Open Wardrobes

Last night at 7:30 PM I gathered with about 30 other people to kick off Heritage Theater's first 24-Hour Play Festival. The producers of the festival, Emily and Lori, started with some basic information about how the festival would work, and then we moved on to introductions. The writers and directors said our names and what our role was, then the actors. The actors each took a minute to describe themselves and any special abilities, such as accents or knowledge of stage combat, that might be useful as we writers started our work. Then the actors left. The directors were then each asked to pick a prop (we all contributed one) and give it to a writer (I was given a jester's hat). Then the directors left. The writers then each picked an actor headshot at random, then we took turns choosing the rest. These were the actors we then had to write the show for. Then, at about 8:30 PM, we sat down to work with the goal of a completed 10-minute script by 5 AM.

Several of us started out by going over to a nearby Caribou Coffee to make use of the Internet, and I sat there looking more carefully at the actors I had chosen and their skills, and starting to think of possible ideas. A couple of the other writers seemed to hit their computers immediately, typing out what at the time I was sure was a perfectly polished script, while I struggled to find the right idea. I was hit by a particular concept right away, but had trouble envisioning a story to go with it. I did some research on the idea, then decided I'd better brainstorm a little further, in case idea #1 didn't pan out. Eventually I hit upon an opening image that intrigued me. It grew out of my original idea, though definitely took things in a different direction. I started sketching out some dialogue and then headed back to the event hall (where the festival is taking place) when Caribou closed.

It was now about 10 PM and each writer found themselves a spot and hunkered down. It must have been a strange sight: 6 people working silently at computers, with books, random props, coffee and snacks scattered all around. I kept plugging on my idea, figuring at this point I should pick a direction and stick to it, and creating a very rough and somewhat inconsistent draft. It was one of those drafts that, if you were to read it (and no you can't) you would quickly realize I didn't yet fully know who the characters needed to be, as one especially changed direction several times throughout the piece. So I took a little break from pen and paper, and sat in thought. Who were these characters and what was it exactly I was trying to accomplish? In 10 minutes you don't have a lot of room to be wishy-washy. You need to define your characters and their conflict and get going. So I sat there until I felt that I had a more specific idea of each of the characters and the key points of the structure. I based the play loosely (very loosely) on another story and knew I wouldn't get anywhere with draft #2 until I figured out exactly what the parallels between the two stories were supposed to be.

Finally a little before midnight I pulled out my computer and started shaping things into a cohesive draft. Several bits had to be reworked and rethought, I second guessed some of my original decisions, and ate large quantities of Chex Mix. A little after 2 AM I had the second draft more or less done. There were a few bits that I could tell weren't quite what I envisioned, but I was starting to hit a wall. At 2 AM, I discovered, my ability to grapple with larger intellectual problems in a script is somewhat diminished. But I did what I could, then spent an hour or so doing some more fine tuning and polishing. We had until 5 AM, but at 3:30 AM I knew that I wasn't in much of a condition to do too much more to the piece. So I threw on a title page, added the cast list, and gave it to the producers to print out (followed just a few minutes later by a couple other writers). That task complete I fell into bed at home just before 4 AM.

At 7 AM this morning the directors returned to read the scripts and decide who would direct what. At 9 AM the actors returned and they all set to work. I, during both of these key milestones, was thankfully asleep. So as I write this directors and actors are engaged in bringing these 6 brand-new scripts to life, no doubt wrestling with how to make sense of what 3 AM delirium has wrought. At 7:30 PM tonight it all goes before an audience.

How will it turn out? Well, that's the big question and will be interesting to see. Are the scripts perfect? Certainly not. Will they be interesting, intriguing, or at least mildly funny? I hope so. That's the adventure that comes when you're willing to toss aside the question of "Is it good?" for awhile and just create, at least for 24 hours.