Needless to say I was thrilled when I learned that one of my short plays was chosen to be among six presented at a local theater. I was even more pleased when I learned it had been selected from more than 300 entries, nationwide. This same play had been chosen for another festival a few years back and this year was presented on a national radio program, badly directed and acted. Still I am always optimistic so I planned to go to the opening of three night's performances and asked two of my favorite couples to join my partner and I. Before the event the producer e-mailed asking for some cuts in the play to make it shorter. Not being a control freak I allowed her to make what cuts she felt were needed. When she sent them highlighted in yellow, I was surprised they were less cuts than neurotic word changes. But I really didn't mind. So the night came. My friends and I had a delicious and convivial dinner and headed over to the theater, or what I imagined would be a theater. It was actually a black box room with chairs on both sides of a stage area which was hard to see from the last row since the floor was flat. While there was a good crowd, there was little else. No real props, no curtain, no sense of presentation. And sad to say five of the six plays were incredibly mediocre though well-enough acted by the cast of six. It was nearly impossible to imagine that they had been chosen from 8 submissions, much less 300. After the intermission, it was time for my play. Since I had never seen or heard it performed well, I was delighted with the two actor's interpretation. Until the middle. This play has a Gift of the Magi Twist essential to its impact. But the two actors apparently dropped that section in error and raced directly to the climax. It was a pity because until then it was the only play I think the audience truly enjoyed, arrogant as that sounds. After the show, and one more truly rotten play, the producer apologized only after I confronted her and encouraged me to return the next night to see the entire play. I chose not to. The actors never said a word to me which I found discourteous since I bought six people to this dull evening and put $40.00 in the donation jar. Nobody has bothered to call me to tell me if any subsequent performances fared any better. Hmmm. I wonder.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
A little bit of both.
Needless to say I was thrilled when I learned that one of my short plays was chosen to be among six presented at a local theater. I was even more pleased when I learned it had been selected from more than 300 entries, nationwide. This same play had been chosen for another festival a few years back and this year was presented on a national radio program, badly directed and acted. Still I am always optimistic so I planned to go to the opening of three night's performances and asked two of my favorite couples to join my partner and I. Before the event the producer e-mailed asking for some cuts in the play to make it shorter. Not being a control freak I allowed her to make what cuts she felt were needed. When she sent them highlighted in yellow, I was surprised they were less cuts than neurotic word changes. But I really didn't mind. So the night came. My friends and I had a delicious and convivial dinner and headed over to the theater, or what I imagined would be a theater. It was actually a black box room with chairs on both sides of a stage area which was hard to see from the last row since the floor was flat. While there was a good crowd, there was little else. No real props, no curtain, no sense of presentation. And sad to say five of the six plays were incredibly mediocre though well-enough acted by the cast of six. It was nearly impossible to imagine that they had been chosen from 8 submissions, much less 300. After the intermission, it was time for my play. Since I had never seen or heard it performed well, I was delighted with the two actor's interpretation. Until the middle. This play has a Gift of the Magi Twist essential to its impact. But the two actors apparently dropped that section in error and raced directly to the climax. It was a pity because until then it was the only play I think the audience truly enjoyed, arrogant as that sounds. After the show, and one more truly rotten play, the producer apologized only after I confronted her and encouraged me to return the next night to see the entire play. I chose not to. The actors never said a word to me which I found discourteous since I bought six people to this dull evening and put $40.00 in the donation jar. Nobody has bothered to call me to tell me if any subsequent performances fared any better. Hmmm. I wonder.
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Harrumph! The nerve.
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