I saw a great play the other day...

My friend, and director of Umbrella, Padraic Lillis, just recently directed a one-act called Sweet Storm for LAByrinth Theater Company.

It was a sweet story (and how often do you get to see that?) of a young couple who just got married, he's a preacher and she is the love of his life who suffers from Polo and can't walk anymore. The future they once thought was going to be so easy is now a whole lot harder.

It was a play in development, so they only performed it three times, with a simple set, costumes, etc. But it was so lovely to get lost within the characters desire to make everything alright, to press on with life, even in the face of everything.

And in the effort of full disclosure, I was so incredibly jealous: the writing was great. The language, the characters, the tone, was just...it was so full the work. Lush maybe the best way to describe it.

Honestly, it was great seeing a great play. Bad plays put me off. Mediocre plays put me off more--don't just assume because you're doing theater it's great. But seriously, when I see work that stinks, I don't want to go back to the theater, I don't want to waste my time or money. I would rather watch a movie or a TV show. Or, and you can ask my wife, I have a stack of books with my name on them (scribbled in) that I should really get to.

So, I beg, just do good to great work.

Website update

Hey...a quick one...

My website has been updated!
Deepti, my lovely wife, has redesigned the site and it looks great.
Take a look.

And I promise, I'll write here more often.

An Addendum: Who are we writing for?

Who are we, as playwrights, writing for?

Ideally, ourselves and an audience.

But, I think in reality: the intern. The intern who has the task of first reading the plays, grading them, making notes, and then they are passed up and depending on those grades perhaps read by someone in authority.

I know this to be true, because I have BEEN that intern. I have had to read through stacks and stacks of plays, put my comments on them and pass them along, and from my write up (my opinion) it may or may not move forward.

I know it's impossible for the Literary Manager to read everything, there are just so many people out there who want to be playwrights (which constantly surprises me) submitting work.

But the real gatekeepers...are the interns. Be nice to the intern.

(Also--for those playwrights out there who haven't interned, I would recommend it...being on the other side of the table, see how playwrights submit work...you learn a lot.)

Submissions.

If it's one thing I hate about being a playwright (and a writer in general) is submissions. It's the least exciting part of this business and it's the one where I have the least amount of control. Did I mention it's my least favorite part?

It’s true.

Personally, I hate writing the letter: Dear So and So, I would like to submit my play…

Submit. Bleh. I hate that word. Submit. It sounds like I’m giving up. Like I’m giving them POWER. Which, in a way, I am.

Maybe I should use the world share. Dear So and So, I would like to share my play…

Well. I don’t know. I’m not in kindergarten. I ain’t sharing the play, I want them to pay me to do it. Exchange? Dear So and So, I would like to exchange my play for cash…

I don’t think anyone would go for it.

So, let’s put semantics aside, maybe someone smarter will find a better word.

The thing is: you have to play to pay, you have to submit your work, send it out, share it, whatever or no one is ever going to see it, read it, produce it. It’s like buying a lotto ticket, you can’t win if you don’t play.

Now. Personally, I don’t play the lotto, because I have the same chances as any Joe Schmoe has. And I don’t like those odds. I would like to have BETTER than average chances of winning. So, I don’t play the lotto. (Alas, I will never be tremendously wealthy and then lose it all because I made really dumb purchases.)

BUT, when I’m submitted my plays, I try to increase my chances…how? I edit and I research. First I edit out all of those things I’m not right for. For example, I’m not a Latino writer, so I probably shouldn’t submit to that theater or competition.

Once I have narrowed things down a wee bit, I do some research. I look up the companies who I might submit to. Who are they? What do they do? Do they do what they SAY they do? For example, a theater company says they like doing new work, all kinds of new work (thumbs up, right?) Well, then, why is it in their season history a list of abstract new work? Because really when they say they love new work, they only love a CERTAIN kind of new work. (Which is fine, great, but, please be specific.)

Now the list is narrowed even more. (And yes, I judge a theater company on their website. If it looks cheap, then, yeah, it reflects poorly.)

There are other things to consider. Money. Sometimes I have to pay to submit. I think that’s stupid and I rarely do it. Theater companies feel it’s the price of doing business. But no one would ask an actor to pay to audition. No one. So, why should I have to pay to audition my play? (And, for you theater companies out there: reading submissions is the price of doing new work, you shouldn’t demand a fee.)

So, once my list is made…print out the plays, fill out the forms, type the letters. It’s dreary and boring. And that’s that.

Though…I have to say…companies doing email submissions…I love it.

More another day.