Thespian Musings & Lure of the Fox: Hazards of Being a Playwright

 So once upon a time, I went on family vacation.

My family really likes to do outdoorsy things(except me) so we planned a hike to---someplace I don't remember where exactly--so we all had backpacks and water bottles/camel-backs and snacks and the works.

And, because I write 24/7(sometimes literally) I had a notebook and a pen in my backpack--the latest draft of a script I was working on. 

We went and did the hiking thing and when we got to wherever it was and stopped for snacks/lunch/rest(or in my case recoup), I took out my notebook and my pen and did some writing. 

And when we got back to our rental house I emptied my backpack to get ready for next day activities and saw this:

Apparently my water bottle was not closed, or something because my entire notebook was soaked all the way through.

Which meant that 75 pages worth of writing were next to useless.

Which meant I had to start my script all over again.

Can you spell C-A-L-A-M-I-T-Y?

And, ok, fine, it was not the end of the world but it was still enough to make me grind my teeth and mutter about "stupid-hikes-and-stupid-water-and-ruined-have-to-stupid-do-all-over-a-stupid-gain"(and that's the filtered version).

You would think I'd have learned my lesson. 

HA.

Flash forward...several years to now. 

August.

Wolves is in rehearsal and I'm plugging away at Fox.

In a notebook. 

Which I'm supposed to carry around with me at all times.

Until one night, I left it in the rehearsal space.

I

Left 

It 

In 

The

Rehearsal 

Space.

And since we were sharing it with other people it probably got thrown away.

And it was fine.

It was fine.

It was totally fine.

I had most of Act II(which was the contents of said notebook) already typed up and I'd worry about the mini plot-holes later and just get to work on Act I--which is probably what I should have done in the first place, but as I said before, I write things backwards.

So I started writing again--this time from the actual beginning, and it was nice. I carried my new notebook around with my new pen(because yes I needed a new pen with my new notebook; it's a thing; shut up) back and forth to day job and rehearsals and everywhere else.

And somewhere between getting from point A to point B I lost that notebook too.

Just like that.

All gone.

Disappeared.

Lost.

Kuput.

Which was awesome.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Soooo I got to start over.

Again.

However,

The upshot of all this is that the old saying "third time's the charm" is actually true in this case.

Yes, I was frustrated cause I had to start from scratch each time.

But each time I was getting a new notebook and a new pen and adding to/cutting from my playlist soundtrack for this script I had a lot of time to think.

Which turns out to be exactly what I needed.

Because when it comes to my scripts and my characters I get

I was happy with what I had before.

I was.

But what I'm working on now is so much better.

Things that didn't click before now are falling into place.

Plot holes I thought I'd have to deal with aren't plot holes anymore.

And I've made new discoveries about my characters.

One of which made my head explode 😛

Lesson?

Make sure your water bottle is closed when it goes in your backpack

Make sure you know where your stuff is, and back it up(like maybe in two or three different places just in case).

Sometimes when things "blow up" in your face, it's cause your Muse is telling you that you have to start over

and you if you don't listen to your Muse or whatever the first time

your Muse will beat you over the head until you do.

Result?

"Fox" is so much better!

And so much fun!

Which means I go home every day to the Writing Cave and emerge every night from the Writing Cave with a big stupid grin on my face.

End of entertaining anecdote.

Thespian Musings: Vulnerablitity and Trust

Recently, I was helping a friend of mine with a revision of his screenplay(which is brilliant, by the way). I was reading a newly updated draft and when I got to one of the scenes I went: "Oh, wow, you listened to me!"

I said that.

Out loud.

And he looked at me and said: "Of course I did. Do you think I wouldn't take your advice?"

Quite frankly?

Yes.

The fact that my friend not only listened to what I said(and wrote) when I gave him feedback, but also took it into consideration and made changes based something I said blew me away.

S-H-O-C-K-E-D me.

Why

Do

I

Do

This

To

Myself?

I am a freaking adult and the fact that a friend of mine cared enough to listen to me shouldn't surprise me as much as it did.

But it did.

Because that's something I'm really not used to.

So when it happens, I don't know what to say. 

There are times I don't trust people enough to take me seriously.

There are times I don't trust myself enough to be taken seriously.

Which is a problem.

Because I am an artist.

Artists need to

Gag.

I don't know how many times I've said on this blog I'm an introvert, but I'm an introvert.

Meaning being around a large group of people is exhausting.

 Six is fine.

Thirteen is pushing it.

A full house(theatre or otherwise)?

I run the other way.

Sometimes literally.

I'm the type of Introvert who finds it really hard to trust(see "I don't take myself seriously" above). So I as an Introvert Artist have lots of fun learning how to trust.

And in order to learn that, I have to be ok with being

Double.

Gag.

You guys, trust and vulnerability terrify me.

T-E-R-R-I-F-Y me.

Don't get me wrong, my immediate family I trust absolutely and I feel totally comfortable enough around them to have a Vulnerable Emotional Meltdown if need be.

I tend to err on the side of caution and give even my closest friends my superficial social mask most of the time because--let's be real--it's just easier.

But, superficiality impedes progression. It gets you stuck in one place, doing nothing and going nowhere.

Be the pigeon on the right, not the left

Being superficial means that you don't get hurt, yes, but it also means that you don't open yourself up to new experiences--good, bad, ugly, whatever.

Being Superficial=Lack of Trust=Fear of Vulnerability.

At least, in my book.

Whether we go into film or theatre, we as performing artists have chosen a career(or hobby, because, let's be real, sometimes that's what it is) where we basically get to dance naked in front of complete strangers every night.

By choice.

Which takes a lot of guts.

And Vulnerability.

And Trust.

And it's hard.

H-A-R-D.

But if we bottle ourselves up and shut down and freak out any time we open our mouths, or someone takes us seriously(like my friend), what good does that do anyone?

Yes, we are going to get hurt.

Yes, we are going to be ignored and over looked and taken for granted.

But, we are also going to get accepted.

We will get listened to.

We will get valued.

We will get loved.

And when this happens, it really shouldn't come as such a shock.

Because some people around us really do care.

They are vulnerable around us.

They value us.

The trust us.

They listen to us.

They take us seriously.

They love us.

They do.

They do, they do, they do.

Shouldn't we do the same to them?

We can choose to be superficial and stuck and get in our own way to "avoid getting hurt" aka "hide where it's safe".

Or, we can choose to trust and be vulnerable and open and not be so shocked when it all pays off.

You choose.

You're amazing.

That is all.

Lure of the Fox: Writing "Backwards"

Oh, look at that, concept trailer shoot is over,

and I'm still alive,

and my life is not as insane as I thought.

Which means I get to go back to the Writing Cave.

YES!!!!!

So y'all know by now that I tend to write characters and plots with a ton of history

 because I'm weird like that

 and it's fine

because it leads to the potential of sequels and prequels and things(this has happened more than once and I'll chat about that sometime later).

Way back in July, when I was still in the "development" phase of "Lure of the Fox", I hadn't really thought much about the characters beyond "oh, yeah, Cassian and Jean-Luc, and Ravenna and Tirzah, and Tarquin, DeClaire and Malbete are in this; and I already know their "Animal Parallels"; and there are only three additional characters(Declan, Sorcha, and Reynaud) which means this cast is smaller which means this will be easier to write. Cool."

HA.

Now that I'm in the "writing" phase, it just got....interesting...and (especially for someone like me who overthinks E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G) complicated...

"Fox" Tarquin is easy to write.

"Fox" Jean-Luc, Cassian, Ravenna, Tirzah, DeClaire and Malbete are not.

Why?

Because these particular "Fox" characters are different from the way they are portrayed in "Wolves"(because prequel)--especially when it comes to certain personalities.

These particular "Fox" characters are being written "backwards".

Allow me to illustrate:

Jean-Luc
"Lure of the Fox" is Jean-Luc's story.

(And I'm not gonna lie, this made me do a mini happy dance cause I've been more or less in love with this Dark Horse since I created him three years ago)

Which means we get to see the Fox/Bear show his teeth!
 

He's reckless.

Jean-Luc decides he's going to to go play hero and damn the consequences.

I know!

And he has a rage problem.

Jean-Luc has a temper, and that temper gets him in over his head.

I know!!

And he's impulsive.

Jean-Luc leaps before he looks(sometimes literally), and ends up screwing himself and everyone else over.

I KNOW!!!

Cassian
Since Cassian takes the spotlight in "Wolves", he's been relegated to a supporting character in "Fox"(see Jean-Luc above).

But this time, Cassian is the cautious one.

This time, Cassian follows the rules.

This time, Cassian's the innocent. A little boy who has yet to grow up.  Someone who actually listens when Jean-Luc tells him to do something, which is new. 

And kind of endearing.

And a fun 180 to give him--a cute untested little wolf pup.


Tirzah
Since Jean-Luc is the Male Lead in "Fox" it stands to reason that Tirzah is Leading Lady, right?

(cue inner squealings cause I love this girl so much I can't even)

Which also means that we get to dig into Tirzah's backstory.

And it's all sorts of interesting.

She's still sassy, and feisty; she can absolutely look out for herself; but there's also a darker aspect to her that we don't really see much of in "Wolves".

Tirzah's on her own, and she has trust issues.

So don't mess with this Tiger.

Unless you're Jean-Luc.

He can handle her just fine 😛

Malbete
Malbete's devious.

He's sadistic.

He's manipulative.

And you get to see all of that in "Fox."

This is a Malbete who doesn't have someone holding his leash.

The weasel bares his fangs.

 He's given carte blanche to do whatever he wants to any of his prisoners.

And to one prisoner in particular.

And it's glorious.

Ravenna
Just as Cassian's role in "Fox" is smaller, so is Ravenna's.

Just as Cassian is an innocent rather than a cocky show-off, so is Ravenna.

An innocent brat.

She knows her rank and expects to be waited on;

she expects to be looked after rather than looking after herself.

She's a bratty little girl, who's still an adorable little raven chick, if that's possible.

But it also means that Cassian isn't going to fall for her crap.

Which is awesome!

DeClaire
Oh DeClaire.

The loose cannon.

When I was writing "Wolves" I was always curious why DeClaire was so power-hungry and why he went off the deep end when he did.

It's because of who he was in Normandy.

And what he was allowed to do in Normandy.

A loose cannon is scary enough.

But a loose cannon sans leash is worse.

This is one snake you don't want to piss off.

*Shudder*

My Conclusion?

This is actually a lot more fun and a little bit more complicated than I thought it would be.

Writing characters "backwards" is hard.

Fun, but so effing hard.

Thespian Rant: Parentheses=Part of the Text

Ok, so here's a question.

Why are stage directions more and more often treated like "suggestions"?

Because they're not.

Stage directions are part of the text.

Let me say that again.

Stage. 

Directions. 

Are. 

Part. 

Of. 

The. 

Text.

I'm not pointing fingers, or blaming or any of that. But this is a problem. If the script was published and you changed it in any way, you could be facing a lawsuit.

A.

Law-

Suit.

But if it isn't published apparently it's ok to cut things that don't work for you?

Really?

Don't get me wrong I've done it too a couple of times. My thought process was "well, it's in parentheses so it doesn't matter."

 I've even said "if it doesn't work throw it out".

And I regretted it.

Every.

Single.

Time.

I get it. There are times when parentheses can be ignored(notice I said "can" not "should").

J.M. Barrie introduces each of his characters within the parentheses--we're talking down to the cut of clothing sometimes--and those can be ridiculous to read. But Barrie used those parentheses as character descriptions; and he did it because he knew the company he was working with and they knew him and this was one of the ways he could communicate his thought process to them.

I know Shakespeare didn't write many stage directions ("they fight"; "he dies"; etc.) But just because Shakespeare can be freely adapted doesn't mean that applies to all plays.

Contemporary playwrights--of which I am one--have different approaches to stage directions. I know that. But when stage directions are used, it is a necessary form of communication(see above).

You guys, playwrights respect the role of a director.

We do.

We do, we do, we do.

We know what a Director's Concept is.

We know that the vision in our heads is never going to be exactly what will be seen onstage.

We trust the director to take out babies and make them blossom(I'm mixing metaphors but I don't care).

However.

In nine cases out of ten, the playwright and the director of a work are in two different places--sometimes two different countries--and can't communicate as often as they like.

A playwright understands that the director will have his or her or their own vision for the show.

 We get that.

But we also are aware that up to a certain point we know our work better than anyone (because, duh, we wrote it).

We know the plot; we know the characters; until rehearsals start, we are the highest authority on the script.

Which is why I believe stage directions exist.

That is how I communicate with the production team.

 I'm not the type of playwright that writes down every single entrance and exit; but I do like to be able to let the director and production team see what is in my head and hope against hope that they will respect me enough to utilize it(see "highest authority" above).

I know that there are some directions that will need to be adjusted, depending on venue.

I know that.

I do. 

But I have seen what happens when stage directions are completely ignored.

I Stage Managed a show several years ago--a published script, by the way--where the director took all the stage directions--including entrances and exits--and threw them out the window. Being a fairly green SM I failed to communicate this to the rest of the production team(lesson learned).

Flash forward to Paper Tech: due to my greenness and the director ignoring what was in the parentheses because "they [are all] suggestions", the Lighting Designer and his team had to re-hang half the lights. During Tech Week.

Let me say that again.

The 

Lighting 

Designer

And 

His 

Team

Had 

To 

Re-Hang

Half

The Lights 

During Tech Week.

I'm surprised they didn't kill anybody. I would have.

Did part of the fault lie with me, the SM, for not communicating the changes to the rest of the production team?

Yes.

But could it have been avoided in the first place if the director had not cut out the stage directions?

Again, yes.


Here's my point: stage directions are there for a reason.

It's how we communicate;

it's how we paint pictures for Readers and Literary Managers(who have to read the entire script);

it's how we provide a jump-off point for any production team our work comes in contact with.

Respect the playwright.

Don't  ignore the stage directions.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. 😛