The Theatrefolk Weblog

MONDAY EVENING:
This was extraordinary – what a great beginning to the week! Before the week started, I had asked everyone to bring some predictable items — paper, pen, lunch, a drink — and a couple of unusual things: A quote that resonated with them on some level and an “object of significance.” I didn’t offer much clarification and left it to them to figure out what that might mean.

When everyone arrived, we started with some basic intro stuff and had everyone share what they’d brought. We read a 10 minute play out loud and talked about characteristics of 10 minute plays. Then we went outside to scout performance locations — and see what kind of settings each inspired. The school’s neato outdoor exercise course lent itself to all KINDS of ideas. A tightrope became everything from a telephone wire perch for birds to a dividing line between good and evil. An elastic climbing web became a spider web and a super-spy training school. A climbing wall became a cathedral, a tall building and an art gallery. Interestingly, a couple of kids were inspired by the classroom itself. I had them improvise some character interactions in several of the settings, many of which were quite intriguing.

With their heads full of possibilities, we returned to the classroom and I had them each write up their favorite setting ideas. They shared those with the group; no two were alike and each one seemed teeming with potential. Then, I gave them some ground rules: Their plays would need to be 7-10 typewritten pages long (assuming standard playwriting format). No more and no fewer than 2 characters in each. They had to include at least one object and one quote from the stuff that everyone brought in — and these had to be included significantly, not as a “throw-away/toss-in.”

Then everyone jumped back into writing. I went around and peeked at what they were doing, offering help/answering questions when asked, but mostly letting them do their thing. At measured points, I’d say a “line of opening” out loud — lines that could be taken many ways, that might be heard in a wide range of dialogues, that might open the door to interesting conversations and revelations. “What do you mean?” “I’ve always wondered about that.” “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Stuff like that. They didn’t have to use those lines in their plays, but for some of them, it helped keep their dialogues moving.

By 2:15, they had accomplished so much. All of them had established multi-dimensional characters. Most of them had a sense of where their plays were going. Several of them had viable beginnings, middles and ends — rushed in places, yes, but not forced. Certainly, I think that our goal of getting finished pieces written by the end of tomorrow is achievable.

Wednesday is directing day, in which I’ll give them each a play that ISN’T theirs to direct. We’ll talk about directorial choices, casting, stuff like that. Thursday and Friday we’ll rehearse. And Friday at 2:30, we’ll kick off the performances!

WEDNESDAY EVENING:
The 25 Hour Play Project continues to go brilliantly!

Tuesday, once we got some computer issues straightened out (Roswell Rec’s computers work fine, but only with coaxing and encouragement), the kids were on their way, transcribing the ideas they’d generated the day before, polishing them into scripts. By about 11:30, some of them were getting frustrated. “Let me guess,” I said to them, “Some of you are feeling like you have no idea where your stories are going. Some of you have holes in your stories that you can’t figure out how to fill and in general, you have questions that need answers and/or you have problems that need resolution.” Big nods. “Okay – let’s break for lunch and then afterwards, I’m going to show you a magic trick to solve your problems.” I asked them to write down their script questions and problems.

Then, after lunch, I kicked off a quick brainstorming exercise. “How do you get a cat off a roof?”

Now, let me note that when I do this with grownups, as I do in my strategic communications business, it takes them maybe 10 minutes to get the hang of the fact that I’m looking for all kinds of ideas – not just the most plausible. But no, this creative bunch got it right away. In about 20 minutes, they had come up with maybe 50+ ideas. Everything from “burn the house down” to “send up a cat-hating dog” to “Make it rain” to “Play Josie and the Pussycats music.” It got them loosened up and got their brains thinking outside of the box. Then I told them, “Now, here’s the magic trick: The answers to all of your script problems – if you’re willing to think laterally – are all up here on the board.” And, astonishingly, for most of them, they were. One person wanted to find a way to end a conflict between two characters without having one of them kill the other – and she did.

At 1:30, with an hour left to go, I told them that if they’d already envisioned an ending for their plays, that they should go ahead and write those, then work backwards, with the understanding that they might have the transcontinental railroad – two ends that don’t meet up and might require more significant revision. At 2:15 most of them were done and by 2:30, all the plays were completed and on my USB drive.

I printed out all the plays last night, then today, we talked about directing and directorial decisions as we read through all the plays. Everyone was so amazed at how different all their plays were – and how strong much of the writing and storytelling was. At the end of the day, I had them write down their preferences – who they wanted to see in their plays, which plays they would want to direct and which roles they’d like to play. Then, I took all that home and somehow made that giant jigsaw puzzle somehow work. I was very pleased to see that every play had its advocates in the class. And while I couldn’t give everyone ALL their top choices, I could give each person at least one thing that he/she really wanted. I can’t wait to announce it all tomorrow morning and get started on rehearsals. I was even able to match up plays so that two plays could be rehearsed simultaneously, with no duplicate participants.

I wanted to let the kids make revisions in the morning, then print out the plays at school, but I couldn’t figure out how to get my giant printer over there and connected properly without wasting a lot of time. And I don’t want to inconvenience the school. So, I think I’ll have them work fluidly with the scripts, allowing the playwrights to make changes on paper, then put them all on computer toward the end of the day. Then, I’ll print out final scripts for use on Friday.

FRIDAY EVENING
I am, as I said in my program notes, exhilarated and exhausted. Everyone was generally happy with the parts and directing assignments I gave them and with that, the work began. We started by talking again about the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the playwrights, directors and cast. All of the participants were all of these, of course — and I think that to a certain extent it kind of blew their minds to think of themselves in all of these capacities. As they started to run through their plays, the enormity of making directing decisions really became clear. Many of them wanted to do their plays in a very straightforward way. I wanted to encourage them to think metaphorically, as well, but just working with the other kids in the workshop, listening to them, communicating their ideas – that was hard enough.

We talked about the Reader’s Theatre model that we would employ for performances. In a Reader’s Theatre production, sets are creative and minimalist, simple and suggestive. Costumes, too, are partial and suggestive, rather than complete. And there is no full memorization of lines - scripts are used openly. The point is to highlight the quality of the plays and the direction/acting that brings them to life. Stage directions are often read aloud – and we talked about how to incorporate that into the productions, rather than just have them read aloud, as if separate.

We spent more time outdoors on Thursday and Friday than on any other days. Part of that was because most of our sets were outdoors. And part of that was because the classroom was so hot. Yes, on Thursday afternoon, the school’s janatorial staff confirmed what we all clearly knew: The air conditioning in the classroom really was broken. I brought in extra bug repellant for everyone (DEET-free, but with the odd side-affect of smelling vaguely like corn chips) but we still got gnawed. And I stepped on an anthill this morning. My feet will remind me of this all week, I am sure. Even so, being outside just felt good. I am still cracking up over the best line I heard about this. It came through an exchange between Liz and Leah. Liz was irritated and somewhat grossed out by all the bugs, heat and muddy dirt, and wet grass. Leah, equally grossed out but still ever-the-High-Meadows-kid, responded with a sigh, “We are outdoors.”

I loved seeing some of the kids really latch onto the directing task. A few of them really had the knack of getting the kids in their casts to do what they wanted without flat-out telling them, “Do it exactly like THIS.” Instead, they were able to lead their actors into scenarios to which they could relate, so that the actor’s response would be organic and real, not an imitation of someone else. Pretty darned impressive.

As it got close to showtime, the kids were giddy and giggly, joking around, singing songs and playing. This is what they were like most days at lunchtime, and as I fondly told them almost every day, I loved seeing them having so much fun together. “WAYYYbetter than TV!” Most of them weren’t talking about the plays or running through lines and even this close to the performances, I was okay with that. I wanted them to feel relaxed and happy before kicking into performance mode.

When all the parents and other audience members were there, I told them about our process, about what they should expect from the performances (and what they shouldn’t expect) and highlighted, again, the significant nature of the kids’ achievements.

Most of the performances went very well. There was a little stumbling over lines here or there, some occasional forgetting of the fact that they had to speak in the direction of the audience in order to be heard, and of course, the rain during our three tightrope performances. Thankfully, it all blew through before we could get truly drenched and we finished off the performances in the sunshine. For the most part, I feel that the directors’, playwrights’ and actors’ collaboration came together brilliantly. I hope Roswell Rec was pleased.

We all went out for ice cream to celebrate – parents and kids together – and had a great time. I am so proud, so pleased with this week’s little explosion of creativity. Something special was created. And I am thrilled to have been a part of it.

Filed under: Writing