Back in the game. Got my randomly assigned slot #, actor quantity and theme:
- Second piece tomorrow night
- Write for four actors
- Theme is Witches
Is that a theme? I guess it is. We were asked to try to use it metaphorically because seven plays in a row about witches could leave the audience a bit short of…. spellbound.
10:03pm: Okay, I have the germ of an idea, action packed, takes place in a kitchen…
10:48pm: Page one written. Four characters are brilliantly named B, C, D and F. The producers are trying something new this year where we don’t get assigned the genders of characters. To be more inclusive and less specific about why a character needs to be male or female. So this lettering should work okay.
On to page two…
11:48pm: Page two is down. It’s becoming quite farcical, some similarities to Fugue for Five Waiters. Too many similarities? Enh, let’s see…
12:34am: Stuck. Is there enough conflict? Enough interesting stuff? Not sure I know what I’m doing. Tired.
1:08am: Frustrated. How am I going to wrap this thing up. Maybe the wrong direction. Want to lie down for a bit…
5:43am: Oy. Took a nap to clear my head. Just over an hour left. Changed everyone’s name to something real to make it clearer. Ben, Chris, Donna, Freddy. Struggling with ending. Want it to pop. Wish my damn printer worked…
6:16am: Getting there. Have very rough draft, gonna read through it, add a few logistical things, worried it will be too tough to memorize.
6:50am: Okay, read-through (to myself) went okay. Props I think we’ll need are:
- big oven mitts
- extra large bowl and spoon
- frog
- a few bowls and cups to make it look like a kitchen
Let’s read through this bad boy again…
7:12am: One last read-through, then I gotta send. Will have kid check it out when he’s awake, give me his honest opinion, then head in to meet my fate with the director.
7:25am: Okay, sent it in. Will see how it goes over. Too hard to stage in such a short time? I dunno. Eek.
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UPDATE: all worked our pretty well. Happy with it. Actors and director were great. Got a nice thank-you from a couple of audience members for representing the reality of food service work. Here’s the best shot I got from the show.
