Good News: Pumpkin Patch wins SlamBoston

Tracy and I got out to the Boston Center for the Arts to see Pumpkin Patch in SlamBoston last night (it's nice having a teenager who can babysit for her little brother now). The evening was completely sold out--I had friends who showed up and got on the waiting list and didn't get in. The full house and the slam nature of the event started the night out with a palpable electricity--exactly the sensation that I want from an audience whenever I go to the theatre.

My show went sixth out of eight. The scripts were a mix, in terms of quality, but they were better than the average fare at a short-play festival. The time limit was supposed to be 14 minutes, but at least three of the plays ran over 18-minutes, which was a bit problematic (for them). Pumpkin Patch came in between 8 and 9 minutes, which was appreciated by the audience. Judging was done by five judges from the audience, who rated each play on a scale from 1-10 (they were encouraged to be generous, so the numbers tended to be in the 9s).

The performance was everything I wanted it to be. The audience really hooked into it, especially since the preceding play was pretty low key, without much interaction between the characters. My play is full of conflict. At first, we got a lot more laughs than I expected. Part of it was just the energy of the evening, and part of it was appreciation on the part of the crowd for the absurdity of the conversation between the characters. Then, when the racial undertones bubbled up to the surface, you could hear the crowd catch its breath and lean forward, as they followed the tone shift.

The big explosion of action that happens near the end of the play, when the white woman smashes the pumpkins was totally intense. We had three styrofoam "funkins" that I got at the craft store--they looked great, completely realistic. But we didn't have the budget for a practice smash, so the actress, Eliza Lay, had to try it for the first time live in performance. She smashed the first one easily, and managed to demolish the other two (with a brief scary moment, when one of them started to squirt away). Eliza really let loose. The spurt of onstage action and violence grabbed the audience completely, and the ending felt worked well, with actress Ebony Mills making some strong choices. (Kortney Adams did a great job directing this piece.)

When it was over, it was clear that the piece was one of the stronger one of the evening, but there was tough competition. I particularly liked Linda Suzuki's play, Just Sex, which felt both witty and true, and had a fantastic performance from Philana Gnatowski.

Anyway, when the evening was over, our production squeaked out ahead (and we won glory and cold, hard cash). It was especially rewarding to have my play staged so well for an appreciative audience (I just wish it could run longer). It was one of those nights that reminds me why I do this crazy theatre thing

some good news

I found out (last week, actually) that my short play, Pumpkin Patch, will be part of SlamBoston, Diverse Voices in Theatre, a one-night play slam on November 13th, at the Boston Center for the Arts (produced by Another Country Productions and Company One).

I've been a bit skeptical about the whole notion of play slams for a while, but I know folks who have done this one and liked it, and, more importantly, it's run by Lyralen Kaye, who directed a short play of mine earlier this year, and I really enjoyed working with her. So I'm excited to give it a try (if we win our evening, we win money, which would be a good thing).

Even better is that my director is Kortney Adams. She's also a terrific actress and has worked with the Rhombus playwrights group a lot. This is my first chance getting to work with her as a director, and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'd worried that I'd have no theatre action this fall, but this is helping the end of the year not seem too empty. Plus, I've got Den of Iniquity coming up in NYC at Emerging Artists Fall EATFest in October. I really like my director, Ian Streicher. Looks like I'll be able to get down to NYC to see the show on October 20th.

So, life is good. (And I even got some writing done over the past two days.) (And I've been getting marketing done every day with the Playwright Submission Binge.)

Good News: Pumpkin Patch advances

My short play, Pumpkin Patch, had its premiere on Saturday night, at the American Globe/Turnip Theatre 15-Minute Play Festival in New York. The show went pretty well. For various reasons, the rehearsal period ended up being compressed, so the actors and director were working hard on Friday night and during the day on Saturday to get ready. I did my best to be helpful.

The good news is that the play won the competition for that evening, so it will move on to the finals this Friday (7pm) and Saturday (5pm). Competitions decided by audience voting are often problematic, but I think these folks do it better than anywhere else I've seen. The voting is done by secret ballot, you rank your top choices (1-4), and you have to see all the show in order to vote (you can't arrive late or leave early). Seven shows (one from each night) move on to the finals, and the producers pick three others to even it out to ten plays for the final weekend.

I've got my fingers crossed that all will go smoothly this weekend (I'll be in Boston, not NYC).

ticket to ride

Bought my bus tickets the other night to head to New York for the production of my short play, Pumpkin Patch, by the American Globe/Turnip Theatres in the New York 15-Minute Play Festival. My show runs Saturday night, and if it does well, it'll run again the following weekend.

This is a play that's never been staged before, so I'm especially excited (and nervous) to see it up on stage. It's about a conflict between a white gardener and a black neighbor in a community garden, in a neighborhood that's undergoing gentrification. I'm very curious to see how the audience reacts.

Assuming we don't get stuck in traffic, I should be able to see a rehearsal on Friday afternoon. I'm not one for surprises when it comes to my work--I much prefer to see it in rehearsal before watching it in front of a big audience.