The calm before the storm? Or just the calm...
Well, it's been a far less eventful week than last week was, which could only be a good thing. :) First, Rich and I found a director for my one-act play in June (see www.arlingtonplayers.com for more info), or I did, and he agreed w/ the choice, which was a big relief. I think David, who has a lot of experience and liked my play (booyah), will do interesting things with the script(as he briefly mentioned to me in an email and a phone call); I will say no more at this time. :) So we have three directors lined up and two other potential ones, and that is awesome, PLUS a set designer. Rich is still seeking a stage manager and then we need to hold auditions, but I'm not as worried about the latter. I think there are lots of aspiring actors, including me, out there. ;-) Not surprisingly, 11:11 never got back to me about the audition, and that only bothers me b/c it's rather rude, but I knew the role was not at all right for me.(I cannot play a 50 year-old mother w/ a 19 year old, nor would I really want to, when her daughter and friends have far more interesting roles).
I'm not certain if this is wise or not, but I am still trying out for the Dragonfly Festival on Monday night. Why might it not be wise? Let me count the ways: 1) There are a lot of people auditioning, and so my chances are probably only so-so; 2) If I don't get into the Dragonfly, I will be very bummed, and if I don't get cast, it will only be exacerbated; 3) I have had NO luck auditioning for over a year, as I've detailed here; and 4) I am missing my Write-On meeting to audition. OTOH, there are 21 plays that need to be cast, so there's BOUND to be a play for me, if I have a decent audition, and I did nail my boyfriend monologue for 11:11 (though not the reading of the side), so if I can do it again--when I do it :-)--then maybe I can get cast, if I read from sides (which sides? who knows? I don't know if any plays have even been chosen yet, and David is also directing one of the Dragonfly plays, and he has yet to choose one, out of another 30 he and others are considering). They got 224 bloody plays (sighs and more sighs), so even with 5 plays submitted (and Lisa from Shadow Boxing thinks that was three too many, though we'll see), and I've revised two of them since the time they were submitted (substantially in the case of "Not A Competition," which is my favorite play at the moment), so I'm not sure they are even seeing my work at my best. This is always the case when you are in the revision stage (which, for most playwrights, is most of the time), but it's hard to know when a play is ready to send out and when not.
I now know that neither NAC nor "Accept This!" were ready for the Boston Playwrights Marathon--"Peanut Butter Sandwiches" WAS, but I didn't feel good about it at that point, alas--but the deadline was November 15, and so that's what I sent. Live and learn, I guess. The good news is that I think three of my plays, NAC, "Accept This!", and "Out for the Holidays" (the Santa play) are done, along with "Peanut Butter Sandwiches" (I believe), and I'm doing more revisions on "The Satchel" after Wednesday night's Shadow Boxing meeting (I got good responses, which was heartening), so maybe soon I'll have five in pretty good shape. I guess. I mean, really, who knows? Sometimes I feel like the biggest fraud in the world, like I have no right to claim I'm a playwright, that I suck hard. Other times, I feel great about my work, or good, anyway, and last night was one of those time. I worked really hard on NAC over the past two days, with help from playwright binge listserv friends (I love you guys!), and now it feels ready to submit (not that I haven't submitted it before, but I like it much better now, and others agree that my changes were strong ones). I got to resubmit it to Herring Run in Middleboro, MA and to Brown Couch in Chicago, and I also sent it to Theatre@First in Somerville, who rejected both my play (PB Sandwiches, the only one completed at that time--wow, I've written a lot this past year!) and my acting (sob), but might say yes this year (fingers crossed--I could see them doing NAC, but who the hell knows?!). It was actually fun to do the revisions, possibly b/c I did it collaboratively with others, and that's not the way it usually works (except for a bit of feedback from D. and A.). In any case, I'm happy with it, and now we'll see if anyone else is interested.
I realize that if nobody says yes, that doesn't mean it sucks or that others won't be interested in the future, but it's hard, after so many rejections in the past four months, to feel good. Nonetheless, I have to keep trying, and I realize this. I know for most people, it takes a long time to get known in the field, so I will keep networking and writing and revising and going to plays, where I learn a lot. I saw a play with A. on Thursday night at the Boston Center for the Arts, and all I can say is it's a damned good thing I did have to pay for it, b/c I would have demanded my money back (I kid you not--it was THAT bad). It was right up there for me with "The Play About the Baby," a simply awful production of Albee's very absurdist play (which is saying something, and I loved "The Goat," so I'm not anti-Albee, I'm anti-crap), though A. wasn't as hard on it as I was. UGH. Decebt acting but awful, mixed up dialogue, a mix of contemporary and early 20th century (and very stylized movement), waaaay too much music to SIGNAL changes, stupid use of props, and the list goes on. Shudder. Compare that with the Vokes Players' production of Amadeus today, which I liked quite a bit. Rich was in it, so I went to see it (I'm nice that way :-)), and I ushered, so it was free. I'm glad I did go. The acting of Salieri was superb, as good as anything I've seen in a long time, and the costumes and staging were terrific. It was very solid and interesting to watch, although I'm not a big fan of period pieces. I joked with Rich afterwards that our production "Five" in June will NOT be like that. He agreed. ;-)
I get so jazzed when I talk about acting and writing, and then when I get rejected, it's such a crushing blow. So I desperately (HERE THAT, THEATRES?!) need an acceptance, pronto, to keep my hopes alive and my happiness intact (forget the "it comes from within" b.s., b/c playwrighting is a collaborative effort, and words on a page are static and not much more). Nothing else very big happened this week (and that was okay, believe me), though I do feel calmer (new medication and no caffeine probably helped a lot, though I miss my Starbucks Venti Black Iced Teas, unsweetened, in a huge way). I'm kind of in a holding pattern, fearing the day (in two weeks) that the Advising Office moves upstairs at work, but trying to accept its inevitablity, trying (but failing) not to think about the Dragonfly Festival and other festivals I've submitted to, trying not to overeat (the story of my life), continuing to exercise (though not today, which is okay, b/c I had two hard workouts in a row, and tomorrow is my 90-minute yoga class), and continuing to watch movies (tonight I've got "North Country" and Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" on tap, and see plays (tomorrow, A. and I are ushering for "Brooklyn Boy" at the BCA, and next week, A., D., and I are all ushering for "The Hopper Collection" at the Huntington Theatre. I desperately hope to have good news to report soon--either way, you'll hear from me within the week, most likely--b/c, well, it's been a lousy winter and it's time for something nice to hhppen to me. :-)
I'm not certain if this is wise or not, but I am still trying out for the Dragonfly Festival on Monday night. Why might it not be wise? Let me count the ways: 1) There are a lot of people auditioning, and so my chances are probably only so-so; 2) If I don't get into the Dragonfly, I will be very bummed, and if I don't get cast, it will only be exacerbated; 3) I have had NO luck auditioning for over a year, as I've detailed here; and 4) I am missing my Write-On meeting to audition. OTOH, there are 21 plays that need to be cast, so there's BOUND to be a play for me, if I have a decent audition, and I did nail my boyfriend monologue for 11:11 (though not the reading of the side), so if I can do it again--when I do it :-)--then maybe I can get cast, if I read from sides (which sides? who knows? I don't know if any plays have even been chosen yet, and David is also directing one of the Dragonfly plays, and he has yet to choose one, out of another 30 he and others are considering). They got 224 bloody plays (sighs and more sighs), so even with 5 plays submitted (and Lisa from Shadow Boxing thinks that was three too many, though we'll see), and I've revised two of them since the time they were submitted (substantially in the case of "Not A Competition," which is my favorite play at the moment), so I'm not sure they are even seeing my work at my best. This is always the case when you are in the revision stage (which, for most playwrights, is most of the time), but it's hard to know when a play is ready to send out and when not.
I now know that neither NAC nor "Accept This!" were ready for the Boston Playwrights Marathon--"Peanut Butter Sandwiches" WAS, but I didn't feel good about it at that point, alas--but the deadline was November 15, and so that's what I sent. Live and learn, I guess. The good news is that I think three of my plays, NAC, "Accept This!", and "Out for the Holidays" (the Santa play) are done, along with "Peanut Butter Sandwiches" (I believe), and I'm doing more revisions on "The Satchel" after Wednesday night's Shadow Boxing meeting (I got good responses, which was heartening), so maybe soon I'll have five in pretty good shape. I guess. I mean, really, who knows? Sometimes I feel like the biggest fraud in the world, like I have no right to claim I'm a playwright, that I suck hard. Other times, I feel great about my work, or good, anyway, and last night was one of those time. I worked really hard on NAC over the past two days, with help from playwright binge listserv friends (I love you guys!), and now it feels ready to submit (not that I haven't submitted it before, but I like it much better now, and others agree that my changes were strong ones). I got to resubmit it to Herring Run in Middleboro, MA and to Brown Couch in Chicago, and I also sent it to Theatre@First in Somerville, who rejected both my play (PB Sandwiches, the only one completed at that time--wow, I've written a lot this past year!) and my acting (sob), but might say yes this year (fingers crossed--I could see them doing NAC, but who the hell knows?!). It was actually fun to do the revisions, possibly b/c I did it collaboratively with others, and that's not the way it usually works (except for a bit of feedback from D. and A.). In any case, I'm happy with it, and now we'll see if anyone else is interested.
I realize that if nobody says yes, that doesn't mean it sucks or that others won't be interested in the future, but it's hard, after so many rejections in the past four months, to feel good. Nonetheless, I have to keep trying, and I realize this. I know for most people, it takes a long time to get known in the field, so I will keep networking and writing and revising and going to plays, where I learn a lot. I saw a play with A. on Thursday night at the Boston Center for the Arts, and all I can say is it's a damned good thing I did have to pay for it, b/c I would have demanded my money back (I kid you not--it was THAT bad). It was right up there for me with "The Play About the Baby," a simply awful production of Albee's very absurdist play (which is saying something, and I loved "The Goat," so I'm not anti-Albee, I'm anti-crap), though A. wasn't as hard on it as I was. UGH. Decebt acting but awful, mixed up dialogue, a mix of contemporary and early 20th century (and very stylized movement), waaaay too much music to SIGNAL changes, stupid use of props, and the list goes on. Shudder. Compare that with the Vokes Players' production of Amadeus today, which I liked quite a bit. Rich was in it, so I went to see it (I'm nice that way :-)), and I ushered, so it was free. I'm glad I did go. The acting of Salieri was superb, as good as anything I've seen in a long time, and the costumes and staging were terrific. It was very solid and interesting to watch, although I'm not a big fan of period pieces. I joked with Rich afterwards that our production "Five" in June will NOT be like that. He agreed. ;-)
I get so jazzed when I talk about acting and writing, and then when I get rejected, it's such a crushing blow. So I desperately (HERE THAT, THEATRES?!) need an acceptance, pronto, to keep my hopes alive and my happiness intact (forget the "it comes from within" b.s., b/c playwrighting is a collaborative effort, and words on a page are static and not much more). Nothing else very big happened this week (and that was okay, believe me), though I do feel calmer (new medication and no caffeine probably helped a lot, though I miss my Starbucks Venti Black Iced Teas, unsweetened, in a huge way). I'm kind of in a holding pattern, fearing the day (in two weeks) that the Advising Office moves upstairs at work, but trying to accept its inevitablity, trying (but failing) not to think about the Dragonfly Festival and other festivals I've submitted to, trying not to overeat (the story of my life), continuing to exercise (though not today, which is okay, b/c I had two hard workouts in a row, and tomorrow is my 90-minute yoga class), and continuing to watch movies (tonight I've got "North Country" and Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" on tap, and see plays (tomorrow, A. and I are ushering for "Brooklyn Boy" at the BCA, and next week, A., D., and I are all ushering for "The Hopper Collection" at the Huntington Theatre. I desperately hope to have good news to report soon--either way, you'll hear from me within the week, most likely--b/c, well, it's been a lousy winter and it's time for something nice to hhppen to me. :-)
posted by Sue B at 12:16 PM
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