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My Grass Roots are Showing

People who know me, know how dear I hold the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco. PCSF was the first among the theater community to welcome me into the fold. PCSF was the first organization to give me a reading of my play about a fancy shoe. PCSF led to my first production. And so it’s no surprise I was thrilled to join the board, and for the last couple years, co-chair with the wonderful Rod McFadden.

In its thirty-three year history, PCSF has developed playwrights, nurtured and guided them, loved and supported them, and often on a precariously low operating budget. But we continue and we continue because we LOVE playwrights and we LOVE what we do.

But we need help.

Before that, let me tell you what we do:

Twice a month, we bring together actors and playwrights for Scene Night. Pages of new plays are read and feedback offered. This is our flagship/workhorse program; the program where scripts are crafted and developed and nurtured.

Twice a year, we bring together actors and playwrights and directors and audience to share the work-in-progress, to get it seen by theater companies, to get is SEEN.

Twice a year, we bring together actors and playwrights and directors and audience and create a pop-up production of short plays written and performed in less than 24 hours.

And every spring, we have our annual showcase of short plays co-produced by Wily West Productions called “Sheherezade.”

We have a fantastic and dedicated volunteer staff that put together a comprehensive weekly newsletter filled with submission and networking opportunities, discounts for theater and classes and workshops.

And this year we are re-introducing MASTER CLASS WORKSHOPS taught by talented and celebrated playwrights. This season, Patricia Milton and Anthony Clarvoe, will be our featured instructors.

Two of these programs, the 24-Hour Fest and The Master Class Workshop, are new within the last year and our goals is to continue creating programs and finding ways to support playwrights.

But we need help.

We need help bringing you great playwrights and great theater. We need help continuing a three-decades’ old Bay Area organization and tradition, and we need help building off that tradition. So I ask, from the bottom of my playwriting-loving heart, give a little, give a lot to our grass-roots funding campaign sans Kickstarter or Indie-go-go.

 


For more on PCSF:

Check out this wonderful National Highlight on PCSF from Suze Allen for the Dramatists Guild Magazine (pg. 76)

Lily Janik from SF Weekly writes about Sheherezade

Rod McFadden, and Melissa Howell from Wily West, intervewed on KPOO for Sheherezade 13

TheatreStorm writes about Sheherezade

Carol Lashof writes about 24-Hour fest

Laylah Muran deAssereto writes about 24-Hour Fest

 

 

24-Hour Fest (or how to survive on no sleep in forty-two hours)

Truth. I woke up with a headache. I woke up emotional. I woke up exhausted. I woke up ready to do it all again! And here's why: theater artists ROCK!

Backstory: PCSF has been developing playwrights for over thrity years. Every Board is committed to providing its membership with the best tools for them to write their best plays and somewhere along the way (spring, 2012) someone thought high-pressure, witching-hour writing would be a handy tool, indeed. Which is why I woke with a headache.

24-Hour playfest is high-pressure for everyone. Playwrights have to write a play in less than twelve hours on a topic given to them last-minute, and for actors (# and gender) chosen last minute. Actors have to be off book in less than nine hours; Directors have to realize a full play, create a vision (and get the actors off book) in less than nine hours; and the production team has to print fancy, cool, keepsake programs in less than nine hours (did you see the programs our stage manager, Bill Hyatt created replete with blog excerpts from his experience?) Also, there is little time to eat. And when there's time to eat, we feel too anxious to chew (or is that just me?), which is why I woke up emotional.

I am moved every time I put out a call for actors and directors and they reply, "Yes!" and they reply with an ethusiastic "Yes!" Every. Time. I am moved, but no longer surprised. Why would I be? Of course these folks want to come together, work collaboratively with each other to put up new work. It's good work. The talent is great. So, I'm moved, but not surprised.

Second truth: I wrote a lenghty note, here, moments ago, about being moved and I think I wrote it in a moving way, and when I added an image I didn't save the draft and the image, and the note was gone. I won't try to replicate it (though it was witty and sincere), because what I learned from fest is things happen at lightning quick speed and you have to keep moving forward and see what you are creating in the moment, not the past. So, I will write new words.

Confession: Forty-two hours of no sleep is hyperbole. I got in an hour around 1am Saturday and another forty-five miuntes at 5am. So I survived on (I'll be generous) two-three hours of sleep in two days. Which is why I'm exhausted.  I signed up to take a chance at writing for the fest in addition to producing it. When my number came up, I was thrilled, but the amount of work it involved escaped memory.

Our first fest (way back in 2012), for which I was a participating writer, the original producer got sick the morning of and canceled. Hence my quick immersion into producing and producing/writing. Our second fest, a director canceled on us at 3am. Hence my quick immersion into directing and directing/producing (luckily, we have a rule that if you get in to one fest as a writer, you have to skip a season before you put your name in the hat draw again, so director/producer/writer was not on my plate). That second experience (directing/producing) also made me realize the need for an associate porducer: Bridgette Portman!

Third confession: There are no tips in this post on how to survive on no sleep in forty-two hours. I did it with a half a donut, Peet's coffee, and three glasses of red wine. (sudden realization: hence the headache!)

I already gave away the reason why I'm ready to do this again: Theatre artists ROCK! Every dang one of them. 

Last confession: I didn't spell check this post. 

So, here I sit with coffee and an open spreadsheet I titled, "Fall 2013 24-Hour Fest."

And so it begins...

24-Hour Fest promo video is here!

Sheherezade 13 tickets on sale!

Sheherezade 13

BUY TICKETS.  

$20 in advance online / $25 at the door 

The Killing Jar

I found this amazing photo by ahpook12 Michael Mendez via Mariposa. Check out his Beautiful images.

Also, come see my play Killing Jar June 3, 2013 at Theater 250, 965 Mission St., San Francisco, as part of the Playwrights' Center of San Francsico's Spring Reading Series. Donations at the door.

Cast Photo Released

Chrysomelidae Hide No More

SHEHERAZADE 13
April 12-27
Exit Theater

Featuring: Joey Cherney, Abby Edber, and Karen Offereins. 

Directed by Brady Brophy-Hilton

Photo: Colin Hussey 

Sheherezade 13 is Cast!

Wily West Productions is thrilled to announce the ensemble cast for 

SHEHEREZADE 13

New Plays by Playwrights' Center of SF Playwrights

 

Now in it's 13th year, Sheherezade throws down the gauntlet with an evening of fully produced short plays by PCSF member playwrights performed by a phenomenal ensemble cast.  Always a mix of the irreverent with the poignant, this year's line-up promises to be fun, entertaining, intelligent and occasionally quirky.

 

Featuring :  Diana Brown, Wesley Cayabyab, Joey Cherney, Abigail Edber, Rich Egan, Kate Jones, Karen Offereins, Peter Townley.

 

With plays by:  Beverly Butler, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Mordecai Cohen Ettinger,  Elizabeth Flanagan, Susan Jackson,  Rod McFadden,  Patricia Milton,  Jennifer Lynne Roberts, and Diane Sampson 

 

Laylah Muran,  Producer

Quinn Whitaker,  Producing Director and Lead Design

Directed by Brady Brophy-Hilton, Kat Kneisel, Laylah Muran, and Ann Thomas

Wesley Cayabyab,  Technical Director

The Exit Theatre Main Stage

Thu-Fri-Sat   April 12 through April 27th 2013 8pm 

Tickets sales/links To Be Announced

"Chrysomelidae Hide No More" Gets Produced

Taking a break from reading a couple exciting plays (and revising a scene) to eagerly announce my play, Chrysomelidae Hide No More, is being produced for Sheherezade 13, a joint production between the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco and Wily West Productions!

Sheherezade 13 runs three weekends April 11-27, 2013.  I'll post the link for tickets as soon as I have the information. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the talent lined up for this great showcase:

 

 

 

 

 

After Frank
Written by Patricia Milton
Directed by Laylah Muran

Auto-Incorrect
Written by Bridgette Dutta Portman
Directed by Ann Thomas 

Chrysomelidae Hide No More
Written by Jennifer Lynne Roberts  
Directed by Brady Brophy-Hilton

Indelible
Written by Beverly Butler
Directed by Kat Kneisel

Laura and Curt: A Story of Love and Big Numbers
Written by Rod McFadden
Directed by Brady Brophy-Hilton

Piñata Fight
Written by Elizabeth Flanagan
Directed by Brady Brophy-Hilton

Romulus and Jewel: A 10-Minute Travesty in Five Acts
Written by Diane Sampson
Directed by Kat Kneisel

Say Uncle
Written by Mordecai Cohen Ettinger
Directed by Kat Kneisel

Two to Five with Three Seconds to Go
Written by Susan Jackson
Directed by Laylah Muran

52 Plays. "Portland"

I made a resolution to read a play a week this year. Fifty-two plays. My goal is to create a varied and diverse reading list; get to know a wider range of playwrights and refamiliarize myself with the canon; learn; grow as a writer and critical thinker; enjoy; and, I hope, create a community where plays are shared/suggested (perhaps discussed, but not a required).  I'm not a reviewer and will not 'review' the plays I read throughout the year, but I will list them on my blog and occasionally write my feels about them (or not).

There are no rules except one: read a play a week.  

I begin with Portland by Ruben Carbajal. Portland is a one-act play recently published by Next Stage Press and previous winner of the The 2009 Armstrong Atlantic State University Masquers Coastal Empire One-Act Play Festival. It is the story of Ed, a "young man adrift in life, [who] moves in with his ex-lover. "Ed's awkward encounters as a hotel room-service waiter puncuate the ambigous intimacy with his roomate, as their murky past and true feelings become clear. A spare meditation on the indivisibility of love and loss."

Ambigious; a word I salivate over. Carbajal's play certainly satisfied. Of course, having written my own play that opens with a misbehaving air mattress, I immediately connected to the play with a bit of a metaphorical-wink and nod. But, I also loved the way the playwright slowly revealed Ed's life for us in short scenes and with an economy of language and dialogue that directly mirrors the 'murkiness' of his relationship with Li. I kept wanting to know more, but was never impatient.

In an interview for 31 Plays in 31 Days, Carbajal said he wrote Portland, "while I was at the Millay Colony for the Arts. It came to me all at once, in a dream. It’s a memory piece about a city I lived in, loved, and hadn’t thought about in years.” He talks about how having distance and separation from a place is helpful when writing about it and, I suspect, making sense of it, and that's what I think Carbajal has done to Ed: removed him emotionally (we assume) and physically from Li, then brought him back to that place of familiarity (proximity to Li) to watch how that separation will or will not give clarity to their relationship (past and present).

Feedback

I’ve been thinking about feedback, lately. I’ve been thinking about feedback that's helpful and feedback that’s useless, or meant to stroke the ego of the person giving the feedback.

Recently, I had submitted to a couple places that send evaluations of scripts along with acceptances or rejections. It’s a rare, but wonderful treat and I’m grateful for any organization that can take the time to give each playwright some insight into both their process of evaluating scripts and, exactly, what set yours apart (for better or worse). But I was confused by some of the comments that reflected the reader's personal taste rather than whether the play worked or not.

In fact, I’ve been fielding feedback more and more often that speaks only to the evaluator’s preferences rather than an objective critique of plot, character, and structure. (My personal favorite: “I’ve seen this before.”). The good news is I’m able to parse out the good feedback from the bad. This wasn’t always the case.

There was a time when I would rush off to rewrite my play to satisfy the critic who told me what they wished my play had been instead of honing what is was, what I wanted it to be. No more. If you tell me the stakes aren’t clear, you aren’t sure what the dramatic question is, or you were bogged down by exposition, I’ll respond. If you tell me you don’t like it, I’ll ignore you. You’re not helpful.

The solution is simple, but will take time to cultivate: surround yourself with other artists who you trust, who will be honest (sometimes brutally), and who are skilled in the craft. These people will be your advisors, and you, theirs. I'm fortunate to have filled my network with wonderully talented writers who meet these requirements. So when, on occasion, my play has been exposed to readers (or listeners) who aren't removing personal opinion and can't objectively critique the work in front of them, I can call and conference with them and get a reality check.

"Still Life with Fruit and Lemons" Gets Picked.

In August, I participated in the innaugaral writing event called 31 Plays in 31 Days, where we (you  guessed it) wrote 31 new plays. The founders, writer Rachel Bublitz, and Tracy Held Potter, Executive Director of Play Cafe' and founder of All-Terrain Theater, promised us frenzied, weary, and sleep-deprived playwrights we would be rewarded with the chance to be published in an anthology and participate in an internet staged reading (wave of the future!)

Each playwright who fulfilled the requirements of completing 31 plays in 31 days, was invited to submit one play of any length for consideration.

With the promise of fame and fortune, I submitted a play dealing with "death with dignity." It's a hoot! Okay, not really, but it's something near and dear to me.

Recently, I read an article about a woman with terminal ovarian cancer who made the decision to not do chemotherapy. "The cure is worse than the disease." Of course she said this after it was clear she was terminal and the decision to have some quality of life over a longer, dragged-out battle with cancer was brave and inspiring.

Anyway. Still Life with Fruit and Lemons made it into the anthology and reading. Yay! What excites me most about this, other than being published, etc., is that through this wonderful new way of bringing theater to the masses, my family, some two thousand miles away, will be able to see some of my work. As will you. I hope.

Details and dates for the airing will be announced soon by the good folks at 31 Plays. I'll be sure to keep you posted.