I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours... but make it good

Ah, NYC Theater you tickle me you old Slag.

Having to see your friends in shows is part of a deal you strike when you enter into this world of make believe. I'll show you mine if you show me yours kind of a thing. But what happens when it's a bad show?

Well it happens.... a lot... and after a while it's like how are these plays getting put on? But they do and sometimes it's your own. That's when it becomes really awkward to run into someone you know seeing a mutual friends show. This person you run into has seen your last production and thought it was the worst thing they had seen in years. Well... so of course you hope this show you are about to see, sitting side by side, is more horrific than the thing you put on last.... and guess what... it was... okay you caught me... this wasn't a scenario of what ifs... it was a real - true life situation.

The funny bit about the night was him telling me of his having to tell his friend (an actor) about the interesting space he had performed in... in order to avoid saying the show was a piece of crap...but he was talking about my show! And saying this to my actor! GT and I weren't sure if he realized it. I mean my show wasn't that bad but just that one performance he saw. The actors weren't into it, lines were dropped and the audience... all four of them were giving them nothing... so yes that night it wasn't what it should have been but if this guy had come to the weekend performance - like you always should - he would have seen a very different show! A really good one in fact with an actual audience giving the actors some mojo to pump it up a notch. But I doubt that was the case with the show we were watching right then - side by side - judging our friend for just wanting to work. Not caring if it was worth it. I don't think it would have mattered what kind of audience this show had - it just didn't work...

But it's getting to the point where I haven't seen many good shows lately and I wonder why is that? We love theater... all of us who do it... that's clear... but does our enthusiasm for "hey look at me" get in the way of putting on good art? Or good entertainment? We just want something - anything up and running rather than just sit and wait for the right thing to maybe come along... I don't know... I do it too. You take opportunities when they come because you're scared another won't. But... maybe it's time to start thinking about the audience... money is tight... this leads me to the question as a playwright what is it people want to see? And how do I do it so they enjoy it... see with every bad show you see comes important lessons of what not to do... or if it's your show - what not to do again...

Copy Cat

Of course... recently three plays that are on stage in NY and London strongly resemble three plays I've published or am currently working on. I should be happy to know I am writing relevant plays (which is one way to look at it) or I can be bitter knowing that now if anyone reads my plays they will compare them to these other shows. They'll think 'how cute she can't be original so she took a used plot and made it worse...' I'm not a name and I don't have an agent and I'm still pretty young - so how could I compare?

I was innocently eating my breakfast while watching the show On Stage where they did a review of Chasing Manet, a new comedy at Primary Stages by Tina Howe.
Synopsis:
Inside the confining walls of Mount Airy Nursing Home, a rebellious painter from a distinguished Boston family and an ebullient Jewish woman form an unlikely bond and plot an escape to Paris aboard the QE2. Can they possibly pull it off amidst the chaos of their surroundings?

GT and I saw this and he like ''hey look it's Bedpan Palace.'' Which is my comedy about the Sagging Willow Nursing Home where a rebellious elderly Jewish woman named Rose, who was forced to live there makes an unlikely bond with two other women and they plot to escape. This was the first full length play I've ever written at age 22. It's been done in Brooklyn and I published it in 2007. - But no one wants to do it. I sent a query everywhere and got responses back like 'we don't have old actors. ' I'm thinking so what? Can't you make them look and act old? That is not out of the realm of possibilities for an actor to do... to act! But after so many rejections, any no one wanting to even read it, I moved on. What did I move on too?

My thesis play which I am still writing is due next week. But the problem now is Neil LaBute has beaten me too it! His play Wrecks about "Edward Carr, a cigarette-sucking businessman with a passion for vintage automobiles and the woman he loved, are unfolded in conversational stream of consciousness as he stands by his wife’s coffin." - BEN BRANTLEY.
Okay, well the story isn't really the same but my play is S.C.R.A.P.S. about three Jewish siblings in 1948 who inherit their fathers failing scrap yard. But there is a cloud of mystery surrounding their fathers death, and his involvement with a wealthy Christan woman in town. It all takes place on the scrap yard. So it's close but not too close... just the title is similar.

Then the third play is an original rock musical I am writing with GT. It's called Jail Bait. About three under age friends who sneak into a club to catch their favorite rock band - but the lead singer, who was a child sensation, now older, is over the idea of fame and is on a path of self destruction. Now add the usual groupies, over jealous girlfriends, greedy promoter and fame driven musicians - who populate the club seen - you have what will be my rock musical. But then I was reading Playbill.com like I do every morning and I saw and add for a show called... what else? Jailbait! It's a play (not musical) by Deirdre O’Connor - who is part of the Cherry Lane mentor project (which I really want to be apart of.) Her play centers around:
"The story of two fifteen year old girls who spend a night at a Boston club posing as college students. When the girls cross paths with two thirty-something men they must decide how far they are willing to go while playing at adulthood."

It's just like... these are what I have and someone has done them first... probably better or whatever. It's so frustrating as a younger playwright because no one will really give my scripts consideration like they do with represented playwrights or ones form Brown, Julliard, NYU, Columbia. If you don't have that ivy backing you then you can't really be any good... is what it sometimes feels like... but being bitter won't get me anywhere... so I'll just keep writing. (And I plan to apply to Juilliard next year...)

I probably will see or read these three plays that resemble mine so I can learn from them. What did they do that I didn't in telling my story? How did they structure it? What characters did they introduce that I didn't or did and how did they write them differently? Playwriting should never be a competitive sport. It's a craft. All you can do is learn, make mistakes and hopefully grow. Also, something to remember - just because you may have the same title, theme or premise - what makes a play original is the authors voice. No two people will ever see anything exactly the same. So I better get back to it... because in the end I'm the only one standing in my way... (oh this is too schmaltzy... I think I need a coffee first..)

Socially Awkward

I'm a new member of the Old Vic New Voices New York Network, which is comprised of aspiring/emerging actors, directors and writers. They have a branch in London made up of the same type of people but 25 years old and younger. It’s a network club started by the Old Vic Theater. When I was in London I was 25 years old but didn’t get involved, so when I came back to New York I saw they have a New York branch that goes up to 30 years old. So of course I was all over it. I’m thinking I may be too enthusiastic about it. Sometimes that can make for a bad first impression.

So far I’ve been to two events. One was at William Morris with agent Cara Stein talking about what it means to be a good client and how to work/deal with agents. The second one was last night at Theater Row where they assembled a panel of Artistic Director's; Robert Ross Parker of Vampire Cowboys, Maria Striar of Clubbed Thumb, Lucy Thurber - Playwright of 13P, Christian Parker of The Atlantic Theater and The Old Vic’s Artistic Director Mr. Kevin Spacey himself! At both these events I just made it in before they started and noted the packed rooms. I should get there earlier so I get to mingle a bit and perhaps talk to the speakers before hand, not to mention getting a seat right up front would be nice! But this hasn’t been the case.

On last nights event the talk ranged from how they started their companies and the difficulties in maintaining a smaller theater company. Well, for Christian Parker who was moderating the talk his theater is in the opposite end. They are pushing to make it over their normal budget. But then again the Atlantic Theater doesn’t accept unsolicited scripts so it was interesting to hear the differences between them and lets say Clubbed Thumb that does accept. Maria admitted she reads up to page 20 if the script isn’t very good. That’s actually very nice of her. I usually give to page ten when I work as a reader. But there wasn’t a lot of insight into how a theater selects their plays because that’s not what this talk was about.

This was a workshop billed as “FORGING CONNECTIONS, BUILDING COMPANIES”. Most of the conversation was around their personal experiences, I noticed Lucy Thurber had a lot to say, which I found interesting as a playwright. At 13p they plan to dispend after all 13 playwrights put up their shows. Her show is up this time, so she is acting as artistic director. They take turns. Which is an interesting way to work a production company. I was surprised they have a $35,000 budget because recently I saw a community theater production of the Producers, which had $45,000, which is huge for Community Theater, but I remember thinking besides the orchestra where did they spend it? Ah location, location, location. It’s where most of the money runs away to.

But any who when questions were opened up to us members they got to the topic of building a relationship with companies. One over eager actress asked Robert of Vampire Cowboys why he hadn’t responded to the headshot she sent in. Which gave us all an uncomfortable laugh. For the most part Robert and Kevin Spacey had been on the quiet side but this opened them up. Robert admitted he probably got it and filed it, but then when it comes time to holding auditions they never really look in the file. Kevin said he gets a lot of résumé’s and headshots but he hates when people scribble come see me in X show and it's obvious they sent it to hundreds of people. He responds to letters that are personal and directed to him or the Old Vic. Mari chimed in that she feels the same way but towards script submissions. Which I made a mental note of. Try and see a production at the theater you want to court first, then think of it as a first date, after the show send a short note with something positive to say, just as an introduction to yourself. Maybe don’t sell your wares just yet, as you don’t want to come on too strong. Then when you got something to show them drop a polite note like Kevin said. Ideally if you see the show and think ‘what the fuck was that’, don’t peruse the company. You wouldn’t if you were on a date with someone that you just didn’t click with. I’m starting to see the connection. Which is bad because I’m really not good with first impressions or dates. Luckily, I have a boyfriend GT I live with and I don’t have to worry about the dating end of this but for networking as a playwright / director it’s all about the peacocking! (For GT and I we met in a play playing romantic leads so all the normal dating stuff didn’t really apply as it was done for s on stage.)

After the talk they had free drinks in the lobby for us. This is the part I was talking about, the part I don’t do well with. I leave first and go to the lobby, a few people by the bar. Okay, off to the bathroom to waste time as it fills in. I come out and boy did it fill in. I don’t know anyone in this group yet - but they all know each other or a few people here and there. I spot one of the people who made an announcement about looking for a director and approached her to ask a question. Of course bad timing because she was clocking Kevin to get a hello in. So she brushed me off quickly. She gave me the email address but too fast. Having learning disabilities isn’t good in a professional setting because I can’t get it when you throw it out at me; I need you to say each letter slowly. Frustrated she gave me the email several times. Great, now I look like an ass, and who wants a director who can’t even get an email address down? Well off to the bar for a free drink. I look around trying to make eye contact. Not much luck. I hear someone talking about a play that’s similar to my thesis play, well same decade anyway, but I didn’t know how to join in, nor did I want to be that creepy girl who just lingers over a conversation and then chimes in now and then. Instead I was creepy girl with a drink standing alone to the side and when I saw Maria from Clubbed Thumb I nearly pounced on her. “Do you have more of those comps?” I ask. She looked at me sideways. “I don’t have comps, I have these flyers.” The word she used made it sound a like a comp in the talk. “Oh right, sorry, yea that’s it.” She gives it to me and I try horribly to strike up a conversation but actually ended up insulting her. She pointed to the new playwrights on the flyer and said they were from Brown University and NYU, which is like the story of my life! So, I made a face. She tells me she went to Brown so it’s not unusual to have playwrights who went there too at her company. I didn’t mean to insult her - it’s just everywhere I look young playwrights getting done are all from Brown, NYU, Julliard, Columbia or whatever and I’m not. My school is in London and no one from it is in New York so those connections I made last year aren’t doing me any good here. Of course by now she sees someone she knows and off she goes.

Here I am in a room full of people who all share my same passion and I can’t talk to them. I think what I need is a workshop in socializing. I’ve never been good at it. It’s why I write. Keep me behind the page while others can get looked at. Oh well, at least I got a free drink. But I didn’t talk to Kevin Spacey who was standing in front of me! Now maybe if this was a play and not a real social event I’d have made friends because we’d all have a task to do and some how that brings people together…. Well I chugged my plastic glass of red wine and bolted. I left a little drunk sitting on the train thinking you idiot!