Playwright Storyteller Producer

I went to a board meeting for the lovely and wonderful Vela Families. This is a sort of probationary measure (a couple of board meetings) to decide if being on their board is something we wall want. They’re a great organization, but I have bandwidth considerations to be wary of. More on that later.

When I got to the meeting, they’d made this nametag for me. Buttering me up, obviously. Am I really all those things? I don’t know.

(And is it Storyteller or Story Teller? Hmm)

Anyway, here are some upcoming things that sorta fit into those categories:

PLAYWRIGHT
Oh hey, I got a grant from ScriptWorks to rework my play Rebecca’s Hope Chest. It might be called something else by the time I re-finish it. But I’ve got a tentative reading of it slated for Sunday November 17^th at Hyde Park Theatre with some great actors if you feel like swinging by.

STORYTELLER
Oh my goodness, I’m teaching a high school class in a few days! Aak! I don’t know everything I’m going to do for it, but I did jot down some notes for an outline. Here it is:

Intro: ask about the class’s current focus (how much writing vs. performing?)
Bio
- Writing plays first
- Experience with difficult actors creating stress and anxiety
- Traveling work presentations, noting:
  - When I bored people
  - When I noticed their eyes light up
- First story a presentation for FronteraFest about kids
  - Then LTYM
  - Then Testify
What makes a good story
- Start with a significant moment (e.g., falling off a bridge in NYC)
  - Then what?
  - What led up to the fall?
    - Ex-girlfriend’s party
    - Her new bf a billionaire
  - What followed the fall?
    - Friends not noticing I fell off the bridge
    - Friends not noticing I didn’t make it home
- Becomes a story not just of falling, but of loneliness, of isolation
Tell Hollywood story
Discuss scary stories (current focus of class)
Q&A

PRODUCER
We’re helping out with Rita Anderson’s Saint Somebody which runs November 14^th through December 1^st. We’re playing a sidelined role, but looking forward to helping out as much as possible and seeing how it is to work with the Trinity Theatre downtown.