Month: October 2011

I’ve been working on a spec one-act called HISTORICALLY BAD FIRST DATES for a couple months now, and I finally have a first draft! This script hasn’t been commissioned by anyone, it was just an idea I had that I thought would be funny, so I figured why not write it in my spare time. Happily, I haven’t had a lot of spare time lately, with two other commissions taking up most of it. But with THE END OF THE WORLD (WITH PROM TO FOLLOW) in rehearsal, and the first draft of WE WISH YOU A MERRY SPENDMAS! (formerly CHRISTMAS REUNITED) completed, I got to jump back onto HBFD.

Any schools out there want a crack at the first production?

We’re in the thick of it with THE END OF THE WORLD (WITH PROM TO FOLLOW) at West High School in Torrance, CA. I always do a lot of rewriting during the first production, and this play is no exception. I love how changing one word in a sentence will make all the difference. Of course, when you’re changing an “it” to a “that”, you’re frequently met with puzzled expressions from the actors (and occasionally the director). Why in the world would you need to make that small change? But putting together the puzzle that is the final draft of a play is one of my favorite parts of the process.

Phew! I was a bit behind on my commission for Esparta High School. I’m writing a holiday show called CHRISTMAS REUNITED for them, based on an idea from their drama coach. He gave me a fairly detailed idea, and then let me run with it. This is the kind of play I excel at, and I actually thought I would breeze through this first draft in about two weeks. Ha! All the best intentions, blah blah blah… Sometimes it just doesn’t come out, and you have to give yourself time to stare at the blank page, and more importantly, NOT stare at the blank page, and just wait for inspiration to hit.

For this play, I was stuck on, literally, the last five pages. I knew what I wanted to do, but every time I started, it just seemed so…ordinary. Blah. So I put it aside for what I assumed would be the entire trip to Chicago I started last week. (Working on a show here). But then, on the last day of the trip, inspiration struck and I locked myself in the house of a friend and three hours later – done! Again – phew! Childbirth is always such a struggle…

So it’s off to the drama coach for notes, and then we’re back for the second draft. For now I’m hoping he’ll be cool with me changing the title to WE WISH YOU A MERRY SPENDMAS! (Which will make more sense after you read the play. You’re going to read the play, right?)