Reviews and Writing

Writers, and any other artists, have to be ready to accept the judgments of critics. I was sent a couple of nice notes regarding a negative review, from audience members (and friends) who liked the particular show reviewed, but I have to also consider the power of critics to make or break a work.

Pittsburgh City Paper: New Death... Airless and Deadly

How much do critics influence an artist? For me, that depends on the critic and his or her biases. If a critic has a history of liking a particular genre or a particular set of writers — and disliking others — then I have to ask if I fall into Column A or Column B.

Even when an artist is in Column B, and approval is a long-shot at best, I would still suggest listening and asking what the nuggets of truth are in the review and how to address those. A negative review is valuable, if you're willing to learn what you can and ignore the rest.

From the review above, I am reminded that opening nights aren't easy. Seldom does an opening occur without dropped lines, missed cues, and a nervousness that feels unnatural. That is simply the nature of new shows. Add in a new, untested script, and there's more reason for unease and mistakes.

As a playwright, I have to ask what I can do to help a cast and crew make the best of their talents. Did I tighten the dialogue enough? Did I balance the action with exposition? Did I make the most of the medium, especially as stages have serious limitations. Did I balance humor with whatever else I'm trying to convey?

I don't write farce or sitcoms. I don't aim for a joke or two a page. I write serious plays with lighter moments. When the audience starts to consider the work a comedy, that's a failing on my part to balance the early pages well.

As this production winds down, I'll look at the script and compare my notes with reviews, audience feedback, cast and crew notes, and whatever else is available. All my plays undergo endless revisions. A negative review, or a positive review, can influence the choices I make revising.

A fellow playwright say, "Not every play is for every audience." That's also something to keep in mind.

Never let negative marks (grades, reviews, audiences) stop you from taking chances. Take the feedback and move forward with the next idea. What you shouldn't do is try to please the negative voices, item by item, because then you aren't creating your own vision.

A Musical Play Needs Your Support

The LAB Project, a new Pittsburgh, PA, theatrical company, is producing my musical play The Gospel Singer this August. The producer hopes to raise an additional $4000 for community outreach and education efforts. The play is about a gay gospel singer and his partner, during the 1980s. It's based loosely on real people. The play was awarded a development slot by Bricolage Production Company last year, as part their annual "In The Raw" festival.

Some people ask if a play about a gay couple arguing about faith and community is still relevant in 2014. Yes, it is. Laws are changing, and society is changing, but understanding the struggles are incomplete — especially within religious communities — is a valuable lesson.

Please consider supporting The LAB Project.

New Play: A New Death World Premier

This is why I haven't been blogging a lot this summer. I've been working on several new plays… 

A NEW DEATH

A World Premiere

By C.S. Wyatt

Directed By Kaitlin Kerr

Assistant Directed By Sarah McPartland

Presented by Throughline Theatre Company 

July 18 - July 26

The Grey Box Theatre

3595 Butler St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201

TICKETS:

http://www.throughlinetheatre.org/tickets-and-pricing/ 

Featuring:

Andy Coleman 

Chelsea Faber

Hazel Carr Leroy

Eric Leslie 

Tonya Lynn 

Sarah McPartland

Jared King Rombold 

John Henry Steelman

Politics isn't Fun. Facebook Should be Fun.

christmas cookie making for 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kitten (Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn)

Scrolling through my FB feed, I am being encouraged to boycott a dozen or so different businesses, television shows, and organizations for at least six reasons. I understand people are passionate… but I like cat pictures, recipes, and humor on FB. If you are the FB people tweaking my feed, focus on the happy news. Hide anything about sports, too, while you are at it.

Kitties = Good. Kitties with cookies. Or maybe kitties, with cookies, with pun captions. Those work.

Breaking Rules

P writing blue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Students, seminar attendees, and visitors to our online writing guide have complained that my insistence on knowing (and adhering to) traditional story structures ignores "real art" in favor of production and publication.

"You can break the rules after you master the rules," I respond. "And then, only break them when you can defend the choice."

Imagine my frustration when a play was rejected because it lacked the "journey" of the main character.

When I decided to write a play without a complete Hero's journey, it was an intentional act (pun), a choice to parody a genre. There are characters in myth and legend that do not change. They don't mature. Mocking that notion of the invariable being seemed promising.

One of the readers providing coverage clearly didn't get the joke. The comments on the coverage sheet indicated the story needed a clear journey and transformation. Oops. My choice must not have been obvious.

There are two lesson: 1) breaking the formula is risky; 2) if the reader doesn't know the original story, parody doesn't work.

The other reader did like the script and scored it "highly recommended," but you need to run the gauntlet to be produced.

Both reviewers liked the dialogue, the wit, yet only one got the joke. That isn't good. I'm not sure following the traditional formula would have helped.

Will I break the rules again? Of course. But I also understand the risks.

Media and Stories

Stage is not screen, and screen is not stage. Telling the same story in both media means thinking about the story in different ways. I could tell the same "story" (major plot line) in poetry, song, short story, novel, movie, and play… and it would be different in each.

The "tools available" aren't the same from one medium to the next, so the results cannot be the same.

Writing More than 'Necessary'

My wife commented that I'm always writing several new scripts, adding to the pile of un-produced works. Her question was why I keep writing more than will ever see the stage (or screen), and all I can say is that maybe the sheer quantity of works increases the odds of production.

If I write four to six scripts a year, maybe one or two will move forward. Plus, writing is what I do, so I might as well write things that could end up produced.