Setting My Skirt On Fire! Great Women Telling Stories!

This past weekend was the culmination of the work I have been doing on my script, The Easy Road.  I first wrote the piece in the first annual Play in a Day, 24 Hours Playwriting Contest held at the Edmonton International Fringe in the summer of 2012.  I submitted it that fall to Skirts Afire, a brand new festival celebrating women artists, for Peep Show and was selected to share a 20 minute selection at the inaugural HerArts Festival.  A couple of firsts and I was lucky to be a part of both.  Getting into Peep Show was the start of dramaturgical support from APN with Tracy Carroll and the evolution and growth of The Easy Road. Like any good journey, it wasn't over then.  The script was selected once again to be further dramaturged and presented as a complete piece in a staged reading at this year's Skirts Afire HerArts Festival.  What I got was three fabulous days of workshop with 8 amazing women artists and my script grew by leaps and bounds.  The first day of workshop was way back in January with Tracy Carroll acting as Dramaturge/Director and Stephanie Wolfe, Michele Fleiger, April Banigan, Jenny McKillop and Lora Brovold playing the five women in the script.  This past week Amy DeFelice stepped in for Tracy as Director and Sharla Matkin for Lora and we continued to workshop it and I wrote two drafts and made many, many, many notes to take away for another new draft.  It was wonderful.  I love process and this experience was all about process.  The wisdom of the women I was working with was so valuable.  It was great to have them ask questions of me and of the script so I could go back to it and decide what I needed to be answered.  The reading was a delight - how lucky was I to have such actors who emotionally committed to the journey despite scripts in hand with no set or costumes. I am excited about where I am at with it and where I see it going. 

The next day, I went back to the festival to hear four other women playwright's stories at this year's Peep Show. I saw intriguing pieces by Nicole Moeller, Katherine Koller, Holly Turner and Michele Vance Hehir. It was a great afternoon hearing four distinct voices in the scripts - nothing specifically female - but all completely human.  Some were darker than others, some humorous, some an intriguing mix of dark and light. I thought what I have been thinking a lot lately.  Why aren't more women's scripts on our stages?  Why aren't more women directors working on our professional stages. 

And I decided, I no longer want to be 'happy' with one or two women being allowed to tell their stories.  I like that Skirts Afire is addressing the imbalance.  I love that the audiences were full of women and men. 

Great Big Changes!

This week was a week of big changes for me.  Starting last Tuesday I have been at the Citadel Theatre/Robbins Academy as the new Marketing Administrator.  I was nervous and excited before starting, but feel quite good about it all after this first week. I have been a bit like a detective putting together the tasks involved and procedures, but everything I can see with the job so far seems to fit me very well and I am enjoying the work.  The people are also great and have been extremely friendly, welcoming and helpful.  I am at a high rate of asking questions so I am grateful for their patience.  Hopefully I shall have fewer and fewer questions as my time there goes on.

The biggest shift for me has really had to do with child care. Prior to this job I spent a great deal of my time on the computer actually doing a lot of the same kind of work - emailing, finding information, collating it, waiting for responses... But now, I have to worry about getting my kids places and picking them up on time. So far so good for the first week.  This next week will be more complicated because they are at two different camps, but the ease of the last week makes me optimistic about the upcoming school year.  I am already finding that certain tasks are being structured by the new work schedule and part of me is actually really enjoying that.  I think it is the same part of me that likes being busy.  If I am not busy I tend to waste a lot of time... now I can't do that so I feel far more productive!

Anyhow, I spent a little bit of time this weekend thinking about Fringe.  I will be on a tighter timetable because I won't be able to catch afternoon shows so I am aiming for about 10-15 shows (about half my normal). I think I can get 6 in between Thursday-Saturday.  I dive into the Play in a Day Saturday afternoon until Sunday evening and Monday will be spent at the Theatre Alberta Fundraising Event (stay posted) so the rest of the Fringe will have to wait.  Once I get my hands on a Paper Program I will let you know my sight unseen recommendations (stay posted)!

Holy Hannah! HAIL!

This day felt really long, but not in a bad way.  After all that heat I enjoyed that it was a little cooler today.  It made Acacia Hall a lot more comfortable as I sat through Pushed.  Pushed was a great choice.  I had missed it when it was at Nextfest but thought it sounded intriguing then (a few years ago) so I was happy to fit it in.  Great script and wonderful performances from the two actresses.  It's funny for the first half and then it gets very tense.  It's one of those that you kind of get a shiver after.

And then came the HAIL!  I went to get Oliver first and just as we pulled out of the Saville Parking lot the hail started coming down. Oliver is ridiculously afraid of weather phenomenon (he will get himself worked up enough to throw up - not fun) so I decided to drop him off at the Store with Mark before I got Gibson.  Crazy weather.  Of course, Gibson had not packed a coat so I wrapped him in my pashmina (he looked very funny) and we ran for the van.

I am of two minds about being in sandals - one the one hand it was nice not to be in wet socks, but on the other hand my feet were pretty cold for a while there. If it looks overcast I am wearing the wellies tomorrow!

Met up with Anne Marie for Marked, Trevor Schmidt's new work, and ran into friends Richie and Vero there (nice to see you guys!).  It was very cool.  Mesmerizing.  All I wanted was a bigger click on the ending - maybe with lights or sound, because it remains a mystery so it took us a few seconds to realize that we weren't going to get all the answers.  The mystery itself is cool and the movement combined with the sound design is quite electric and moody.

And then it was time to find out who won the Play in a Day competition.  I knew upon entering the theatre that it was not me as my script has 5 women and the panel of actors were 2 women and 3 men, so I had no anxiousness about the announcement.  The lucky winner was (drum roll please) Julia Seymour, with her play The Passing.  We were then treated to a first ever reading by some fabulous local actors.  It was a really lovely script - excellent dialogue, well defined characters and conflict, and quite touching.  I hope to see it again as it is further developed.  When the winner was announced by Brian Dooley, he indicated that the jury had narrowed it down to three - so like all the playwrights involved have done, I will assume mine was one of the other two scripts (ha ha ha ha ha - oh, the ego needs it!).

I had about an hour and a half to kill before my last show of the day and I ran into former student Mike Robertson and his lovely girl Kelta and we talked of Fringe (what to see, reviews, what not to see), the movie 8 1/2 and Toronto and all sorts of things.  Mike has a show on at Wunderbar called Wut Iz Lyfe? and I have heard good things about it.  Knowing Mike, I am pretty sure it is funny!  Check it out if you have a chance!

I ended the day (see, it was long!) with a hot chocolate and The Wasteland.  Beth Graham is luminous and totally committed.  I, however, still do not get much of the poem.  I didn't when I was in University in the 80s and I pretended to get T.S. Eliot, so it was neat to compare.  There were moments of clarity in sections and some really lovely bits. I felt as though I was stretching my brain and that's a good thing.

Now I am off to bed.  All the theatre going is killing my back and might mean that I cut short tomorrow's theatre adventures (Advil and Tylenol are my friends right now).  However, I did want to share my tremendous news: I found out today, that I won the Vue Weekly Season Contest Grand Prize.  How cool is that?!?!? Click the link and you will see all the fabulous loot I will get.  Mark was actually a little sad that I didn't get runner up because he wanted the Andre Philip Gagnon tickets, but really! I am in heaven on this!

Finished with about 3 Hours to Spare...

There comes a time in the 24 hour playwrighting adventure where I just can't do much more.  I know that I will do more with the script eventually but for now it's a first draft,  it's pretty solid, and it's submitted.  I had time to print it off and proof it.  I had a good time and now I am tired.  I need to shower and I really want a  nap... maybe Mark will take the boys outside or something.

It's back to normal here - Oliver whining about not being allowed to play his DS (Mark made some arbitrary decision - not sure why), and the kitchen is a mess.

Tomorrow I am back at the Fringe for Spring Awakening, Bromance and A Bronte Burlesque.  I'd better rest up!

Over halfway there both in time and writing...

At about 4:30 a.m. I laid down for a nap in Corner Stage.  I got a little over 3 hours worth of not super comfortable sleep, and then was woken up for breakfast.  I feel like we are eating a lot.  No one will starve at this 24 Hour Playwrighting Competition! Yay! And that's good, because when you get past the midpoint you need the food breaks to keep you focused.

After a granola bar and orange juice I washed my face and brushed my teeth and returned to the script.  It's getting closer to completion. I am at the doubting myself stage, where I think that all I am writing are cliches, but when I took that playwrighting course with Nobel Prize winner Derek Wolcott, he said something about Chekhov saying something about everything being a cliche so I think I am good there. I mean, Nobel Prize Winner and Chekhov - how can you go wrong?  Besides, this is the vomit draft - just got to get it on the page!

I hope to get the draft completed by 1 p.m. so I can print it off and read it in hard copy and then edit away like a madwoman.  We have until 6 p.m. to finish.  I feel like I am in good shape!

Taking a Break from Writing... By Writing...

We are in hour 6 of Play in a Day over at the University of Alberta's Media Room.  The event has been calm and quiet with a break for supper just after 9:00 p.m. and several bathroom breaks and FB checks.  I have been productive.  I am on page 16 of my script and it feels kind of cool to be writing a play I had no ideas about until 6 p.m. this evening. I like what I have and I am feeling tired but also feeling like I could go for a few more hours before trying to take a nap. It is nice to have time to write and even better to have time specifically dedicated to that purpose.

There are 12 of us here writing our plays.  We interact at meals - that's nice.  It's obvious that some people know each other.  I will try to learn a few more names at the next break. I have enough sugar to give a small child diabetes so I am in good shape.  I have only had 4 diet cokes... so far...

Anyhow, I will keep plugging along - who knows, maybe I am writing my next Fringe show?

So Do You Have a Fringe Show?

I have been asked this upwards of 50 times last month and it is kind of making me wish I did.  Let's hope I get in next year after taking a year off!  I do have some connections to the Fringe this year...

I am doing this:

FRINGE ARTIST'S FORUMS

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 8:30 – 9:30 PM
A FRINGE TOO FAR? WHAT RISKS DO WE REALLY TAKE?
Join local playwrights as they probe questions about the size and scope of the risks they take in their Fringe work. Should new works at the Fringe strive to take risks that may not be possible in a regular theatre season? Should a playwright go ‘to the edge’ at the Fringe, or does too much “fringy-ness” turn away audiences?
MODERATOR: Eric Rice (President, Walterdale Playhouse)
PANELISTS: Marty Chan (author of the 2011 Fringe hit Mothership Down), Kristen Finlay (author of the 2011 Fringe hit Pieces), Nicole Schafenacker (co-author of the 2012 Nextfest play Double Occultation), Jon Lachlan Stewart (co-founder of Surreal SoReal Theatre)

This will be very cool to participate in.  I feel like a bit of a safe-bunny compared to the other panelists, but I think I have a perspective not only as a playwright, but as a director and as an audience member with regards to how far a show should go?   I am also doing this:

PLAY IN A DAY Thursday, August 23, 2012 8:30 – 9:30 PM
ADMISSION: Free
LOCATION: PCL Studio at the TransAlta Arts Barns
10330 – 84 Ave. (south end of the Arts Barns) [map]
24 hours. One play. One winner. Play in a Day is a 24-hour playwriting competition that aims not only to crown a victorious writer at the end of a highly-caffeinated process, but also to see the work created in that short period, evolve and develop into something more. The winner of this competition will be announced and the play will be read.

I am participating in the competition, in any case.  While it would be nice to win, I will be thrilled just to get the words on the page.  That's the hardest part for me! There are too many distractions in my life for me to write as much as I would like but an event dedicated to getting 'er done will help!

I also was lucky enough to be brought on-board to Dramaturge the following show for a wonderful group of performers.  I worked with three of them before (all separately) and it was nice to meet the fourth.  This project was a nice application of my skills.  When three people come together to construct a script, it is good to have that outside eye and ear to get a sense of the shape of the piece. This one you can catch at the Fringe!

The Colander Gals at the Edmonton Fringe Festival!

BYOV Venue #29: Trinity Lutheran Church 10014 – 81 Avenue

(NOT to be confused with Holy Trinity, a DIFFERENT Fringe venue!)

SHOW DATES AND TIMES: (the show runs 90minutes)

Thursday Aug 16 @ 8pm

Friday Aug 17 @ 8pm

Saturday Aug 18 @ 5pm

Sunday Aug 19 @ 4pm

Monday Aug 20 @ 6pm

Tuesday Aug 21 @ 8pm

Wednesday Aug 22 @ 7pm

Thursday Aug 23 @ 8pm

Friday Aug 24 @ 8:30pm

Saturday Aug 25 @ 6pm

Sunday Aug 26 @ 2pm

Set in the 1950s, The Colander Gals uses the AWI (Alberta Women’s Institute) as a vehicle for telling the fictional story of four rural women from central Alberta. The women come together as acquaintances to put on a musical variety show as a fundraiser for their community. Through the course of the play and its accompanying songs, we get snapshots of the lives of these women and the challenges, laughs and sisterhood that turn them into dear friends.

The Colander Gals is a NEW collective creation by the "Gals" of Shine On Productions (the folks who brought you the '90s Fringe hit WHATEVER LOLA WANTS) and features Hansi Klemm, Julie Sinclair, Mary Stevenson and Gail Olmstead (Music Director) with dramaturgy by Kristen M. Finlay. Janine Hodder is our fabulous photographer. Trinity Lutheran will be also be selling refreshments starting 1-hour prior to the show.

So, I guess with all this, I could say that I am doing something for the Fringe this year!