I Will Be Unleashed

Writing in Laundromats

This year the wife and I will finally purchase a washer and dryer. I'm not too sure why we haven't done this yet. It just hasn't been a priority. But our time has become very dear, and carving out that hour to run around the corner and do a few loads has become difficult.

I will say this for laundromats: They're good for writing. Waiting for clothes to wash and dry is like watching paint dry. Not a whole lot else to do. Plus, I have access to uncluttered horizontal space, perfect for laying out my plot cards:


Above you see my latest endeavor, Pin-Up Girls, in progress. Note the copious plot holes. These blank spots get filled with blank index cards which shall be filled in in time. At this stage in the process, I have the major story beats (or plot points, if you prefer) figured out. Spreading out the cards in this way is my way of determining the pacing of the play.

What gear do I need for plot carding at a laundromat? Take a look:


Clockwise, from top center: my stack of plot cards, a cup of coffee, a plastic index card case, ink pen, my discard pile, a list of my characters written on an index card, and my 'secret weapon.' Let's take a closer look at that last one:


My 'secret weapon.' Two cards, taped together: On the top card is the three-act paradigm as defined by Syd Field in Screenplay. On bottom is "the hero's character arc" as defined by Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. (I have since added a third card with the archetypes as given by Vogler.)

I'm not slavishly devoted to these models, but I do recognize their worth when plotting a play or screenplay. If I find myself stuck, not knowing where to go next, or what to put into one of those plot holes you saw in the first picture, I refer to my 'secret weapon.' At the very least, it points out the way to go. These models are very good maps. (And I understand that the map is not the territory.)

And now a word from the President (pro tem) ...

Back in January, Pamela and I got together with a small group of our friends, and discussed the possibility of forming a new theatre company. This discussion (at a Denny's, no less) was the culmination of many private conversations that had been taking place over the preceding months.

I am proud to announce the formation of our company:

THEATRE UNLEASHED

I have been entrusted by my fellows with the responsibility of serving as President, pro tem of the Board of Directors (hence the photo of gravitas-exuding-Executive Drew at the top of this blog entry.)

Our Mission Statement:

At its core, the mission of Theatre Unleashed is simple: to work together as one, passionately and professionally, in creating truly remarkable theatre. Theatre Unleashed celebrates the creative collaboration process by encouraging its members to explore fresh, edgy, thought-provoking approaches to both original works and established shows. Theatre Unleashed will experiment with various forms of multimedia to heighten the entertainment experience while staying true to the playwright’s words, characters and thematic intent. Story-telling will always be the driving force behind any Theatre Unleashed production as the company pledges to always push its artistic boundaries, striving to reach that emotional resonance with our audience that only live theatre can create.

We are in the (very) formative stages at this point, filing our paperwork and raising our funds. We have a season scheduled, and we have some very exciting things in store. But more about that in the coming weeks! In the meantime, I invite you the reader to visit our MySpace page and befriend us.

It's going to be a wild ride. I'm just happy to be here!

Bertolt Brecht: Sympathy for Der Teufel

[NOTE: Much like my earlier blog on Antonin Artaud, the following is a work-in-progress; an airing out of some notes I've kept and thoughts I've thunk. I'm very interested in any feedback from the two or three people who occasionally (accidentally?) find their way to this blog each week.]


An aspect of my original collegiate experience that I did not fully appreciate at the time was the discipline of scholarship: the necessity of researching a subject, digging deep, drawing conclusions and writing up the findings. I wrote a number of papers, most of them cranked out at the last possible moment and hardly deserving of the grades I typically received.

The necessity of doing scholarly work (e.g.: for a grade,) the pressure of a looming deadline and the demand for good and honest research -- these things taken together I place under the heading of "Discipline of Scholarship."

Last year I did a bit of research on Brecht, and I found it -- god help me -- fun.

I revisted Brecht to both reacquaint myself with his "epic theatre" techniques and to fill in the holes in my education. I feared this would be a dry, boring subject. I hated reading his plays in my college days. I was delighted to discover I was wrong. In compiling my reading list, and in addition to the famous bio by Martin Esslin, and a collection of Brecht's own writings entitled, rather succinctly, Brecht on Theatre, I discovered a wonderful little book by Ronald Gray simply titled Bertolt Brecht (1961, Grove Press.) This paperback is part of a "new series ... planned to meet the need for inexpensive, up-to-date and readable introductions to the work of modern American, English and European writers." It's a 114 page summary of Brecht's life and work with an ample survey of "the best published criticism."

It was a very instructive read. One of the things I never liked about Brecht, and perhaps the main block keeping me from an appreciation of his plays, has been his dedication to communism. I find it interesting to learn that Brecht served as a medical orderly in WW I, and in the post-war years aligned himself with the only overtly pacifistic group in Germany at the time, the Communist Party. Later in life, he was highly critical of the communist power structures in the Soviet Union and East Germany.

V-effect and the "Little Organon for the Theatre"

Gray gives us an excellent chapter on Brecht's "Theories and Implications." This chapter quotes Brecht extensively, particularly from his "Little Organon for the Theatre," a sort of manifesto he wrote in 1948. In it Brecht states that the theatre is a place where the Laborer might "enjoy his terrible and never-ending labors as entertainment, together with the terrors of his ceaseless transformation."

"The easiest form of existence is in art," he says.

"Once the world is presented as strange, it must also arouse in the spectator the desire to alter it." And here we come to the dreaded verfremdungseffekt, or "V-effect" for short. Two things I know about V-effect from college: It's always italicized when spelled out in the original German, and no one knows exactly what it means. It is often translated at "the estrangement effect" or "alienation" but we're told that these are not exact translations. Babel Fish translates it to mean "foreign effect."

Here's a novel idea: let's read Brecht's explanation:

The estrangement effect occurs when the thing to be understood, the thing to which attention is to be drawn, is changed from an ordinary, well-known, immediately present thing into a particular, striking, unexpected thing. In a certain sense the self-evident is made incomprehensible, although this only happens in order to make it all the more comprehensible.

To me, this means providing an audience with the opportunity to view life or some aspect of it with "new eyes." By having soldiers carry spoons and forks instead of guns, we may alienate an audience. Perhaps as a result this audience will see the soldiers as if for the first time, and come away with a new viewpoint, maybe something like "soldiers gotta eat."

And so I come to the end of my Brecht notes. I haven't returned to the subject in some time (I've kind of been busy,) but I hope to finish reading Esslin's bio and Brecht on Theatre. I am intrigued by the idea of doing a Brecht play in true Brechtian fashion, as soon as I can figure out what that is!

How to Use Wikipedia and Google as Research Tools

Looking over some old posts here, I ran across "How To Pretend You're an Expert." There's something I feel I should put a finer point on:

HOW TO USE WIKIPEDIA AND GOOGLE AS RESEARCH TOOLS

Wikipedia is a really nifty idea. A really nifty idea that gets abused by crackpots with an axe to grind. You have to take just about everything you read there with a grain of salt. (Depending on the subject matter, sometimes a salt shaker should be keep close at hand.)



When reading through a Wikipedia article, take note of proper nouns: places, people, things. Take note of the external links they sometimes provide at the end of articles. Follow hypertext trains of thought.

When attacking a subject with Google, specify your search with those proper nouns you took note of in Wikipedia.

The Wikipedia article on Evel Knievel turns up the name "Doug Malewicki". Googling the two names together takes me to a website of Malewicki's patents and engineering concepts. This may lead to speculating on Evel Knievel's (fictional) role as a Batman-esque superhero, utilizing devices invented by his Lucius Fox-esque gadget man, Doug Malewicki. Like that time Evel used Robosaurus to defeat communism. This is a crappy example, but perhaps you get the idea.

The idea is to ferret out the cubby holes of knowledge and camp out there.

Juana - Tolucan Times Review

The Tolucan Times review is online!

http://tolucantimes.com/index.php?news=2675

Juana Reviews

The LA Times review showed up online today. You can find it here. (You'll have to scroll down to locate it.)

Their fellow performers wrestle with the tricky requirements of acting through their own bunraku-style puppets, director Andrew Moore's device relating to the human monsters that inhabit Juana's dark universe. It's an intriguing approach, but one that calls for considerable refinement, as does Moore's realization of the play overall.

Not an unfair statement at all. Juana is a very ambitious production, and no doubt an extra week or two of rehearsal, as well as another grand or so in the budget would have yielded more polished results. The lesson I take from this is that I didn't go far enough with the minimalism. As a theatre maker, I believe in exploiting weaknesses, and turning them into assets. I could have gone much further.

I am happy that the Times reviewer got what we were trying to do with the puppets. That pleases me.

The Tolucan Times review hasn't yet shown up online, which is a damn shame. It's a great review!

Thoughtfully conceived by director Andrew Moore, the play employs puppets as metaphors for how others manipulated and controlled Juana's life.

Go Team Metaphor!

The Backstage West reviewer didn't seem to appreciate ... well, anything:

But director Andrew Moore has made so many unfortunate choices and has been saddled with so many unhelpful circumstances, the story of the betrayal of Juana ... over 30 years by her father, husband, and son feels exhausting.

I take that back. He raves about the very talented Phillip Kelly, as well he should.

So there you have it. Three reviews from three publications, reflecting three very different takes on our humble little production.

I remain very proud of my actors, designers and tech staff. I am deeply thankful to have had the opportunity to work with the wonderful Erin Scott, my stage manager, a complete professional in every sense of the word. She was a godsend. And I would be completely remiss if I didn't also publicly acknowledge Colleen Reilly, the true artistic producer of this play, whose tireless dedication kept me going. Write Act Rep is a great place to make theatre, no doubt about it.

So, that pretty much raps things up. The show closes on December 15th, and there will no doubt be a post-mortem at that time. For now, in the words of Dave Grohl, "done, I'm done, and I'm on to the next one."