Tag Archive | playwriting
Vomit Writing Magic Muse
Being a playwright- finding your muse is very important- having your space, having your music, having your spells, chants, and charms around you as you write is very important. But sometimes it just doesn’t come. My first mentor/friend in playwriting was Stephen Adly Guirgis. Outside of my mother, he was the first person who told […]
Scn Std: wk1
I just had my first rehearsal? meet and greet? chat? run-through? stumble upon? of a short piece I’ll be doing with Sara Katzoff and three undergrad actors/actresses. For the past semester and a half I’ve been working on my thesis play which is this dark tragedy. It’s been so long since I’ve started a new […]
I Don’t Like Ten Minute Plays
Sorry. I tried really freaking hard to find an appreciation for them this semester when I took a course all about the form, but alas… I feel like ten minute plays are primary used for theatre fundraisers, 24 Hour festivals, and summer festivals. Just recently we heard how Actor’s Theatre of Louisville will discontinue their […]
Responsibility When Writing Outside of Personal Experience
For Playwriting I, our final is a one act to full length play. I am writing about a woman in her 70s managing PTSD after she was raped working for the army. I can only imagine what it is like to be that age and what its like navigating the world of the army. I […]
The Soul Through a Slit Lamp
The view through a slit lamp is equal parts intimate and clinical, often quite awkward. It’s an ophthalmological tool, used to examine the exterior structure of the eye. The gateway to the soul we are so crazy about. In the theatre world, we talk a lot about the different “hats” we wear, but I’m finding […]
Multilingual Playwriting; or, English is Not a Default
When I sit down to write a scene or a play, the first thought that comes to my head is usually not, “What’s the plot,” or, “What do these people want from each other?” Call it bad technique, call it what you will, but the first question that usually pops in my mind is, “Is […]
Statement of Objective
These three words together scare the shit out of me. I always question if I want to apply to programs that request a statement of objective – I feel locked in, panicked and I want to scream. I worry that I’m going to deliver a statement that sounds very inauthentic to who I am. It’s […]
A Prayer: Part II
Dear Whoever’s Listening, Hi again. Nice chatting with you, or I guess not with you, but at you at least. Anyway, yes, hi, I have some things to share since we last spoke. When last I raised my eyes toward the skies and made a post on the blog in your direction, I promised that […]
If You Liked This Album, Check Out This Playwright! Pt 3
And we’re back . . . If you liked Marry Me by St. Vincent . . . . . . . check out Jen Silverman! I was introduced to St. Vincent on a 2016 mixtape made by a dear friend. I would listen to ‘Actor Out Of Work’ while driving my mom’s truck through the backwoods of […]
Prewriting in spite of traumatic topics
In Kirsten Greenidge’s Playwrighting I class, the semester culminates in a project where students complete a one act. I’ve been stewing on an idea for over two years now, and when this project that was longer than a 10 minute play was introduced, I decided it was time to begin. The play is going to […]
So I Don’t Forget
Instead of… Stare at a blank page. Fall into a pit of self destruction. Let the minutes tick, tock by. Compare myself to someone else. Do nothing. Say sorry. Negative self talk. Bully myself. Go through the motions. Give up. Project on a loved one. Hide. Isolate. Binge Netflix to escape. To avoid. To go […]
As a writer
The setting is the first thing I think about – Where? In my plays the set becomes more than a prop, it becomes as much of an organism of force as the living characters on stage. When I begin to develop a play I think about how I can manipulate the set into consciousness. How […]
A Love Letter To Caryl Churchill
Dear Caryl, I know, I know, it’s been far too long. I think I was sixteen last time we saw each other, and then briefly two years ago in a dramatic literature class. And each time, young people aren’t quite sure what to do with you, but they’re fascinated. After having explored the world of […]
WTF is a play cycle – Pt. 6 – Night Cap
Returning to my former naive B.A. acting studies questions: They can do that? Of course they can, the mind and hand of a writer has no restrictions. If the writer feels the stories out of Pine City is incomplete and if there is an audience that will watch or read another visit. There will be […]
WTF is a play cycle – Pt. 5
I remember the day well when I first heard the words – play cycle A week before, my B.A. acting professor had given my small troupe a play to analyze – Craig Wright’s Orange Flower Water. It was my first real touch on something contemporary – very exotic and exciting to me. The play examined […]
Workshop Ahead
Every playwright I know is excited by the idea of a workshop, and I’m no different. Getting a script off of the page and into actors’ mouths is crucial for a play’s development. I’m currently lucky enough to be anticipating a week-long workshop at the University of Tulsa as the 2017 winner of WomenWorks. As […]
WTF is a Play Cycle – Pt. 4
The Purpose of Play Cycles/Artist Prophet The Greeks were not only telling tales to reintegrate their citizens but they were developing stories that encapsulated their history, stories that allowed the viewer to examine civilization. In Julie Spark’s Playwrights’ Progress she states that the greek plays were performed as a mode of civic self-examination. Writers get […]
WTF is a play cycle – Pt. 3
Going All The Way To The Beginning – What Cycles Meant to the Greeks Skimming through the index of old theatre history textbooks looking for modern cycle plays I came across the word – Trilogy. Millennials typically think of a trilogy as a collection of books – that eventually turn into blockbuster movies but looking […]
Writing a Ten Minute Play
In Playwriting I, we just turned in our “final revision” of out ten minute play. We were asked to use the structure outlined in Gary Garrison’s book, A More Perfect Ten: Page 1- 2: set up world, introduce central characters and make sure we understand what they want/need/desire through the journey of the play. Page […]
What Do I Want to Say?
I’m in Autobio this semester. It’s the first time I’ve written in a long time. And I’m loving it. I used to love writing, as a kid. But I grew up and developed a lot of anxiety, so I boxed up my writing and hid it in a drawer. Somewhere around high school, I lost […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 