Thoughts from Playwriting Candidate Workshop 1 of 6

I figured I would write this all down for a number of reasons. One, I never got to read it in the group, so the people who were there can get a view of where my work was coming from. Two, I know I'm going to forget my thoughts and impressions by the time that number six rolls around. Three, I want to keep this writing somewhere, in case I ever want to get back to it on a rainy day, and this is as good a place as any. Four, I did the writing in a notebook for another class, so I need to take it out for OCD/organization's sake.

So, as I said in the circle, I have always found the toughest part of writing to be starting, to get the pencil moving in the first place. I enjoyed his exercise as a way to motivate the initial first words. Initially, I started with the interaction of Dave Moss from Glengarry Glen Ross and Maria from Wintertime (hell if I know where I came up with those two). Dave walks into the room to find Maria wearing his tie on her head. After a couple of lines, the characters and tone of the play metamorphosed into this interchange between a slightly naive wife and her husband who loves her to death in spite of her ditziness. It had this frothy romantic comedy vibe, which is weird because I'm not really a rom com guy (a manifestation of the subconscious desires of the lovelorn?) Anyways...



D: Maria, put my tie down!

M: Oh, you're here!

D: Yes, I'm here. Now why are you wearing my tie on your head?

M: I couldn't help it. I just saw it and thought of...you.

D: Really? What about me?

M: Well, at first I thought about how handsome you look dressed up. Then I thought about how handsome you look dressed down. Then I thought about that time in China when you forgot to pack a suit, so you went to that really nice restaurant in shorts and a T-shirt. Then...your tie was on my head.

D: Yeah, funny story about that tie. So on a day kind of like today, so much so that I'll call it today, I have work in ten minutes, can I have my tie?

M: Do you really have to go today? I was hoping we could just stay in and...lounge.

D: Sweetheart, we stayed in and lounged yesterday. That's why Sundays were invented. But Mondays were invented so that I could go to work...and you could do...Monday stuff.

M: But I hate Monday stuff. I like Sunday stuff, because that's when you're there. Why, don't you like Sunday stuff?

D: No, no, I like Sunday stuff too. But if all you do is Sunday stuff, then Monday stuff...no, if all you have is dessert, then the vegetables...no, no, the point is balance.

M: Balance?

D: You need to have some of the bad stuff in life in order to appreciate the good stuff.

M: And being with me is the good stuff?

D: Exactly. Now I need to go balance my stuff.

M: Okay.

(she hands him the tie, kisses him on the cheek, and sends him on his way)



Overall, I think it's a bit talky, or at least all of the action is implicit more so in my mind than in the text, and so that would be the kind of thing I would want to work on. Additionally, something mentioned in the group is making the two characters sound too much alike. I think their voices are a little too similar, although it could be the husband pandering to his wife's naivete. I would have liked to see what this candidate did as far as critique and/or constructive criticism, since most of the feedback to the read pieces was positive and complimentary. Anyways, I am looking forward to continuing to grow and develop throughout this process, and to find the best candidate, even though I don't quite know what that means.