Art is long and life is short, and success is very far off. – Joseph Conrad
The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug. - Mark Twain
The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true. - John Steinbeck
Never confuse movement with action. - Ernest Hemingway
The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life,
by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later,
when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. - William Faulkner
Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes.
Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such. - Henry Miller
I believe that what feeds the work of the theatre is first of all the theatre itself. It is discovery, adventure. It is 'looking for' the theatre. In the history of the theatre, what nourishes me is the questioning, the discoveries, the illuminations of the people of the theatre who have preceeded us, their desires...In the case of Copeau, for example, it is his desire which is very interesting, and very beautiful, more so certainly than what he was in fact able to achieve...Is it really the countryside which fed Monet's poppyfield, or is it really painting which discovers, which truly reveals the field of poppies? In the process of rehearsal I look for the theatre, second by second, and when it appears, truly appears, it is undeniable. - Ariane Mnouchkine
Theatre Notes offers Daniel Keene's 2006 Rex Cramphorn Memorial Lecture.I am chiefly interested in the kind of theatre that embraces change and is a reminder of our mortality; theatre that does not confirm power, but rather admits fragility, acknowledges failure, that recognizes tragedy and is disrespectful enough to create comedy. That’s the theatre that I keep imagining and that I write for. I write for it in order to create it. A playwright must do this; the play that he or she writes is always a new proposal for the theatre. It is an imaginative act that suggests something beyond the play itself and contains the possibility for new forms of theatre. It does this because the content of a play demands the clearest expression possible. This clarity is necessary because of the nature of the theatre event itself: it is ephemeral. It happens before our eyes and then it is gone. The performance of a play must present its comedy, its tragedy, its life, in the time during which it is created on stage in front of the audience. It can do nothing else. Each time it does this, it is particular, it is unique; in this it is theatre created anew, and within that fact lies the possibility of a new kind of theatre.
Read the rest here.
I Think I Love You – David CassidyPersonal Jesus – Marilyn MansonCasper the Friendly Ghost – Daniel JohnstonCome As You Are – NirvanaLaisse Tomber Les Filles – April MarchBurn Rubber – The Gap BandI’ll Be Your Mirror – Velvet UndergroundThe Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack – LiarsStill I Dream of It – Brian WilsonIf You’re Happy & You Know It – Wink 123
Delphi
Sometimes the lights go out. They just go out.
They go out and it’s done.
It’s done. Over.
Abrupt ending and the lights go out.
You can’t know when the end is coming.
How could you?
Evan
Feel it.
Delphi
Oh. But how can you know?
Evan
Feel it.
Delphi
You may feel it. How can you know?
Evan
Shock.
Dr. Joyce Canada
Pain can be deceiving.
Evan
Shock.
Dayton
Shock!
Dr. Joyce Canada
Shock can develop as a result of a reduction in the volume of fluid circulating around the body. The most common examples of this are external or internal bleeding, loss of bodily fluids through severe diarrhea, vomiting, or burns.
Evan
*/A cry of incomprehensible pain.
Delphi
*Fuck!
Evan
Want to crawl out of my skin!
Delphi
Why don’t you drive? Why the fuck don’t you drive? You’re never on time. Why can’t we ever get any where on time? I can tell you aren’t listening.
Evan
Wrecked my car. Totaled.
Delphi
I wasn’t the one driving.
Evan
You get behind the wheel drunk.
Delphi
You left me.
Evan
Weren’t watching the road.
Delphi
You left me. Betrayed me.
Evan
Never drive. You get behind the wheel drunk.
Delphi
You couldn't even look at me. Stand the sight of me.
Evan
I heard sirens. Screaming.
Delphi
The car split in half. I walked away.
Evan
You left me.
Delphi
I heard you screaming but I couldn’t find you.
Evan
Left me.
Delphi
I heard the screaming. The begging. I saw the fire.
Evan
I was screaming. I was screaming.
Delphi
I would have pulled you- I would have saved you.
Evan
I crawled out of the car.
Delphi
No.
Evan
I don’t remember. The seat belt held me tight. I couldn’t find the release. I heard the sirens but distant. They didn’t come right away. There was stillness at first. Silence. Then fire. Screaming.
Delphi
I felt the fire and reached for my seatbelt.
Evan
I felt my skin.
Delphi
I couldn’t break free.
Evan
No.
Delphi
I couldn’t break free.
Evan
Fire. It tore at my skin. I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
Delphi
I couldn’t break free.
Evan
You left me. I wanted out. I couldn’t get away from the heat. It tore at my skin. I wanted the breathing to stop. I heard the screaming. I heard the begging. Is this me?
Evan collapses. Delphi holds him.
Delphi
I loved you-but I couldn’t-
Delphi puts her hand over his mouth and starts to suffocate him.
Delphi
I won't let you go.
*/Evan struggles for an eternity then eventually gives up.
Delphi
*Stop. Stop. Oh god stop. Stop the breathing. Stop the breathing. Stop the breathing. Stop. Oh god can't you stop? Stop. Stop. Stop the air. Don’t you know air feeds fire? Air feeds fire. Shh. Shh. Shh. It's okay. It's okay. I won't let you go.
Silence.
Delphi Cont'dI dreamed about you. You were driving. You had one hand on the wheel and one on my shoulder. It was…
(Us.)
in this…
(perfect moment.)
Your eyes
Everything moving fast around us.
I loved you.
I can’t believe I gave so much away.
I can’t keep doing this.
I can’t keep you…
You fucking owe me.
You fucking owe me.
Silence.
The silence is pierced by the ringing mechanism of a fire alarm.
Suzan-Lori Parks is everywhere right now - on the cover of American Theatre and featured in The New Yorker. And she's inspiring me as I write. I was writing a new play every day, whether it was good or not, whether it was convenient or not. Whatever happened. And it became this prayer, almost. To theatre. To life. To the art process, to the process of making art and being alive. It sort of took over my whole year...Sometimes I would write it in the security line at the airport, you know?...A lot of them were written in hotels...I didn't limit the time. I sat down and did it and then kind of went on with the day.
We awake to fascination, and we strive to fascinate. We work to enchant others. We work to ignite life, to evoke presence, to enhance the unfolding of being. All of this is the actuality of love. We strive to fascinate so that we bring forth what might otherwise disappear. But that is exactly what love does: Love is the activity of evoking being, of enhancing life. - Brian Swimme
Q: So how are you coming with that step outline?
A: Progressing nicely after a few failed attempts.Q: What's the hold up?
A: I've never tried to do this with a play that wasn't realistic.
Q: How's that working out for you?
A: Well, like I said, a few false starts.
Q: Failed attempts you said.
A: Don't quote me.
Q: Not procrastinating are you?
A: I been kinda sleepy.
Q: Power sleeping, yeah. Got chocolate? Got cookie dough?
A: I'm well-stocked.
Q: Why are you screwing around with this?
A: This?
Q: The blog thing. No substitute for real writing, you know.
A: Consider it a warm-up.Q: Right.
A: What about you? Nothing stopping you from writing.
Q: I'll ask the questions.
The monster I have to kill every day is realism. The monster who attacks me every day is destruction. Out of these duels comes transformation. I have to turn destruction into creation over and over again. - Anais Nin
Burlesque, like Worcestershire Sauce, is a condiment, not a fluid. Too much of it is more than enough. - P.G. Wodehouse
Right from the jump, ask yourself- 'Why does this thing I'm writing have to be a play?' The words 'why,' 'have' and 'play' are key. If you don't have an answer then get out of town. No joke. The last thing American theatre needs is another lame play. - Suzan-Lori Parks
So, like I said, I'm writing a play this month. That means that there will be little left-over psychic energy to post to my blog. My plan is this: I'm going to post pictures and quotes that inspire me or give me some perspective (ie. make me laugh) as I write. I may post source materials/photos/music playlists that are fueling me. I'll try to open up my process as I'm in it and maybe post here at Ghostlight or here at NAPLWRIMO. My goal for the play today is to write a step outline (a major revelation to me and worth the time I've spent in grad school). It's essentially a beat sheet or a map of the conflict in every scene. Duh? Seems like an obvious place to start, but that's never been my approach to playwrighting. I start with images or something that's deeply disturbed me. In the case of this play it was the death of my daughter and dealing with the anger and loss that accompanied it.
Anyway, that's where we are today. I'm also going to see Gate Theatre's Waiting For Godot in Berkeley. I managed to get one of the last ten tickets, my friends ended up with the very last two. Lucky.
Don't loaf and invite inspiration. Light out for it with a club. - Jack London
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. It's National Playwrighting Month. Playwrights from across the country (Including yours truly. Currently on page 7 thank you) will begin and finish a complete play. Check out the NAPLWRIMO website here. Why should novelists have all the fun?
