A New Play?

My friend Cory and I saw a production of Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby last night. It was a good production. Well-acted. Strange. Fun. We left the theatre scratching our heads a bit. And as I was driving home, thinking about what I had just seen, I couldn't remember the last time a play left me scratching my head in a good way. We have such a move towards clarity and unambiguousness in writing that I don't find myself challenged that often in the theatre. And the theatre used to be the place where that happened.

Even my plays, which are provocative and loud sometimes, aren't intentionally or even skillfully ambiguous. That said, I don't watch a lot of stuff that's really that exciting or stays with me for very long. Plays have become Chinese food. As a professor of TV and Film writing, I have to encourage my students to write scripts that announce who they are right away. I wrote a play this year that announces what it is right away. I don't think it's a TV script. But I wanted the audience to have a sense of what it was getting itself into.

I'm getting ready to start a new play - maybe within the hour, even. I thought I didn't have any ideas left and then an idea popped into my head a month ago. Or I was reminded of an idea that I have and that popped into my head. And here's the thing, since next year's supposed to the The Year of TV (which I pronounced in the last blog post), then maybe I should get to serious work on this play in the next two months.

I'm a member of a theatre company now - that happened this year. So if I want something heard out loud, I can go to our monthly writers group meetings and have something read out loud. And if I want to hear the play once it's finished, I can plan a reading and then later on a workshop of that play. This is the first time I'm writing a play (outside of grad school) and not thinking about how to get it read. I'm able to take more risks. And the risk I'm taking this time is a play in real time with four characters in a single space. HA! I guess that's new for me, therefore it feels real risky.

I don't remember the last time a play really inspired me to write something. Well, I did have that experience last year. But I don't remember the last time a play inspired me to write something not at all related to the play I just saw. Or in the same style. It was more of a call to arms last night that good plays need to be written. That seemed exciting to me. And I'm kind of digging the thought of spending the next two months working on a new play. And then spending February next year working on the rewrite. That actually could be pretty damn cool. I'm a fan of that idea.

My intention is growth.
My intention is knowledge.
My intention is productivity.
My intention is paid work.
My intention is excitement.
My intention is inspiration.

I am grateful for every job I've had this year.