THE ART OF THE ONE-ACT

The final reading of the Spring 2007 Gwen Frostic Reading Series will take place on Wednesday, April 11 at 8:00 in the Little Theater with playwrights from the New Issues anthology The Art of the One-Act.

Arnold Johnston is chair of the Department of English at WMU and has teamed with his wife, Deborah Ann Percy, on a variety of projects, including scripts for Kalamazoo's All Ears Theatre and Whole Art Theatre and the full-length plays in the "Detroit Trilogy," which includes the award-winning "The Zamboni Situation," "Small Slam" and "Beyond Sex." Percy is principal of Maple Street Magnet Middle School for the Arts in Kalamazoo.

"Art of the One-Act: An Anthology" edited by Arnold Johnston and Deborah Ann Percy, includes 26 previously unpublished one-act plays and an introduction by the editors. "Art of the One-Act" is available through major book sellers and online from barnesandnobel.com and amazon.com.

Playwrights and their one-acts featured in the April 11 readings are Constance Alexander's "Last Call," Carey Daniels' "Hands for Toast," Bethany Gauthier's "The Nancy" and Troy Tradup's "We All Give Thanks."

"Last Call" by Constance Alexander focuses on the widow and family of a man killed during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, avoiding easy sentimentality and looking at the lives of the survivors with a realistic and unblinking eye. Alexander is artistic director of West Kentucky Playwrights' Festival, and she has received numerous arts council and foundation grants and awards to support her writing.

"Hands for Toast" by Carey Daniels exemplifies a dynamic frequently observed in comic plays: that of the stranger in a strange land, an innocent or "normal" character who must cope with characters and customs that confound him and threaten his welfare. Daniels has a master of fine arts in playwriting from WMU.

"The Nancy" by Bethany Gauthier takes place in an upscale coffee shop, where characters Eve and Alyssa sit across a table from each other with a prominently empty chair between them. Gauthier has a master of fine arts in playwriting from WMU and has had productions with the Paw Paw Village Players and All Ears Theatre.

"We All Give Thanks" by Troy Tradup is a mordantly funny take on family Thanksgivings, featuring disruption of the holiday ritual idealized annually in popular media. Tradup is the author of eight plays, including award winners "The Desired Effect" and "Chuckling in Limbo." His anthology contribution, "We All Give Thanks," was a finalist for the 2003 Heideman Award.

Banana War

Arnie and his wife Debby team taught ENG 368 when I was a young punk undergrad. I took the class because I liked movies and Western didn't offer a screenwriting course. I didn't have any theater background, but I did love writing dialogue so I thought why not give it a go. I didn't know what I was doing half the time, but Arnie and Debby really believed in my work and helped me find my way into it all. I wrote some crap but they saw some talent in that crap. When I talked to Arnie about applying to grad schools, I was thinking about getting a Masters in Creative Writing. I wasn't sure about playwriting, because I also wrote stories and poetry. He said I should apply into a playwriting program. He believed I could do it. Sure enough, I did. I got accepted to Boston University, where I worked with Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. Without Arnie and Debby's support along the way, I never would have pursued it and I don't think I'd be here today teaching ENG 368 and working on my PhD.

With that said, Western Michigan University's English Department Chair Arnold Johnston and his wife Deborah Ann Percy have a play called "Banana War" that you all should go see.

Here's the info:

Banana War, by Arnie Johnston and Deborah Ann Percy
Performs: April 13, 14, 20, 21
Directed by: Steven C. Smith
What happens when you vacation in a civil-war-ridden country and wake up in a jail cell? This tale of two women shows how strong, and weak, we can all be.

Night plays start at 11pm and last about an hour.

Tickets are available at the door for $5.

Complimentary coffee and donuts at every performance.

Also check out this recent article:
Kalamazoo Gazette

Re/Vision

"The first draft is a creative process, and I'm the artist or the writer at that point. When I finish, I become an editor--it's a little schizophrenic--and the editor doesn't have nearly the fun the writer has." -- Lanford Wilson

You all did a wonderful job rewriting your 10-minute plays. Most of you were fearless in your rewrites; you all took risks and that's to be commended. Revising is the toughest (and most important) part of the writing process. Most of the hard work is revision. It can take days, weeks, months, even years to finish a play. Sound discouraging? It's not meant to be. Writing isn't for the lazy. It's work. The finished product is something to be proud of.

As a beginning writer, the toughest thing you can do is cut. How do you know what to cut? I think it's instinct. You'll feel it. You have to trust those instincts. You'll feel it in your gut. If you question a line of dialogue or a scene or a character--cut it. Trust those instincts.

Remember, this is your play. I know it's easy to get overwhelmed with feedback in workshop. I think it's good to get all sorts of feedback as a beginner. Workshops allow you a different perspective on your work. You're all new and sometimes you just don't know what is good and what is bad until it's out and people say it's good or bad. I guess this is another part of the process as well. You can take or leave any comments made in workshop. Some of it was helpful; some of it was useless. That's workshop. In the end, you have to decide on what needs to be done. This is your play. Not ours.

Congratulations on your 10-minute play revisions. You've all improved your plays and you all deserve a round of applause (or better yet, a robot named Bender with an applause sign).

"Partum. Attero. (Create. Destroy.)"

Check out Nathan Gregorski in:

"Partum. Attero. (Create. Destroy.)"

It's a Footlight II (which is a full-length student-directed show) directed by Ryan Welsh. It's an original work created by the director and company. It's about an earth shattering event and the reaction to it by the human race.

Where:
The York Arena Theatre at the Gilmore Theatre Complex

When:
Thursday, April 5
Friday, April 6
Saturday, April 7

All performance times are 8p.m.

How much:
FREE!

There is also a Facebook event page for it, the link is here:
http://wmich.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2257487525&ref=mf

The What-the-F Exercise

Find a good quote from Weekly World News. I have a notebook full that I give to my students. Some of my personal faves:

"I wish I could just disappear, but the best I can do is become sort of lamely translucent."

"Thank God, I got to him before the crows swooped down and ate him."

"There was a big bang and I smelled like fish for a week."


Next, use that line/quote as the first line to a dialogue between two people. One characters says it, and the other character reacts/responds to first line.

Continue this dialogue for five-ten minutes/free write.

Now, using flashcards, write down some emotions. Examples: sad, depressed, jubilant, curious, angry, etc.

Write down some genres. Examples: Cowboy/Western, Sci-fi, Soap Opera/melodrama, , Cinemax soft-core porn, etc.

Shuffle flashcards (genres and emotions) and draw a card. Use whatever is on that card and continue your dialogue. So if you pulled a Sci-fi card, you have to create environment (possibly through dialogue of two characters) and they have to react to environment. Alien attack? What will your characters do or say in this situation? If you pulled a Sad card, your character or characters have to be sad. What makes them sad? Did they get bad news? What will happen to the dialogue? How will it change? You could have two piles: one for genre and one for emotion. You can pull card from each pile and write.

This exercise allows you to get closer to understanding your characters. How will they react in different environments? How will they behave with different emotions? Make it tough on your characters. Make it weird. Make it difficult. Really put them through hell. You'll be surprised by the break-throughs they have (and you have as a writer). Good luck.

Steve Feffer's "Lucky Punk" at the Whole Art Theatre

Check out Western Michigan University Assistant Professor (and playwriting genius) Steve Feffer's "Lucky Punk" at the Whole Art Theatre.

Here's the info:

Lucky Punk, by Steve Feffer
Performs: March 23, 24, 30, 31
Directed by: Trevor Stefanick
A small town punk rock girl wants to move to Seattle and hit it big. But as she’s about to find out, leaving home takes more than a wicked riff and a bad-ass band.

The play is part of Whole Art's Late Night Series. The show starts at 11pm. Tickets are 5 bucks. Complimentary coffee and donuts at every performance!

Extra! Extra!: In the News Exercise

I remember one time talking to my dad about writing and how I felt blocked. "I have nothing to write about," I whined. "Pick up a goddamned newspaper." My dad said.

Every day there is something new to read about. A new story. Perhaps you'll stumble across a story that really hits you. A story worth exploring. A story with people that you want to flesh out. A story you want to dramatize.

Last year, I wrote a play about James McGreevey. He put out a tell-all book about his resignation and affair. He was all over the news, Oprah, everywhere. It wasn't really his story I was interested in (though I was intrigued by it). I wanted to know his ex-wife's story. But she wasn't talking. So I thought, what if I write about her? What if I give her a voice? I'm going to tell her story.

News stories are there for the taking, people. It's made public. You can take it. I took interview quotes and public speeches and I put them into the play as dialogue.

Here's the exercise:

Read a newspaper. Browse the Internet. Browse the Blogosphere (so many wanna-be journalists out there). Find a story that captivates you. A story with a lot of unanswered questions. Those are usually the best, because it allows you to make up/create answers.

When you find a story, think about it. Think: what is the situation here? Example: James McGreevy announces resignation (as Governor of New Jersey) revealing that he is gay and that he had an adulterous affair with a man.

Next, think about a possible conflict. Example: How did McGreevey's wife find out and how did she react? Or Man (Golan Cipel) threatens to sue McGreevey for sexual harassment. What is exchange between McGreevey and Cipel?

Now how do you dramatize it all? How do you make it 'theatrical'? Well, that's the fun part.

Dramatizing news stories allows you to bring life to these stories and to these people. People who may not have a voice are now allowed the opportunity to speak.