August 14 Still writing. Have gone back over earlier areas and tweaked and trimmed off the fat, 'killed my darlings' as the saying goes, so lost a few pages - but gained in quality. The back story of the world in which the story unfolds is brimming absurdly with facts and I've had to move much of the 'narrative history' off to the side, perhaps to end up as bizarre and appalling Appendices.
Not sure where all this is coming from, but clearly its a story that wants to be told, and if I don't do it, nobody will.
Things I've learned? Writing prose is like 'making movies' - and should the day come when I'm done with this (been writing it after all, for a MONTH, for Thor's sake! Never taken this long to write any other film scripts or plays), I have a couple of plays to quickly put down on paper, as they've been nipping at my ankles like rabid puppies. Thereafter, I'm eying another story which I think could be deliciously fun in a book form.
As a long-time, devout film geek of huge proportions, its dawning on me that the best movies are projected between the ears of readers.
Received potentially productive news from Europe, on the plays front - but more of that another time.
And yes, you're right, if I happen to say 'Gee, I should get around to putting up photographs' once more, you'd be entitled to throw things at me. That said, there're some cute pix from the recent staging of 'A Dead Soldier in the Family' down in Florida, which are so fun in an odd way, that they might finally motivate me to getting the growing collection of photographs of my staged work up online. (Thanks again to Chuck Dent, and the Playwrights Round Table, who turned my cheerfully grotesque little play, into reality).
Right now, I hear my own private Narnia calling me. So until the next time...
August 6. Now 100 pages into the book. I don't know how other people write, but for me, to be writing continuously for about three weeks, and only have a hundred or so pages, is rather irksome. Its been an interesting learning curve, mostly about punctuation and sentence construction, and I'm definitely learning some skills at placing material down in a proper format and style so as to best communicate my story. Its a pity that I have to pause on the plays front for a while, but the important thing is to both improve my prose writing skills, and be done with this epic saga.
From doing some calculation, I'm getting the cheerfully frightening idea that the overall first installment of this story could well reach as much as 1300 pages. And that, as I said, is merely part one of a much larger Tale.
Having a lot of fun with writing it, and to me that's a good sign. I've got enough to send to the Agent, and to convey the style, breadth and scope of the work. Just needing lots of revision, tweaking, and editing, to trim off the fat - something I'm discovering that appears to be part and parcel of prose-writing. I find that plays generally are much easier to write, and I can pour them out as first drafts, and they're ready to roll. Prose on the other hand, is the fabled horse of a different color.
My influences? In no particular order:
Enid Blyton, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Arthur Machen, HP Lovecraft, Dean Koontz, Umberto Ecco, Terry Pratchett, EP Thompson (The Sykoas Papers)... on and on, the eclectic list continues.
Until the next time, as my own private Narnia unfolds.
July 13 It never rains, it pours. Got word from Agent (did I mention I've got an Agent? - He's kindly pushing on my two feature film scripts, over on the West coast) - anyhow, the end result is that I've hit the brakes on this new play I'm writing, and instead - have switched to prose fiction. Oh the humanity!
A long time ago, I imagined a vast sprawling epic story - but never really sat down to methodically write it out in its entirety, beyond a few opening chapters. Instead, I first came up with a play, and then a film script, covering the opening segments of the story. (The film-script version is what made the Agent suggest I write the first book.)
Its daunting but the journey of a thousand miles begins etc etc.
Thus, I'm in the opening stages of finally trying to put one of my imagined worlds on paper, in prose form.
I was lucky enough to be in touch with Terry Pratchett once (long story, but he came to South Africa, once upon a time) and got the simplest and best writing advice ever from him. However, given that I'm now insanely busy writing, and yet still (like Dame Edna) manage to enjoy and find cheerfulness in other peoples frustration, I'm not going to tell you what he said...
June 24 Got a 'we want to stage your Dogs play next year' mail from a Theatre company. Not wanting to jinx anything, that's all you're getting from me about this, for now. Still, am rather pleased - it was nice news to get, given that I was fresh arrived from the dentist, and painkiller-crazed after much gory dentistry. (I'll miss that tooth.)
As it never rains it pours, the UK folks kindly sent over a flier from the Scottish play festival, where 'The Normal Sound of Architecture' is going to be premiering. Holding thumbs for them, and hoping the Company has fun, and that the piece is as politically scary and as upsetting as I intended it to be. The daily submission frenzy to theatres (currently I'm targeting UK-based theatres) continues.
June 18. Well it looks like fun is happening on two continents. Got the upcoming 'Red vs Blue' Festival of Political Plays, down in Orlando, Florida, where my weird little play 'A Dead Soldier in the Family' is hopefully going to stir the pot somewhat.
And then news from across the Atlantic, is that rehearsals are going well for the initial showing in Scotland and then London, for 'The Normal Sound of Architecture' (formerly 'Putting the Fun back into School Shootings')
Starting to begin work on a new piece, amidst the daily submission frenzy to theatres. Must also put up photographs from the plays that have been staged so far. Had too much real life intruding over the last couple of weeks, its slowed down the creative assembly line a little.
May 23 The surge of work continues. Have now finished a new ten minute play, which I've called 'The Zombies' - and it deals with... well, lets just say there's a lot of misdirection involved with the piece. It was an idea that popped into the head, after finally finishing tweaking the South African play - and so I sat down and out it emerged, over two days of writing. Currently alternating between submitting plays in my usual daily frenzy, and mulling over a couple of idea's, and as usual, waiting to reach the point where the ideas themselves grab me, and demand that I set them down on paper.
May 17 This year is proving to be a period of insane creativity for me. Why? Well, I'm pleased to announce the birth of my new creation. It's 135 pages long, and it's called
"Die, the Beloved Country"
Finished it a few days back, then set about doing revisions, tweaking and making it as strong as possible. Especially given its subject matter - modern post Apartheid South Africa - I wanted to be sure to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' to my own satisfaction.
Still not sure how South African people are going to take to it, as its a profoundly angry piece of work, that's designed to show non-South African audiences, the current reality of that country now, in all its anguish, joy, and horror.
I'm quite proud of it. I feel like I've done my duty as a rather political animal, in trying to capture and encapsulate some home truths that aren't being shared with the outside world, or being looked at unflinchingly.
Had an intense period of introspection, and thoughtful contemplation while writing the piece. As many might know, South Africa now is a minefield when dealing with the politics of race, racism, and accountability.
The following quote and Dedication, is off the title page of the script.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” -Archbishop Desmond Tutu
This Play was written; for the mice.
May 6 Had a staged play reading of my 'Dogs' play, in New York, at the Living Theatre, a long established theatre known for its avant garde focus. Went nicely. Was interesting to see how the play worked at times, regardless of the absence of action. I have some pix, which I'll put up soon.
April 24 Finished the piece, titled it 'The Rockets Red Glare' - and naturally, being a prolific weirdo, I'm almost 40 pages into yet ANOTHER play - this time its something about South Africa, finally. I got tired of people outside of SA not seeming to have any clear grasp of either the reality of modern SA, or the angst of what is being lost there, as the widespread civil disorder (nicknamed 'crime') continues to ravage the society. So I'm wading into a piece that tries to convey just what being a South African today, is like. Not fun dealing with the feelings that this all stirs up in me, but what the heck. It irritates the hell out of me that just about all the views people get of SA now, is via the stodgy stuff done by Fugard, which - while all very worthy and meaningful - has almost no connection with SA as it is now.
Oddly enough, in the back of my head, while writing this one - I've got the kernel of an idea for yet another story. Not sure if I'm suffering from the creative equivalent of dysentery - as the plays seem to be pouring out of me at a fast pace. (I mean, two full length plays in a month and a half isn't bad going)
March 30. Busy at work on another piece, which seems to be something of an antidote to the structural weirdness of the 'Monkeys' play - kind of a return to a more classical and traditional structure. One set, four people, and an awful lot of tension. The creative engine seems to have revved up a notch. Useful to have some new product to market.
Got word that the 'School Shootings' play is tentatively scheduled for staging in July, in London, England. Going to be in Italy for six weeks around May/June area - so who knows, might be in the area to watch a performance - if not be hauled up on stage to defend the piece.
March 17. Finished the new theatre piece! It clocks in at 105 pages, so its a monster full-length piece. As I said below, I wasn't sure what it's about - but now the story has run its course, and I've got some perspective, I see that its 'kind of' about the nature of Theatre, and what constitutes reality for an audience..
Okay, that sounds dull. But the play isn't. It's fairly wild - and goes from funny, to ultimately, deliciously sad.
I've christened it "For the Love of an Infinite Number of Monkeys" (The title makes perfect sense, once the play's been seen). And now begins the dog work, of getting samples out there, and finding a company who'd like to do it..
It's always great when the Muse strikes, as pages pour out of me, and I wonder what the hell it is I'm writing and what it 'means' - as well as wondering where its going. Now I know. On to the next stage of submissions and queries...
March 4 Had all kinds of inspiration from my visit to Oshkosh. Like what? (I hear you wonder).
Well, for starters, I got over my own private horror of 'teaching' as a concept. Saw that the idea and practice of trying to inspire would-be playwrights, is an uber cool thing for me to experience. (Theatre and theatre-writing for me is rather a passion) Talking with students and people, helped me formalize and clarify my own position on the matter.
Naturally, at first, I kicked myself for previously turning down an offer from UConn to do some workshops with students. On the other hand, being an esoteric kind of person who believes that things only happen when the Universe decides they should, it's great to have progressed, and come to a better understanding of what I feel about the idea of 'teaching' play writing.
I come, like the dwarf in Twin Peaks, from "Another Place', in terms of how I approach Theatre writing..
So I've already created an application form letter to apply for residencies and fellowships, and am working on assembling a thumb sucked and hopefully fun example syllabus.
More importantly, perhaps, I'm well into a new theatre piece that's going into area's I never expected. (I don't plan stories, I just write down what the characters say, as well as go with the unfolding plot in my head - hence my curious pleasure at watching as this strange new comedy-drama is emerging at quite a speed). So I'm hanging on by my fingernails, and yelling as the ride takes unexpected leaps through sometimes dark and strange territory.
I'm not entirely sure what the play is 'about'. I'll know properly when its finished.
It seems to be potentially a full length play, which is really cool. For now I'm hanging onto the railings for dear life as the ride goes through its own unexpected twists and turns.
I'll keep you posted, Oh Constant Reader.
Feb 24 Back from the most excellent productions of 'Dogs' and 'Sugar Plum' by University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Had a blast, the shows were great, students were really amazingly good, and the Faculty ran more like a big extended family, than a formal academic theatre facility. I was sad to leave, dammit :)
Still bleary and somewhat exhaustimipated (yes I made that word up) from late nights hanging out with the students, discovering karaoke for the first time, as well as the joys and horror of big greasy yummy breakfasts in truckstops at midnight. Thanks to everyone at Oshkosh for showing me such hospitality and friendship. After becoming used to the frigid wilderness of Boston and the general New England reserve, Oshkosh was uber amazing on all fronts. Discovered I really like talking with students about plays, and trying to pass on some of my gung ho passionate approaches to theatre creation.
Now back onto the grindstone. Had sniffs from a theatre group for 'Dogs' and the 'school shootings' piece, decided to blitz the local UConn drama faculty with samples and queries, and did that, and also fired off still more samples at other theatres. Yeah I know its sunday morning, but what can I say, using the energy productively..
Dec 29 Got word from University of Wisconsin that they want to get me up there during the performance of Sugar Plum Fairy and the Dogs play. So it's going to be an actual trip to a part of the US I haven't seen before. Sweeet! Hopefully its not just a fly in, fly out type of visit - would be nice to get a couple of days there. Wanted to say to them, but didn't quite know how to put it, that they shouldn't blow the budget on anything fancy - I'm content with any old bed and a place to wash. Chilled, laidback African, me. Happy as a clam to just get on a plane and fly somewhere, as well as see some new surroundings - so hold the bowl of M&M's, I'm a low maintenance writer :)
In other news, began sending out the school shooting play, as well as the Pantomime.
Still working on this heavy drama piece, hit pause to start writing it out as prose, in order to get a better handle on the story and the characters - and now sitting puzzled, wondering whether the story is better told as prose, rather than theatre. Getting a definite urge to write something 'funny' - my Inner Therapist is clearly pointing the way for me to go, methinks.
Nov 2 Did the 'talk' at University of Connecticut - and I think it mostly didn't suck. Still, if I had my druthers, would have preferred to do pre-rehearsed comedy, rather than be the object of curiosity as an 'apartheid-survivor', for want of a better description. Opened my mouth and let my brain do the talking, and raved forth, without any preparation. Hopefully the students weren't too bored. But I don't think I'll be doing that again in a hurry. Some nice questions though. Got feedback later that the students were amazed that I wasn't using a script of some kind, and that it was all off the cuff. Well, I guess 15 years plus as a standup comedian has given me some sense
More importantly, finished the rewrite of the adult pantomime, and going through it one last time, to throw out the garbage bits as best as I can tell, before sending that sucker out as my little contribution to post-modernist pantomime meets political satire.
Oct 29. Going to be giving a 'talk' at the University of Connecticut tomorrow, technically it's all about 'Apartheid and Play writing - and reflections on Apartheid'. In practical terms, I have no clue what I'm going to say. I have a vague outline of stuff to talk about and touch on, which more or less is a potted history of me - and then I'll focus in on the two or three plays that are being studied by the class that's invited me to speak.
This'll be the first time I'm actually doing a 'non-comedy' type of lecture/talk/presentation. I have to talk for 20 minutes, and then the real fun will begin, with a Q&A. That's the only part of the proceedings I'm looking forward to. It's a great way to define things for oneself, to have to respond to curveball questions. I mean, I'm the last person who knows his motives at the best of times anyway - so the questions will cause answers that I'll be just as keen to hear, as the rest of the audience.
I had to almost get nagged into doing it, as its clearly a step outside my comfort zone at the moment - which is all about smoking myself to death, muttering 'geez it's cold', and rewriting a great but previously unusable 'adult pantomime' which I've had lying around, and which needs to be sent out to theaters here.
Oct 10. Nice news. The University of Wisconsin sent word that they're doing not just one, but two of my plays. ('The Sugar Plum Fairy' and 'Dogs of the Blue Gods') at the end of February. I suppose it'll be a double bill, which ought to be an interesting experience, to see these two odd stories back-to-back. Hopefully audiences will respond - the 'Sugar Plum Fairy' had a wonderful effect on audiences in SA, it made otherwise completely sophisticated and hard-bitten folks, weep like children.
(Which was exactly what I wanted - to swat aside the veneer of individual control, and reach into the little kid inside each person, and hunker down, and talk softly just to them, about the state of us human beings - and our many ways of worship and beliefs in a God. I wanted to make a piece about religion, which came from the perspective of believing none of it, but still showing an empathy for believers, and the utter anguish of 'the human condition', at times).
I'm still whizzing around the hard task of settling down and getting into my new play project, like a moth around a light bulb. The characters are talking in my head, much of the story is already dimly stretching out and waiting to be put down on paper - but I've been a little lazy. In my defense, I have been assembling a home recording studio, and working on sound-proofing and sound 'dampening' - so that I can get my 'other career' of a voice talent, up and rolling.
So like most writers, I've been working really hard at everything but the work.
An update. As expected, my screenplay got 'dinged' out of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Still, it was a nice brief moment of glory and fun, to have a feature-length script, in the running, in that competition. Here's a link to a screenshot from the page, showing the Antichrist piece listed. *sniffs* :)
Sep 26 Just got a link from One Act Play Depot, to the sell-through page of the little 3-play collection, which includes 'Cat and God'. Seeing as I don't have a proper merchandise page yet, grab it via this link.
Sep 17. Won the AcidTheatre Freedom of Speech Play competition. Sweeet! Here's a link to their blog site, detailing it.
Sep 12 Got word from.Acid Theatre, over in the UK, that my 'Putting the Fun Back into School Shootings' piece, is in the finals for their Freedom of Speech monologue. They asked if I'd consider changing the title - I said 'sure, no problem'. (It was originally called 'Almost Dawn', which I've suggested to them. The sheer brazen f-you attitude of the lengthier title, appealed to my sense of public mischief. I still think for the US market though, the less sophisticated-but-longer title, is probably the one to use, to slap folks around and cause public distress :)
Sep 11. Just received an email from the Slamdance screenplay competition, my film script version of 'The Accidental Antichrist' is now officially a Quarterfinalist in their screenplay competition! Click here to see the start of the Quarterfinalists list, with the title featured. (I'm rather pleased with the film managing to weave its way through at least two layers of the Slamdance competition - but no breaking out of the bubbly just yet, the next layer of the competition, the Semi-Finals, is announced on Sep 28th. If I make it through THAT one, then I might even allow myself a little smile of glee - making sure of course, that no one's watching).
Sep 9. Got word from the most excellent folks at the One Act Play Depot, in Canada, that they're sending me a copy of the soon-to-be-published book. (Three short plays, including my 'Cat and God' piece, under the delicious title 'A Goat Ate My Bible'). When I get a link to the online sell-through area, I'll post it.
Sep 1. The University of Wisconsin's Oshkosh Theatre seems to be on track with their staging of my Dogs of the Blue Gods play, in early 2008. Very cool. (They're still debating whether to do another piece of mine, The Sugar Plum Fairy' as a companion to the admittedly short Dogs play. Mention's also been made that they're also considering the 'short 'Cat and God' 10 minute play, which I sent to them as well).
