My writing is a bit stalled these days. The ideas are constantly going through my head but so far nothing is find it's way to paper. I wonder if my missing acting has anything to do with my supposed "writer's block." I think writer's block is a bad term for what I'm experiencing but it is the only thing I can think to call it. (Funny, right? A writer with a lack for words.)
Although, I was just asked to write a monologue and a scene for someone. Hopefully, it will be a good exercise in writing towards a specific person and working towards an end goal. Right now, everything I write has an eventual goal (to be produced) but not necessarily a goal for a specific person to use. This will change that.
If anyone else would like to commission me to work on something with them in mind...I could do that. :)
8.08.2010
7.14.2010
The Last Tree
The play is not working for me. All I want is for it to work for me. Maybe it's time to go back and start over?
Also make sure to see Ruined and Spelling Bee if you are in and around Seattle. Both promise to be very good.
That is all.
Also make sure to see Ruined and Spelling Bee if you are in and around Seattle. Both promise to be very good.
That is all.
7.08.2010
Working with a degree.
I have to say I almost don't believe it. About a month after graduation and I am working in two different theatres in Seattle. And *gasp,* that's what my degree is in. Okay, I have to modify that statement: I'm interning in a theatre (Book-it) and working at another (the Intiman). At this point I am no great professional. I am an intern and a ticket representative. But we all have to start somewhere right? Well, this is where I'm starting.
Yet, in all the hubbub, the moving and all that, I have yet to work on anything new. I haven't acted in awhile (since Miracle Worker) and none of my scripts have seen any great work since two weeks ago up in Bellingham. I am almost constantly thinking about my writing. The script that continues to plague me is "The Last Tree" - the one about the adopted girl and her birth mother. It has stalled. I know what I want to say and where I want to go but I can't figure out the right words to say it in. I'm hoping showing the beginnings of the script to a few people will help me work that out. I think my friend Emily and I plan to read it out loud together to work on it at some point. Until then, it is always on my mind.
Other writing updates (these are mostly for the future):
Dawn - a few more edits are to be had although I do think it is in a really stable place at this point.
Car Parts - good right now. Yikes! I need to remember to email the Annex this week. (Thanks again E. Ray for the introduction!)
Bathtub Safety - probably another to email the Annex.
Regarding Eden (part of the Apocalypse Plays series in case you forgot) - I think I'm finally ready to revisit this one. It is time to look at the conversation between Eden and the boys right after she is introduced. I'm sure there is more character interactions to mine there. (Christy Denny, I think you'll like this one.)
War and Cigarettes - an oldie but a goodie. I definitely need to go back and work on this one. I think the last year and a half of experience as a playwright will inform the way it moves. Plus I can get rid of the superfluous secret fiance. Silly me.
That is all for tonight. Nothing too terribly exciting. I did finish my thank-you notes to the Seattle Rep-ers finally and emailed and sent those off. It made me miss that week up in Bellingham. I'm so glad that got to be my final good-bye to my home of the last five years. It was a good closure and push towards my life in Seattle.
Hello Seattle.
Yet, in all the hubbub, the moving and all that, I have yet to work on anything new. I haven't acted in awhile (since Miracle Worker) and none of my scripts have seen any great work since two weeks ago up in Bellingham. I am almost constantly thinking about my writing. The script that continues to plague me is "The Last Tree" - the one about the adopted girl and her birth mother. It has stalled. I know what I want to say and where I want to go but I can't figure out the right words to say it in. I'm hoping showing the beginnings of the script to a few people will help me work that out. I think my friend Emily and I plan to read it out loud together to work on it at some point. Until then, it is always on my mind.
Other writing updates (these are mostly for the future):
Dawn - a few more edits are to be had although I do think it is in a really stable place at this point.
Car Parts - good right now. Yikes! I need to remember to email the Annex this week. (Thanks again E. Ray for the introduction!)
Bathtub Safety - probably another to email the Annex.
Regarding Eden (part of the Apocalypse Plays series in case you forgot) - I think I'm finally ready to revisit this one. It is time to look at the conversation between Eden and the boys right after she is introduced. I'm sure there is more character interactions to mine there. (Christy Denny, I think you'll like this one.)
War and Cigarettes - an oldie but a goodie. I definitely need to go back and work on this one. I think the last year and a half of experience as a playwright will inform the way it moves. Plus I can get rid of the superfluous secret fiance. Silly me.
That is all for tonight. Nothing too terribly exciting. I did finish my thank-you notes to the Seattle Rep-ers finally and emailed and sent those off. It made me miss that week up in Bellingham. I'm so glad that got to be my final good-bye to my home of the last five years. It was a good closure and push towards my life in Seattle.
Hello Seattle.
7.01.2010
Photo Evidence
Here is the photo evidence of the great week we had with the Seattle Rep-ers in Bellingham. Look at all our lovely, smiling faces. (And thanks to Sarah Petty for the photo!)
Now to send a lot of thank you letters, emails, and general good feelings.
Expect a post about my writing soon. (This statement is mostly for myself so that I actually do it.)
Now to send a lot of thank you letters, emails, and general good feelings.
Expect a post about my writing soon. (This statement is mostly for myself so that I actually do it.)
6.29.2010
Seattle Rep Wrap-Up
Once again...over a month since I last updated. I know, I know. Shame on me. But this brings up my new goal. As new young urban professional (without a job), the plan is to update this thing more often. I'm hoping the blog will keep me motivated to write, act, create art so that the passion, the drive, and the necessity doesn't die out. Not that I think it would...but something to hold me accountable as well couldn't hurt.
This Sunday (June 27th) I officially moved to Seattle. I packed up (almost all) of the rest of my stuff in a friend's car, turned in the keys to my Bellingham apartment and changed my address. It is very exciting but I haven't really had any time to think about it. I spent my first day in Seattle unpacking and watching the Pride Parade and on Monday (well, yesterday) I began my internship at Book-It Repertory Theatre. Although I'm only on my second day in the office, I know I'm really going to like it here. You can expect many more blogs to come about my experience but that is not the purpose of this here blog post. The purpose is to wrap of my experience last week at-
The Seattle Rep New Play Program at Western Washington University
Yes, last week I had the pleasure of observing, mingling, playing kickball, karaoking, and creating art with a group of 20 professional Seattle theatre types. What a great week it was too. I feel like I have so much to say about my experience but my words are stalled. (That doesn't happen very often.) In short, the people we met, the plays that were read, our own work was all fantastic and I am so happy I slept on an air mattress for a week in an empty apartment to participate in this program. The hours were long but the reward was well worth it.
I had the joy of serving as the student playwright for the week, shadowing Stephanie Timm as she worked on her play Asleep in the Mouth of a Crocodile: An American Dream. It was interesting to watch someone else's process as a playwright. Since the play was in the early stages, we really saw how she went about developing the plot, the characters, basically the entire thing. I think I picked up some tools for the future, some that I may use on a play I started recently called (for now) The Last Tree. That play has stalled and I need it to get moving again.
We watched the professional process during the day and spent the evenings working on student work. We did staged readings for two of my plays: a completed one act called Dawn and a ten minute play called Car Parts. Dawn is a play that I have been wrestling with for a year now. It all started with a short scene that contained only a slap and has morphed into something, I feel, could be really great. I had a fantastic director and readers (thanks to Danny Kam, Ashley Johnson, Jessica Young, and Miguel Vila) who staged a very good reading. I think, in my naivete, that it is nearly ready for a production. So the question now is "how?"
This move/change/new chapter of my life is the start of a process of questions. My explorations through Seattle which consist mostly of "how?" I'm ready to navigate the river but I must admit I am ever so slightly frightened. (I think it is good to acknowledge fear, accept it, use it, and move on.) Mostly about this whole nonsense of finding a day job and what not.
Through all of this, however, I need to remember that I am a theatre artist - not just a writer. I am an actor, playwright, writer. I have capabilities to work in all sides of theatre. (These are my affirmations for the day. You may steal them if you like.)
Here we go.
And once again, thank you so much to everyone who participated in the Seattle Rep Program. It was invaluable experience for me and I only have gratitude for it.
This Sunday (June 27th) I officially moved to Seattle. I packed up (almost all) of the rest of my stuff in a friend's car, turned in the keys to my Bellingham apartment and changed my address. It is very exciting but I haven't really had any time to think about it. I spent my first day in Seattle unpacking and watching the Pride Parade and on Monday (well, yesterday) I began my internship at Book-It Repertory Theatre. Although I'm only on my second day in the office, I know I'm really going to like it here. You can expect many more blogs to come about my experience but that is not the purpose of this here blog post. The purpose is to wrap of my experience last week at-
The Seattle Rep New Play Program at Western Washington University
Yes, last week I had the pleasure of observing, mingling, playing kickball, karaoking, and creating art with a group of 20 professional Seattle theatre types. What a great week it was too. I feel like I have so much to say about my experience but my words are stalled. (That doesn't happen very often.) In short, the people we met, the plays that were read, our own work was all fantastic and I am so happy I slept on an air mattress for a week in an empty apartment to participate in this program. The hours were long but the reward was well worth it.
I had the joy of serving as the student playwright for the week, shadowing Stephanie Timm as she worked on her play Asleep in the Mouth of a Crocodile: An American Dream. It was interesting to watch someone else's process as a playwright. Since the play was in the early stages, we really saw how she went about developing the plot, the characters, basically the entire thing. I think I picked up some tools for the future, some that I may use on a play I started recently called (for now) The Last Tree. That play has stalled and I need it to get moving again.
We watched the professional process during the day and spent the evenings working on student work. We did staged readings for two of my plays: a completed one act called Dawn and a ten minute play called Car Parts. Dawn is a play that I have been wrestling with for a year now. It all started with a short scene that contained only a slap and has morphed into something, I feel, could be really great. I had a fantastic director and readers (thanks to Danny Kam, Ashley Johnson, Jessica Young, and Miguel Vila) who staged a very good reading. I think, in my naivete, that it is nearly ready for a production. So the question now is "how?"
This move/change/new chapter of my life is the start of a process of questions. My explorations through Seattle which consist mostly of "how?" I'm ready to navigate the river but I must admit I am ever so slightly frightened. (I think it is good to acknowledge fear, accept it, use it, and move on.) Mostly about this whole nonsense of finding a day job and what not.
Through all of this, however, I need to remember that I am a theatre artist - not just a writer. I am an actor, playwright, writer. I have capabilities to work in all sides of theatre. (These are my affirmations for the day. You may steal them if you like.)
Here we go.
And once again, thank you so much to everyone who participated in the Seattle Rep Program. It was invaluable experience for me and I only have gratitude for it.
5.19.2010
F-ing Miracle at Book-It and the Seattle Rep
This blog title is a combination of everything theatre that is going on in my life currently. Clever, right? Well, regardless, it's a lot. I find that I am falling behind a bit in school work but what I lack in motivation in that area, I make up for in busyness in theatre. Let's start with the beginning.
The F Word
We perform next week, ah! We officially put the script together on Sunday night so now it is a scramble to make sure everything is performance worthy by Wednesday (when we preview). It'll be a rush, especially at the end but the exquisite pressure (as Rich Brown would say) is on us.
I think we have a provocative and thoughtful show that will hopefully effect the audience in many ways. I think there are some new ideas about feminism that many have not thought about before. Furthermore, it is personal and relevant to our lives.
Miracle Worker
We're going into our second week of performances. Six performances starting tonight with a double feature on Friday (one performance for area school children). It'll be a rough week but luckily I have some time backstage to work on homework and other things that are lacking. Now, my challenge is to stay motivated in that way.
Last week's performances went pretty well; Saturday's audience was definitely the biggest and the most responsive. I'm hoping that Ev is coming off as more caring than she is written in the script. Patrick Dizney at one point challenged me to play her as a "caring, doting aunt." I'm taking inspiration from my own aunt and I sincerely hope it is reading. To a certain extent, there does still have to be an edge to Ev; she can basically say and do whatever she wants. She has a luxury that not many other characters in the play have. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week's performances and also to being finished with the show. It is time to put the miracles to rest.
Book-It Repertory Theatre
I am officially an intern for the summer at Book-It Repertory Theatre. I am very excited. My position is something like "assistant to the managing director" which, in my opinion is very Office-esque. My job will encompass many things but mostly working on getting some of their scripts published. I can't wait...the internship starts June 28th. Yikes. In the meantime, I also need to be looking for a job, as I will need some income to...well, I don't know. Live.
Seattle Rep New Play Program at WWU
Very exciting news! I have been selected to be one of the playwrights for this new program at Western. It is a week long intensive were the college students (mostly recent graduates) will work along side professional theatre artists from the Seattle Repertory Theatre. They'll be putting up professional readings of new plays by Stephanie Timm and Bryan Willis. We'll then mirror that process with new plays of our own. This means, I need to be writing...a lot and quickly. More information on this to come.
The F Word
We perform next week, ah! We officially put the script together on Sunday night so now it is a scramble to make sure everything is performance worthy by Wednesday (when we preview). It'll be a rush, especially at the end but the exquisite pressure (as Rich Brown would say) is on us.
I think we have a provocative and thoughtful show that will hopefully effect the audience in many ways. I think there are some new ideas about feminism that many have not thought about before. Furthermore, it is personal and relevant to our lives.
Miracle Worker
We're going into our second week of performances. Six performances starting tonight with a double feature on Friday (one performance for area school children). It'll be a rough week but luckily I have some time backstage to work on homework and other things that are lacking. Now, my challenge is to stay motivated in that way.
Last week's performances went pretty well; Saturday's audience was definitely the biggest and the most responsive. I'm hoping that Ev is coming off as more caring than she is written in the script. Patrick Dizney at one point challenged me to play her as a "caring, doting aunt." I'm taking inspiration from my own aunt and I sincerely hope it is reading. To a certain extent, there does still have to be an edge to Ev; she can basically say and do whatever she wants. She has a luxury that not many other characters in the play have. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week's performances and also to being finished with the show. It is time to put the miracles to rest.
Book-It Repertory Theatre
I am officially an intern for the summer at Book-It Repertory Theatre. I am very excited. My position is something like "assistant to the managing director" which, in my opinion is very Office-esque. My job will encompass many things but mostly working on getting some of their scripts published. I can't wait...the internship starts June 28th. Yikes. In the meantime, I also need to be looking for a job, as I will need some income to...well, I don't know. Live.
Seattle Rep New Play Program at WWU
Very exciting news! I have been selected to be one of the playwrights for this new program at Western. It is a week long intensive were the college students (mostly recent graduates) will work along side professional theatre artists from the Seattle Repertory Theatre. They'll be putting up professional readings of new plays by Stephanie Timm and Bryan Willis. We'll then mirror that process with new plays of our own. This means, I need to be writing...a lot and quickly. More information on this to come.
4.20.2010
Broken Promises
Okay, let's face it. I never did the wrap up post that I promised and thought I would do. The transition between Apocalypse Plays and the next projects was brief, so I took the time for myself. I will conclude the project just a bit, in case anyone is still reading and wants to know what is going on in my head:
I am so proud of the work that we did. Theatre is never easy, and doing theatre that is produced by strictly students, especially ones learning how a production team and producing body works is a challenge in and of itself. I know things I would do different for sure. I still struggle with finding my voice in the rehearsal process, figuring out when and how to say things. I do, however, understand my writing voice so much better and how to further develop my plots and characters. You can bet those pieces, especially Regarding Eden, will be getting rewrites and will hopefully be remounted in a future date.
Enough of that.
As you can see, I changed the name of the blog. Although the url will stay the same (apocalypseplays.blogspot.com), the focus of the blog will move to my life as a theatre artist (hopefully, I can add "working" to that title some day) and the projects I'm working on. Speaking of which, I'm currently working on two shows.
The Miracle Worker
Character: Aunt Ev
My last major show at Western is on the mainstage and faculty directed. It will be a nice way to end my career at WWU, by doing what I came here to do: act. My part is not very big but that does not matter. When I enter, I am to be mighty: a sweeping Southern woman who often oversteps her bounds. Right now, I'm struggling with trying not to make her a stereotype. She was a real person after all.
Oh and guess what? I think I'm getting a bustle. Yes!
The F Word
Returning to my love: devising. The F Word is the brain child of Amanda Woodard, and her senior project to boot but I am only too happy to oblige. The concept of the show is based on feminism but who knows how it will go from there. We are in the research phase and I think we're all feeling a bit overwhelmed. I considered myself to be knowledgeable about feminism, at least the history of feminism, before but we're all finding that there is so much to know. Research is a good start but what will really effect the work is our personal stories. I hope the research does not stall us as we move forward. Currently, I'm having a hard time coming up with moments myself because I have so many things behind me. I have ideas but nothing is coming to fruition quite yet. We're having our first movement rehearsal tonight so I'm hoping that sparks something inside me.
In the meantime, I am writing too but I think I'll save that for a future post.
I am so proud of the work that we did. Theatre is never easy, and doing theatre that is produced by strictly students, especially ones learning how a production team and producing body works is a challenge in and of itself. I know things I would do different for sure. I still struggle with finding my voice in the rehearsal process, figuring out when and how to say things. I do, however, understand my writing voice so much better and how to further develop my plots and characters. You can bet those pieces, especially Regarding Eden, will be getting rewrites and will hopefully be remounted in a future date.
Enough of that.
As you can see, I changed the name of the blog. Although the url will stay the same (apocalypseplays.blogspot.com), the focus of the blog will move to my life as a theatre artist (hopefully, I can add "working" to that title some day) and the projects I'm working on. Speaking of which, I'm currently working on two shows.
The Miracle Worker
Character: Aunt Ev
My last major show at Western is on the mainstage and faculty directed. It will be a nice way to end my career at WWU, by doing what I came here to do: act. My part is not very big but that does not matter. When I enter, I am to be mighty: a sweeping Southern woman who often oversteps her bounds. Right now, I'm struggling with trying not to make her a stereotype. She was a real person after all.
Oh and guess what? I think I'm getting a bustle. Yes!
The F Word
Returning to my love: devising. The F Word is the brain child of Amanda Woodard, and her senior project to boot but I am only too happy to oblige. The concept of the show is based on feminism but who knows how it will go from there. We are in the research phase and I think we're all feeling a bit overwhelmed. I considered myself to be knowledgeable about feminism, at least the history of feminism, before but we're all finding that there is so much to know. Research is a good start but what will really effect the work is our personal stories. I hope the research does not stall us as we move forward. Currently, I'm having a hard time coming up with moments myself because I have so many things behind me. I have ideas but nothing is coming to fruition quite yet. We're having our first movement rehearsal tonight so I'm hoping that sparks something inside me.
In the meantime, I am writing too but I think I'll save that for a future post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)