BURNED AGAIN: A TALE OF THE THEATRE

Hi Kids! 

It's Uncle Bryan back with more salivating adventures from the land of playwriting. I always like to thank the folks at Crazytown who run this blog for being so supportive. Recently I learned I can write whatever I like here and this week will be rant-time. Because who doesn't love ranting? 

Today's rant has to do with those "24 Hour Theatre" festivals or shorter. I'm talking about places that perform plays that were written and memorized and supposedly rehearsed within 24 hours. 

These are examples:

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/09/23/students-write-perform-plays-in-24-hours/

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/nov/26/old-vic-24-hour-plays

My first taste of this was in November '14 I believe - I signed up for one in Chicago. I wasn't getting paid. That's my own damn fault. Anyhow, I had to write a play based on the prompt "silver linings" - as well as particulars of the actors. In fact, one actor emailed me saying she'd seen "Silver Linings Playbook" - which didn't matter to me because I was writing a play about silver linings in general, not a movie. 

You may read my masterwork Pedro's Dead here.

Yes, I wrote a play about a dead Chihuahua. Via here.

And of course the next day I was told --- hmm I think I can copy and paste the email here. 

"Dear Bryan, 

I regret to inform you that several actors dropped this morning and we are unable to produce your script at this time. I would like to keep Pedro's Dead in our archives for future use if that is OK with you? I truly apologize for this but circumstances were out of my control. 

Thank you for your contribution,"

Several actors? There were only two to start with.  

Flash forward to last weekend. Some goober-ball in California needed playwrights to do 3 HOUR PLAYS - OMG let's write a play in an hour and see what happens when we perform it two hours later. 

Well, I told this gentleman that the times didn't work for me because I was in a place called "not-California" - he was flexible - gave me different times, I still had to complete the script within the allotted time like everybody else. Yay. 

First script went swimmingly. My prompt was "unwanted change." I wrote about a worm fisherman dealt with the struggles using a fly. And battled a giant worm. It's a lovely play and may be read here.

Yeah I wrote a play about fishing and a mutated worm. Via here.

Okay fine. He needed another play. The next morning I was ready to go. Except he was two hours late in sending it to me. That was dumb. His prompt this time was "too many balls in the air." - yeah, good luck with that. I wrote about Hera and Juno planet-hunting. It's awesome. You can discover it here.

Clay pigeons, but with Earth. From here.

I wasn't paid for these plays. I know that. Just wanted to write and have my work performed. I asked for any documentation of the plays - you know, photos, vide, any playbills. Of course none were forthcoming. 

So we had this exchange via text:

What was the audience response to the plays I wrote? And the actors? Any feedback? 

He gave a non-answer:

Honestly, the whole thing was a whirlwind. Shows were generally well-received. Thank you so much for participating. 

Like I filled out a fucking survey.

This blasé experience pushed me into pursuing my short stories and novels. I help a guy out and he can't even be bothered to let me know how the went. Bollocks.