So I'm writing this with a brace on my wrist because I'm a fool who uses his phone too much. However, in spite of a bad case of phone thumb, I have been writing a good bit outside of this blog. I finally added a scene to a play that I started writing 3 years ago and I feel like I've really rounded the play out. The play is called Tiles and it's as abstract as my work gets (you can find a sample of it on my New Play Exchange profile, along with all my other plays that I've determined to be relatively fit for public consumption). I'm very interested in hearing feedback about it because times have definitely changed since I began writing it, so if you're interested in reading the whole thing, just let me know! Here are some questions that I have about it:
What resonates with you about this play?
What are you left wanting more of after reading this play?
What images stick with you after reading this play?
What, if any, contemporary social issues came to mind while reading this play?
Me getting feedback from Adam Bock and Donna DiNovelli on my play Blueberries at NTI as seen in Broadway World (My first, and only photographic, appearance!)
I really want to talk about the New Play Exchange (NPX) but I feel like I have to talk more about the process of how I wrote this play. I wrote it in my final weeks at the National Theatre Institute (NTI) at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre after a semester of intense artistic development. NTI was the first time that I had any of my creative writing presented in front of any group. The students and faculty at NTI gave me some of the best feedback I had ever received. I wrote this play after an intense brainstorm session with other student playwrights who came up with tons of fragmented ideas. They all, eventually left the group and I was left alone in an internet-less room with days to write and write and write--this is still my favorite condition to write. I ended up presenting the first few scenes (which are now the second though fourth scenes) to my classmates as a solo-performance piece. After these performances, I wasn't sure how finished it was and I didn't know what to do with it. Until now.
NPX - Join it (if you like to write and read plays)
Now I'll talk about NPX. I've heard of playwrights who have real successes on NPX, but I can't claim to be one. Nevertheless, it makes me feel like a real playwright--I escape impostor syndrome every time I upload a new play there. My play joins a group of plays that are accessible to other playwrights and basically every director and literary manager that is interested in producing new work. It's only $10/year, so if you're a person who writes plays, wants to read and produce new plays, and can afford this price, you should definitely join.
Now, I know I said that I would write more about my experience doing production photos, but I can only write so much with my hand as it is. I promise I'll write more about it soon. I'm also actively pursuing doing more production photography, so you or anyone you know has a production that needs a photographer, let me know!