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April 19, 2009

There are words and then there are words with meaning.

I wrote a play.

I'd never written a play but, for some reason, had often thought that I'd like to try it. I guess there are a lot of people out there who want to, one day, write a novel, so why not a play? If not for Nakai Theatre's 24-Hour Playwriting Competition, I would still be in that position.

The competition gives existing and wannabe playwrights a chance to churn out a play within 24 hours. Each playwright or playwriting team is given a hotel room where they work on their masterpiece. There are the occasional optional breaks (I tried yoga and I liked it!) but the rest of the time it's write, write, write! At the end of the 24 hours, all of the playwrights hand in their play to be judged. There are prizes for the best plays, but I have no idea what the prizes are. There are even prizes for the best use of an optional line and, this year, the best appearance by a bear in a play. I included both.

I'm under no illusions; I don't think I'm going to win anything, and I'm OK with that. There were experienced playwrights there who probably wrote thought-provoking social commentary with engaging characters and phenomenal plot twists or something like that. I really didn't know what I was doing. The last time I even read a play was in high school and that was Shakespeare. It doesn't matter because now I can say that I've written a play! One more thing on my life's "To Do" list that I can proudly check off!

The whole thing doesn't really end with the handing-in of the play, though. On May 9th, there is a Cabaret where each of the playwrights picks five minutes of material from their play and has someone act it out - so, not only do we get to try our hands at playwriting, we get to be directors, too! 

Now I just need to cast the part of a skinny, geeky, teenaged boy, his best friend, and a cop...

Although I smithed many words over the weekend, the absolute best - the ones that had the most impact on me - were "Don't want it the bear!" Those words had nothing to do with my play; they were spoken (whined, really) by Jade - her first-ever five word sentence!!! We're really seeing her language process again.  What's more, in spite of her cold and her gushing nose, we haven't seen any seizures in the past two days. While we have no doubt there are still sub-clinical seizures happening, this is a very, very good sign. Woohoo!!!

3 comments:

Every Photo Tells A Story said...

Wonderful news about Jade speaking her first five word sentence!!!!
I have a feeling with the genes you and Fawn have handed down to her, she'll be a lively "communicator."

P.S. I have a feeling, as well, that your play will be full of wit AND humour:)

Every Photo Tells A Story said...

I just had a funny thought. I hope the word Mushy Poo(TM) isn't included in your dialogue:D

Meandering Michael said...

The optional words were "you do that every spring" so I'll leave it to you to deduce...