Whose class is it anyway?

Yesterday, the Pikes Peak Writers Conference gave a free preview of their April conference at the Marriott Hotel in Colorado Springs, and I was honored to be one of the instructors selected to teach a class.

My class was titled, "Whose Story Is It Anyway?", a take-off on the popular TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? with writers take the place of the experienced improv stars. In leading the class, I may have sounded more like Harvey Fierstein than my usual self (I was still fighting a cold I picked up in Chicago), but I thought it went well. The writers who volunteered to help me performed at the top of their game, and the sellout crowd ate it all up.

The most popular activity? A version of The Dating Game in which each of the guys played a character from one of their books.

It was a big experiment on my part, and I think it worked. There may not have been any breakthroughs. The participants may not have gained any new insights about their characters. But if it challenged the audience members to think less and write more, if it inspired even one writer to get off their butt and act out their character the next time they have writer's block, then it was worth it.

Here's hoping the full class in April goes even better.

Northern exposure

I was thrilled to see that the talented thespians of Osakis High School in Osakis, MN (Go Silverstreaks!) tied for third place at an area competition with my western comedy Long Tall Lester. Congrats!

And a big kudos to the Osakis Review for mentioning it in print.

Which provides me the perfect opening to plug my play once more. Need something to take to competition? Long Tall Lester is the play you're looking for.

With its small cast and single set, Long Tall Lester is easy to produce, but it packs a ton of action and laughs into that svelte frame. In fact, it's so much fun, the audience (and your cast) won't even know they're getting a lesson on the power of words over weapons.

Want to learn more? Just visit my publisher's website.

The Butler of Oz

Remember my post about The Butler Did It! getting a reading in Australia? Well, they must have liked it because they decided to give it a full production. And director Cassie Bird had some really nice things to say about it in the Cowra Guardian:

"It's a fast-paced show where a lot happens. Everyone who came along was really impressed by it, they thought it was really funny..."

The article doesn't say when the production will run, but I'm thinking it'll be soon.

To read a sample from the play or to order it yourself, please visit my publisher's website.

Break legs, everyone!

Why I Write - Part 2

I don't often hear from people producing my plays, but when I do, the results can melt the frost right off this old heart.

I just received the following email from a special needs teacher in Massachusetts who has been cast in an amateur theatre production of You're Driving Me Crazy. She liked the play so much she decided to have her students read it in the classroom:

To my surprise and delight, a student who had refused to read anything for me (from a book -- "I hate to read. I won't do it.") jumped at the chance to be Kendra, with no qualms about gender.

A shy student then took over for me as Ms. Granville and was hysterical. The 'non-reader' then agreed to read a play in the curriculum anthology! We are on a roll. They all read below grade level, if they can read.

And some of them are great audience members who willingly 'retell' the play etc. ...The class I teach is a self-contained Social-Emotional/Learning Disability classroom, and I am thrilled that we have all enjoyed the experience of your play.

Sincerely,
Nancy Hilliard, M. Ed.

It doesn't get any better than that.

A new resolution

I don't know about you, but I'm a big resolution guy.

I know, I know. Everybody dives into each New Year with high hopes for self-improvement, only to give up two weeks later when that diet or newly purchased gym membership gets pushed aside by the busyness of life.

Keeping to diets and a strict exercise regimen are not a problem for me. And that's becuase of one very simple reason. I don't even try.

Instead, my resolutions revolve around writing. In 2012, I fell way behind in submissions, so for 2013 I vowed that I would submit one play to one contest or theatre company each day of the year.

How did I do? Well, I was absolutely faithful for three months. And when I finally quit midway through April, it wasn't because I got lazy or busy. I simply ran out of submission opportunities. And for the rest of the year, I continued to submit to opportunites as they popped up. As a result, I ended up with a total of 191 submissions for 2013.

Some could look at that and say I failed. But I say that's 191 possibilities for production or publication that I hadn't had before. And that's probably 150 more than if I hadn't made that resolution.

So what is my resolution for this year? Well, I intend to keep submitting. Last year's resolution established a habit that I feel confident I'll continue in this bright new year. But to be honest, it shouldn't be that hard because there just aren't that many opportunities I can submit to.

And that brings me to the main problem that I faced last year. I don't have many opportunities to submit to because I don't have much new material.

It's not because I didn't work hard. I maintained my hour a day writing commitment every day without fail (if I missed a day, I made up for it with an extra hour the next day).

It's just that I struggled to finish anything. And that's largely because every day, I put off my writing until I was plumb exhausted--I often wrote from midnight to 1 am or later--and then I was surprised when my writing wasn't very good.

So this year I'm going to focus on the quality of my writing. I'm going to do my writing first thing when I get home from my day job, when my brain is sharp (no more Facebook until I'm done!). And I'm going to get to bed by midnight so that my brain will be fresh the next day.

I suspect that last one will be the tough one. I'm a night owl, and I love to stay up late surfing the web or watching Marx Brothers movies.

But since the beginning of this year, I've stuck to my new resolution reasonably well, and I already see the payoff in my writing.

That, I trust, will be all the motivation I need to keep going.

Free copies of my 10-minute plays

By popular request, I'm now offering free perusal copies of my 10-minute plays. Please email me if you'd like to receive a PDF file of one or more of the following scripts.

These scripts are free to use in a classroom setting, but a performance fee is required if you produce them on a stage or in competition.

Students are encouraged to use these in competition. Teachers are encouraged to use these in production or for classroom use. In fact, I know of one high school teacher who has been using my plays to teach his students subtext (You're Driving Me Crazy #3 is fairly dripping with it).

The plays include:

You're Driving Me Crazy
Comedy, 5M/8F, 40min
Individual plays: 2M, 1M/5F, 2M/1F and 2F, 10min each

A collection of four 10-minute plays exploring the wacky world of driver's ed class. (Read a sample.)

Fear of Clowns
Comedy/Drama, 2M or 1M/1F or 2F, 10min

A clown seeks help from a psychiatrist for his lifelong fear of people. (Read a sample.)

The Wanderer
Drama, 2M, 10min

A middle-aged businessman seeks an explanation from his father after the old man is arrested for shoplifting. (Read a sample.)

If you like what you read and want to receive a copy of any or all of these plays, just email me your request and I'll send you a PDF. All I ask is that you give me the name of your school and the date and location of any performances.

Playwriting opportunities for young playwrights

One of the most popular parts of my playwriting class at Thescon was my handout listing several playwriting opportunities for high school playwrights and younger. I thought I'd made enough copies for everyone, but then I never expected to get over 60 students between the two classes and the handouts disappeared before you could say "Thespian Playworks". If you'd like to get your own copy, you can print or download it here.

A couple of things to note. First, I've only included opportunities that are open to all students regardless of location. However, some of the best opportunities are local. Do a Google search or talk to theatre folk in your area to find these.

Second, the opportunities I list are specifically designed for young playwrights. But there's nothing stopping you from entering contests for adults. In fact, I've never come across a single contest that said it was only for playwrights age 18 and older. The competition may be tougher in an adult contest, but that may be just what some young people need to hone their craft.

I'll add opportunities as I find them so keep coming back for the latest updates. And please fell free to make copies for any budding Shakespeares or Durangs you know.