Great experience at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference

Table work on Drift. Photo by Maggie Rosenthal

I'm finally getting a chance to catch my breath a little, after an extremely busy start to the year. It was all capped off with a 17-day stay at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference in McCall, Idaho, where I workshopped my play, Drift.  I'd had the good fortune to be selected to work on my play, Flight, back in 2011, but had to leave after only a few days, due to a death in our family.  I'd been working and hoping to get back to McCall ever since.

Sheila McDevitt in the reading of Drift. PHoto by Sarah Jessup.

Jonathan Bangs in Drift. Photo by Sarah Jessup

Mirirai Sithole in Drift. Photo by Sarah Jessup.

Danette Baker in Drift. Photo by Sarah Jessup.

It's a gorgeous place, and the first week I was there, I spent every possible moment working on the play with my director, Christy Montour Larson, dramaturg Gay Smith, stage manager Dana Reiland, and our fabulous cast of Sheila McDevitt, Mirirai Sithole, Jonathan Bangs, and Danette Baker.  I'd get up early and write, then rehearse all day, then come back and write some more. On Saturday night, we had a fully staged reading for a sold-out house. And the audiences there, after 17 seasons of the conference, are very smart and sophisticated when it comes to discussing new plays.

For the second week, I helped dramaturg a new play by Dayna Smith, which had a sit-down reading as part of its development. And I got to see readings of all the other plays by my fellow writers, attend a writer's workshop from Elaine Romero, and go to a bunch of other fun events. And spend some time at the Burgdorf hot springs (super rustic, super relaxing) chilling out after a long week.

Seven Devils is the kind of experience that I'd want to give to every playwright at some point in their career. There's an entire artistic community that forms with an intense focus on helping the playwrights explore, change, and refine their scripts. And they've also engaged the greater community--so local businesses donate space and material and money to help make it all work. Local residents help provide housing for almost 50 visiting artists who are coming in from all across the country.

I stayed in a cozy apartment above a garage about five miles out of McCall, surrounded by miles of pastureland, ringed by snow tinged mountains. It's hard to imagine a more perfect spot to work on this particular play.

Now I'm back to my regular life. Excited to see my family, settling into summer . Working on a new play, with Blood on the Snow still running at the Old State House, and Both/And still at the MIT Museum.

But behind it all, I've still got the afterglow my time at Seven Devils. I made solid strides on Drift, and I got to work with some really great people. I hope to work with them again, and to find a way to get back to McCall someday. We'll see what the future holds for Drift.

Seven Devils 2017! photo by Sarah Jessup

early return from Idaho

My wife Tracy's father, Roger, died early this morning in Boston, unexpectedly, after a brief illness.  I'm in the midst of working my way back home from Idaho to be with our family.

I want to express my sincere thanks to the Seven Devils' staff and members, especially Jeni, Paula, Sheila, Martin, and Larry, for their sympathy and assistance this morning, and to our intern/actor James, who drove me all the way down to Boise this morning, without a second thought (and kept me thoroughly engaged with lively conversation the whole way).   Though I'm disappointed to leave the conference early, the groundwork laid there with the play will continue to help the script evolve, and I am grateful for the relationships I formed there in the time I had.  Thanks also to all the friendly folks of McCall, who hosted me and made me feel welcome in their lovely town.

Roger Blauvelt was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend.  He was a golfer, geocacher, Air Force veteran, baseball fan, and all around good guy.  He will be sorely missed.

report from Idaho--days 3 and 4

Still working hard in Idaho.  Yesterday was a busy day--I had a three-hour meeting with Larry Leobell (a man with uncommon energy and storytelling skills, and I'm not just buttering up) about Flight, out in the sun by the Fogglifter Cafe.  Getting to talk in depth about the ins and outs, strengths and weaknesses, of the play is just what I needed and have been looking forward to.  I left with a head full of ideas (that I'm still trying to sort out).  I've got the full conference to work on them, but I'm trying to put in a major push to get some changes made before the end of Wednesday, when I need to turn in the first draft that will go to my cast.

After that meeting, I was on to a meeting with the high school student that I'm helping mentor.  She has a staged reading of her play on Thursday, so the director and I were meeting with her to give her some feedback and guidance on the play.  I'm sure we left her head spinning just as mine was spinning after my meeting with Larry.

Then it was off to a company meeting, which makes me continue to be so impressed by the group that runs Seven Devils.  They're completely dedicated to developing plays and playwrights.  They emphasize that this is a conference rather than a festival.  It's really about the process of creating the work, more than trying to focus on the presentational aspects. 

Especially interesting to me is how they've managed to be so fully embraced by the McCall community (it helps that the founders have strong local connections).  The people of this town donate an incredible amount of space, housing, money, food, and all other sorts of support.  Working with a company that so completely embraces the essential human and communal nature of theatre is completely exciting to me.

There are a lot of reasons not to write plays, but being part of Seven Devils seems like a good reason to be a playwright--the chance to work intensely with good people, in a beautiful place, on complex projects, in a nurturing community.

In the afternoon, while hiding out from a crazy hail storm in the Seven Devils office, I started making changes to the script.  Drawing first blood is an important first step in the revision process.

The day ended with a three-hour rehearsal of the student play, which featured some really terrific high school student actors from McCall (as well as our imported professional.)

Today, the morning was all about writing, struggling bit by bit through small changes that might make big results.  Then it was off to a field trip trying to drive to Bergdorf, but the road was closed due to snow, and the end of the Ponderosa Park (where the road was also closed).  So Larry Loebell and fellow intensive playwright Bob Bartlett and I basically hung out in the mist, watched birds and the swamp, and told stories.  Because what else do three playwrights do in the Idaho rocky mountains.  Pretty fantastic.

Here are some photos from Lily Marsh of Bob and Larry:

Next, more rehearsals and more readings and more writing.  Tomorrow will be about writing all day. 

 Here are Larry and me in the same spot.

Report from Idaho-- days and 2

I'm enjoying my second day in McCall, Idaho--I'm sitting on patio of Bistro 45 in sun, steps from Lake Payette, listening to a piano player play movie tunes, hanging out with Larry Loebell (my dramaturg for Flight and fascinating guy and experienced writer), after he's given me the tour of the Alpine Playhouse and a look around this lovely mountain town.  Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

Yesterday, I had a nice three-hour layover in Denver International Airport, which is the perfect place for me to read and work on making changes to my play about a woman who take refuge from life at the airport (in her case, Logan). 

My lodgings for the Conference are in a rustic cabin, five miles out of town.  The quiet compared to my normal home life in Brookline is startling.  It's going to be the perfect spot for rewrites to the play over the next few weeks.

Here's the view on my way into town:

So far, it's been a fairly steady of stream of good food and interesting conversations with theatre people.  And we haven't really even started yet.  The past participants clearly thoroughly love this conference and make a point of trying to be here year after year.  There's a strong sense of community and friendship apparent from the minute you walk in the door.

Tonight we have a company meeting/bbq.  Tomorrow, Larry and I will meet to go over my play and talk about ideas and concerns and possible rewrite plans for the Conference.  I'll also meet a high school student who's working on a ten-minute play that will be read on Thursday, and whom I'll be helping mentor.

Good news: I'm going to Seven Devils

Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, that is.   We were away in Costa Rica for a week on a family trip, and upon our return I was looking through the 200 messages that had accumulated in my inbox and came across one from Jeni Mahoney, co-artistic director of the id theater, who puts on the conference.  They'd picked my script Flight as one of the finalists and had been trying to reach me all week.

So, now I'll be heading to McCall, Idaho, for two weeks in June, where I'll get a week to work with a director and dramaturg, and then another week to work with a cast of actors who are flying in from around the country.

I'm very excited for this trip.  The script is at the point where this sort of workshop environment (which culminates in a sit-down reading) is exactly what's needed for me to take it to the next level.

I've been applying to residencies and workshops like this for a long time (I first applied to the O'Neill in 1992), but this will be my first time getting to go.