
Posted on: America Online
As often, I agree with Jeff. I hate videos of stage plays; but audio tapes tell me VOLUMES about performance, text, timing and audience reactions. If you can't get an audiotape, listen to the videotape with a cloth over the TV instead of watching!
Linda
Subj: Re:Video 95-09-20 21:06:19 EDT
From: Iffmax
Posted on: America Online
And Jeff, having heard some of the tape of your audio, you should tingle.
Subj: Re:Finishing the play 95-09-20 22:04:38 EDT
From: Lynn NS
Posted on: America Online
8/27/56 6:20:31 PM Opening ÒPlaywriting cont.#5Ó for recording.
I'm working on my first full length. I had a one act done at the West Bank in NYC. Great place to work. Writing is new to me. I just started three years ago. Have been and still am an actress. Love the writng. I don't need anyone to do it, but me. When I finish this one I'll send to agents, but plan on getting it done at the West Bank even so.The thought of having to get an agent is not a good one!
LynnNS
Subj: Re:Videotape 95-09-20 22:44:12 EDT
From: Shaff
Posted on: America Online
Me, too. hate it, hate it, hate it. People always think it's such a swell idea, and they just never get me when I give them the "theatre is meant to be a live medium" thing. Thank god you all UNDERSTAND. (But then, isn't that why you're here?)
Nicole...good luck in NYC. I'd love for us to get together when you get here.
Pennell...Hi doll. Where ya been?
Subj: Video & audio 95-09-21 08:14:15 EDT
From: PennellS
Posted on: America Online
Have never done an audio tape. actually I have - of myself doing my own writing - I did that a long time ago - kind of got away from it. But I learned a lot from listening to the tape. Think I'll try this with my next show.
Pennell
8/27/56 6:20:50 PM Closing Log file.
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