The hiatus will not be televised.

Nice of me to let you know before I go on a damn near two week hiatus, wasn't it? Sorry 'bout that (if there's even anyone out there still checking this guy after two weeks of radio silence). It turns out, contrary to what I had assumed, that unemployment is not leaving me tooling around the internets to no end. As a result, the blog fell into a short lapse, that we (we being I) hope to turn back around quite shortly.

Of course, as it goes, the moment I have some free time, it quickly starts to fill (albeit with less profitable tasks). The Magician is still running, and I've also been charged with the task of going on as a replacement opposite Annette on Thanksgiving weekend. The show is (aside from one scene) a two-hander, so while Annette's the lead proper, I've been given a large part to learn in a very un-large amount of time. We'll see how it goes. I started NaPlWriMo, and then promptly gave up. That's a lie; I didn't give up so much as concede that I'll never finish in the allotted time, now that this replacement role has decided to eat up my free time. So instead I've gone back and taken a quick second look at Peculiar Way, which I'm now deeming is on draft 1 1/2. I have to have it done and copies available on the 19th for our next Per Diem meeting, so's I can offer it up as a potentiality in the first three shows, which we will be deciding upon that evening. I'm having trouble prioritizing my choices -- along with Peculiar Way, my own Consent is also fresh on my mind, but I'm also getting pulled in a million different directions by Beckett, Cocteau, Arrabal, Shakespeare (yes, Shakespeare -- and fuck you if you don't think I can bring it original-style), Bogosian, Jarry, Adamov, and more that I can't even remember right now. We'll see what happens.

Announcements are pending.

So is reflections on 500 Clown, which has now ended... sort of... (honest, Paul, it's coming)

Now I need to memorize lines. I'll be back. And soon. Promise.

P.Rekk
2007

Serendipity

Two days after I find my Gide quote, Joshua James vents his frustration with what he perceives as a lack of respect for the playwright in today's theatre world.

I agree with some, I disagree with some.

But the one thing I keep seeing come up in the comments as well is this wrath against people telling playwrights what their play is about. So Gide gets a repeat performance right quick:

“Before I explain my book to others, I expect them to explain it to me. To claim to explain it first is to immediately narrow down its reach; for if we know what we intended to say, we do not know whether we said only that. - One always says more than THAT. - And what interests me most is what I put in without knowing, - that unconscious share, which I would like to call God’s share.”

When working with one of my scripts, I either want complete control or no control at all. If the idea is to put up the show just as I intended it, I might as well direct it, too. Otherwise, I wanna see what others take from it. By all means, production team, let me know what you're doing. If there's anything you feel might be particularly contentious, sure, ask me for my input. But I don't do this to beat my message into other people. I've said what I wanted to say -- it's there on the paper. If people (audience and artists alike) take that out of it, awesome! If they take something else out of it, even better! If a director (or a "snot-nosed kid with an MFA") gets a feeling so strong out of my work that they want to put it up, who am I to say they're doing it wrong? I don't let people tell me I'm writing wrong.

So please, tell me what my play is about. Because I'm probably not going to tell you.

P.Rekk
2007