EXTRA CRITICUM

Kia Corthron, Gary Garrison, Tammy Ryan and Sophfronia Scott on How to Reach Us in a 140-char World

Over the past several months, I've had more than one student working on a full-length play or musical that starts out seeming to be one thing only to eventually reveal itself to be something entirely different. And in each, the moment when it becomes clear that we've been toyed with, that the real story is here not back there, the shift is thrilling.

I should say that my writers workshops never banish questions of ambition. I want participants to show up with their real-world dreams for their material out in the open for all to see, up for discussion.

And, when it comes to these types of pieces, I can't help but worry a little. And so I've been wondering.

How is a writer working on material that takes more than 10 pages to reveal its true nature going to have a chance of being picked up in a world of ever-shrinking attention spans, where gatekeepers may not stick around long enough to discover the hidden treasure beyond page 19?

I put this question to four clever writers who all happen to care deeply about teaching and paying it forward for the future of our shared culture.  Here's what each of them had to say:

Down for the Count

I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was THIS bad. A friend forwarded an email to me at the end of last week, announcing the closing of an Off-Off Broadway theatre space, the Manhattan Theatre Source. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Source because I’ve worked there in a variety of capacities (producer, writer, director, educator), consulted with the board, had a couple of small pieces produced there, know a lot of the people involved in its formation and growth and have watched it struggle year after year to stay afloat. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Board finally had to say, in essence, we just can’t make it happy any longer. We’re beat. We’re done. We’ve fought the good fight for twelve years.

I was curious why this is happening now; why, after its twelfth year? So I called someone I know on the Board and asked. The answer was simple, he said: rent.

Their First Posts

It's interesting to recall where we began, when we first arrived at this site. What obsession started us off as a contributing voice in this online community?

Here, in chronological order, are the first posts of the first eight Extra Criticum authors to join the site. What were they pondering when they first came on board? Enjoy!

 

The Rubber Room - Feb 9-20 in NYC

So the two of us (Gary Garrison and Roland Tec) co-wrote this 70-min. play in which all the characters on stage meet for the first time. In a bold act of theatrical chutzpah, Artistic New Directions has commandeered five separate theatre companies in town to rehearse the play separately.

These five companies are rehearsing our five-character play in five separate locations and they've never met. One actor from each company will be called to perform the play with unknown scene partners whom they meet on stage in front of the audience. In essence, the result is: 25 unique opening nights.

Brevity Fest IV to benefit The Rubber Room

The first NYC-based Brevity Fest will be held this Sunday evening, January 30 as a benefit for the upcoming production of The Rubber Room, co-written by E.C. authors Gary Garrison and Roland Tec. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased through Smarttix. There's a link at the bottom of this post.

Here's the current lineup that we've got confirmed:

Pulled from the Archives: Yearley, Altenburg, Licata, Garrison & Barnes

Every few weeks or so, the editors at E.C. take a stroll through our archives and pull a group of interesting posts that are loosely related in theme to offer up to our readership for a second read. If you have a favorite post you'd like us to "pull from the archives," just email us and we'll try to locate it for you.

Or, you could also just use the handy Lijit Search box in the right sidebar.

 

What's your favorite outfit to wear when you’re feeling flirty and want to look your best?

BLOODY, BLOODY HOMO SCRATCHIN' (His Head)

Betrayal, I’m sure you would agree, is a hard thing for all of us. Betrayal from a family member is probably the most painful. The theatre has been my home and construct for family for most of my adult life. It’s where I feel loved, respected, seen and heard without having to work so fuckin’ hard at it. So when I feel betrayed by my family – my fellow artists -- I think . . . I think I want to strangle someone. And I would if I weren’t a rational man.

Simple exercise for a complicated dramaturgical problem

For all the playwrights and screenwriters here on E.C.:

1. Take a page of dialogue from one of your plays that has three characters or more speaking to one another.
2. Using liquid white-out, blank out all the names.
3. Make a Xerox copy of that page.
4. Hand it to a fellow playwright, director or actor – someone who reads a lot of plays.
5. Ask: how many people are speaking on this page? If they can’t tell you the number of people speaking, there’s a problem, no?

The complexities of language, and our personal choice of wording, phrasing, syntax, etc., is informed by our education, religion, age, culture, politics, familial hierarchy, gender, sexuality, ancestry, etc. In short, our personal use of language is as unique to each of us as our fingerprints. No two people speak the same. Why should they appear the same, then, on paper? The answer to that is simple: they shouldn't.

It's About Fuckin' Time

I'm sitting in my office at the Dramatists Guild, half-dazed from the heat beating through my window countered with the screams of some Michael Jackson imitator seven floors down on the street level. Half in one world and half in another (my natural state these days), I'm brought back to office-reality when one of our cheery office assistants slides my mail across my desk and announces, "Mail!" (Btw, I find this fascinating. Why announce what's obvious? It's not like you're sliding a pizza or an old boot across my friggin' desk and trying to pass it off as mail.)

Anyway, I'm sifting through my mail -- which generally consists of "you're doing this right" mail, and, "you're doing this wrong, asshole" mail with a few season announcements, show announcements, and gym postcards announcing the end of summer is in sight (really?), and shouldn't I lose the twenty pounds I've been meaning to lose? -- when a brochure catches my eye: the announcement for Playwrights Horizons 2009-10 season.

Sharing the sadness...

Sometimes I wonder why I'm a writer; what's it all for?

My mom passed away a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad I'm a writer. Here's the eulogy:

As you know, my brother, Ronnie, passed away in February. Almost a week to the day of his funeral, my mom was in the hospital. We didn’t have much of a chance to honor Ronnie’s life, so I wanted to acknowledge my brother here today. Maybe God called Ronnie home first so my mom would have someone waiting for her when she got there. Or maybe God called my mom home so quickly after Ronnie’s passing so she could do there what she did best here: be a mother. Who’s to say? We know God has a plan even though we don’t always understand it.

Coming Out . . .

Okay, I’m coming out.

     I know that may seem odd to some of you who know me (and have known that I was formerly in a committed relationship with a man for fourteen years), but it’s not that kind of coming out. I’m coming out . . . about my writing. Or, more to the point, the fact that I don’t. And as I write that last line, my hands are trembling, my mouth is drying out and I’m wondering what the “f” I’m doing telling you this. But I have to get this off my chest because I’m struggling with the same thing a lot of you struggle with.

what I'm awful at . . .

I've always been really bad at self-promotion, which may account for why I'm not further along in my writing career than I'd like to be. So, no, you won't find me kissing ass, schmoozing, oozing, leaking or licking anything that doesn't lick back. Put me in a room full of artistic directors or producers, and I'm going to be talking to the lone alcoholic psychotherapist that's been on a drinking binge for two weeks and hates parties. Call me crazy (and many do).

I'm an Episode, Ma!

Leonard Jacobs introduces and talks with his good friend Gary Garrison. Gary is Executive Director of Creative Affairs of The Dramatists Guild.  Leonard begins with asking Gary for a short sketch of his background and then a description of the newly minted (since ‘07) post he occupies at the Guild.

Gary enlightens the audience with a succinct description of the Guild and what it is, what it does, and why it is valuable for any playwright to be a member.  The listener gets a very clear idea of the many reasons playwrights should at least be aware of the merits of joining the Guild, or at the least, being aware of the many programs the Guild offers.

Leonard changes direction a bit to talk about a project begun by Gary years ago (it’s not part of the Guild), a playwrights’ newsletter — it’s called The Loop and it has become a fascinating interactive group.  Take a listen.

Episode #253 - Leonard Jacobs Interviews Gary Garrison of the Dramatists Guild

Street Theatre: The Crush on Kushner

Overheard from two snarky playwrights at the Drama Book Shop on Friday:

“You read about Kushner?”

“Yeah. Unbelieveable. Two-hundred thousand dollars. Like he needs it. Like Angels in America isn’t floating him for the rest of his life. AND, his movie work for effin’ Speilberg. That musta got him several hundred thou right there. If they’re gonna give a prize for playwriting, how about giving it to people who really need it?!”

I wanted to smack you guys with the back of my hand, or at least thump your heads with the thick Lillian Hellman anthology I was holding. I just hope you guys are Loopers [ed. note: this was originally published in the Loop, an essential newsletter for playwrights founded by Gary Garrison] so I can set you straight on a couple of things. First, the back story for the rest of the readers:

Critic on the Spot: Matthew Gilbert v.1

As our 3rd Critic on the Spot, we welcome Matthew Gilbert, television critic for the Boston Globe. Among the shrines at which he has worshipped during his tenure: The Sopranos, Freaks and Geeks, Six Feet Under, Scrubs, Lost and The Office. He has written celebrity and author interviews for the Globe, served as literary and managing editor at Boston Review, clerked at a number of local bookstores, and gotten his MA in Literature. He has had other jobs and assignments, too, but he can no longer remember them because TV has destroyed his brain. Our first two questions—both on Reality TV—come from Gary Garrison and Marissa Danielle Duricko.