What is Playlab, you ask. Playlab is a one-week intensive session with a dramaturge working on an existing play to bring a draft to a final production version. Nakai Theatre in Whitehorse hosts this yearly, picking five playwrights’ works that will be the most likely produced by nakai in the near future. My play, And, on the Second Day was picked this year.
When I was asked if I’d submit it, I was quite happy. I did some changes from my list of edit notes, and sent the newest along with what I was hoping to do to the dramaturge who was coming up for this. Then, I decided to check out a bit on the guy coming up in the Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre online. Yowsers. This guy’s CV is… long and distinguished to say the least. Now, to say I’m a little intimidated is an understatement. Look for yourself here.
Scary issues aside, I’m looking forward to our first meeting tomorrow morning. I’m not sure how scheduling, etc., will go; however, I have the camper partly ready and may go to a lake nearby and spend a day or two of writing somewhere else for a change. I did my final edits at the campground a few weeks ago, and was far more productive than I would have been sitting around the house. Of course, productivity will be greatly aided since I’m not taking the boat or the fishing gear…
We started off intending to go to Fox Lake on the May long weekend, but things weren’t quite ready. Clara was tired. I was even more so. I tried to find the ambition to get the camper ready and repacked for the new season but just couldn’t get up for it. We did have company coming on Wednesday, the 14th, which would have been the best day to get out and get a spot at the lake. We did have to do a bit of work for that, including getting the guest room ready.
So, we decided to wait until the Monday to let the campground clear and give me a few days to get it ready. There are still some forgotten things, but we will probably survive it.
We hit the road about 3 PM, after getting gas and propane. With all of the trips we did last year, and having the tank refilled after the May long weekend last year, I was expecting the propane tank to take quite a bit to fill. Turns out, we burned $35 of propane last year. I was quite surprised and was expecting a larger amount. I guess things are more efficient with a new camper and newer appliances.
The campground was rather quiet. It did rain on the way out, although not hard. I did manage to get the camper levelled and lay under it to put up the stabilizer jacks without getting soaked. It did sprinkle much of the evening. However, by bedtime, we got quite a soaking rain.
I don’t have too many details on the temperature. I bought a wireless thermometer for the camper. I put batteries in it and put the sensor outdoors on the back deck. However, I couldn’t find the receiver to bring it camping. Hint: it was a bit chilly.
Tuesday, May 20th
By the time we got up, the rain had ended. It was cloudy most of the morning and early afternoon, but the sun came out by 2 o’clock. It was a lovely day in that regard, although temperatures were still quite cold and the furnace was on throughout the day.
I really didn’t have much in store for plans for the day. I did get around to running the little generator twice to bring up the batteries a bit. The furnace does take its toll and the sun didn’t come out quick enough to bring them up a bit. I also needed to recharge the laptop a bit.
The repairs to the old generator seem to have worked. I do notice that I can’t run the microwave on it without blowing the breaker on the generator. This is not a huge issue, although it is nice to be able to reheat a cup of tea that has gone cold. The big generator has no problems with this, but the lighter weight (58 lbs. vs 120 lbs.) are a nice bonus and the little one is far quieter than the new one. Both, however, make too much noise for my liking. I do enjoy the convenience but don’t like the noise.
The little generator in its little house.
One thing does become obvious though. With the furnace running and the cloudiness, neither the small generator or the solar panel can keep up with the battery draw. We had to turn the furnace off overnight and still had very little battery left.
The high point of the morning involves my benchmark for a nice camping trip. About 11 AM, there was much squawking and flying around of a flock of about a dozen birds. They were circling the campground and were too high up to see what they actually were. An hour later, I went for a walk around the campground and saw two floating on one of the few open areas of the lake. The loons are back, and I got a few nice pictures. I still haven’t heard them singing yet, though.
The loons have arrived.
Wednesday, May 21st
We woke up and it was cold. It was probably below freezing overnight. There was 0.1% of the battery power left. At 7:30, even though it was still a bit early, I started the truck and ran it for an hour to get a bit of juice into the RV carriage batteries.
New fallen snow on the mountains.
I eventually discovered a light had been left on in the cargo compartments under the truck. Also, I looked in the battery compartment and the connections could use cleaning. This is a project for after we get home.
It clouded over today, and didn’t get very warm. However, the clouds should keep the heat in and mean that it won’t be as cold tonight as last night.
I made an interesting discovery. I found a campsite here that I had never noticed before. Once the lake opens and we come back, I’m going to try to get that one. We went for a walk around the campground and Clara likes the “new” spot, too.
Thursday, May 22nd
It was a bit warmer overnight. It obviously didn’t go below freezing, which was an improvement. We spent the morning getting the site packed up after breakfast and stowing some of the things in the camper. The first trip isn’t known for its packing efficiency. A short drive home and thus, endeth, the first camping trip of the year.
Another Homegrown Festival comes to an end and the reading of my new play seemed to go over well. We had reasonably sized audiences, about 20 the first night and then about 50 the next two evenings. The cast and I have heard feedback and no ones seems to have had anything negative.
The cast. Front row, L-R: Tracy Erman, Mary Sloan, Sophia Marnik, Tim Green, Doug Rutherford. Back row, L-R: Winluck Wong, Dave Paquet, Loughran Thorson-Looysen, Daniel Dunphy, Santana Berryman, Kieran Poile, Colin Milne.
There were a few interesting issues that showed up. I did learn early that, due to a rescheduling of a course he needed for certification, one cast member wouldn’t be available for opening night. That was simple to deal with, since I would read his part that night. However, with the show starting at 7 PM, I had a cast member pull out because he was booked to dance in another performance. Since the performance schedule was set in lots of time, I wasn’t happy.
I was still wondering what to do, other than read the two parts (it is amazing what you can get aways with in a stage reading), when I went to the theatre and saw a friend sitting in the lobby. I dragooned him into doing on the spot, and he did it perfectly, and almost cold since he had less than an hour with the script.
The final night took a bit of juggling when one of the cast was lowered by the flu. This involved a slight shift, with another cast member reading the part of the main protagonist and I read his part. For some reason, no one thought I would be a good teenager…
Thanks to the cast, and the Homegrown Festival people who all contributed to make this a lot of fun and let me get this in front of an audience…
Rehearsal is over. Tonight, we teched the play and had dress rehearsal. Now, we are set for opening night on Wednesday.
We are doing it as a staged reading. There are a number of reasons for doing this. The cast is large. There are 10 speaking parts and one person to read stage instructions. If we actually produced the play, we would need to cast an additional five non-speaking roles. Further, a fight director is needed for four scenes. The festival calls for three performances, which would call for a substantial amount of time, effort, and it would be difficult to do, given that the play is still in development. Also, several of the cast members are high school students, close to the end of their studies.
So, now I get to wait. There’s something nerve-wracking about debuting a play. I presume I will survive it…
I’ve received some comments from friends on the play I am currently writing. This is more than helpful.
When you work in a bubble of self, there are things you will invariably miss, particularly true when, like me, you mentally image what you write. While something may be rather obvious to me in that mental picture, it may not make itself to the script. Sadly, I’m the only one that can see those mental images (or, hopefully, I’m the only one who can see those mental images). It is nice to have someone point out things that don’t add up, errors in continuity, or omissions.
By the way, this is not an easy job. You have to look at someone else’s work dispassionately, often working word to word, to find the problems that have not occurred to the author. It takes a lot of time as well… time people have often donated of their free will.
So, let me take this chance to say, “Thank you” to all who have given their time and effort to make someone else’s work better. Your suggestions may not all be used; however, your work is deeply appreciated, nonetheless…
Since the Olympics are coming up, I can once again admit that I have always wanted to try luge. I know, the sanity level involved in laying exposed on a sled hurtling down a track at about 130 kph may be questionable.
And, now, albeit on a small scale, I may get my chance. One of the college students is supervising the construction of a short luge track. I will be small, but I’m sure will function to get this out of my system.
Top of the luge trackThe curve
Interestingly, this interest in luge does not apply to skeleton. Yes, you are exposed and still go at about the same speed. However, unlike luge where you go feet first, skeleton goes head first. And, some mental oddity makes me think that, if I hit something at 130 kph, it’ll make a lot of difference if you hit feet first…
We’ve had a marvellous winter. Our January thaw lasted almost three weeks, with temperatures at or above 0°C throughout. In short, it has not been the traditional Yukon winter, although we haven’t really had a really cold winter in quite a while.
The advantage of the warm weather has been that it hasn’t been quite as dry as usual. My sinuses and hide are both quite grateful over that, by the way. And, another advantage has been that when the temperature eventually did drop south of freezing, we get a nice freezing fog and hoarfrost.
I like the way that frost and sunlight interact, so went out on the front step while the sun was starting to drop and grabbed a few pictures. After all, it’s nice to have an excuse to play with the new camera…
My application form and fee are in for the 2014 Nakai Theatre Homegrown Theatre Festival. This runs from May 6-11 in Whitehorse and looks to promote local theatre developers. Most productions get three runs through the festival.
This year, I am entering the play I started writing last January. It’s presently called And on the second day, although this is its second and fourth title. I started writing it after the Newtown shootings and it deals with school shootings, from the perspective of the shooter.
I’m going to do it as a reading, as things stand now. The play has a large cast, a total of 15 with 10 speaking parts. I’m not sure, given how popular the festival is and how hard it is to get people, if I will get all 10, but I can have some people read more than one part. I looked to try and “cull the herd” bit, but there is no way to tell the story without this many characters.
So, I’m still doing final edits. I’ll probably be looking for readers sometime in March and will put out a call for people then.
I spent about 1½ hours yesterday meeting with David Skelton, Artistic Director at Nakai Theatre, for some dramaturgy work on the draft of my new play. This is a free service provided by the company, which is largely concerned with local theatre development and one which I heartily endorse… and exploit.
The whole idea behind the 24 hour challenge, although actually called the playwriting challenge, is really to come up with a draft. Mine was started earlier, but still is really in its very early stages (despite the fact that I’m on the fourth title for it). I was a little stuck on a few parts. There were things that really needed strengthening and clarifying.
That being said, I came away with more questions than I had earlier. That, however, is a good thing, since these are ones that, when answered, will help bring this beast to its knees.
All in all, I don’t often walk away thinking, “That was a great meeting…”
I entered the Nakai 24 Hour Playwriting Challenge (it used to be Festival but that seems to have changed) again this year. I wanted to work on a play I had started in January, planning to enter the category for play already in development.
That part is called the Nakai Next 24 Hour Challenge. I thought, with a prize for best new play, shouldn’t there be one called Best Used Play? This suggestion has been frowned upon by the hosting organization, by the way.
After the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, I wanted to look at the question of school shootings and why someone would actually do it? What would make a person take one or more firearms to school and use them?
After a little preliminary research, I found that this a far more frequent occurrence than most of us believe, and in most cases, does not reflect the ones we see displayed on the national news organizations as a whole. In fact, my underlying question has changed now to, “Why doesn’t this happen more often.”
The short version is I won (second time in three years, he gloated). Now, it’s time to shift gears and look at putting the play in the upcoming Homegrown Theatre Festival in May. Right now, I looking at doing a reading of the full play. This, however, means I will be looking for 10 readers (it has a rather large cast). A call for readers will go out later…
Doug Rutherford 