Beginner Mind – The Martial Artist Mentality in Writing

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Connecting the dots can only happen by putting rubber to the pavement. For writers it means showing up and putting tracks down on the page regularly – every day, the way a martial artist trains wholly (mentally, physically and spiritually) for the encounter with an opponent. I am going to weave between two great thinkers and doers: Steve Jobs and Bruce Lee.  There are many common threads to their philosophies, and I am hilighting persistence and passion.

The original thought and words about “connecting the dots” came from the commencement speech to the graduating class of 2005 at Stanford given by Steve Jobs.  He said,

“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html)

I agree with what he said, and I’m adding: in hindsight it’s also important to only dwell briefly on the past, and to continue to improve on the past.

Last week in my activing class there were numerous times when I felt fed up with listening to the self-directed put downs an artist puts upon themselves for not putting in time into their creation work. I’m not so much fed up with hearing about their complaints, but how their words and the feelings resonate in my own life. I heard the stories of the woes spent on distractions such as eating, talking on the phone, surfing the internet, or cleaning the apartment instead of just sitting down and doing the work. “Yes, I know… I know…I do it too. Now tell me something I don’t know.”

I admire the resolute compassion the teacher has for dealing with the situation, because she had the experience and the vision to guide the student to a higher truth. The practice in the class is to have the mentality of “from this moment forward.” This means to get on with it, and stop flagellating yourself with self-defeating thoughts and words. In the quiet of my own thoughts I faced my own defeats. I felt shameful with thoughts of: Where is the authenticity of meaning what you say? Why is the realization of an idea so hard? What road blocks am I putting up over and over?

I scour books on Zen, Psychology, Philosophy, Drama Art, Anthropology, Archaelogy, and the answer is all there but I can not see it or I’m just not ready to see it.

The gap – that lag time between conception and birth. “When is it gonna be?” I ask like a bored and impatient child with the wild mind. Rather organize my life to accommodate as best as possible the art that needs to happen I have a tendency to run away and allow for distractions to trickle into the “important stuff”. Again I recall the practice at the studio (or the dojo in this case) – “from this moment forward”, and it means to let go of the past – the transgressions of not having done the work, and make re-commit to doing better next time. It is wasted energy to flog oneself for opportunity missed. I think John Little describes it pretty well in the book “The Art of Expressing the Human Body” (by Bruce Lee, John Little)

“Lee believed each day brought the opportunity to improve ourselves physically and mentally; we could choose either to seize the moment to take a step closer to maximizing our potential and progress, or to decline the opportunity and thereby stagnate and regress.”

To complain and rehash the past is stagnating. It can become a harmful and addictive pattern to touch that hardened scar over and over without the intention of healing within, and propelling forward. So as artists, we are all vulnerable to be very hard on ourselves when we miss the mark we set for ourselves. So today was not the best for producing any gems. In fact today may was only a hollow image staring back at me.

 (Credit to Authors:  Bruce Lee and John Little of the “The Art of Expressing the Human Body)

 As the martial artist shows up at the dojo practicing that kick 10,000 times so I too must show up at the desk exercising my imagination and strengthening my courage to create. There are many layers to why that is, but among the leaves that fall to the ground, one that reminds me of my purpose as a writer is ‘for the love of it.’ And with that thought I am back to the beginner mind which found joy in the journey I began with 5 years ago.

Writing Adrift

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A year and a half ago I was sitting on my parents’ couch, awash with grief and abject helplessness as the news showed footage of the BP oil spill ad nauseum, interrupted only by depressing unemployment figures, tragic economic shoulder shrugs, and tales of unrest abroad.  I was unemployed, newly returned to my home-town (per a very sympathetic welcome from my parents) with less than $50 in my bank account, and no idea what I was going to do with myself now landed.

I spent a lot of time that summer sobbing at the horror of it all, and stuffing my face with my parents’ hard-earned cupboard snacks.

I felt so adrift in all the news, I couldn’t find anyplace to drop anchor – and I felt powerless to do anything about any of it.

Then a cricket kept me up one night, tossing and turning and seeing red with insomnia, and I got up in the morning, sat down to the keys, and wrote a play about it all – even the cricket.

I felt better.  I had found a place where I could be heard – even if the play was still just on the page, it was my words, my world… it was mine and I no longer felt like I was bubbling with inarticulate horror… I was doing something about it.

That play got a reading, was a finalist for the O’Neills and is now in rewrites… whether it will see the stage, I can’t predict, but it makes me feel good to know it’s here – ready to be realized – and no longer eating away at my stomach.

I find myself going through a similar news-induced-panic now.

Every time I turn on the news or visit my home-page, there’s some new development here or there or in my back-yard, that has me nearly paralyzed with unease…  Where are we headed?  The deep polarity dividing the nation seems to be getting worse day by day, and news of our internal strife is riddled with continually depressing unemployment numbers and even more upset abroad.

Is it time for another play?

I read somewhere that Artistic Directors are lamenting the lack of “current” plays – Well, a lot of the artists most affected by current events are the ones they haven’t met yet.  A lot of the artists who are feeling the pinch are trying to decide between peanut butter or jelly because buying both is too expensive.  A lot of the creative minds who have been crock-potting the state of things are just now starting to send that work out into the world to be received/or/rejected and it’s going to take a bit of a hunt on those hungry Artistic Director’s fronts to find them amidst the piles.

Because although I love and adore many of our contemporary playwrights, many of those who are currently getting produced are watching the National Implosion from more comfortable seats than those of the not-yet-discovered.

Oh, of course all of us artists are in danger – popular thought on the national relevancy of  arts is too hot-button of an issue for any of us to be able to relax – but there’s a big experiential difference between those of us who are able to turn off the television and write about it at our stable desks, and those of us who are cramming our creative moments in front of the computer between job searches and coupon raids.

Which is why I’m looking forward to hearing from some of my fellows writing adrift… I’m looking forward to seeing their work on the national stage.

I’m looking forward to the day when more of us can finally drop anchor.

~Tiffany Antone

 

24 hour switch

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I have a confession… I haven’t written anything much lately.  I could (accurately) claim the busy-bee-nature of my calendar

has left me less than energized, but there’s a bit more to it than that; I just haven’t felt particularly inspired to actually make the writerly effort.

And I don’t mean “inspired” in the sense that I’m waiting for some hot-commodity-idea either.

(From my blog on Little Black Dress INK a week or two ago)

Writer’s Block… They should call it “Emotionally Disadvantaged Creative’s Block”.

There are countless essays and processes devoted to understanding and conquering the writer’s enemy, mostly involving baby steps of free-writing, calendering oneself, forcing it out like a stubborn turd, etc.  But I always thought these things were a crock – the reason we stop writing is because we’re harboring some deep fear or resentment – not because we’ve run out of ideas – and no amount of straining ourselves over the proverbial toilet is going to make them come out if the tunnel is plugged by baggage!

(I know, that’s a disgusting analogy)

But then, I haven’t written anything new in months (besides blog posts) so I had to ask myself, might I be stricken with a fog of literary stasis?  I mean, I’ve been really busy; I’ve been teaching and producing and directing and dating…

I have been doing any number of things besides writing…

(this is when my inner guru/muse/whatever it is within that is plugged more keenly into the source of things, lets me know that I am indeed hiding in the fog…)

Sigh

(and then I have to ask myself why….)

Double Sigh

But I think the answer is this:  I’m not writing because I’m afraid that whatever I’m working on still won’t be good enough to produce, and quite frankly I’m a little more than tired of all the back-patting and head-nodding and open readings leading to naught…

My demon it seems (the first in my history with the pen) is fear, chased by an ugly little thing called anger.

And it’s time I process it all, chew it up, and spit it out, and stop giving myself excuses.  I’ve collected seeds of anxiety and doubt and now they’ve spouted into a full blown emotional forest that needs cutting down.

Perhaps I can turn all that lumber into paper?

Then this past weekend I was invited to participate in a 24-hour play fest.  I’d never done one before, so I jumped in with a lot of willful trepidation and more than a little attitude (pointless as it is, attitude always makes us feel a little safer in the un-trod, doesn’t it?)

I was terrified – How was this going to work?  Was I going to be able to write a whole play (minimal page length be damned- would it have a beginning, middle and end?  Would it make sense?) in one evening?  Would my brain and The Muse be able to stand each other after so long apart and under the pressure of such short turnaround?

Turns out, the answer – just like my answer to the challenge – was “Yes!”

We gathered at 9 p.m., started writing at 11, and I had a 9 pager ready to hand over at 3:30 a.m.  I was exhausted, and I was seeing a little double, but by God, I crafted a funny enough piece to forgive it it’s whimsy, and the actors and directors who memorized and staged it in the morning/afternoon/evening did a great job and seemed to find it quirky and enjoyable enough that I could feel I had indeed done well.

And now I can’t get my little Muse to stop poking me, pushing me, demanding me to get back at the keys.

It seems that the “cure” was to just stop worrying about my attitude and the sheer overwhelming nature of my theatrical hopes, and just write already!

Now – if I can just get my calendar to listen, I’d be a much happier, even-busier-(but writing, damnit)-bee!

~Tiffany

TAKING A RISK

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Charles McNulty, of the L.A. Times, in an article about Nicholas Hytner, the director of Britain’s National Theatre, said that he believes that much of our theater is a result of “the crabbed and cowering bottom-line mentality that is turning far too many of our theaters into the equivalent of generic shopping malls,” and although I think that’s harsh, I have often thought that if I had to see yet another production of The Odd Couple (“It’s Neil Simon. It will sell!”) I would think first about wading far out into the Pacific with a brick in my hand.

Community theaters, in particular, are accused of producing only chestnuts, farces, musicals and murder mysteries.

This year, Theatre Palisades decided to buck the trend. A community theater in the Pacific Palisades, it mounted an excellent production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning drama Rabbit Hole.

Elizabeth Marcellino of the Palisades Post gave it a rave review. Under the headline, Theatre Palisades Delivers Great Drama, she wrote “Theatre Palisades took a risk in staging the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole, but that daring paid off as early as opening night, when the cast delivered an astonishingly strong ensemble performance. …Rabbit Hole is cause for celebrating the fact that Pacific Palisades has a local theatre able to put up such a great production, charging only $20 for the privilege of watching terrific theatre. Go see it.”

But people didn’t come. The theater advertised in the community and online. It offered half price tickets, twofers. Members of Sold Out Crowd and Theater Extras didn’t come. It didn’t pull Goldstar and LA Stage Alliance customers. People from the community stayed away. Theater members didn’t come.

Subscribers said, “Can I use my ticket for the next show?” One said, “Tell me this is good. My husband is in the car and doesn’t want to come in.” Several women said that their husbands wouldn’t come.

And everybody tried to figure out why.

Some thought it was because the economy is in such bad shape. People are struggling and they want to be lifted out of reality, want to hear about happy times. They want to laugh. It’s not a new thought. Last week, I heard actors rehearsing the next show, a comedy, Moonlight and Magnolias, by Ron Hutchison. One character was shouting, “People go to the movies because real life stinks.” There’s some truth in that.

I think that the subject matter kept people away, a subject that has nothing to do with economic hard times. As soon as people heard that it was about a family’s recovering from the accidental death of a four year old child, they balked, saying “We have enough sorrow in our lives. Why look for more?” “That’s too intense for me.”

Initially, I didn’t want to see it. I’d read it and thought it was very well written, with great parts for actors, but I didn’t know if I wanted to watch people in such pain. When I did attend, I was very moved, sometimes to laughter as well as tears, and went to see it again. In fact, most who saw it liked it very much. One audience member said, “Keep doing this kind of theater.” Subscribers who did attend also wrote to say how glad they were that they had come.

Go figure.

Rewrite

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I need to rewrite. I want to rewrite. I will rewrite.

My comedy, A Dog’s Life, has been sitting in soft copy inside my Mac for several years, now.  Lately, it’s been calling me, over and over, bleating, “Rework me.” I can no longer ignore it.

I’m going to rewrite. Now.

I’ll start with Act One, Scene Two. I remember where the scene suddenly sagged and I can fix that. Here I go. I turn on the computer. I will not look at my email. Just a quick look at YouTube on the way to the file. Huh! Isn’t that astounding? All of Alice’s Restaurant is on YouTube. And Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger sing Precious Friend together. I’m crazy about that song. I wonder when the concert was? Well, I won’t look for it, now. I’ll just listen to Alice’s Restaurant and then plunge in. Though I should vacuum first. I’ve been putting that off. No, stop! I’ll just take the vacuum out of the closet and reward myself with a quick carpet clean after I’ve spent at least an hour on Act One, Scene Two. Best to get out of YouTube, now. Right? Who knew that Arlo Guthrie was still touring after so many years? And with his whole family! OK. To the file.

I should probably read the whole play through to see if the structure is more or less sound, see what kind of overall impression it leaves before I start cutting and reshaping. But, my God, look at the mess beside the computer. Why don’t I clear everything away first, so I can think clearly.

Oho. What’s King Lear doing here? I was reading it last night, well, I was reading it at work, if truth be told, and brought it home. Where was I? End of Act Three? I’ll just check. Is it a good play or what? Those disgusting sisters and that gory business with the eyes. Gross. It really is hard to put down and the thing is, I’ve never seen it or read it before. I saw The Dresser. Who wrote that? Ronald….I’ll look it up…Ronald Harwood…so I knew that the actor who plays Lear has to have a lot of stamina and a voice that can be heard over the wind machine. Where is that in the play? Here it is, “Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!” Great stuff. I should probably read a little more to warm up the brain. The Fool is the smartest one of them all, of course. Love him.  Wow! By the end of Act Five, there are bodies all over the place – Oswald’s dead, and Cornwall, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, Edmund, Lear himself.

Huh! Do you know? I don’t know what happened to the Fool. Did he die, too? Let me look.

OMG, he disappears after Act III, Scene VI. Kent says to him “Thou must not stay behind.” And then he’s gone from the play. I mean, gone! I’d better take a second and google Fool, King Lear. Good thing the computer is still on.

Aha. Here’s what Schmoop says:

“The Fool disappears after Act 3, Scene 6, and nobody ever explains where he’s gone. The only possible reference to the Fool after that is in the final scene, when King Lear says “And my poor fool is hanged” (5.3.17). This could mean a couple of things: 1) Lear might be referring to Cordelia with a pet name, “fool,” since Cordelia has just been hanged by Edmund’s goons. 2) Lear could be literally talking about his Fool – perhaps the Fool was also hanged by Edmund’s henchmen or, perhaps he hung himself out of despair. It’s hard to say what really happens to the Fool. Some literary critics even speculate that the Fool and Cordelia were played by the same actor. They never appear onstage together, so some scholars hypothesized that the part was double cast, and that the Fool had to disappear when Cordelia came back into the play.”

That’s what Schmoop says. But you know what? I think that maybe, just maybe, Shakespeare didn’t do a rewrite!!!!

I hit the spacebar, the file comes up. A Dog’s Life. I begin.

Grace…

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Every year, I plan my summers for last touches on new plays so they will be available for the September 15 deadlines.  Spring is spent going through rejection letters and reassessing where to send plays for the next go-around and getting a start or finish on any piece I think I can have ready for that next go-around.  This year was the first time I was contemplating poetry manuscripts into the mix.  This year, like every year, I asked for grace to make it through the madness.  Things were going well until I was rear-ended twice between April and July, the injuries have made it hard to sleep (muscle spasms in the middle of the night suck) and the time it has taken to go to the doctors is very disruptive – I have never been to the doctor this much in my life.  The lack of sleep has been cutting into my writing time but up until August, I still felt I could dig down and make my deadline goals.  Then the unthinkable happened, I lost my 35 year old niece on August 16. 

My niece, Tracie, had a kidney transplant in early summer; the kidney was working when she passed away from other complications.  She left behind a daughter, TéAnna, who turned 9 yesterday, October 4.  Working through the pain of lower body and upper body spasms,  has made it challenging to sit long enough to hit a flow in my writing.  Losing Tracie has forced me to have to consciously talk myself into putting together all my packets because I really did not feel like doing the drill.  Not now.  But if I didn’t, it would be a year till the next window and Tracie was always so excited about my writing…

What do you do when your world collapses on you and you have a deadline or two to meet?

Focusing on tasks can be a great distraction and writing is always in itself, a peace-giver, a life-saver, a place of solace.

My niece was in pain every day, yet she took care of her daughter and was a very good mother.  While cleaning out her apartment, we found that Tracie wrote down her prayers.  What we learned was that Tracie was always thankful for each day…she always had a Praise for God in her heart.  She loved music and all her baby sister’s missing CDs were in her possession.  She was beautiful and we miss her…  I am so glad that I end my calls with “I love you”…

Have you ever written down your prayers?

I write my dreams and visions down but my prayers, I say them and go on.  They’re something I speak into the atmosphere. 

In September, I went back home for a wedding.  It was bittersweet.  Death has a way of pulling things together or tearing them apart.  There is no neutrality.  We, my family and I, choose to pull together.

I know that I will write about Tracie in some way.  I can feel the story forming.  I’ve had a few bad days but mostly, I haven’t really grieved yet.  I am hoping to do it in the writing…

Do you find you use your writing to work through issues? 

Everyone grieves differently; there is no set way to take that journey…  I find that writing is the best way for me to find, maintain, and be my self in the middle of a raging storm…  It’s also my saving grace…  It’s times like these where I am reassured that writing is something I must do – I survive and thrive by writing…it is the greatest gift of grace….

The National Kidney Foundation / Mayo Clinic

Zen this, Brainiac

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It was a tough morning today, I alternated between crying and trying not to cry. In the scheme of things, this is fairly small, but still.

A few years ago I wrote several articles for eHow.com, which is owned by Demand Media. I was paid a modest weekly amount and expected to churn out 10 articles a week. After cranking out 70 articles, I and another writer complained. We proposed paying us per article instead of a flat rate because to make the rate be better than minimum wage, you really had to whip out the how-to article in half-hour – and that was REALLY tough. The company’s response? They let both of us go (and kept the non-complainers).

The upside of all of this was I would get royalties (hooray) on each article, depending on how many people viewed it. So for a few years, I was getting a bit of cash deposited into my PayPal Account from Demand Media (I’m talking $25 – $40 a month, but still, it adds up).

A year and a half ago, I got a letter from Demand Media stating they were ending the royalty program. I could get a one time payout (a modest amount) and leave the articles up on their site or take them elsewhere. I chose to take the payout and figured I could still enjoy the whoo hoo factor of having my by-line out there.

Imagine my surprise / dismay / rage / betrayal today when I happened to look up one of my old articles and there, instead of my byline, was someone else’s. Apparently this other writer (who goes by the moniker “Brainiac” – really??) had “updated” the article this past May and now his or her byline is on MY article. I looked through the article, it’s still mine – I’m not even sure what the heck Brainiac changed. I’m sure in the piece of paper I signed I gave up the rights to my articles, but this is still wrong.

I felt as if I’d been stabbed in the heart by some thief’s pen. Yes, I’ve written a complaint to eHow. Their email address is support@ehow.zendesk.com. I’m not feeling very zen about this at all.

 

Ten Words or Less

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The LA Times featured a brief interview with theatre director Michael Matthews on September 21st. He’s the director of the current production at The Celebration Theatre, What’s Wrong with Angry?

This caught my eye:  he said in college, he and his classmates were given this exercise to do for every show they directed –

1. Describe in 10 words or less what happens in the play
2. In 10 words or less tell what the play is about
3. Then in 10 words or less tell what the play means to you

I thought these were great questions for writers, too.  Enjoy!

Timing…

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Sometimes I feel as if my timing is off.  I miss my freeways exits.  Miss my lunch.  Miss events.  Miss the post office.  Miss calling family in other time zones.  Then I sit down to write and all the goofy day-to-day stuff doesn’t matter anymore.  I fall right in sync with the world I am creating.  I find my rhythm and start my dance.  When I am done and must return back to the world where I’m a step off and slightly out of place, I’m a little less weary of the drill even though timing where my writing is concerned can be a decade off.  The hard part as a writer is coming to grips with the fact that what you wrote/write may be too early, too late, or worse, too different and it locks you out of the proverbial box.  And, you – as artist, as representative for your work – don’t fit in a box yourself so you can’t just sneak into the “box” without being noticed.  And, though you shy away from boxes, the box is where all the children must play per se…for now…

 

Box – part of playing area.  SPORTS in sports such as baseball and soccer, a marked-off part of the playing area used for a special purpose, or subject to special rules.

Sport – competitive physical activity.  An individual or group competitive activity involving physical exertion or skill, governed by rules, and sometimes engaged in professionally (often used in the plural).

Play – activity.  The free-ranging and varied activity of something, e.g. the imagination.  perform dramatic work by somebody.  To perform the work of a particular dramatist.

Free-range – not caged.  Free to move about and feed at will, and not confined in a battery or pen.

Pen – writing.  The written word considered as a means of expression.  confine somebody or something.  To keep somebody or something in a pen or other enclosed area.  female swan.  A female  swan.

Swan – SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day.  A new international holiday that celebrates women artists. It is an annual event taking place on the last Saturday of March (Women’s History Month) and the surrounding weeks.

Artist – creator of art.  Somebody who creates art…  skilled person. Somebody who does something skillfully and creatively.

 

What if – the box were bigger and included more sand so there would be room for more children to play? 

What if – the box was an archaeological site and all the children were allowed to pretend the sand was a cave and put their gifts just beneath the surface to be discovered and valued like scrolls found near the Dead Sea?   

What if – there were “perimeter free” cards that could be used to override “un-box-able’ children so they could play from the perimeters of the box even though they weren’t actually in the box? 

What if more swans were allowed to play?  Would the sand turn to water and would the water be a better channel for sharing?

What if – there was no box?  Would timing matter then…? Or, would all art being created equal be allowed…to be…?

 Just thinking…

Ask a Literary Manager 3

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I know Kappy Kilburn through the freelance directing crowd, but also love collaborating as part of the Steering Committee for the Directors Lab West. She offers interesting insight as a Literary Manager who is not a writer first. Great new perspective! Italicization mine.

CMJ: Where and when were you a Literary Manager? Can you please give an idea of the sorts of plays that immediately grab your attention, and how a submission package can accomplish that without bending the guidelines?  

KK: I was the Associate Director of Artistic Development at the Pasadena Playhouse 2004-2008.  I produced the new play development program Hothouse at the Playhouse and by default was the Literary Manager.  What grabs my attention in a good way is a proper submission that follows the submission guidelines.  I will prioritize a submission if there is something honest yet intriguing in the cover letter and brief synopsis.  If in those two, you hint that this is a play my particular theater may actually produce, I will get to it faster.  And by that, I mean you are not wasting my time with material that we would never thematically or structurally consider.  (IE: theatre A doesn’t do musicals – don’t submit a musical; theatre b only does gay themed work – keep that in mind; theatre c wont do graphic material – don’t submit something that pushes that envelope.)

CMJ: What are some immediate turn-offs in submissions?

KK: I am legendary for throwing away a submission unread if you can’t take a minute to find out whether I am a man or female.  If the submission comes to Mr. Kappy Kilburn, I won’t read it.  Don’t assume anything when you submit material.  And it is usually a good idea to double check who material should go to – is that person on the submission list you bought still on staff, have the submission policies changed?  You can always quickly check the theatre’s website.  I received two submissions at the Playhouse during DLW [Directors Lab West] this past June and I haven’t worked there in over two years.  Another turn off – braggadocio or arrogance in your cover letter.  I hate arrogance (which is different than confidence!)  I like a writer who is being honest but somewhat humble in their cover letter.  Don’t rave about your own materiel.  Feel free to talk about any awards and successes but if you keep telling me how great or funny the play is, you have probably set my expectations too high and it is doomed to not be liked.

CMJ: Does it matter to you if playwrights have a website, Facebook, Twitter presence? How much do you want to know about the playwright themselves if you’re interested in their work?

KK: Website and online presence is great for finding back up material to support a submission (for example – music tracks for a musical that I can go find if I am interested).  This is a much better place for bragging than in your cover letter.  If I have an interest in the submission, I can go to the website to see what else they have written, who else they have worked with, what other theatres are supporting/interested their work, etc.

CMJ: Are there any red flags to submissions, obvious or subtle?

KK: Again, the name – assumptions will catch you up every time.  Also, don’t assume you or your material are so great that I won’t mind you have bent my rules.  They are there for a reason.  I had hundreds of plays waiting to be read and not a lot of time to do it in.  Any excuse you give me not to read yours I will jump on and weed it out.  That includes length of submitted pages, clarity of synopsis, if I say no music or supporting materials that means don’t send me a cd or press clippings.  I feel guilty about throwing away stuff you spent money on and all that paper going to waste and that makes me mad and it won’t win you any points.  Remember, we often look for any excuse not to read something.

CMJ: You’ve worked on many new plays as a Director. Any advice you’d give to playwrights from the Director’s perspective? 

KK: This is a huge question but I will be brief.  Find a way to trust your director.  If you can’t, find a way to communicate that keeps the work progressing, is non-combative and works towards the mutual goal of the best production you can get.  But the best option is to trust your director (this is why it is important you have some say in who directs your shows and why so many directors get hired because the playwright went to bat for them) and communicate thoroughly.  They are your mouthpiece to the rest of the production team.  They will be helping communicate YOUR story to actors, designers, audiences, marketing and press staff, box office ticket sellers, etc.  Make sure you have communicated YOUR story they way you want it told to that director.  That is one of my favorite parts of directing new work – those conversations with the playwright where they guide me in discovering the heart of the material, we mine for gold, etc!

 

Kappy Kilburn recently served for four years as the Literary Manager and Associate Director of Artistic Development at Pasadena Playhouse where she created and produced their new play development program “Hothouse at the Playhouse.” Under her watch,
Hothouse launched several projects which have gone on to successful runs around the world including Sister Act the Musical (multiple Tony Nominations), Ray Charles Live! (opening on Broadway as Unchain My Heart), Looped (Broadway), Night is a Child (produced as well at Milwaukee Rep), Hollywood Arms (a tribute workshop with Carol Burnett to explore an adaptation into a musical), and Number of People (with Ed Asner.) Through Hothouse, she artistically and dramaturgically aided over 30 new plays and musicals.

Producer: Pal Joey revision workshop for Peter Schneider Productions; Stephen Sondheim’s 75th: The Concert at the Hollywood Bowl; NEA’s Shakespeare in Los Angeles kick at the Mark Taper Forum; All About Gordon Farewell Gala for Gordon Davidson. Kappy was the Special Projects Coordinator for Center Theatre Group’s Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson; the Company Manager for The World of Nick Adams celebrity staged reading benefiting Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camps at the Kodak Theatre; the Production Stage Manager for Relentless Theatre Company; Production Coordinator at George Mason University’s Institute of the Arts; and Assistant to the Managing Director at Theatrical
Outfit in Atlanta, Georgia.

Director: Servant of Two Masters (Chapman University), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Scarcity (Need Theatre – LA Times Critics Choice), Painting Churches (Group Rep), Psycho Beach Party (Chapman University), Safe (Circus Theatricals – LA Times Critics Choice), Isn’t It Rich – A Sondheim Celebration (Pasadena Playhouse), Shh! Art!, Work and Hindsight (Hothouse at the Playhouse), ABC’s Diversity Showcase, Three Hotels (Freemont Center Theatre),The Man Who Could See Through Time (Balcony Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse), Romancing Stereotypes (LATC), Fast and Furious at Sacred Fools, multiple AMDA Showcases, Burn This (Corner Playhouse), All My Sons for Directors Lab West. Assistant Director: Mark Taper Forum: Frank Galatti (Homebody/Kabul by Tony Kushner, also at BAM), Gordon Davidson (The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton), Lisa Petterson (Body of Bourne by John Belluso), Diane Rodriguez (The Lalo Project); Kirk Douglas Theatre: Scott Ellis (The Little Dog Laughed); Ahmanson: Sir Peter Hall (Romeo & Juliet), Lynne Meadow (Tale of the Allergists Wife and National Tour); Kansas City Rep’s Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure as Associate to David Ira Goldstein. She has worked with David Esbjornson on Broadway (Bobbi Boland) and Off Broadway (My Old Lady by Israel Horovitz).

She is a Founder and Co-Producer for Directors Lab West, a spin off of Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab in NY of which she is an alumna. Kappy is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, proud Kappa Kappa Gamma and Associate Member of SDC.