Favorite Color - PERFORMANCE POST

Molly K. (Sophie) kissing Aidan D. (Thomas)

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Holy smokes. I just got back yesterday from what has now taken the honored spot of 'most amazing thing that's happened to me' in my life.

I got to attend both performances, Friday and Saturday, of the One Act Play Festival at the Words Players theater in Rochester, Minnesota.

RECAP:
As those who read my blog know, I wrote a short play called Favorite Color about a girl who tries to teach a blind boy about color through senses other than sight. It was so much fun, and I loved the story. Despite some rather crushing criticism, I couldn't be convinced that it wasn't beautiful, and I submitted it to Words Players, hoping they would choose it for the One Act Plays.

Not long after submitting Favorite Color, I learned that Words Players might be closing. I was upset at the thought of the theater closing down, and not actually because that would mean my play would never have a chance of being seen on a stage.

No - I was upset because, for me, it was a truly devastating thought that an organization as special and unique as Northland Words might be disappearing from the world. Fortunately, through donations, support, and prayers, the theater was able to stay open and the One Act Play festival would go on.

I learned that my play had been selected while I was at work on September 9th, 2013.

This past Friday, my Dad drove me to Rochester for the opening night of the One Act Plays...of my play.

I got to meet the most incredible people as soon as I walked into the theater. One of my fellow playwrights, a man named John Byrne, greeted me and immediately asked me about my play. It's cool and unusual for me to meet someone and have them just understand this weird thing that I did: write words for actors to repeat and walk around to.

Everyone was happy to see me - surprisingly so. I really did not expect so many people - directors, actors, audience members, staff - to approach me and tell me how happy they were that I came. I knew or recognized quite a few people from previous times that I'd been there, and for some reason I always feel at home when I walk into that place.

I was also surprised by the enthusiastic response of my family and friends who were there. My grandparents, my godfather, and my boyfriend's mom, grandma, and younger siblings came. The second night, my mom and all but 3 of my siblings came. It was so awesome to be able to share it with them.

My play was the second one performed both nights, and I cannot even express how perfect the cast was. A friend of mine, Abby, played the mother (or, in the case of the second performance, sister) character, which I couldn't have been happier about. I've known her as long as I've known Words Players, and it really was a blessing for her to be a part of it. Sophie Rood, my feisty female protagonist, was played by a wonderful young lady named Molly. Molly is seriously like Sophie come to life - she was absolutely, spot-on perfect. Thomas White was played by Aidan, and he made the character so believable. It was almost like watching a real conversation between two people.

And the strangest thing was, I had never before been able to imagine my play actually being performed. I had never been part of theater in any big way before, so it seemed to me that Favorite Color could never smoothly transition from words on a page to a performance. But it did. It was beautiful.

I don't want to sound pompous, but, of all seven plays, mine was my favorite. I enjoyed mine the most. Not just because I wrote it, but because the actors just ran with it and made it so completely delightful. I enjoyed seeing the play I had written really come to life.

I got to meet the cast of my play, and the young lady who directed it. It was like meeting long-lost friends. I immediately loved all of them, because they were part of something I had made. The second performance had a few changes, because after the first night, we talked about some of the ideas they'd had - they thought about changing Abby's character from the mother to the sister, so that she could be texting while she was supposed to be leading Thomas safely through the park. I told them I would love to see that, so on Saturday night, they did it.

Abby, Aidan, Valerie, Molly, and I.

There is so much more. So much. This was the greatest experience and biggest blessing of my life. I can't fit it all in one blog post; the things that were said and all the emotions I felt. And it really wasn't even that big of a deal; I wrote an 8 minute play, three kids performed it twice, and I just so happened to be there. 

But, when I had been told that my play was terrible, and I was sitting in front of my laptop, trying to weigh the criticism I'd received and trying to decide whether or not to scrap the whole thing, there was something that I asked God for very specifically. I asked that it would not get accepted by Words Players unless it would bring Him glory and honor. I said, "This is not mine, this is Yours. I give it to You." And if there was one thing that this play was, to me, and to so many people, it was a blessing. I have never felt so blessed by an experience before, and I know that is because my prayer was answered. My play brought God glory and honor in some small way, and that makes it a big deal. At least to me.

Sometime last year, I wrote these words on the top of a page in my writing notebook:

It may not change the world, 

but it changes you.

I wasn't even sure what I meant by this, until now. My play, and the experience of having it chosen and performed, may not have changed the world. But it has changed me. It has rekindled a fire in me that I was letting die out. It has shown me the power of completing something, and being brave enough to send it out into the world, and see what comes back.

If you would like to see my play, you can! The second performance was captured on tape and posted online. 

Favorite Color, Saturday night performance.

Also, if you would like to watch the Talk Back discussion I took part in after the performance, it is here. 

I hope you enjoy it - let me know! 

The question people have been asking me since Friday night is this: will I keep writing plays?

Absolutely. I may never stop. I never thought of having plays performed as a form of publication, but now I think it may be the best form. When a book gets published, everyone reads the same words. When a play is performed, every performance is unique. Little things are always new and better. I know of at least one woman who might die of joy if I wrote a play for the homeschool group my siblings are in, so that might be a good place to start. 

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Abby and I, grinning because we're playwrights and we know it.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this in any way at all. 

Thank you Dad for being my biggest fan. Thank you Dad, Mom, and Anna for your editing and critiquing. Thank you Amy for being excited for me and with me. Thank you Steve for believing in me. Thank you Words Players for choosing my play. Thank you Valerie for directing it. Thank you Molly for being the best Sophie I could ask for. Thank you Aidan for being a perfect Thomas. Thank you Abby for being willing to take the role of mother/sister when someone else dropped out, and for being such a good friend. Thank you to Tim and Juliet for coming when I never imagined you would. Thank you Terri, Sandy, Maggie and Joe, for coming even though I'm just your son/grandson/brother's girlfriend. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for coming and telling me my play was the best, even if it wasn't true. Thank you Catherine for coming all the way from West Saint Paul just for my play. Thank you Mom for coming all the way from home. Thank you Meg, for coming even though it was crazy inconvenient. Thank you Joe, Terese, and Ella for being so patient while I chatted till way past your bedtime. Thank you Daved Driscoll for being so generous with your time and opening up many doors for me to pray about. Thank you to everyone who went out of their way to tell me they loved it. Thank you to everyone whose name I may have forgotten, because I have not forgotten you. 

And thank you, for all your prayers and support. It means so much. 

Update on Writing a Play #2!

(The Previous Posts)

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I am extremely proud to announce that I finished the entire body of the play! It is all physically in existence now! Even though its only the first draft, I am already really pleased with it and I can't wait to have a few people read it and give me suggestions.

Why this sudden burst of productivity? 

It might be that I finally solved the final remaining Big Problem I was having. I couldn't find a smooth and plausible way to introduce each new color into the dialogue. 

The solution?

An 8-pack box of crayons! My female character needed to be carrying something interesting and quirky, anyway, and the colors I wanted to work with all come in the 8-pack!

It was a stroke of genius.

Unfortunately, I came up with this idea rather late Sunday evening and don't exactly remember WHERE or HOW it formed. That's the way it goes a lot of the time.

With a convenient and believable carrier for the colors, I pressed onward to write down a complete short play of about 8 pages. Writing it was fairly easy and fun, but editing it has been tough. I have to constantly pay attention to how everything SOUNDS when spoken, because that's how it will be received by audiences. I have to pay attention to 'stage left' and 'stage right'. I have to make sure that all the action that needs to be specific is clearly explained for the people who could potentially perform it. 

With that being said, I'm a little giddy with excitement. The deadline for short play submissions (July 1st) is fast approaching, and I hope I can be ready for it. 

So, there is my update, and here is an excerpt:

(Sophie sighs at his unwillingness, and switches the crayon again, this time for the brown one)

Sophie: This one is brown. Chocolate is the best way to describe brown. Its rich and dark and sweet.

Thomas: I hate chocolate. Besides, isn’t dirt brown, too?

(Sophie sighs again)

Sophie: Yes. Dirt is brown, too. 

Update on Writing a Play

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As you may or may not recall from my previous posts on this topic, I am writing a play!

I can only just now say that with any honesty because today, FINALLY, I started writing it.

I have that terrible disease where you're convinced that the very important and awesome thing you're writing will write itself by virtue of how cool it seems in your mind. The technical term would be procrastination.

Fortunately, I want to write this play badly enough that today, TODAY, I wrote two very rough pages of the beginning.

I don't think anyone really appreciates how hard a stage play is to write. I mean, you don't just write the way things are typically written in a books or magazines. You have to format it so its not just a story, but a PLAY. This looks something like...

CLARE types ferociously away at her play.

STEVE walks into the room.

STEVE: What are you doing?

CLARE: Shut up I'm writing a play leave me alone bring me some coffee.

And that's just an example. There are several different formats for a stage play, but this is the one I'd say I'm most familiar with. 

Besides the funky format, you also have to think about an actual performance of your play in order to write it. Unless your play has an extremely omnipotent narrator, you can't just sit down and say: 

Clare was majorly stressed out by writing her play. She wanted it to be amazing. She wanted it to be worthy of being chosen and performed. But she was distracted by a few things: The cookies in her desk drawer, planning her graduation party, and the TV show she'd just discovered on Netflix. But she was determined  So she blocked out the distractions and went to write her play. Unfortunately, when she logged onto her laptop, she decided to write a blog post about writing her play, instead. 

That just doesn't work. Instead, you have to very clearly and concisely SHOW the audience, by the actions and dialogue of the characters, what is going on. 

Last Friday, I got to meet author, editor, and publisher Regina Doman, and I recieved one very vital piece of advice from her about writing my play: HAVE A PREMISE* THAT IS ABSOLUTELY SO STRAIGHTFORWARD IT CANNOT BE MISSED. 

She was even nice enough to listen to the general plot of my play and suggest a really good premise to me: HOPE vs. DESPAIR. 

Everything in the play HAS to serve the premise, or it must go. My two characters have to embody the premise and convey the message while being entertaining and (hopefully) heartwarming. Since I have a 'counterbalanced statement' premise, one character has to embody HOPE, while the other embodies DESPAIR. 

This isn't rocket science, but, no, a monkey could not do it. 

So, that's a little bit about procrastination, writing a stage play, and premise. I will hopefully have a more praiseworthy update on this within a week since the deadline for play submissions is July 1st. 

As I like to do, I shall leave you with the only notable quote from what I have written thus far. The character Sophie says this to the character Thomas. I can't guarantee this will end up in the play when its all said and done, but here you go! Enjoy : )

“EVERYONE has a favorite color, Thomas, even if they don’t know it. It’s the color that makes you happiest. It’s the color that you’d paint your bedroom walls if you had the choice. It’s the one color, that, if everything in the world were suddenly that color, you’d be okay with it,”

* A premise being what the story is about/the moral it teaches. 

Writing a Play

As some of you may recall, last April (a year ago!) I posted that I was participating in something called Script Frenzy. I made a grand total of two posts on the topic.

Post #1

Post #2

Let's just say that my Script Frenzy was little more than an epic fail. I guess writing three 50,000 word novels is WAY easier for me than one 100 page play script. I think I reached a grand total of four pages and quit.

But recently, I found out about a theater group here in Minnesota looking for original short plays to perform this summer. I know this theater group pretty well; my dad loves them and we take a long drive to Rochester just to see a lot of their stuff. (This is the same group I saw perform Into the Woods that I talked about in this post) I've met several people in the group, and I thought, "I would love to write a play for them." They are wildly creative and extremely professional, and I know they would love to at least read something I wrote.

So I've decided to write a short play, just to see what happens. This will be much easier than Script Frenzy, because the play can only be roughly fifteen to thirty minutes long at the most, and I have until the summer to complete it. I'm praying to be able to write a good play, because I'm not going to lie, I would LOVE to have this theater group perform something I wrote.

Do I have an idea?

Why, yes, actually.

It was an idea I had for a short story with the working title of "Favorite Color", about a blind boy and a girl who tries to teach him about colors without using the sense of sight to describe them. I don't remember when the idea first came to me, but it's been working itself out in my head for a while now. Its not going to be easy getting it all written down, especially not in play format. Originally I wanted the characters to be like, six or seven, but the more I played with that idea the less it made sense. So I thought about making them both teenagers. But, for the sake of the innocent quality of the story that I really want, I think they can't be any older than twelve. That's just one of the many, many details I need to start working out. But I'm not going to give up, and if I have time and inspiration, I'll write another one and send in two. Who knows?

I have been really, really, REALLY bad at taking opportunities lately. I think about things, talk about them, and just watch them slide by. I don't want to be that way anymore. So, I'm going to fight for this one. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make a truly beautiful play.

If you feel so inclined, I would appreciate prayers. I want this to bring God glory in some small way, and I can't do that without grace.

I will keep you updated and let you know how it goes!

Enjoy your Wednesday : )

Into the Woods

The Gist:

On February 16th I went to see my favorite musical in the entire world: Into the Woods! I saw Into the Woods Jr. several years ago, which is only the first half of the musical, and last year I rediscovered it and watched the entire thing online. That was when I learned that half my favorite characters die in the second act (ironic, right?). I own the London Cast Recording soundtrack and listen to it regularly. I know most of the songs by heart and go around the house singing them.
When I heard the theater group in my dad's hometown was putting it on, I came very close to freaking out and asked off work to make sure that I could go.

The Performance:

It was amazing. Even more so than any other performance of Into the Woods, I'd venture to say, because this particular acting group takes no shortcuts and demands performance quality like nobody else. It was also cool that one of the girl's I know played the role I would want if I were ever to be in it: Jack's mother, from Jack and the Beanstalk! She's a no-nonsense lady who overreacts to a lot of things, and in the second act she gets to die dramatically. Fabulous.

Why I Love It:

I love this musical for a lot of reasons. The first and foremost reason is probably because it is based on all my favorite fairy tales. Other reasons include: The music is fantastic, the characters are lovable, the plot is creative and unexpected, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, and it teaches you many valuable lessons, including: "Wishes come true, not free."

Favorite Characters:

I have a lot of favorite characters from this musical: Rapunzel (of course), the Baker and his Wife, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack, Cinderella, and The Mysterious Old Man (yep, that's his name).

Why I Don't Love It:

Of course, there are also elements to it I don't like. The Baker's Wife insists that "The ends justify the means." Three of the characters are unfaithful to their spouses in the second act. Parts of it suggest that there is no such thing as absolute truth and everyone must decide what is right or wrong for themselves, which I disagree with.

But without these elements, the musical might seem idealistic and difficult to relate to. The characters are profoundly flawed; they are dishonest, cowardly, selfish, manipulative, unfaithful, and vengeful. But they are also kind, generous, loyal, brave, adventurous and passionate. They choose to be both good and bad, and suffer the consequences of their choices.

Favorite Parts:

Act I:
I love the entire first act. It is just perfectly precious in every way. But to name a favorite scene...probably when to Baker steals Little Red Riding Hood's cloak and she screams until he gives it back. So funny. I also love the Witch...she's pretty fabulous and has some great one-liners.
The song Giants in the Sky is probably my favorite in Act I, and I also love I Know Things Now.

Act II:
After a giant storms through the kingdom and destroys everything, the Baker and his Wife are trying to get Little Red Riding Hood safely home. She says, "Mother said never to stray from the path!" The Baker replies, "The path has strayed from you,"
There is one line in which the witch (the villain) grows angry with the remaining characters and tells them, "You're so nice! You're not good, you're not  bad, you're just NICE!" I like this line because I feel like it applies to me and makes me want to be better. Sometimes I'm not good or even bad, I'm just nice. And as Little Red Riding Hood says, "Nice is different than good!" 
After that, the two songs No More and No One Is Alone are just so achingly beautiful. The ending is really bittersweet, but I'm always left with a sense that the characters who survived have learned from all the terrible things that happened and will do better from then on.

Discussion:

On our drive home, my dad and I had a long discussion about the musical, particularly the moral aspects of it. We agreed that if there hadn't been things in it that were wrong, we wouldn't understand how good some of the elements of it are, or be able to discuss so much about it.

Bottom Line: 

This is and will probably always be my favorite musical, and it was a total treat to see it performed live by some of my favorite actors and actresses!