The play's the thing
Oct. 29th, 2025 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baroque_mongooseI'm a member of the local drama group. I specifically didn't join to act, because acting isn't really my thing. I originally joined to do costuming, but then the organiser found out I could write, so she had me pull the initial script into shape. She wanted to do Alice in Wonderland, so she found me three different possible scripts, I picked the one closest to the book, and then I cut it down to the twenty minutes she wanted, pulling in a few songs from the other scripts. When we first started, I thought "this is hopeless - hardly any of us can act"; but everyone was really enthusiastic and a good learner, so that by the time we got to the performance I thought "this is going to be really good". And it was. I was actually in that one after all, since we were short of a Lewis Carroll, who was the narrator; so I said that as long as I could just read my lines (which was easy enough to arrange, as he was supposed to be writing the story as it progressed), I'd do it. I also didn't have to move around the stage, so I could just sit there in my mobility scooter.
So then I was asked if I could write the next play, and I said, yes, not a problem, what would you like it to be about? They said pirates. Fine. I could do that. They said up to an hour, so I gave them an hour's worth of pirate shenanigans... and it had to be a full hour's worth because of all the various odd bits and pieces they wanted me to shoehorn in. They loved it, but they also got cold feet and decided they couldn't do an hour. Apparently longer plays are more difficult somehow. I had no idea that this was the case, and neither did our drama teacher at school, which was how we ended up putting on Twelfth Night in the sixth form; but apparently it is, so I had to cut it to forty minutes, which meant that most of the things that had been shoehorned in had to be taken out again, which was a little frustrating. I also had to make a pair of humungous nets for the set, basically because I can. I bought 2 kg of jute twine, to be reimbursed later by the drama group, and most of one of those kilogrammes is now a net; the other's about a quarter done, give or take.
Since I wrote this play specifically for the group, I had certain people in mind for most of the roles, with a few minor parts spare because we were expecting to get more people joining after Alice. But then they swapped around a bit, plus someone had to drop out due to study commitments, and after all the reshuffling we were left without someone to play one major and one medium role. We think we may have filled the major role now, but as things stand at the moment I'm not sure about the other one.
And then this morning I got an e-mail from the organiser. The group has got even colder feet. They're now saying they're not sure if they're going to be good enough to put on my play, and they're going to have a discussion about it tomorrow night (so I shall be sitting out; I have other things to do in any case, and I don't want to be a damper on proceedings). However, I have made it clear that my opinion is very much that they are fully capable, having seen just how much they improved over the course of Alice; and that it isn't a competence problem, it is a confidence problem. If they're not confident enough to do the play right now, the only solution is they're going to have to do other plays until they are, but they do not lack the ability. (I have also asked if someone could possibly pick up the completed net, which I'd been going to bring tomorrow night. It takes up a lot of space, and most people have more of that than I do.)
All I can say about that is... watch this space, me hearties!
So then I was asked if I could write the next play, and I said, yes, not a problem, what would you like it to be about? They said pirates. Fine. I could do that. They said up to an hour, so I gave them an hour's worth of pirate shenanigans... and it had to be a full hour's worth because of all the various odd bits and pieces they wanted me to shoehorn in. They loved it, but they also got cold feet and decided they couldn't do an hour. Apparently longer plays are more difficult somehow. I had no idea that this was the case, and neither did our drama teacher at school, which was how we ended up putting on Twelfth Night in the sixth form; but apparently it is, so I had to cut it to forty minutes, which meant that most of the things that had been shoehorned in had to be taken out again, which was a little frustrating. I also had to make a pair of humungous nets for the set, basically because I can. I bought 2 kg of jute twine, to be reimbursed later by the drama group, and most of one of those kilogrammes is now a net; the other's about a quarter done, give or take.
Since I wrote this play specifically for the group, I had certain people in mind for most of the roles, with a few minor parts spare because we were expecting to get more people joining after Alice. But then they swapped around a bit, plus someone had to drop out due to study commitments, and after all the reshuffling we were left without someone to play one major and one medium role. We think we may have filled the major role now, but as things stand at the moment I'm not sure about the other one.
And then this morning I got an e-mail from the organiser. The group has got even colder feet. They're now saying they're not sure if they're going to be good enough to put on my play, and they're going to have a discussion about it tomorrow night (so I shall be sitting out; I have other things to do in any case, and I don't want to be a damper on proceedings). However, I have made it clear that my opinion is very much that they are fully capable, having seen just how much they improved over the course of Alice; and that it isn't a competence problem, it is a confidence problem. If they're not confident enough to do the play right now, the only solution is they're going to have to do other plays until they are, but they do not lack the ability. (I have also asked if someone could possibly pick up the completed net, which I'd been going to bring tomorrow night. It takes up a lot of space, and most people have more of that than I do.)
All I can say about that is... watch this space, me hearties!
