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Monday, May 20, 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:29:14 GMT

Weekend Recap: A Very Long Blog Post

It's been super sunny and warm here in the Bay Area. I spent all last weekend running around and loving the weather.

Friday

Friday my good friend Angel came into town. She and I both arrived in the Bay Area at the same time, both moving from Texas to come out for grad school. We both only knew one other person--Dean. And Dean had a life of his own so he introduced us to one another.

Angel and I spent our grad school years running around SF trying to see and do whatever we could on our limited budgets. We once volunteered at a crab festival (which was hectic and poorly organized) so that we could get in free. We once found $20 on the ground near a bus stop and promptly took ourselves to dinner. We once couldn't escape Halloween in the Castro and I fell down when I tripped because earthquakes can lead to broken up sidewalks. Angel looked down at me and asked in a lackluster tone that cracked us both up, "Are you alright?" We once got a sugar high at Happy Donuts and cracked up at the drawing of a pot leaf accompanied by "I love pot" that someone wrote on the wall there. We immediately crank called Dean. We spent many a Thursday night dancing to 80s music at the Cat Club. It was a fun and pretty carefree time for both of us, before graduation and the return to the 9 to 5 grind.

Some guy drew this picture of us and then sold it to us. I framed it.

Angel now lives in Florida, but that didn't stop her from flying out to celebrate her birthday. So on Friday I took a half day off from work and we had lunch followed by tea above Yerba Buena. It was great. A little one-on-one time before her Saturday birthday party.

Saturday

I went grocery shopping first thing in the morning because I wanted to catch an early afternoon CalTrain to Redwood City for Angel's party. I found what I thought was a small watermelon (turns out it yielded quite a bit) to make tequila-soaked watermelon slices.

It was sunny and warm on the peninsula. Me and my watermelon arrived around 3pm and I didn't catch a train back until 9:41pm (CalTrain is not only precise but on time--nice!).

The party was at the home of Angel's brother who moved out to the Bay Area right after Angel and I graduated. There was food, drink, watermelon and lots of sunshine.

It was a good day. I got home close to 11pm or so. So it was a long day.

Sunday

Sunday I got up early to take a phone call. I sit on my alma mater's Alumni Council and was chatting with another alum because I unfortunately was going to miss the afternoon call the council had scheduled.

After my chat I started getting ready because I had a ticket to see the final performance of The Dead Girl by Ann Brebner. Both Ann and I were in AlterLab last year together when she wrote The Dead Girl. I had meant to go up sooner but I had been sick during the first two weeks of the run. So there I was headed to the North Bay worried that somehow the Bay to Breakers run was going wreak havoc on my ability to take public transit.

But first I headed to the book store. You see, for Angel's birthday I had bought her Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess. And after watching this YouTube clip I decided I wanted my own copy.

I laughed so hard!

So my plan was to swing by Green Apple Books on my way to the bus stop to buy the book only on my way to Green Apple I realized the shirt I was wearing was too heavy. I was hot. It was hot out. I was sweating. And my flipflops were kinda not good for all the walking I needed to do today. Plus I could so see myself getting sunburn on my feet and that happened once when I was in high school and isn't terribly fun.

Change of plans. I bought the book and immediately returned home to change my shirt and shoes and then hoofed it to the bus stop.

Now, usually I'm terrible at timing this trip. I realize that I won't make it to the Golden Gate Bride in time to catch the bus to San Rafael and in a panic call a cab. Well, Sunday I was on top of it. I early. If I was lucky I might catch the 1:19pm bus and get to San Rafael a full hour before I needed to be there. Then I'd be able to read the book I had just bought. And being at the bus stop a good hour before I normally would be there was my way of compensating for the Bay to Breakers Run which I figured might affect how the buses were running.

So there I am waiting for the 28 (the bus that takes me to the Golden Gate Bridge where I catch the Golden Gate Transit bus to San Rafael) at 1pm with the 28 about 17 minutes away. So, I figured I wouldn't make that 1:19 bus. Oh well, I'll take the 2:19 and still arrive in time for the show.

The 28 arrived in 17 minutes and promptly took us to the bridge. I think the bus arrived early because we arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge and it was close to 1:20 and I thought well, sometimes the buses are a few minutes late I might get lucky and catch that 1:19pm bus after all. When we got the bridge I ran to my second bus stop and picked up a pamphlet for the bus schedules. Interestingly enough the pamphlet said my bus would arrive at 1:26pm! So much for the internet.

I even had time to snap a quick picture. Gorgeous! I love this city.

Lo and behold an express did arrive close to 1:30 and I hopped right on it.

I got to San Rafael a good hour before the show so I headed to Starbucks to read my book, but while I was there I ran into Richard. Richard is AlterTheater's Literary Manager. I hadn't seen him for a while so over iced coffees we caught up and talked about theatre.

Before we knew it, it was almost 3pm so we headed over to see Ann's play. It was great to see Ann's work realized, especially since I've heard early drafts of it and even once gave her a writing exercise for a monologue that ended up in the play. I'm not a reviewer, but you can read what this one said about the play (spoiler alert: he liked it).

After the show Richard and I were invited to have dinner with the cast so we went for drinks why the set was struck. Richard introduced me to the Midori Sour and we continued our conversation about all things theatre.

Neither of us could stay long after dinner as we both had respective buses to catch. We talked about plays we'd send to one another and parted ways at the transit center.

I jumped on a bus that took me through Sausalito before heading over the bridge. Let me just say, there's a reason why people pay top dollar to live there. The water was lovely in the rays of the setting sun. With the fog beginning to make its way in I preferred the ocean side to the view of the city.

I transferred to the 28 and got home just at the sun was dipping below the horizon. A long, lovely day.

-M

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:16:19 GMT

Writing Surge: It's A-Comin'

Once again inspiration struck while I was doing my hair. You may laugh, but I find it's during those daily routines that we do...well...daily, that our minds have the opportunity to wander. My thoughts tend to wander like that when I'm washing dishes, washing my hair or blowing drying my hair. All three take up time and all three don't require a lot of brain power to accomplish the task at hand.

Lately though, my thoughts haven't wandered to writing. I've been preoccupied thinking about my day job. But this morning, I found myself thinking about Wolf at the Door. I was thinking about its theatricality and found myself thinking about sound.

My first play, Braided Sorrow, had a sound motif that ran through the entire play. Water. Water dripping, coursing, surging, crashing. The sound was connected to the character La Llorona--the mother from Latino mythology who drowned her children. And while I really liked using sound to shape moments in the narrative, I haven't really used it in the same way since Braided Sorrow.

Now Wolf at the Door has some sound already in the script, but it's not used in the same way. So I began thinking of trying to use the wolf howls in a more theatrical way and figured out a possible new opening to the play. This new opening potentially solves one of the issues that arose during the last read through, that is, it was unclear how Septimo had hurt Isadora and how her injury caused her to go into labor.

So here's what I'm thinking for the opening scene:

In the dark the sound of a lone wolf howl. Other wolf howls join in building into a cacophony of sound. The howling dissolves into the sound of a single wolf growling and snapping. The sound lowers as a spotlight comes up on ISADORA. Very pregnant, she wears a nightgown and has a faded black eye. She holds up her hands as if to calm an unseen person.

ISADORA: (desperate) Wait.

The disembodied voice of SEPTIMO shouts "Move!" ISADORA is hurled, belly first, into the wall. Lights up as she sinks to the floor clutching her belly. She inhales sharply, obviously in serious pain.

I can't wait to get back into my rewrites. Draft 2 here I come!

-M

Friday, May 10, 2013

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:19:38 GMT

Directors, Directors, Every Where...

You know me, I love riffing off that Coleridge line. This week is my week of meeting with, talking to and hanging out with directors--I love it! Especially when talking results in mini creative breakthroughs.

Earlier this week I met director Susannah Martin for tea at Samovar. And what a lovely evening it was for it. The weather was warm, but not too warm. The sun didn't set until like 8pm so we had lots of light when we left and walked through a bit of Yerba Buena. Anyhoo, talking to her got my creative wheels a'turning and I had a mini breakthrough. I say "mini" because it was the completion of a thought. A thought I had been trying to figure out for some time and had hoped my upcoming developmental production of Heart Shaped Nebula would help me solve.

Oh yeah, did I mention I have a developmental production of Nebula? More details on that soon.

But back to the mini breakthrough. I've been trying to complete a thought or idea or tie up a narrative thread when it comes to the character of Amara. And I think I may have it. It's a small detail. But something that I'll need to weave into the play and I hope it works the way I think it will. We'll see I guess.

Anyway, Susannah and I had a great conversation. I can't wait to do that again with her.

As for the other directors, I have a phone call on Saturday slated with a director and we'll be talking about that aforementioned developmental production. We were supposed to talk like two weeks ago but my sore throat made it impossible lest I go into a coughing fit or completely lose it during the call.

And rounding out my week of directors is Paul Cello. We're having brunch this Sunday. Whoo! I love brunch. Don't know why I don't do it more often.

So now that I'm all better I'm busy busy busy running around. Which reminds me, I have like three plays I need to see in the next month. Busy busy busy, indeed.

-M

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Tue, 07 May 2013 15:30:15 GMT

An End To Radio Silence

Well, that was a very unpleasant two weeks. Usually when I lapse in my blogging like that it's due to travel. No such luck. I was in fact sick. A nasty cold similar to the one that kept me homebound at the beginning of this year. Only this cold brought a friend along, a friend called intense back pain.

I've had back issues since high school. And after college when I threw my back out for the first time, my back became very sensitive and prone to injury. It goes without saying that I'm über careful about carrying or lifting heavy objects. Careful about my posture. Careful about how hard I push myself in workouts. So I was quite surprised when two weeks ago I began to feel pain. Not just muscle pain, but nerve pain. I was surprised because I knew that I hadn't done anything to injury myself. Long story short my back made sitting very challenging the past week and a half. And thus I was lying down whenever possible.

This resulted in me doing the only thing I could do when confined to lying down on my futon to rest my back: watch movies.

I love watching movies, but usually to relax or recharge my creative batteries. But this time I kept wishing I could sit up and type. Rewrites they were a'calling, but believe me when I say it: sitting was painful.

So it was me, my heating pad and several, several movies via Netflix, On Demand and my personal collection. Highlights include Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral, The Pact, The Giant Mechancial Man, the latest season of The IT Crowd (that episode of Bad Boys cracks me up!), The Hedgehog and John Dies At The End (which was amazing, especially the flying moustache--that made me sit right up).

I can't help myself. This show makes me laugh.

So that was my past two weeks. Thankfully the back is much improved. I hope to dive (gently) into rewrites this weekend.

More soon,

Monday, April 22, 2013

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:09:21 GMT

Yet Another Crazy-Busy Week/Weekend

My days kind of blur together. It's the frantic pace at my day job. I really should start keeping a diary again in order to keep track of the days. Meaning, keep track of all the small moments and events that add up to a life.

Perhaps I can do a bit of that here with a recap of all that's transpired.

Here's what happened:

Wednesday

I wrote my final blog post for TheatreFace where I've been a featured blogger for a year an a half. I had to part ways because I began to notice that I was spending too much time and energy composing those bi-monthly blog posts. That is, too much time and energy in comparison to working on my plays. I have limited free time and wanted to prioritize my playwriting.

Friday

After work I wandered around downtown to do a bit of shopping and eventually found my way to Haight street because I wanted to go to Amoeba. Aside from a huge selection of music, they have a good amount of movies and I was going specifically to pick up Ginger Snaps. Last time I was at Amoeba they had it. "Had it" past tense because it is no longer there.

The Fitgerald sisters look equally disappointed that I was unable to find/buy their movie.

Disappointed I picked my way through several movie genres before leaving with Amelie (I have the VHS and was glad to upgrade it), Fright Night (the 80s version of course) and An American Werewolf in London (which included a second DVD complete with a featurette about the movie). Joy was mine as all three were $5 or less. Whoo!

Saturday

I discovered that my refrigerator is indeed on its last leg the proof of which was in the milk (not pudding) that came plopping out of its container. This of course made me weary to trust most of the food in the fridge. Thankfully a torta shop opened up two blocks away and I was super happy with my torta de milanesa with a good side of nostalgia.

I spent the morning working on a 10 page excerpt for a submission. And while I got everything I wanted to fit into 10 pages, I now wonder if they are the right 10 pages.

After lunch I headed to the Mission to meet Heather, a director based in the South Bay who happened to be in SF for the day. I walked up and down Valencia street dismayed at the gentrification. I know it's good for the businesses who were there before the transition, but man alive it was kinda sad to see the street scrubbed of any personality and individuality. Times they are a'changing. Heather and I talked theatre over coffee and dinner (at least the pupuseria I like is still there).

Sunday

I got up early to do laundry because Sunday afternoon was going to be all about Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen. Aside from laundry I spent the morning continuing my work on the submission I'm working on. And I have to say, I've developed a true gift--if I do say so myself--for trimming down summaries/synopses/artistic statements to meet word count guidelines. I trimmed a 168 word summary to 150 without really losing much. Which means I probably had a few unnecessary words/phrases to begin with. Either way I'm close to finishing the submission. I just need to work on the cover letter and finalize that 10 page excerpt.

But back to Lawrence of Arabia. I met my best friend at the Castro Theatre were we spent 4 glorious hours watching one of the greatest movies of all time. It was amazing. I had purposely not watched it (I own it) for a while because I wanted to truly enjoy this experience. What a visually stunning movie.

See that speck in the distance? That's Omar Sharif making his entrance (you may need to click on the image to see him). This scene makes you marvel at the scale of the desert.

The movie started at 2pm and we got out at 6pm. So there was little energy for house cleaning when I got home.

So that was my weekend. So much was done, so much still to do.

-M

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 21:30:18 GMT

AlterLab Retreat Recap

So much to process...

In a good way.

I spent the majority of my Saturday and Sunday up in San Rafael at the home of Ann Brebner. Ann is one of the AlterLab playwrights who, like me, participated in the residency last year. Ann's play The Dead Girl, which she wrote during last year's residency, is currently in rehearsals and will open later this month at AlterTheater.

Ann lives in this lovely home with a fire she can turn on by remote control and a wonderful backyard garden filled with all sorts of flora.

Saturday

My local coffee house.

Saturday began with me heading to The Blue Danube to pick up tea bags (for tea I made once I got to Ann's house) and coffee. The coffee was for Denmo, one of the other playwrights in the AlterLab residency who was kind enough to pick me up both days and drive me to San Rafael.

When Denmo and I arrived at Ann's house we found it filled with people, including the final AlterLab playwright Larissa Fasthorse. The other people were actors that AlterTheater had brought in to read my current draft of Wolf at the Door and two local dramaturgs.

After the read through I took copious notes during a feedback session that I led. I have lots of ideas that I'm excited to incorporate and explore for the next draft--success!

My copious notes.

After the actors departed it was just the AlterLab playwrights and Jeanette who runs AlterLab, though Jeanette would say that we are in charge. ;)

The afternoon was filled with a writing exercise and discussion about the projects we're currently working on.

Sunday

Sunday began with a bit of a late start. Not the retreat, but me and my ride. We did arrive in time to catch the very end of the few pages Larissa had brought in. We quickly caught up (read through the pages) and joined the conversation that the pages had inspired.

I then had the group read my prologue for Alcira so I could get some early feedback as I get ready to start and finish my first draft of the play.

During lunch Larissa and I found a patch of sunshine in the outside garden patio and talked about allergies and napping, among other things. And the weather was perfect over the weekend, blue sky without a hint of cloud.

The afternoon became more targeted as we did a series of writing exercises to help one another explore our respective projects. I asked for my fellow playwrights to contribute four questions for an interview I plan to do with my character Rocio (character interviews as one of my go-to writing exercises).

We finished the day by stating our goals. That is, the goals we'd like to complete before our next retreat in July. For our next retreat I have to bring in a new draft of Wolf at the Door and a no-matter-how-rough draft of Alcira.

I left with some my thoughts churning. I had all sorts of great notes, feedback and ideas for my next round of rewrites. And I had all sorts of confidence issues that suddenly came swimming to surface which I plan to unpack in another blog post.

More soon,

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:27:18 GMT

AlterLab Here I Come

This weekend is the second AlterLab retreat of the year. They're quarterly this year, as opposed to monthly which was the format last year.

At this second retreat of the year I will hear my second draft of Wolf at the Door read aloud. And, as was the case when I brought in the first draft of The River Bride last year, it's underwritten. I tend to do that, underwrite my plays that is. I flesh them out over the course of subsequent drafts. But when it comes to this fairy tale cycle, so far the plays are right around the one hour mark. All my other plays wind down around the 90 minute mark, which is what I would hope the fairy tale plays would be. But they aren't. And I'm not going to try and drag out the narrative for 30 more minutes just for the sake of making the play longer. I'm a big believer in form = content. And if the narrative is over, it's over. Meaning, if the story has been told in 60 minutes then that's all the time it needed.

Wolf at the Door is currently 50 pages. I imagine another 10-15 pages will surface in the next draft. What I need to get out of the read through is a sense of what's missing and where are the places in the play--its crevices--where I can open up the world and flesh out the narrative.

It's slow work. Lately, anyway. The day job stress has been on the increase ever since October and my free time for writing has been whittled away. And I am tired of it. Tired of the day job draining my energy, tired of the stress, tired of having to choose between friends and writing. I want a change and need to figure out how to engineer it.

But that's another topic entirely. I was talking about AlterLab.

I am looking forward to spending the weekend with the other artists all talking about our work. Ann, whose play The Dead Girl, is in rehearsal. She wrote it last year in AlterLab and this year AlterTheater is producing it. Bravo! So I'm sure Ann will give us the inside scoop about all that's going on.

Larissa is bringing in pages for the play she's writing for the AlterTheater ensemble and I have no idea what Denmo is working on, though at the last retreat she and I discussed her amazingly vivid dreams which I secretly hope she'll turn into a play. I'd love to see that as her dreams had a surreal MirrorMask quality to them.

Images from the movie MirrorMask

Keep an eye out for AlterLab highlights early next week.

More soon,

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:10:54 GMT

An ATLAS Program For Playwrights

Theatre Bay Area's annual conference is coming up and in preparation for it TBA's Facebook page was putting out calls asking for artists to identify what issues they'd like to see taken up for discussion. The call went out to actors, then directors and finally for playwrights. Here's what I wrote in response:

I'd love to see a year-long career planning program similar to ATLAS to help playwrights focus on creating a career path. Not a residency for workshopping scripts. This is about mapping out a career and identifying the goals that a PW needs to reach for in order to get the momentum needed to push their career forward.

What's ATLAS?

Advanced Training Leading Artists to Success (ATLAS) was initially developed by TBA in 2008 as a resource for actors to identify personalized career goals and to better understand where they fit in the Bay Area theatrical landscape. In 2012 they launched their inaugural round for directors.

Reading about how ATLAS participants were mapping out career goals is kinda what inspired me to start developing my annual workplans. And watching friends go through the program I began to wish there was one for playwrights.

Good news!

I got a response to my Facebook comment and it looks like TBA will be taking up the issue, and hopefully launching a version of ATLAS geared for playwrights.

This calls for a bit of a celebration.

-M

Monday, April 08, 2013

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:19:57 GMT

2013 Workplan: First Quarter Check-In

I didn't do quarterly check-in's last year so I know they actually help me keep on track, focused and also help me see what I've accomplished. As I mentioned earlier this year my annual workplan is a living document so this check-in will allow me to report on what I added to it, what opportunities popped up that I was able to pounce on.

Overall Goals

Write at least 3 blog posts a week: Well, I have definitely not been blogging as much here on my own site as I'd like to be. This quarter I am making a change that will free up my time and bring me back here more. Which is good. I like writing about my process as it helps me keep focused, creates a sort of accountability and also becomes a dramaturgical gold mine when needed.
Go to at least 1 play a month: I went to a few plays earlier this quarter. Though in March I decided to take a two month break so I could focus on writing.
Website update: It looks like my graphic designer best friend will be able to take on my project in August. This gives me time to switch my blog to WordPress so that she can eventually switch it to SquareSpace where my website will be. At least, that's the plan.

January

1/02: Yes, I Said Feminist Gala call for 10 Minute plays--Submit Her Story ✓

1/14: Leah Ryan's Fund for Emerging Women Writers [PB]--Submit Heart Shaped Nebula ✓

1/14: NALAC fellowship [PB] Submit application ✓

1/15: Ashland New Play Festival [PB]--Submit The River Bride ✓

1/30: SF Playhouse call for plays about women and immigration [PB]--Submit Woman on Fire ✓

January was a solid month. I did everything outlined in the workplan.

February

2/10: Mixed Blood Theatre [PB]--Submit 10 page query Woman on Fire ✓

2/10: eSe Teatro's Multicultural Playwrights Festival [PB]--Submit Woman on Fire ✓

2/15: SF Playhouse [PB]--Submit 10 page query Heart Shaped Nebula [Haven't done yet]2/17: Miracle Theatre [PB]--Sent email to AD (rec from O.S.) to introduce self. Attached The River Bride and Heart Shaped Nebula. " [good news, they will read both plays] ✓

2/27: Berkeley Rep [PB]--Submit Heart Shaped Nebula [Haven't done yet]

2/27: Wolf at the Door rewrite [W]--Rewrite should be underway [Started]

Okay, with February you'll see that one opportunity popped up, the eSe Teatro submission call. And I'm a bit behind on query letters/submission to theaters.

March

3/17: Inkwell--Submit Woman on Fire ✓ [Wanted to send them Nebula, then realized it was too polished for what they were looking for, so sent Woman on Fire]

3/10: Orland Shakespeare Theater PlayFest [PB] [Missed deadline. Was focusing on Inkwell submission and lost track of this one. Had wanted to send them Nebula]

3/15: Princess Grace Foundation Playwriting Award [PB]--Submit American Triage ✓

3/15: South Coast Rep [PB] [Had planned to send Nebula query, but luck prevailed. Colleague sent contact there Nebula and River Bride]

3/15: Urban Theater Company [PB]--Submit inquiry for American Triage [Still need to do. I foresee a big query letter push in April]

3/25 Wolf at the Door rewrite [W]--Rewrite should be almost done on 2nd draft [Currently finishing up second draft. Still feel it needs lots of work.]

March kinda got away from me. I did get in two important submissions, but missed a deadline opportunity and have a lot to do by way of sending work to theatres.

Here's the final tally:

1 10 min. play submission
2 award submissions
1 grant application submitted
3 new play festival submissions
3 queries to theatres
rewrites on 1 play
1 development opportunity submission

Next quarter I hope to up those queries to theatres and not miss any deadlines.

-M

Friday, April 05, 2013

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:34:36 GMT

Weekend To Do List

Hang out with my best friend.
Rewrites. I have AlterLab in a week and need to get my draft to them next week so they can print out the scripts for my Wolf at the Door table reading.
Read two plays by a fellow playwright. We swapped plays recently. Our deadline for reading was April 1st. We're both about a week behind.
Clean. My. Casita.
Take my two minute pitch about myself and my plays and attend the Yeah, I Said Feminist speed dating/networking event for women theatre artists.
Hunt down some rhubarb and bake strawberry rhubarb empanadas.
Laundry. Good gawd when am I gonna find time to do laundry? But it has to get done...

-M