Auditions... For MY Writing!

Yesterday and today were the auditions for my English university's New Writer's Festival... which means that people- actual, willing participants who most likely can act- were auditioning for my pieces.

I was actually there as an actor, but as a writer, it was pretty exciting too. Since I'm new to the school, no one attached the writer name to me, and I got to hear people explain and discuss my pieces while remaining essentially invisible. And everyone who read them seemed to like them :) As I said before, they asked me a few times if I wanted to direct and I said no. Now I see why they asked me so many times- almost everyone else is directing their own pieces, so they must have thought I was really weird. But even in hindsight, I think I made the right choice.

I auditioned for my pieces as well as the six others that were chosen. The shorter one, the one based off the dinner I had with my friend, her mother, and her grandmother, is being directed by a guy who has some pretty cool ideas about it, which he explained to me when he found out that I was the playwright. I'm pretty excited to see it played out- it's going to be even funnier than I wrote it!
When you went into these auditions, you wrote your name down or, more likely, they asked you and wrote it down themselves, probably to put a name with a face. So when I went into my second one, they said, "Name?" I could see mine glaring out of the byline that the girl had right in front of her, so I said, "Rachel." "Rachel what?" I practically whispered my last name, and she went, "Oh... oh, you're the writer. Okay... well, now I'm nervous." I told her not to be, that the reason I had submitted them was so they could be played with and to help me improve them. She seems pretty excited about it, and she's pretty much just keeping it how I wrote it- no fancy sets or crowds of people. I think both of these directors are going to be great.

The most interesting thing about watching my pieces be auditioned for was seeing how the humor carried over into an English setting. I didn't realise how many little Americanisms there were in my pieces until they were being performed in English accents. Besides one character saying "Mom" a few times, I also make reference to Stephen Sondheim and Ginger Rogers in one of them. No one had any idea who either of those two were... which was a little surprising considering that Stephen Sondheim is pretty famous worldwide. In the other scene, I have one character call another a jerk, and I'm not sure if they use that word here, but hearing it with the accent was pretty funny. Thankfully, most of the humor seemed to carry over well.

I'm hoping to be cast in something, but even if I am, I'm not sure if I can accept it (they announced last night that there will only be marathon rehearsals for the week before the show... and I already have a friend from France coming to stay with me for the majority of that week), but either way, I've got my pieces in the festival!

Emergency Rewrites

Filming with the company I'm a member of is never dull; we all have great senses of humor and get along very well. And as a fledgling film company, we have a lot of learning and growing to do. Today, we learned and grew the amount we usually do in a month of filming, in three hours. Today's lesson(s): MAKE SURE YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE DOING... AND LET EVERYONE WHO IS INVOLVED IN ON IT.

See, we do most of our filming in our kitchens or living rooms or backyards. It's free, it's ours, and we have unlimited time. But as we grow, we've been trying to branch out, which means real locations. So when our director procured us a great, artsy cafe that was perfect for our film, I was extremely excited. He had talked to the owner and she was also very excited that we were coming. All she asked was to be put in the credits, which we would have done anyway.

We met up early to run lines and though the owner wasn't around, we got permission to film in the kitchen of the cafe. Long story short, we spent about a half hour in there shooting and then moved out to the main area to figure out what we were doing next. This is when the owner (a lady from whom I took art lessons as a child) came out and started asking us some questions about our company, the film, etc. She then asked to see what we had done. This is when things started to go downhill. Turns out, there are a lot of health laws we were violating by being back there (though we didn't touch any of their equipment- I wrote the script so that we wouldn't have to actually make coffee, etc.) Another long story short, though there were some scary moments when we thought we were going to be thrown out, the owner is very forgiving and in the end was helping us work out shot angles that wouldn't show the equipment and gave us props to use. She even made me a little barista magnet with my character's name on it to put on the barista board!

All of these new rules meant that I had to rewrite a lot of the script on the spot. There was an adorable metaphor moment at the end of the film where one character cleans up the others mess, literally and figuratively, but there was no way, after all we had already done, that we could show a smashed coffee mug on the floor, even if we didn't actually break it in cafe. Also, the entire film originally took place at the counter or in the back room, neither of which we could use, so I rewrote it so that we could be moving around the entire time. Because of all these changes, what was meant to only be a three/four hour shoot has turned into six to eight hours, as we're going back tomorrow (can you imagine? The owner actually encouraged us to come back. What forgiveness!)

All I have to say is, though all of us are pretty similar, thank God we have our differences, too. Because while the director and I were freaking out, our camera guy was totally chill, letting it roll right off him; he saved the director and me from having complete breakdowns on the spot!

Now time to go rework that script for tomorrow!

WIP Wednesday!

Today you get a taste of something very different- a comedic screenplay!

Unfortunately, this script will probably not be produced in any way because there's not enough conflict in the story. However, I really enjoyed writing it and if I have time over the summer, I'll tweak it to see if it might work another way. For now, though, here's a snippet of a story of two men who own a successful dry cleaning business:

INT. COFFEE SHOP

RICK and DAVE sit down at a table with their drinks.

DAVE
Nice crowd so far today, huh?

RICK
Yeah, I could hardly keep up.

DAVE
Sometimes I’m still shocked at how well the business is doing. I mean, who would’ve thought that dry cleaning, of all things, would make us a small fortune? (Laughs) And my mother wanted me to be a doctor.

RICK
I know, right? And I’m having an even better time with it than I thought I would.

DAVE
Me, too.

RICK
Truly amazing.

DAVE
It was a great idea.

RICK
Genius.

DAVE
Inspired.

RICK
And our success-

DAVE
Something most people only dream about.

RICK
Definitely.

DAVE
We hit the jackpot.

RICK
We really did.

DAVE
I hate it.

RICK
So do I.

A moment passes as they look at each other in amazement… and some relief.

DAVE
You, too?

RICK
Oh, God, yeah. Every day is like ten hours of slow, painful torture.

DAVE
The sounds the machine makes when it’s agitating the clothing… I hear them in my sleep.

RICK
The smell of the solvent… it’s everywhere, even when I leave the store.

DAVE
And the people-

RICK
There are so many of them.

DAVE
I mean, they’re all great, really nice people.

RICK
But there are so many of them. All the time. And for each one of them, we have to check at least two pockets per item of clothing that they give us. Do you realize how many pens we have in the back? Can’t people take them out of their own pockets? (Beat)I have a dream, Dave. A dream that one day, I will find a pen in a pocket and I will leave it there. And then I will put the coat or the shirt or whatever it is in the machine and I will close the door and I will press the start button, and through the tiny window, I will watch the ink from the pen destroy the garment beyond recovery. And I will enjoy it.

DAVE

Wow. And I thought I was far gone.

Collaboration is GOOD!

Today I had a writing session with Enscribe partner, Stuart. He asked me to write a series of shorts (or, as we're calling them for this project, episodes) based around a broad plot involving a male assassin and an "intriguing female character". While I enjoy writing from plots others give me, I was having a lot of trouble with this one, as action-based plots (meaning fights, etc.) are things I rarely-scratch that, never- write on. He, on the other hand, has written a fair amount of action, so I asked for some assistance.

The two-hour session was actually quite successful. We established some of the finer parts of the conflict, which is another bit I was having trouble with, as well as working out the relationship between the two main characters, Jack and Alexis. It was cool to get his take on the latter- the exchange of ideas was rapid and we got a lot out of both of our takes on the characters. We're going to shoot these episodes over the summer. I'll most likely be directing the first one, since I'm playng Alexis and she doesn't show up until episode two, and she's only in about three minutes of that one. So I guess the next month and a half of school will be pretty busy, what with school work and writing at least 10 episodes of this plot!

Tomorrow we're going to shoot a trailer for the above project and a short that I wrote awhile ago, about a brother and sister on a killing spree (although the audience doesn't know what they've been doing until a reveal at the very end.) It'll be easy to shoot, especially since we're setting it my kitchen, which is a little bigger than the one we usually use. It'll be a really fun day- great crew, hopefully a good script, and as a bonus, it's supposed to be nice out, so shooting outside won't be something to dread (the last time we filmed outside, it was about 28 degrees and we also almost got arrested for trespassing.)

But this is a writing blog, so I will talk no more of my acting ventures.

I said yesterday that I hoped to put up some excerpts from a work in progress, and I'm going to live up to that promise. I have also decided to make it a weekly thing. A lot of people do "WIP Wednesdays", and I think I might jump on that bandwagon. It'll be really hard for me, mostly due to lack of confidence in my creations. However, I am hoping to have recieved my NaNo novel revisions in the mail when I return to school, and so I will at least be working on something consistently. I also hope that perhaps by forcing myself to post something every week, I will get braver. Constructive criticism is welcome! And without further ado, here is this week's WIP excerpt, from The Other Side of Light.


Aunt Kelly leads me into the front room and asks me to sit. Before she takes a place next to me, she walks the few steps to the table that holds the lamps and adjusts the height of the flame. Then she sits down and looks at me seriously.

“Lyddie. Your sister is getting married.”

“I know. It’s awful, right? She’s known the guy for three seconds and suddenly they’re ready to tie the knot.”

Aunt Kelly sighs. “I do agree that it seems a little fast. But she does seem happy, and I think Julie is the type who can marry young.” Her gaze becomes sharper. “Do you know what this means?”

I’m a little put off by her stare. “What what means?”

“That your sister is getting married.”

I’m confused. “It means that… she’ll be married.”

“Right.”

“Okay…” I am so not getting where this conversation is going besides in circles. “Is there some reason she shouldn’t be? I mean, besides the ten thousand obvious reasons?”

Aunt Kelly hesitates. “Well, no, Julie is free to make her own decisions, but unfortunately, she did not take everyone into account when she made this decision.”

“Like who?”

She looks at me steadily. “You.”

What? “Me? What does her marriage have to do with me?”

“Well…” Why does she look so nervous? “In our family, as you know, there is a duty that falls to one woman. Because it is so demanding, that woman does not work or get married.” She looks at me as if she’s hoping I’ve caught on. I have, in a way. I know she’s talking about the Lantern Keeper. But I still have no idea what that has to do with -

Then it dawns on me, slowly but surely. “Oh, no.” I shake my head. “No way. That’s so unfair!”
“I’m afraid that’s how it works, Lyddie. Julie has too many distractions now, in addition to her being a little flighty in the first place. The honor now transfers to the next woman in line.”

“Stop. Wait. No.” I am not just going to let this be thrust upon me. “So just because Julie decides she’s in love, I have to take over her pre-destined job? What about any plans I’ve already made? College? A job? Marriage of my own? I just have to let all of those things go because Julie’s got other plans?”

“I wish it could be otherwise, but that’s -”

“Then make it otherwise! You’re the reigning keeper-person-- can’t you change the rules?”

“No,” Aunt Kelly says. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“But this is my future we’re talking about here. Don’t you see what a big deal this is for me? All those college applications I’ve been filling out are completely pointless because I can’t go to a university anymore.”

“You could do a correspondence course,” Aunt Kelly offers, but I’m hardly listening anymore.
“What am I supposed to tell people now? ‘Oh, no, I’m not going to college anymore. I’ve decided to spend the rest of my life holed up in my house as a double-major in lantern keeping and boredom’?”

And with that, I turn on my heel and run out of the room.

Writing My Own Opportunities

This blog is about my writing... which means this blog, at the moment, is about one of the only things that is keeping me sane at the moment.

See, when I'm not being a student at college, my life is mostly focused on being an actor. Besides the fact that I'm studying acting at school, a good chunk of my free time is spent looking for auditions, preparing for auditions, going on auditions... and then waiting. The waiting doesn't really bother me because I know that's how it works most of the time. But usually, something comes of that waiting, namely a job. And lately... it's just not happening.

This very frustrating to me because when I was in high school (a mere year and a half ago), I was always in a show. Most of the time I was in two at once. I was by no means the lead in most of them, but even a chorus role made me happy because I loved being at rehearsal. When I wasn't at rehearsal, I was at auditions. During performances, I sat at the dark edges of the wings and did my homework by the lights of the stage, quickly stuffing it away when it was time for my entrance.

Last year was a little slower than usual, but I chalked it up to the fact that I was in a new town. I went crazy for one showless semester and then I got the biggest show of my life so far- a wonderful Equity show where I played a fun, constantly-crying character in a little-known but fantastic play. The small cast was the best I've ever worked with, and the same goes for the crew.

This particular show has been on my mind a lot lately, for two major reasons. A) In two days, it will be the anniversary of its closing after an extremely successful run and B) I have been showless for eight months. EIGHT MONTHS.

I wish I could say it's because I've been lazy or busy. I have been loaded down with schoolwork and stuff, but I've been auditioning constantly... and gotten nothing. I had an audition at the beginning of last month where I knew the pianist, who kept me updated on what was going on behind the scenes. For two weeks I heard nothing but "You're in the top two" "The director loved you", etc. etc. Wonderful, encouraging things... and then I didn't even get a callback.

My acting teachers have assured me that this is all "fine" and normal. And maybe it is... but I can't help but feel restless to the point where I will do anything for a show.

So how does this relate to my writing? Well, as I've mentioned before, I'm part of a film crew. I became involved with them when we were all in eighth grade. Now we're nineteen and twenty and still working together. While I started out playing bit parts in their short films, I'm now their go-to actress (the rest of the crew are boys) and writer. I've written two feature films for them- one that we shot in the summer and fall of senior year and another that we're doing this summer. I've been cranking out shorts for us to do in between feature shooting and the aforementioned Stuart (director, writer, actor, and friend) has asked me to write a series of shorts that follow the same storyline, something I've never tried before.

This is all wonderful for my writing. Writing shorts, especially, has given me a freedom I've never experienced. I'm mostly a novel/feature-length screenplay writer, and working a plot, or part of a plot, so that it fits into a certain timeslot is a new challenge for me, and a really fun one at that! So far this semester, I've written about a brother and sister on a killing spree, a long-lost romance rekindled in a coffee shop in the wee hours of the morning, an odd and comical encounter at a funeral, and the return of a prodigal sister. This is stuff I'd probably never get to touch in a novel, and maybe not even a screenplay.

As good as it is for my writing, it's just as beneficial for my acting. As I said, this is all stuff I would probably not normally write about. It's also stuff I wouldn't usually act in. I'm generally cast as the sweet (sometimes overly-emotional) teenager (case in point- in my school's musical theatre club, I just got cast as Leisl in Sixteen Going on Seventeen.) I adore playing these characters because they're very close to me and I love them. But I won't be able to play them forever. While I'll probably always look young for my age, I won't always look sixteen (even though I'm beginning to sense that I'll always feel sixteen inside.) Writing these crazy parts is an interesting process because, as the only girl on the film crew, I know that most likely, I'll be the one playing the female parts. I could take the easy way out and only write the sweet girl characters. I could, but that wouldn't challenge me as a writer or as an actor. My teachers are school are working to stretch my range (one of them loves to cast me in roles for class where I scream and rant a lot), and I want to figure out how to do that myself.

So I'm going to continue to audition- you bet I'm going to continue- but I'm not content to sit around and wait. I'm going to keep writing and acting and practicing and maybe one day, it will all work out.