Elaine Smith Writes

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Tag Archives: Shakespeare

Producing without pain

Or money

Producing, in the theatre, is a risky business.  Most shows never recoup their investment, so losing money is a very real possibility.  We still have producers, though, because it is also possible to make a lot of money.  They say (I’m not sure who “they” is), ‘You can’t make a living in the theatre, but you can make a killing.’  So, there’s that.  A high stakes gamble.

But, mostly, we still have producers, because it’s a lot of fun.  A challenge.

I like almost everything about producing except for the part about raising money.  Which, unfortunately, is probably about 90% of the job.  In the course of trying to get my play, Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us, off the ground, I got involved in an organization called Theatre Resources Unlimited.  TRU is devoted to helping producers learn to be better producers.  I found their seminars and readings and boot camps to be enormously helpful.

I wouldn’t mind being a producer.

Except for that part about the pesky money.

So, it is a miracle that I get to do a lot of producer-type things with Round Robin Shakespeare.  Finding a space, making sure that all the needed materials are on hand (needed to acquire a few copies of The Collected Works, remember?), doing the PR.  I don’t have to cast it or find a director or get a set built, and I’m not heading toward opening night and make-or-break reviews, but it’s a really good way to start small.

Playwrights are always their own first producers. Nobody will back your script like you will, nobody knows it better.  We have to learn those skills, much as some of us might want to be left alone to write.

You can do that.  Got a room?  Got a pencil?  A little piece of paper?  You’re good.  But if you want anybody to see it, there’s going to be at least a little marketing involved.

Learning all I can about that can only help me.

So, here I am, with this other kind of “production.”  The library as “co-producer,” gets us a free space.  Choosing Shakespeare gets us royalty-free material.  Choosing a round-robin format spares us rehearsal costs in time and money.  But the organizing and preparing and publicizing?

That’s producing.

And I get to do it.  And I don’t have to ask anyone for money.

And that’s a miracle.

 

Half

Is pretty darn good.

I’m talking about Half.com.

Half.com is an eBay company.

It didn’t use to be.  I mean, it used to be all on its own, and then it was bought.  So far, I don’t see much difference either for the better or the worse.

The idea is that used books and movies and games and music can be sold by those who are done with them to those who haven’t seen them yet.  It’s evolved so that there are a number of vendors there, as well.

It’s saved me countless hours searching garage sales and flea markets and library book sales for hard-to-find volumes.  Right now, I’m working on a project (Round Robin Shakespeare) for which I need a number of copies of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

75 cents on Half.com.

Plus postage, of course, which is where they get you, but so far, at least, it’s reasonable postage—within what one would expect an item to ship for—even when the postage does exceed the item’s cost.

That always seems wrong—until you realize you just got five copies of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare for under $5 bucks apiece.  (Do you know how heavy those things are?!)

So far, I’ve only ever bought from Half.  If and when I get my house in better order, I might branch out into selling.  (If this project falls apart, I’m gonna have five copies of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare to unload.)

I’ve also never bought anything but books.  The DVDs are tempting sometimes, but I’m leery of used DVDs.  Even my new DVDs don’t always play smoothly.  And I’m even more leery of the potential for bootlegged copies.   I may try it at some point, though, if the price is sufficiently tempting, the seller reviews sufficiently strong, and the item sufficiently hard to find elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I’m just thankful I was able to get those five copies of Shakespeare without taking out a mortgage.  Of course, if I had taken out a mortgage and fell into foreclosure, I could always use them to build a house.  (Do you realize how much space those things take up?!)

 

Brush up your Shakespeare

Start quoting him now*

I am very happy to announce the launch of Round Robin Shakespeare!

We’re going to embark on Thursday, March 21st, on a 3 year mission to read the entire canon of Shakespeare’s plays aloud.  All of them!

This is a community project, open to anyone in the area, organized by me (!) in association with the Clay County Public Library.  I am especially pleased to be doing this with the Library because my grandmother was the very first employee of the Clay County Library system.  She put the first books on the first shelves, and she worked there for decades.  I rode the bookmobile with her when I was seven.

I never thought I would be living here in the area of my grandparents’ farm—I was only a summer visitor throughout my life until now—and I certainly never thought I’d be working with the library.  It does almost seem like fate, however.

Anyway, I think this is going to be fun!

I have a lot of work to do.  Press releases, reaching out to local high schools and community theatres, maybe senior centers.  I’m thinking a notice on Craigslist and maybe a Meetup.  Certainly, I need to set up a Facebook page.  If you’ve got any other suggestions for getting the word out, perhaps you could post a comment.

I have faith that this will go well once I get over the initial announcement hurdle.  It may start small, but I think there will be enough interest to keep us going until we make it through all 38 plays.  (Some people say 37, but I intend to be large-minded and inclusive about this.)  The big hurdle will be getting folks out to the first meeting.  I really hope I don’t have to do a solo rendition of Henry VI. For everybody’s sake, we’ll hope a future Monday Miracle post reports massive attendance for Part 1 of Henry and Round Robin Shakespeare!

 

* Cole Porter, Kiss Me Kate

See Brush Up Your Shakespeare in concert:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJIpp2Jj8AQ

The rain it raineth every day

Shakespeare!

I would like to propose a drinking game.  Not a real one.  I don’t really hold with drinking games.  I just like the idea of an ongoing treasure hunt for a particular something.  For example, there was once a famous NYPD Blue drinking game.  (It may only have been famous in the NYPD Blue fandom.)  People were supposed to have a drink whenever particular characters did particular things.

The point of a drinking game associated with a TV show is that each show has repetitive lines or behaviors. The game acknowledges those repetitions and gets some fun out of them–assuming you actually think it’s fun to pass out and wake up with a hangover.

Since I don’t think that’s fun, let’s not call this a drinking game.  Let’s call it–I don’t know–padiddle is taken–let’s call it “Flapdoodle.”

Flapdoodle acknowledges that blogs may also have repetitive themes or phrases.  Players of Flapdoodle are now looking for one of those that I already know I repeat:  references to and/or quotes from Shakespeare.  Upon recognition of such a thing, the player should leap to his or her feet, turn around twice, flap his or her arms, and yell, “Flapdoodle.”

(Any player at work or in any otherwise inappropriate environment may make a discreet mark on a piece of paper to remind the player to do the Flapdoodle Dance later, in the privacy of his or her home.  We work on the honor system.)

Players may also suggest other significant repetitious ideas or phrases via email or the comments below.

Every Flapdoodle Dance is worth 1 point.  Any player who amasses 20 points may thereafter be known as a Flapdoodle Dandy.

Heavens to Murgatroyd!  This is what happens when I run into writers’ block and can’t think of anything to post!

But, honestly, the Flapdoodle post is much more fun than what was originally behind today’s headline.  So, maybe tomorrow we will continue to look into the “rain that raineth every day.”

Flapdoodle!


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