Replay

It's going to be a bit quite around here with so many off to the Screenwriting Festival. Couldn't make it this year but I hope to live it vicariously through their posts.

I said I'd report on the latest for my short play. It had its performance, after some modifications, just over a week ago. The audience was a bit smaller, not everyone wants to see a play twice, but there were new people too. This meant some feedback was on whether the reworks improved things and some was from fresh eyes. A useful combination.

This time the studio was laid out with a stage down the middle instead of at one end. I'm not sure if that worked because one of the actors moved about a lot and had to be sure he didn't obscure the movements of the other.

I felt there were fewer laughs this time (yes it was a comedy) but the audience still said they enjoyed it. Except for a lovely pair of pensioners who felt it was a bit too wordy for them.

This time there was a chance for people to ask questions and most of these were about whether I should expand the play and how. I'd always intended it as a short, complete piece. Half the feedback said it would be nice to expand it, they wanted to get to know more about the characters and I chatted for a while about the backstory for each. The other half felt this would dilute the piece. It is very fast paced and I'm worried I'll lose the momentum and end up padding it to make it longer. I still feel happiest with it staying as a short play but maybe I'll feel differently in a year.

Those that voted for expansion wanted me to make the two characters suffer more. The director, Dan, let me know that pain is funny. His stand-up mate says it has been proved scientifically. So I'm too nice to my characters and I've got to be more sadistic. Hmmm. I'm going to have to develop a nasty streak.

The piece was also selected for a workshop at a literary festival on the border. The aim was to introduce people to the scriptwriting group, show them what it was like to write for the stage and tout for members. The attendees were split into two groups and asked to write the next scene. An interesting challenge when the play's ending is the possible end of the world.

I heard today how it went and the two groups took very different routes. One kept the comedy style and that you are never sure if things are really happening or not. The other group decided it wasn't but made the characters suffer more. Both were great ways forward and I'm chuffed that it gave them very different ideas.

The attendees enjoyed the experience and the play so I think that counts as a success. Unless they all take up writing. Then I have more competition. Oh dear. This could all go horribly wrong.

I'll wind up now. Trying to decide whether to put my next play idea aside for a while or battle on. Currently going for the put it aside vote because it just isn't flowing well at the moment. Lots of other pieces to work on though.

A bit of classic horror to cheer you up

Been keeping this in reserve. Had some good news and some bad news today.

Good: My short play has been picked as one of the four for a final performance. We modified them in light of comments from audience, actors and directors then resubmitted. I was one of the ones picked. I'm going to have to stand up and talk about the play then answer questions from the floor so my fingernails have suddenly disappeared.

Bad: Super Shorts semi-final list is now up. I didn't get through. I'm telling myself that there was a HUGE pile of submissions and I just missed so it was quite an achievement. I know I was nearly picked because the sheep are lying down so it must be true.

So here's the little horror present.

We're going to need a bigger boat

No it's not about Jaws. Though there is some fishing involved.

I did wonder how to write this one because I didn't want it to sound smug. But then I thought sod it. Just say what happened. The old timers can have flashbacks to their first paying audience, those also at the "weeee this is fun" stage can go weeee again if the mood takes them and the newbies can see what's ahead. Soon. As long as they keep tapping away and listen to Danny when he says "A writer writes. End of Story."

Anyway back to the boat. I went to see my short play Paddling last night. It was one of 11 being shown.

I left clear blue skies and warm breezes to drive through hail, floods, gales and some good old thunder and lightning. Someone clearly didn't want me there but I'm a stubborn old cuss so kept going.

Car park was packed but we managed to squeeze into a far corner. We then raced across the new river that had replaced the tarmac. OK they ran. I sort of waddled. Well its been over a year since I last wore heels. Finally we made it.

I did get some odd looks. Don't know if it was my clutching Dave in terror or the stuffed toy owl tucked under my arm. Ian Hinde, one of the directors, hadn't been sure if they could get a stuffed seagull so I brought back up. I raced, sorry minced, over and he just grinned and said "wait and see." Some friend. So I ended up nursemaiding the blasted thing all evening because Dave and my eldest refused to be seen dead with it. The baby of the family had already escaped to a sleepover.

We were in the Studio rather than the main theatre and I'd been told the turn out would probably be small. After all we were competing with Oklahoma. Imagine everyone's shock when we were only 12 seats short of a full house. That's nearly 90 people, not including the cast. And before you scoff remember it's relative. An angry mob of 90 berserkers = terror. A chirpy cluster of 90 cherubs = happiness. Or time for another trip to the detox clinic.

Maybe Oklahoma sold out and they didn't want to waste the coach hire. Anyway there we all were and center stage was a dingy. With a stuffed seagull on it. To my horror this meant mine was on first.

So I'd better explain a tiny bit about my play. The other director Daniel Bye (yep there were two) said it had the highest rate of props/second of any play he'd done. It was 5mins long and in that time the actor in the dingy, Wad Davies, had to manhandle a newspaper, oar, stilton drum, french stick, stuffed seagull, umbrella, bucket, trombone and anchor. The actor outside the boat, Ian Stokes, had a clipboard, pole and a big red button to deal with so got off a bit more lightly.

They had managed to get all the props except the trombone. In fact Ian S had made a lot of them, including the stuffed seagull!

Anyway the audience laughed... where they were supposed to laugh. The audience and cast didn't say anything bad at the scary feedback session so I could let blood back into Dave's fingers. I was pleased with what the directors and actors had done with it and the actors also voted it as one of their two favourites which was really nice.

So what did I learn? There's a lot of visual comedy in my play, hence the props, but the one thing I'd never done was imagine a pile of these things in a dingy. Lets just say it was a little bit of a squeeze. At one point the french stick got sat on so was rather bent when it got waved around. That got an extra laugh.

But Wad did have to do a lot of fishing about because things got pushed out of plaice. (I couldn't resist it, sorry). I apologised for burying them in props but they said that could be sorted with more rehearsal....or a bigger boat.

Comparing with the other plays.

Those that were self contained rather than extracts seemed to go down better with the audience. But then the extracts are a snapshot from a long story so it is really an unfair comparison. Personally there were several extracts that made me eager to see the whole work.

Some were more action. Some more dialogue. The comedy tended to be heavier on action with the dialogue much faster paced. Shorter sentences. Quick volleys between the characters. The drama was heavier on dialogue and bigger blocks of it from each character. I noticed several where the dialogue seemed quite natural for the stage but would have been binned by a film reader as too much black on the page. Talking heads.

So I've got to pay more attention to the difference in film and play. You can be more static and have more dialogue with a play. But I'll have to make sure I don't go too far and have two people standing there, static, rabbiting about nothing for 90mins.

Talking about rabbiting. I wonder if this is my longest post. I'll let you move onto something more interesting like the link in the post below. Go on. Disappear now. You have writing to do.

BBC Comedy College

Michael Jacob has announced that all interviewees have now been contacted. It's in the comments section here. Didn't get mine unless it got jammed in the wire when competing with all the job offers that failed to get through.

Oh well. Just got to keep at it and lots of other chances coming up. The first performance of my short play Paddling is on Wednesday so butterflies bigtime at the moment.

Did any of you get an invite to the interviews?

Won Something

It's been very eventful since my last blog. I won something. Yes really. I'm still sort of in shock.

I'd entered a county competition for a short play. North Cumbria Scriptwriting Group is going to put on a set of plays at Theatre by the Lakes and offered one of the slots as a prize. Yes I live in Cumbria. Said it was the back of beyond didn't I? Wouldn't swap it though.

The group selected submissions down to three and then the theatre director chose mine.

So my 5min play will be professionally staged in the spring. I then got an email last night for character notes so they can start casting. Eeeek. Haven't had to write those before. At least not for anyone else to read. Had a go. I'm sure they will tell me if the notes are useless.

I also submitted my portfolio for the course I've been on. Got to wait to find out if it was alright.

I'm also cracking away at Draft II of the treatment for my feature. I worked on it with the course and just have to choose between the three endings I can see.

Also realised the deadline for the Cheltenham Screenwriters' Festival competition Pitch in Time is almost upon me. And I want to submit a pitch for the feature. So I'd better get cracking. If you don't try then you're guaranteed to lose.

And then there's the early deadline for BSSC Live Action shorts at the end of March. I've got a couple of shorts I think are ready but I'm letting them sit there a little so I can read with new eyes before submitting. I got through the first round last year. Doesn't mean I'll get that far again this year but lets see.

I'm also reading and checking a synopsis and 3 chapters of a novel for a friend who is about to send it out. She finished a novel AND reworked and rewritten it. So much better than me. My novels get fully planned out then I get distracted. Not a good habit I know. I've got my fingers and toes crossed for her.



So I've got to get some heavy writing done. Paper out. Pencil sharpened.

And I got this from Sheiky