It’s Saturday, and the Northern Writes New Works Festival will be wrapping up with a full day of activities today.
I’m looking forward to hearing all the full-length plays again. It’s going to be a full day, jam-packed with theatre.
The best kind of day. Surrounded by actors and audience and playwrights and producers!
Yay!
Thankful Thursdays
On Thursdays, I think it might be good to talk about what’s going well. Since it’s all too easy to focus on problems and challenges.
Today, I am thankful for all the people who have done so much to support and encourage my play. Right now, I am grateful to the latest cast who are working so hard: Julie Lisnet, Katie Toole, Randy Hunt and Arthur Morrison, directed by Marcia Douglas. And Mary (whose last name I cannot remember — oh, no! — but I will find out). Mary is doing a fine job with the stage directions. [Update: Mary’s last name is Clark. Mary Clark!]
Don’t let anybody ever tell you that reading the stage directions is no big deal.
It’s a huge deal!
And, of course, I am grateful to the Penobscot Theatre Company. Artistic Director Bari Newport, Managing Director Marcie Bramucci, and the indefatigable and unfailingly cheerful Jasmine Ireland who is the Director of Education and Outreach and the curator of this Northern Writes New Works Festival.
We’re having a blast here in Bangor!
Wednesday’s Woes
So, I’m having a great time in Bangor, ME! The weather is beautiful. The people are friendly. I’m getting some work done on my play.
Very excited to hear the little addition I made to scene 3 go in tomorrow. Maybe I’ll never hear that question about why it takes so long for the leading lady to come back with the shotgun ever again in any future feedback session!
And it was a surprisingly easy fix.
Assuming, of course, that it is now actually fixed.
What has been challenging is parking.
It’s parallel parking.
So, okay. I can do that.
But it’s parallel parking for only 90 minutes at a time! (Sometimes only an hour.)
And there is a parking garage, but it closes at 9 pm–which kind of spans some of the events I’d like to attend. So, you know, you have to go move the car during a break.
And a rental car–kind of makes it harder. Not so sure of the exact size and shape while maneuvering unfamiliar streets and trying to squeeze into available spaces. And, what happens if I pick the wrong spot? And it gets towed!? Heaven forfend!
It’s fine. It’s all good. I just never realized that perfect parallel parking was going to need to be in my playwright’s bag of tricks.
Monday Miracles
I like that. “Monday Miracles.” That may become a regular feature of the blog.
But, I digress.
Which is kind of the point.
We were following a train of thought about writing, originality and finding your voice. And, I do have more to say on that subject.
But we interrupt this broadcast to take a detour into the Monday Miracle.
Today, even as this posts, I am on my way to Bangor, Maine where my play, currently titled Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us (and not to be forever so titled at the insistent urging of various producer friends who surely know what they are talking about) is going to be read three times (THREE!!!) during the Penobscot Theatre’s Northern Writes New Works Festival.
How’s that for a Monday Miracle!?
I’ll try to post updates on the Festival and the play and how things are going.
Never been to Maine.
But I kinda like the music
No, wait! That’s a different song.
The point is that I’ve never been to Maine. I’ve never been to this hotel. Internet access may be spotty. If I don’t manage to post for a week, please rejoin me here on Monday, June 25th, when we return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
