Hey you guys!
Get ready for some serious reading material (as well as pictures!!) documenting my experience at KCACTF in LA. I had to journal my experiences...and this will be a multiple part series on the blog. :)
February 14, 2013
Dear Journal,
Today was the first day of
KCACTF. I woke up at 7am with 6 hours of sleep, took a quick shower, and tried
putting together a reasonable outfit for the Ten Minute Playwriting Orientation
Meeting at 8:30am (haha). As I straightend my hair and put on my makeup, I
couldn’t help but think of the four other playwrights I’d be competing with for
the next couple of days. Going into the meeting, I knew two of the five ten
minute plays were already selected as National Semi-Finalists, but it didn’t
make me any less nervous.
Walking through the hotel
hallways to the meeting was frightening. It was quiet and the lush carpet under
my feet silenced my footsteps. I arrived ten minutes early…go figure. I sat against
one wall and waited. People trickled in and my heart caught in my throat. This
was it, like for real. A woman went around to the other students in the room,
asking why they were here. When she got to me, she shook my hand and asked,
“And why’re you here?” I got to look her in the eye, shake her hand, and say,
“I’m a playwright.” !!!! It was the BEST feeling in the world! I couldn’t
believe I was so blessed to have this experience and that those words were
coming out of my mouth. Though the woman didn’t think what I’d just said was
significant, it was a huge turning point in my life.
Throughout the orientation, I got
to see who the other playwrights were and meet my AMAZING director and stage
manager. Carol Damgen and Aurora Sauceda fit with my personality in the
absolute best way. Carol, Aurora, and I learned we were to hold auditions with
another ten minute play called, “Playdate,” because the same age demographic
existed in our two plays (early 20’s). Immediately, I was on edge. I was gonna
be in the same room with my competition!!! AH! We then learned the logistics of
how the day was going to work, which was:
- Orientation Meeting 8:30am-10:30am
- Auditions in the Medeterranian Room 10:30am-12:30pm
- Callbacks List posted at 12:30pm
- Callbacks in the Medeterranian Room 1:00pm-2:30pm
- Final Casting with Other Plays in the Roman Room 2:30pm-3:30pm
- Cast List posted by 4:30pm
Phew! Now, back to the auditions. My immediate
impression of the “Playdate” playwright was, “Wow. She knows what she’s doing.”
But she also surprised me by how kind she was. She joked with me, doodled on
her notebook paper while taking notes of the actors, and whispered to me about
random things. It was a much nicer experience than I anticipated.
The audition itself was exhausting for
me. One actor after another would come in, do their thing, leave, and then
another. We never got more than a two minute break—but even that was a rare
occurrence. Hearing the words I’d written said aloud for the first time was
insane. Sometimes it took my breath away with how talented they were and other
times I was just like, “Okay, see ya later,” because they just didn’t
understand the words (which is completely fine, haha). I found that I loved
being on the other side of the audition table much more. As an actor you put
everything out there for people to either cross you off their list or circle
your name as a “maybe” or a “definite.” A nice change of scenery. :)
Also, it became apparent who wanted to
be in my show and who were just there to practice their monologues for Irene
Ryan rounds. I didn’t quite know how to approach the latter group of people.
They were talented and I appreciated their time, but it was almost like they
didn’t appreciate or understand all the time I’ve put into my work. After that
realization, I wondered if this was going to be a regular occurrence for me as
a playwright in the future. I guess we’ll find out.
Carol and I would make eye contact after
each audition that we liked or disliked, make frowning faces or give each other
thumbs up. Haha She was such an enjoyable and delightful director to work with.
After the auditions, Carol and I got together to select our favorite actors.
Here is where I realized saying, “I’m a playwright,” means more than just the
words—it means working. It means knowing how to articulate yourself with a
director and take her suggestions into consideration. It means having a mature
attitude and gracious humility. She treated me as an adult, not like a student,
which was…new and awe-inspiring.
After picking nine actors, we pooled our
favorite actors with the other director and playwright—to make sure we weren’t
calling back the same people. The other group left and we put our callback list
on the wall outside the room:
Be still my beating heart! An
actual callback list! After posting the list, I ran into two more actors just
coming by to audition. They did their thing and we called one back immediately
for callbacks. The callback process was in some ways tough and in other ways
easy. During Adrian Ramos’ callback, I stepped in as Emily as there weren’t any
girls to read with him. As an actor/playwright it was the COOLEST and most
DIFFICULT experience of my life acting my words. Adrian and I were so connected
and he told me later that day it was the best acting experience he’s ever had
in his life. !!! Life changing awesome-sauce!
Some couples worked well together
in the cold reads, and others, just did not—which was an eye opening experience
in itself. Carol and I had it narrowed down to: Noelle and Dillon, Chloe and
Adam, Noelle/Chloe/Lauren and Jacob/Ted. Haha We had our work cut out for us—they
were all so good! After numbering our top three couples, we went to the group
casting session.
It was then we entered the
bloodbath (sort of haha). All four other plays were vying for Heather McDonald
and Jacob Rico. Each play wanted one or both of them as their number one choice…But
Carol and I lucked out that every single pairing we came up with would be perfect.
They all had their own strengths and would suit the script well and it would
grow into something beautiful. We were willing to let Jacob go, but Carol and I
could tell my script meant something deep to him as he did his cold read. He
cried and meant every word (such a proud playwright moment)!
In the end, Carol and I went
with:
After getting the cast list put
together, I rushed off to the keynote address by Theresa Rebeck (the writer of
SMASH!) in the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Some notes I took while at her address:
-Give
myself permission to be a playwright. Sometimes, I still struggle with
accepting myself and my craft. I
struggle with letting myself just be myself and then work at it.
-Our
voice is a muscle—sometimes we are in control and sometimes we aren’t. We need
to acknowledge our voice as a playwright in the same way we use our body to
move and be moved. It requires exercise.
-A
character’s language shows who they are.
-We
can communicate without language as playwrights. Stage directions and direction
can create all the words we could never write.
-WOMEN
AND MEN DO NOT WRITE IN DIFFERENT WAYS AT OUR CORE. I loved that!
-Don’t
wait for someone to tell you your art’s good—PRODUCE YOURSELF…Which sprung the immediate
thought of putting my show up at Night at the HFAC. :)
-Theresa
said she could write a play while falling from a tree to the moment she crashed
into the ground. Someone asked her what she’d think while falling. She
responded: “Who do I have and what do they want?” Everything was simplified in
that instant and gave me a ton of insight into my full length I’m writing at
the moment.
After her keynote, she asked for
a private hour long session with the playwrights in the audience (!!!!) We rode
up on an elevator and gathered around her in the LATC costume shop. While listening
and taking notes, I found it terribly difficult to follow her train of thought.
It wasn’t the most succinct lecture or Q&A I ever attended…but here are the
notes I managed to scribble down:
-A
certain “space” exists around language in theatre—A space where bodies move and
interact with one another, a space where mouths speak more than just the words
on the page through subtext and backstory, a space where we receive language and
are changed.
-The
learning process never ends. It continues through language, characters, and
scene work.
-Great
storytelling comes by trusting yourself and others. Asking “Who is the theatre
for?” and answering that question faithfully, honestly, and confidently.
-I
AM A STORYTELLER. At the end of the day, I tell stories that can change lives. At
the end of the day, I tell stories that can bring people closer. Such a
beautiful thought.
The last item on the agenda for
the day was attending Vincent in Brixton,
a production invited by KCACTF from UVU. SO GOOD. The lead actor, James
Mckinney, played Vincent Van Gough in his 20’s—a complex, angry, and passionate
young man. How he fell in and out of love. How he started painting. How he
succeeded and failed as a man and lover. Goodness. It was beautiful. The show
was written in the kind of writing I love—harsh, unforgiving, poetic but
realistic, and jarring. (As a side note, while Ariel, Bianca, and I went to get
Greek for dinner the next night, we ran into James! I asked if I could hug him
for his performance (haha) and we talked for a bit about Utah and his play).
Overall, a very good day! I can’t
wait to see what happens tomorrow!
