A New Reign

I came across this today in my daily romp through the New York Times:

Australian Playwright Wins Yale Drama Series Award
By PATRICK HEALY
An Australian play about four people from a small town trying to build new lives after a violent crime has won the 2011 Yale Drama Series award for an emerging playwright. John Guare, the acclaimed stage writer (“The House of Blue Leaves,” “Six Degrees of Separation”) and judge for the series, announced on Tuesday that Shannon Murdoch had won for “New Light Shine.” Ms. Murdoch, who is a legal assistant and writer living near Melbourne, will receive $10,000 from the David Charles Horn Foundation, and there will be a staged reading of the play at the Yale Repertory Theater on Sept. 12. Yale University Press will also publish the play.

The runners-up in the annual international competition were Laura Marks for “Bethany” and Mary Elizabeth Hamilton for “We Three.” This is the fifth time the prize has been awarded. Probably the best-known winner is Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, whose “Lidless” has been staged in Philadelphia; Edinburgh; Austin, Tex.; and at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in West Virginia.

A little bittersweet for me. I was runnerup last year, when David Hare was judge. I met the Yale Drama Series crew in September and went to the reading at Yale Rep for Virginia Gris' blu. It was magical.

Get to work, Mare!

Rejection

As an unproduced playwright, I've experienced a lot of rejection. It comes with the territory, but it's never pleasant. There are, however, some rejection messages that hurt a little less than others, like this one I got today from Stratford:

Dear Mary,

First, I must apologize for the lengthy time we have taken to respond to your play submission, Siona MacDuff. Yours was one of a small handful of scripts that got a bit delayed between the various readers who reviewed the material and changing personnel within the department.

You have a fine and accurate ear for dialogue and write with great heart and appeal. The implications of the world you are portraying in the play resonate in an immediate way and there is much to appreciate in the play. While we don’t feel it is the right project for us, we would be happy to read and consider more of your work in the future.

All the best with your artistic endeavors and thank you for your interest in the Festival.

Sincerely,




It could be worse. And I think I just may take her up on her invitation to submit more of my work.

How it is.

I have both good news and bad news. The bad news first: I've started SCAPEDOG, and it totally sucks. I don't mean that in a false-humble kind of way, it really does. I'm going to keep going on it (I'm on page 6, after all) because even after working really hard on it (which I have yet to do), there is a chance that when this first draft is complete, there may be one scene or one character, heck, even one moment that will be worth throwing all the rest away and rebuilding on. And maybe, after 10 drafts or so, there could be something halfway stageable in this little story.

Good News: My husband, Dalton, and I confirmed that we will be co-directing NOISES OFF! for the Key City Theatre (one of the local theatre venues here in Cranbrook). I'm really excited, I mean it's pretty much the funniest play ever written. The big ego part of me wants to just shove Dalton out of the way and do it myself but I think working with him on a team will be the best ever. So, if you're in Cranbrook near the end of January next year, come check it out,

it's going to be awesome. And, if you want to act in it, watch for auditions, we'll be hosting them in June.

Something New . . .

I'm between projects right now. I've got THE MIMIC'S RIDDLE to an almost-complete stage and another play (currently titled SPECIAL LITTLE DIAMOND, about the Golden Age of Hollywood) is at the first-draft stage. I should really work on DIAMOND, but it's been a long time since I've worked anything new. I want to spend Spring Break working on a new project.

I've long had an idea for a play (currently titled SCAPEDOG), about a seemingly perfect family whose imperfections are exposed when they get a dog for the first time. I have some of the outline worked out, but it's looking pretty shallow at the moment.

I have another idea for a play (no title yet) about the education system. I don't exactly know which aspects it will focus on yet, but I think that would be something people would come out to see. I mean, everyone's got an opinion on that one, right? (The answer is yes, they totally do, I hear about it all the time.)

So, over Spring Break, I'm hoping to write outlines for SCAPEDOG and the school play (Hey, that might be a good title: THE SCHOOL PLAY!), and perhaps tweak a little bit on MIMIC'S RIDDLE. I'll let you know how far I get with all of that.

Weighing in on Spiderman

First, an update: My play reading went well. Not great, but it was fine. I'm hoping to make the final changes on the rewrite today, and then call it a day on this one - send it away to some places. It has maybe one more rewrite in it, but that would be it.

Okay, to the main event now. Everyone else is doing it, and I'm not too proud to admit that I've been sucked into the latest theatrical vortex that seems to have captured the world's attention: Spiderman. After reading this:http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/940190--troubled-spider-man-musical-hires-new-writer, I am finally at the official head-shaking, judging stage. No, I haven't seen it, but I respect many of the top tier theatre critics who have, and I can't see myself disagreeing with them if I were $140 poorer.

OI-VAY! Are you kidding me? 65 million dollars, 1 million dollars a week to produce, 4 major cast injuries and almost 3 months of previews, and they're NOW hiring a writer to help with script damage control? Idiots. And I'm sorry, but people who go to it are idiots, too.

Play Reading!

On Wednesday, January 26 at 7:30 pm at the Stage Door (here in Cranbrook), I am hosting a reading for a new play. Of mine. It's called THE MIMIC'S RIDDLE, and it's about a family that moves from the Ireland countryside into Dublin in order to try and secure some kind of fortune. Oh, and it's a period piece, set in 1750.

I'm in my 4th or so draft. I ned to get it in front of an audience to see what's working. I'm not finished this draft and I'm wondering if I can get it done by the deadline (this upcoming Friday, so I can rehearse with the cast). I'm excited, but freaked out. This could go really badly. On the other hand, I think I'd rather have something go badly than not do anything at all, so let's raise a glass to prospective failure!

Indulgence

Love this musical! Sondheim is sublime.