November 2017 Writing Challenge - #29 - A Gift, or Why Are We Doing This?

Hey there!

So, what's the point of theater?

Why create theatrical energies with live humans to live humans that exist in oh-so-precious time... time that will disappear as soon as it's done and we'll only be left with... WILL THEY EVEN REMEMBER?

What can you give them?

Now, this question us usually a HUGE WRITING BLOCK for me. Like... if I think about "what's it all mean? why am i doing this?" the words just do NOT flow.  So don't go there with it. 

Instead, go with -

what's wrong with me that I've overcome or come to terms with?

What's unique about me that I don't see anywhere else?

Dive into yourself and put the thing at the heart of you on stage... as a gift.

The thing about gifts, they don't have to be "justified" in the same way. 

Deus ex machina is fine. 

People don't need or want you to plausibly solve the world's problems.

They do want you to be able to talk about them.

Or to show them things they don't normally get to see, like courage or selflessness.

In Little Red Cyrano,  (opening this Friday!) my gifts are pretty coded in ways. I mean, the Christian character is a total comparison/mockery of my own attempts to be part of Deaf Culture. Cyrano is the flip side of that failure in many ways. The chorus and other elements contain little Easter Eggs that matter a lot to me, but ultimately are an elaborate Deus ex machina

And like who knows how the play is going to go, but certainly it's not trapped in a self-indulgent, formulaic, realism for no reason, mentality.

So go for it.

Ideas?

Finish sentences like this:

Most people think I'm X but really I'm...

If X happened, it would truly mean my complete downfall

If I didn't keep X about myself under control, X would happen.

Don't get fancy with your structure. Not today anyway

Just string the package together enough to put a gift in there.

And give it! To your audience and yourself.

*******

Well, I finally ran out of random ideas for the next scene I might need for Spellbound, so I might be done pulling together the material for a first draft.  Now I need to actually figure out how it all pieces together.  In the meantime, guess I should do an actual writing challenge of the day.  Which day?  Hmmmm...

********

Two guys.

Alone on a stage.

                          TODD

So -

                          DAVID

Yeah.

                          TODD

Guess we better get ready for the lights to go down.

                          DAVID

Why?

                          TODD

Well, we're kissing.

                          DAVID

And - ?

                          TODD

No one wants to see anybody kissing.

                          DAVID

Not even vicariously.

                          TODD

Certainly everyone wants to *be* kissing.

                          DAVID

Kissing is fun.

                          TODD

It is quite enjoyable.

                          DAVID

I quite enjoy kissing you, for instance.

                          TODD

And I, you.

                          DAVID

You're a very good kisser.

                          TODD

Why thank you.

                          DAVID

You take your time.

                          TODD

Well, why rush things when you're enjoying yourself.

                          DAVID

You're also very attentive to the other person.

                          TODD

I try to be.

                          DAVID

You're not just trying to devour my face.

                          TODD

It is a face worth devouring, but I like to concentrate on particular areas.  Yours is a face worth savoring.  One can spend an awful lot of time just on the lips.

                          DAVID

The lights still appear to be up.

                          TODD

Yes.

                          DAVID

No one has pulled us offstage or dropped in the setting for a different scene.

                          TODD

No.

                          DAVID

I don't even see or hear any other actors nearby.

                          TODD

It doesn't seem like they're planning to interrupt us.

                          DAVID

We could have been kissing this entire time.

                          TODD

It does appear that we're wasting an opportunity.

                          They kiss.

                          Slowly.

                          DAVID

Well.  The play doesn't appear to be over.

                          TODD

A kiss is rarely the end of things.

                          They kiss again.

                          No hurry here.

                          DAVID

I also appreciate the judicious use of tongue.

                          TODD

Not just shoving it in there.

                          DAVID

You wait to be invited.

                          TODD

Well, it's not a competition.  We're in this together.

                          DAVID

Everybody wins.

                          They kiss again.

                          TODD

This is going remarkably well.

                          DAVID

Do you suppose he'll get a play out of this?

                          TODD

I hope so.

                          DAVID

Right now, we're just introducing ourselves.

                          TODD

Shall we get back to that?

                          DAVID

Absolutely.

                          They kiss again.

                          TODD

Do you think we're making anyone uncomfortable?

                          DAVID

Well, we still have all our clothes on.

                          TODD

Some people might prefer a little skin.

                          DAVID

We're hardly grinding against one another.

                          TODD

There are hands involved at this point.

                          DAVID

Yes, but I'm not shoving them down your pants.

                          TODD

True.  I like your hands in my hair.

                          DAVID

It's quite nice hair.

                          TODD

You're quite gentle.

                          DAVID

Well, your brain is in there, and I'm quite fond of your brain.  I don't want to jostle it too much.

                          TODD

I often wonder if I'm more or less alert when I'm kissing.

                          DAVID

I think you're less distracted, more focused on the task at hand.

                          TODD

If we're doing it right.

                          DAVID

Yes.

                          They kiss again.

                          TODD

Everything else I've been doing today, or need to do, goes quite out of my head.

                          DAVID

That's not a bad thing.  In fact, I'm quite flattered.

                          TODD

You should be.

                          DAVID

We can just keep doing this and let everyone else go home.

                          TODD

That sounds like a very good idea.

                          They kiss again.

They don't show any signs of stopping.

The audience is free to go.

Or watch.

(to be continued)

November 2017 Writing Challenge - #28 - Verfremdungseffekt

Hey there!

Sorry if you've felt a bit alienated from this due to my falling behind.

I've never opened a show December 1st while this challenge was happening.

It's... overwhelming.

Anyway- let's REEXAMINE Verfremdungseffekt or Alienation effect

http://beautifultrouble.org/theory/alienation-effect/

"Brecht saw that these audiences were manipulated by theater technology — beautiful, realistic sets, cleverly naturalistic lighting, the imaginary fourth wall, and most importantly, emotionally effusive acting techniques. He soon watched with horror as the Nazi movement gained popular support in his country with its racist, xenophobic demagoguery, relying on similar emotional manipulation. Emotional manipulation was, to him, Enemy Number One of human decency.

It was in this context that Brecht developed his theory of Verfremdungseffekt, also known as V-effekt, alienation effect, or distantiation effect. (Important disclaimer: there is compelling evidence that many of Brecht’s greatest ideas were developed in uncredited cooperation with his artistic partners).

The alienation effect attempts to combat emotional manipulation in the theater, replacing it with an entertaining or surprising jolt. "

So like the whole point of Western Cinema Blockbusters is usually the exact kind of thing that Brecht would have hated- identifying with superheroes that have unlimited power acting with questionable morality and without the consent of the populace as an example.

ANYWAY

Let's remember that in order for an alienation effect to be a VERB and not like... just super boring theater with no emotional (and therefor no THEATRICAL arc)... you need to pull people in! You need to have the puppy's head on the chopping block ready to strike as you talk about the importance of self-determination in politics... or whatever.

Formula: hugely compelling moment that draws immediate and inherent investment- INTERRUPTED to alienate and then deliver some other INTELLECTUAL message. Then resolve the moment smartly in conjunction with the intellectual content.

Go for it.

************

And... one last chunk of the Jeffrey/Duncan arc, reworked, and turned into something more like a real scene to conclude their issues...

************

The wiccan supply store.

JEFFREY enters, finding DUNCAN behind the counter, package in hand.

                          DUNCAN

As promised, the last piece of the puzzle.

                          JEFFREY

What do I owe you?

                          DUNCAN

You left me your card, remember?  It's taken care of.  Here's the receipt.

                          JEFFREY

Isn't there supposed to be a delivery charge or something?

                          DUNCAN

Guy owes me a favor.

                          JEFFREY

I get the feeling a lot of people owe you.

                          DUNCAN

What can I say?  I'm a helpful guy.

                          JEFFREY

You said no one likes being second choice.

                          DUNCAN

We don't have to do this now.

                          JEFFREY

What can I say?  I owe you.  So - ?

                          DUNCAN

No one should settle for being second choice.

Or settle *for* their second choice, not if there's someone else they really want instead.

                          JEFFREY

But what if that person isn't an option.

                          DUNCAN

Then hopefully you can let them go.

                          JEFFREY

Nobody gets their first choice though, not really.

I mean, sure, some people settle down with their childhood sweetheart but very very few.

                          DUNCAN

You saying they only call it first love because there's a second?

                          JEFFREY

Kind of.

                          DUNCAN

You're dodging the issue.

You shouldn't have to talk yourself into liking someone.

                          JEFFREY

I think you're selling yourself short.

                          DUNCAN

     (introducing the pot to the kettle it's calling black)

Pot, Kettle.  Kettle, Pot.

                          JEFFREY

Duncan -

                          DUNCAN

I've been burned before. OK?  A lot.  I'm trying to develop a better self-preservation instinct.

                          JEFFREY

Which is admirable.

But we all go through a lot of people, a lot of choices, some of whom are good for us, some of whom aren't.

But they all help make us who we are, for better or worse.

So hopefully you've made enough mistakes by the time the right person comes along that you can appreciate them when they're standing right in front of you.

And you can convince them you're the right person for them, too.

Look, neither of us is the other's first, or fourth, or even 20th choice -

                          DUNCAN

Just how many people have you dated?

                          JEFFREY

Shut up, I'm trying to be romantically realistic here.

                          DUNCAN

OK, continue.

                          JEFFREY

You're not my first.  But would you like to take a shot at being my last?

                          DUNCAN

You're getting better at this.

                          JEFFREY

That mean a kiss is in my future?

                          DUNCAN

I have to tell you everything?

                          JEFFREY

No.

                          DUNCAN

Well?

They kiss.

                          DUNCAN (cont'd)

Finally.

                          JEFFREY

You could just ask, you know.

                          DUNCAN

Chemistry lessons?  You need chemistry lessons, as well as the wiccan/pagan lessons?

                          JEFFREY

Apparently.

                          DUNCAN

If I'm standing this close to you -

                          JEFFREY

Yeah.

                          DUNCAN

Which, in my capacity as a store employee, is clearly unprofessional -

                          JEFFREY

Yeah.

                          DUNCAN

So far inside your personal space as to be uncomfortable -

                          JEFFREY

Yeah.

                          DUNCAN

That probably means I want to lay hands on you.

                          JEFFREY

Oh.

                          DUNCAN

So, you would be within your rights to kiss me.

                          JEFFREY

I see.

                          DUNCAN

Unless I tell you not to.

                          JEFFREY

Are you telling me not to?

                          DUNCAN

No.

                          JEFFREY

Good to know.

They kiss again.

                          DUNCAN

Teaching you how to be less socially awkward is going to be frustrating.

                          JEFFREY

But it's kinda fun, so far, right?

                          DUNCAN

Don't push your luck.

They kiss again.

                          DUNCAN

I can help you.

                          JEFFREY

Yes, we've established that.

                          DUNCAN

I mean, with the magic.

                          JEFFREY

And I'm grateful, I really am.  We'd be so screwed if you weren't -

                          DUNCAN

I don't mean just with this particular incident.

                          JEFFREY

Oh.

                          DUNCAN

I mean, if you want to learn.

The pagan stuff, the Wiccan stuff.

I can help.

I've been there.

I remember what it was like to be the newbie.

It wasn't that long ago.

                          JEFFREY

Yeah.  That'd be -

                          DUNCAN

And you don't need a love spell.

With me.

I see you.

                          JEFFREY

Oh.

                          DUNCAN

If you want.

                          JEFFREY

Yes.  Absolutely.  I mean, I see you, too.

                          DUNCAN

Good.

I'll try to keep the bossy mentor stuff and the boyfriend stuff separate.

                          JEFFREY

Love's hard enough -

                          DUNCAN

Yeah.

(to be continued)

November 2017 Writing Challenge - #27 - Children's Theater

Folks. I’m hurting. Ha! Tech and ASL and new play and actor who drama all in one. 

Sorry

This one is Childrens Theater 

What’s the difference? You can NOT have a fourth wall and must open the possible truths available with reduced complexity but not beauty 

**********

Just waiting for the call to be posted.

Still working through the reworking, streamlining and additional material of making the previous Jeffrey and Duncan posts into something more akin real scenes I can use in the context of the other plotlines.

here's part two of three, today's assignment

***********

The wiccan supply store.

DUNCAN finishes a call and hangs up, smiling.

                          JEFFREY

That sounded like a good call.

                          DUNCAN

It was.  A very good call.  We have the final ingredient.

                          JEFFREY

Where do I go to get it?

                          DUNCAN

Nowhere.  Right here.  They had a delivery truck coming to our charming little town today anyway.  It's already in transit as we speak.  Should be here this afternoon.

                          JEFFREY

You're a lifesaver.

                          DUNCAN

This mean I get a date out of it?

                          JEFFREY

Well, I was hoping to get a date out of this anyway, regardless.  We don't have to make it conditional on anything.

                          DUNCAN

So why'd you want to make him happy?

                          JEFFREY

Who?

                          DUNCAN

Your friend, who you gave the potion to.

                          JEFFREY

Micah.

                          DUNCAN

You said you did it to make him happy.

                          JEFFREY

Well, it didn't work out as planned.

                          DUNCAN

But why'd you do it in the first place?

                          JEFFREY

I've sort of been crushing on him for a while, so -

                          DUNCAN

So why not just give it to him, instead, for yourself?

                          JEFFREY

Colossal failure of nerve?

                          DUNCAN

You handed it off to him, so he could turn around and use it on someone else instead.

                          JEFFREY

Idiot move, I know.

                          DUNCAN

Even if you were second choice, you didn't want to force it?

                          JEFFREY

Well, his first choice was a straight, married guy whose wife is pregnant.  I don't think that counts as an actual first choice.

                          DUNCAN

It does if you give him a love potion, he uses it, and it works.

                          JEFFREY

No one likes to be second choice.

                          DUNCAN

No.  They don't.

                          JEFFREY

So, about that date -

                          DUNCAN

You know, I don't like being second choice either.

                          JEFFREY

You're not.  I mean, it's not as if I have any other viable options right now, so you're first choice.

                          DUNCAN

By default.  You're a real charmer.

                          JEFFREY

Duncan -

                          DUNCAN

There are so many things wrong with this, I can't believe you'd encourage him.

                          JEFFREY

You haven't seen them together.

                          DUNCAN

I don't need to.  Auggie is straight, and married, and his wife's pregnant.  Jesus, take a hint.

You want him to be miserable?

                          JEFFREY

No, of course not.  Why do you think I gave him the love potion in the first place?

                          DUNCAN

Apparently because you were too chickenshit to use it on the guy you wanted to, a guy who was at least actually gay to begin with.

                          JEFFREY

So that would have been all right?

                          DUNCAN

No, but currently you're just playing into every conservative religious person's stereotypical gay nightmare.

                          JEFFREY

And which nightmare is that exactly?  They have so many.  They're obsessed with us.

                          DUNCAN

The one where we gay men are constantly prowling around, looking to convert unsuspecting straight men.  Enough guys do what Micah did, they set the movement back fifty years.

                          JEFFREY

Not everything is about gay civil rights.

                          DUNCAN

We don't have the luxury of being careless.

                          JEFFREY

Oh, so as long as we're good little boys, stick to our own kind, they'll leave us alone?  You know better than that.

                          DUNCAN

But why provoke people with a stunt like this?

                          JEFFREY

We are actively working to undo this as quickly as possible.

Micah is not taking advantage of Auggie. I'd be surprised to hear he laid a finger on him.

                          DUNCAN

Damage is done, buddy.

                          JEFFREY

Look, I made a mistake, he made a mistake.

                          DUNCAN

Drugging somebody is a little more than a mistake.

                          JEFFREY

So you're going to turn us into the police.

                          DUNCAN

Right.  Because they'd believe this situation was actually happening.

Why would you just wait around for someone to change their mind?

                          JEFFREY

I'm not just waiting around.  He's my friend.  Friends spend time together.

                          DUNCAN

You gave him a love potion he used on someone else.  Again, take a hint.

                          JEFFREY

So what exactly do you do?

                          DUNCAN

What exactly - ?

                          JEFFREY

When you like somebody, you know, rather than just wait around for them to change their mind, what do you do?

                          DUNCAN

I tell them I like them, I ask for their phone number, I engage them in conversation, I assume they don't need to be hit over the head.

                          JEFFREY

This is new for me.

                          DUNCAN

What?

                          JEFFREY

Being the one someone is interested in.

                          DUNCAN

Well, it's fading fast if you don't get your act together.

                          JEFFREY

And what exactly would constitute getting my act together?

                          DUNCAN

"An it harm none, do what ye will."

                          JEFFREY

What's with the ye olde Englishe all of a sudden?

                          DUNCAN

OK - And if it harms none, do what you will.

                          JEFFREY

I understood you the first time, I just -

                          DUNCAN

If you're ever wondering what you should do, as a Wiccan, hopefully you ask yourself the question, "How can I cause the least harm?"

                          JEFFREY

And - ?

                          DUNCAN

Did you ask yourself any questions at all?  Did you consider the harm you might be doing?

                          JEFFREY

But I didn't do anything.

                          DUNCAN

Not directly, no.  Actually what you did was worse.  You handed off a love potion when you weren't entirely sure what it was going to do, to a person who knew even less about what he was doing than you did.

                          JEFFREY

Are you actually angry with me right now?

                          DUNCAN

Yes.  Because I want to think you're better than that.  I want to think I'm attracted to people who are better than that.  But it seems like every pretty surface just has a moron underneath it.

                          JEFFREY

I am battling right now between being mad that you called me a moron, and thrilled that you called me pretty.

                          DUNCAN

You have irreparably damaged their friendship.  Your friend and his best friend.  There's no going back after this.  The trust has been violated in a way I'm not sure they can ever get past.  Not to mention his pregnant wife.

                          JEFFREY

Yeah, that's bad.  I get that.

                          DUNCAN

Did you get it before you gave him the love potion in the first place?

                          JEFFREY

What?

                          DUNCAN

Did you actually think - this either isn't going to work, or if it does, it's going to end up driving a wedge between them and then maybe Micah will see me as the only alternative he has left.

                          JEFFREY

Wow.  You are way overthinking this.

                          DUNCAN

Which means you're underthinking it.

                          JEFFREY

I just wanted him to be happy.

                          DUNCAN

No, you're careless.  You didn't think it through.

                          JEFFREY

It sounds like if I thought it through and did it anyway, you'd have thought I was an even worse person.

                          DUNCAN

Maybe, but at least then I'd think you were a person who took the time to consider the consequences of his actions before taking them.

                          JEFFREY

I had several days when I was making the love potion to think about this.  And then a few days before that when I was considering whether to make it or not, and get the ingredients -

                          DUNCAN

And the whole time - ?

                          JEFFREY

I was wondering if I could work up the nerve to actually use it on Micah myself.

                          DUNCAN

But you didn't.

                          JEFFREY

I mean, if I did it without telling him, that'd be wrong, right?  But I'd still know.  Even if he said he loved me, I could never really believe it because I'd altered his consciousness to suit myself.

                          DUNCAN

So, instead of doing that, you just set him up to do the same thing to somebody else.

                          JEFFREY

Man.  I suck.

                          DUNCAN

Look, you've got most of the raw materials you need.

It'll be a while till the delivery truck gets around to me.

Go, get your stuff together.  Get the pre-mixing out of the way.  When the last piece of the puzzle arrives, I'll give you a call.

                          JEFFREY

Did I screw this up before it even started?

                          DUNCAN

The love potion, yes.

                          JEFFREY

And the you and me, potential us?

                          DUNCAN

Let's get the mess you came in with cleaned up first.

Then we'll deal with everything else.

(to be continued)