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.