Robin Layne's Blog: From the Red, Read Robin - Posts Tagged "timed-writings"
Transforming Stories for the Stage
"A Wall is a Road." That's the title that Katy, the creative director of the Well Arts Institute, has given to our writing group's upcoming second annual theatrical production. She had to come up with a title some time ago to put on the website. I'm not sure how she came by this name, but I love it.
I am privileged to live near Portland, Oregon, which has a a lot of opportunities for people who wish to write. Well Arts is one of the non-profit programs that is free to the public and involves writing in community. It's the only chance I've ever had to see my own writings acted out on stage by professional actors. Our group, Beautiful Minds, meets at a NAMI office twice a month. (NAMI stands for National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.) Anyone with a mental illness or who has a friend or relative who has one is welcome to join in--which means, as Katy puts it, practically anyone. At each meeting, Katy focuses on a theme, such as conflict, heroes and villains, or hidden treasure, and then we do a timed writing about whatever the theme suggests to us individually. Recently, Katy had us read stories by others by other members of the group and write responses to them, so that we would have more continuity in the production.
So many good stories put Katy in a difficult situation; a lot had to be left out to keep the drama from dragging too long. But I'm happy with the way her current draft fits together.
We had auditions for professional actors last Saturday. Three of us writers showed up. There are always more female actors than male ones. (Last year, two of my male characters had to become female ones because of this phenomenon. I've learned not to write about men as much.)Some of the women read the parts so well it was a difficult decision. But it is a dream come true to help in this decision-making and be part of a theatrical team. There's nothing like good acting to bring writing to life!
We also may have to do a lot of rewriting along the way to make our stories better and more fit for the stage. Katy is an excellent writing coach. I got very tired of making changes to my longest skit last spring, but it was worth it to see it all come together and note how audiences reacted.
Rehearsals for this March's production start in the latter part of next week. The writers are encouraged to come and help coach the actors and enjoy the process of the play taking shape. Actually, I hesitate to call the Well Arts shows plays, because they are more like patchwork stories knitted together for creative congruity. The actors have only a month to practice. As an aid to them and to emphasize the writings, the actors hold the scripts while they recite the words and show the emotions; the amount of action, props, and settings vary from group to group, presentation to presentation.
Last year, our show was called "What's Important Is the Story"--which was a line from one of my stories, and also the name of that story. My contribution of stories was the second largest (five of them). Four featured the same fictional character, a writer with a telepathic link with a bard in another dimension (the writer character was one who had to undergo a "sex change"). The fifth story was a monologue in which an actress playing me pondered how she came to have a love relationship with Jesus and the challenges that relationship weathered. Katy said it was the best thing I had written in the class. All six of the writers, and all six of the actors, are highly talented.
I caught a bad cold from going to all the rehearsals, but it was worth it. I saw all four showings, carefully timing my coughs so as not to interrupt dialogue.
Well Arts works with a number of different groups who have health challenges or face crises. Its philosophy is that the creative process is healing. Some of the other groups Well Arts works with to make plays are Voices of Our Elders (seniors in two different locations), Soldier's Heart (veterans), and Returning Heroes (writers who have taken part in a past production).
I don't know whether similar programs exist in other locations. If they don't, perhaps some people will investigate the Well Arts Institute and get some ideas about starting such organizations in their own areas. The website is http://wellarts.org/. (I'd create a real link here, but I'm confused by the description in the Formatting Tips.)
I am privileged to live near Portland, Oregon, which has a a lot of opportunities for people who wish to write. Well Arts is one of the non-profit programs that is free to the public and involves writing in community. It's the only chance I've ever had to see my own writings acted out on stage by professional actors. Our group, Beautiful Minds, meets at a NAMI office twice a month. (NAMI stands for National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.) Anyone with a mental illness or who has a friend or relative who has one is welcome to join in--which means, as Katy puts it, practically anyone. At each meeting, Katy focuses on a theme, such as conflict, heroes and villains, or hidden treasure, and then we do a timed writing about whatever the theme suggests to us individually. Recently, Katy had us read stories by others by other members of the group and write responses to them, so that we would have more continuity in the production.
So many good stories put Katy in a difficult situation; a lot had to be left out to keep the drama from dragging too long. But I'm happy with the way her current draft fits together.
We had auditions for professional actors last Saturday. Three of us writers showed up. There are always more female actors than male ones. (Last year, two of my male characters had to become female ones because of this phenomenon. I've learned not to write about men as much.)Some of the women read the parts so well it was a difficult decision. But it is a dream come true to help in this decision-making and be part of a theatrical team. There's nothing like good acting to bring writing to life!
We also may have to do a lot of rewriting along the way to make our stories better and more fit for the stage. Katy is an excellent writing coach. I got very tired of making changes to my longest skit last spring, but it was worth it to see it all come together and note how audiences reacted.
Rehearsals for this March's production start in the latter part of next week. The writers are encouraged to come and help coach the actors and enjoy the process of the play taking shape. Actually, I hesitate to call the Well Arts shows plays, because they are more like patchwork stories knitted together for creative congruity. The actors have only a month to practice. As an aid to them and to emphasize the writings, the actors hold the scripts while they recite the words and show the emotions; the amount of action, props, and settings vary from group to group, presentation to presentation.
Last year, our show was called "What's Important Is the Story"--which was a line from one of my stories, and also the name of that story. My contribution of stories was the second largest (five of them). Four featured the same fictional character, a writer with a telepathic link with a bard in another dimension (the writer character was one who had to undergo a "sex change"). The fifth story was a monologue in which an actress playing me pondered how she came to have a love relationship with Jesus and the challenges that relationship weathered. Katy said it was the best thing I had written in the class. All six of the writers, and all six of the actors, are highly talented.
I caught a bad cold from going to all the rehearsals, but it was worth it. I saw all four showings, carefully timing my coughs so as not to interrupt dialogue.
Well Arts works with a number of different groups who have health challenges or face crises. Its philosophy is that the creative process is healing. Some of the other groups Well Arts works with to make plays are Voices of Our Elders (seniors in two different locations), Soldier's Heart (veterans), and Returning Heroes (writers who have taken part in a past production).
I don't know whether similar programs exist in other locations. If they don't, perhaps some people will investigate the Well Arts Institute and get some ideas about starting such organizations in their own areas. The website is http://wellarts.org/. (I'd create a real link here, but I'm confused by the description in the Formatting Tips.)
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