Friday, December 14, 2007

My play is finally critiqued

I need to go to work soon--Boston was clobbered by a snow storm, so we are starting an hour late, at 10am--but I thought I would check in with a brief update.

I was rather concerned that the class wouldn't like it, as I've mentioned before. I wasn't sure *I liked it, though I'd worked quite hard on it. The whole "internal conflict" situation was a bit of a problem, b/c both characters had the same one: They were lonely, pretending to be someone they were not (the djay was a cool hipster, but really a guy who took an overnight shift b/c he wanted to be a djay and this was the only gig available; the woman pretended to be a beautiful model with Victoria Secret, when in fact she worked overnights at CVS, to pay off her undergrad debts so she could go to grad school). So they connected via their phone calls and a contest, but their contact was based on false pretense. When they meet, they actually do over a song by James Morrison called "Undiscovered" (I love the song, but it's obscure, which is good, b/c only a realy music fan would know it). Anyway, that's the story, and I feared the reaction. The first play up was really surreal (well written, but not my kind of play), so I wondered how the class would like mine. And the response was...

VERY FAVORABLE! YAY! The class said it was well written, the characters were believable, and they could relate to them, and the dialogue was believable. I was SO relieved. They hoped for more (i.e, they wanted the characters, particularly the woman, to play the false characters even more strongly), and I understand that. They also, oddly to me, looked at the play as a "romantic comedy" and laughed a lot (that's not how I had written it, but hey, that's fine, if most people related to it!). One woman stormed out of the class, saying it was stereotypical of blacks being the only ones who like hip hop (in fact, I do, as do many of my friends, all of whom happen to be white or asian). The point is that this guy pretends to be black so he's cool, when he's a nerdy white guy (and maybe Jewish, like me, but I haven't decided if that's relevant yet). Anyway, Ken asked me to write up a two-paragraph synopsis, which is a good idea, and also noted that it was too long, at 18 minutes (!), which is fine, b/c as an overwriter, I have plenty to work with, and many passages did seem redundant.

So I survived the event unscathed, and though it will very hard to write at my desk (which I'm doing right now, using ice, and it's still very uncomfortable), but I will find a way. And now I'm off to work, expecting to get splashed like crazy. Meanwhile, it's 75 degrees and sunny in Florida, and I wish I were there with my sister and parents in the worst way. Florida (that's when I take my vacation) is such a long way away..............

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