Mom. Playwright.

A funny thing happened on the way to doing research for a play idea I had. I was serendipitously granted an interview for and offered a full-time position I couldn’t refuse. Know what’s wonderful about it? I’m still writing, it’s an extremely family-friendly office (wow! they DO really exist!) and I’ll be earning more disposal income that I can pour back into supporting theatre by seeing more plays!

So I’ve been making the transition to now working-out-of-the-home Mom. Playwright. Thanks to author and fellow Mom Playwright Amy Hillgren Peterson for turning me on to Who Does She Think She Is? News of this documentary on defying-the-odds, working women artists with families has come at a perfect time. I want to believe that I still, with this newly added dimension to my life, can and will write. I have no choice. It’s just in me. I’m sure it’s in you too. That’s why you’re here, right?

The dust is settling and balance is emerging. Blog posts will resume. Thanks for your continued support. Now, I’ve got to sign off, if I don’t want to be late for work!

One thing already taken off my list, my American friends: Voting. If it’s still one of your to-do’s just do it–and be a part of history!

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If you’ve been following this blog for a little while, you know I’ve been participating in a playwriting workshop over this past month. In the midst of what turned out to be unexpected and extreme circumstances with my husband being called to NY (we’ll be reunited this Saturday–yea!), I managed to learn much about myself as a mom and a writer through the creation of my 10-minute play, Emancipation Evacuation, that had a public reading this past Sunday evening. I’m still flying high over the positive reception it received, and I’m forever grateful to fab actors Jo Howarth, Megan Hayes and Theroun Patterson (find them on Facebook!) for giving voice to my words. What a gut-wrenching, educational process!

Having just come through this workshop experience, I was more than interested in the From the Desk of … column from Gary Garrison in the Sept/Oct 2008 education issue of The Dramatist. As mom playwrights, we don’t often have the luxury of time to take writing classes or participate in workshops. So if and when we make the decision to do so, it’s important that we choose wisely among the myriad of offerings out there for maximum return. I would invite you to get a copy of the journal to read completely the checklist advice Mr. Garrison offers, but here are the fundamental questions he suggests you get the answers to as the basis of your litmus test:

What is the real “what/why” of your studying?

Who is teaching?

How many students are in each class?

What is the tone of the workshop and how is it taught?

And, once you’re enrolled, is the class working for you?

Seemingly simple questions, but the depth comes in the subquestions they birth, and what you decide to do with the subsequent answers.

I’m now post-evaluating the workshop I just completed with Mr. Garrison’s questions. The answers are giving me valuable feedback to share with the facilitators. I believe it will be appreciated. I just love the serendipity of full circle moments.

Thanks, Gary!  And “Happy Getting Educated” to you, mom playwright!

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Amy Wilson. Photo Credit: Sue Barr

“The response has been remarkable. I thought I was the only one who ran myself ragged and still had a house that looked like the town dump. I thought I was the only one with a voice in my head saying ‘Don’t be happy! Worry!’ But the audiences who have seen this show — women and men, parents, and not, perfectionists all — said they were a lot like me: racked with guilt over all the things we won’t, in a million years, have time to do anything about, except feel bad.” –Amy Wilson

I’ve been a little under the gun lately at home. My husband has been in New York since… what seems like a long time now. So I’ve been consumed with double-duty parenting (my hat’s off to single moms), trying to find a gas station that still has gas to keep my car running and oh, did I mention the show I have to go review tonight, my 10-minute play reading this weekend and my daughter likely coming down with something as she now lies drowsily draped over my shoulder?

Talking with Hubby yesterday, he asked, “Hey, are you blogging? I haven’t seen any entries from you lately…” All I could do was laugh.

So here you are, Love. Enter this brief post mentioning actress and mom playwright Amy Wilson’s play, Mother Load, about the so-crazy-it’s-comedic realm of competitive parenting.

Thank you for the blogging nudge. As a result of my day’s research, I see a road trip to North Carolina in our future. Mother Load will be running in Charlotte September 30-October 26. For the rest of you, details, additional cities and dates can be found here, and you can share with the group and unload your “Mother Load” story here.

“I can’t wait to meet audiences all over this country and spread the message: lose the Mother Load, and remember how to enjoy your kids.”

I can’t wait either, Amy. Thanks for the reminder, and see you soon.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just caught snot that flew out of my daughter’s nose mid-sneeze. I think I should go tend to that.  It was a good catch, though,  if I do say so myself. Her pitiful smile indicates that she too was impressed.

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Busy, busy, busy. Running, running, running. Writing, writing, writing.

This past weekend, en route to the Alliance Theatre to see and review Gem of the Ocean, I talked with my friend Theresa about how quickly it seems 2008 has flown by. We agreed how much we’d love to find the time for a brief Mommy respite–a chance to inhale and exhale before being steamrolled into the it’ll-be-here-before-we-know-it holiday season.

I’m still in that mode of thinking, which may be why I was led to discover this online piece written by Sue Frause for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog about Hedgebrook.

Hedgebrook is a 48-acre writers’ retreat for women nestled on Whidbey Island, found thirty-five miles northwest of Seattle, Washington, facing Puget Sound. For the last 20 years, women writers the world over of diverse ages, ethnicities, levels of experience and genre interests have spent time at Hedgebrook to relax, relate and release their writing out into the world–or at the very least onto the page.

I devoured the information on their website, and learned that among other activities and programs, they’ve held an annual Women Playwrights Festival. Hmm…

See the details for yourself. If you dream of even just 2 weeks away from your life as you know it, why not complete an application to be competitively considered for a residency at Hedgebrook in 2009. Mark your calendar–the postmark deadline is September 25, 2008.

And even if travel to Hedgebrook isn’t in the cards for you right now, you can see about sampling where their custom Yakima Valley red wine, Hedgebrook Cedar Deep, can take you. Produced by Whidbey Island Vineyards and Winery, a glass of this vino and a bubble bath may be all that’s needed to induce, “Ahhh….”. Sue says the label on the bottle reads it’s a place “where a writer can go to be still, draw from the creative force of nature and let her thoughts loosen and take flight.”

Cheers, Hedgebrook!

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Like many Americans, I have been seeking information and reactions about the Republican party pick for U.S. Vice President, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. As a matter of fact, it has scarily become a little obsessive.

So while I try to extract myself from the fray, check out these non-partisan details about the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, a gathering of playwrights, actors, directors and theatre enthusiasts from the world over that takes places annually in Palin’s fair state–specifically in the city of Valdez. The 17th Annual Conference is scheduled for June 13-20, 2009.

By all accounts, the Conference’s approval rating among past attendees is high, what with all its fabled master classes, panel discussions, evening shows and post-show receptions.

Like the fate of Palin’s VP quest, how the Last Frontier Theatre Conference 2009 will shake out remains to be seen, as the conference schedule is still in the planning stages. Hence registration links aren’t yet live, nor are the Play Lab selections and featured artists yet named.

But the LFTC website suggests that playwrights get on Gary Garrison’s mailing list to stay in The Loop. I did some months ago, and unlike what’s playing out in this U.S. presidential election year, the decision that it was a good choice is uncontested.

Have any of you readers been to the Last Frontier Theatre Conference? Does it get your vote? Leave a comment below.

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Well, actually, they’re giving all playwrights the following opportunity, but I can image how classic some entries would be with a mom playwright’s perspective. What do you think? Do you want to accept the writing challenge of the September 1st deadline?

RIVERSIDE THEATRE ANNOUNCES SEPTEMBER 1ST DEADLINE FOR MONOLOGUE SUBMISSIONS TO WALKING THE WIRE: MONOLOGUES AT RIVERSIDE

Iowa City, IA – Riverside Theatre invites playwrights to submit monologues for performance in Walking the Wire: Monologues at Riverside. This Tenth Anniversary celebration of original work features monologues of ten minutes or less by both established and up-and-coming playwrights. The focus for this season’s monologues is: FOOD. Submissions must be postmarked September 1, 2008 or emailed as a Word document and dated by midnight September 1; final selections will be announced no later than October 31. The
monologues will be performed March 5-8, 2009 at Riverside Theatre.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Riverside Theatre is seeking original monologues surrounding one of our favorite obsessions . . . food! The quiche the dog ate? A holiday cooking fiasco? If you love Mama, you’ll eat another piece of pie? Why, there’s more possibilities than a 50-foot salad bar!

2. Up to two submissions per author of original, unpublished and unproduced monologues (may be dramatic character or personal memoir) less than ten minutes length (please read it aloud to be certain and include the approximate performance time on the first page of your submission; all lengths of up to ten minutes will be considered, with the objective of choosing monologues of varying lengths). The copy must be easy to read: double spaced in a minimum 12 pt. font, and should include the playwright’s name, mailing address, email address, and phone number.

3. Simple is best. Since “Walking the Wire” typically includes a large number of monologues, it is important that each one require as little production as possible; set-pieces, props, or effects needing set-up, strike, or special technical support may disqualify an otherwise excellent submission.

4. The POSTMARK deadline for submissions is September 1, 2008. Email submissions (Word document attachment) must be dated by midnight September 1. Final selections will be made by October 31, 2009, and posted on Riverside Theatre’s website, www.riversidetheatre.org.

5. Writers will be credited in all marketing and playbill materials; no royalties will be paid for performance. Monologues will be individually rehearsed and coached by the director until the week of the performance when the entire company will rehearse at Riverside Theatre. Area playwrights may perform their own work if available for rehearsal, or may include the name of an actor interested in performing the monologue, although neither is required. Walking the Wire will be produced March 5-8, 2009.

6. Submissions should be mailed to:

Riverside Theatre
Jody Hovland, Artistic Director
Walking the Wire submission
213 N. Gilbert Street
Iowa City, IA 52245

For guideline questions, please contact Jody Hovland, artistic@riversidetheatre.org.

Jody is also a mom, who knows a little something about balancing theatre and family. Read her and her husband’s story here.

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Listening to NPR’s Morning Edition while driving my son to school today, I was chilled by this report from Lourdes Garcia-Navarro on the work of the Iraqi Center for Children’s Culture in Baghdad. Following is an excerpt of the words that grabbed me, though I challenge you to actually click and listen to all that I heard here:

Back at the rehearsal, the play is ending. After the scene of the car bombing, a young girl comes on stage and draws a question mark.

Rusol Nawfal, 11, says her role is a simple one.

“I draw that [question mark] in order to ask why — why are my friends getting killed?” Nawfal says matter-of-factly. “This is a play, but it’s also reality because there are children playing on the streets and car bombs do kill them. We have not enjoyed our childhood. We stay at home and watch cartoons, if we have electricity. If we don’t have electricity, we either sleep or sit around the house.

She starts to cry and walks away. A teacher says her father has just been killed.

The rehearsal starts again, and Nawfal walks back on stage. The play poses the question, but gives the children no answers.

Regrettably, I don’t have the answers either. But I am reminded that art matters. Theatre matters. And the work of a playwright can serve as a salve for the writer, the actor(s), the audience and, dare I believe, a society.

I urge you to listen this report. Hug a child, be it your own or one close to you, and hold a high thought for what Michelle Obama passionately proposed last night during her Democratic National Convention keynote speech, “The world as it should be.”

Given our gifts and talents, what can we do to make it so?

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Friday?! Whew! Where does the week go?

This past Wednesday evening, I attended a private reading of Mountain Greenery by prolific playwright and fellow WTP affiliate Evan Guilford-Blake. It was a comic look at corporate America and self-discovery and made for a good evening of playwriting/theatre exchange. Watch for it…

When I got home, Hubby wanted to know all about the reading. As I shared, I got to thinking about how much easier it would have been had he joined me, as I prefer exchange to exposition.

But alas, this time around he was home with the children, so that I could have the benefit of going out and enjoying and learning from the evening. Go it solo, or go-it-together-and-do-the-sitter-scramble: this is the decision we make with every performance I look to attend.

And with my recent selection as an Alliance Reviewer for the 2008-2009 season, we’ve already pretty much exhausted our sitter resources (I’m delighted, though–don’t get me wrong).

With this in mind, I offer my kudos to Nightwood Theatre and American Repertory Theatre for implementing an idea whose time has come: offering babysitting services to patrons.

Now granted, I’m sure the market isn’t a giant one, but I’ll bet it’s one that will prove worth tapping.

Nightwood will be launching its onsite babysitting program this season, with select matinee shows. It offers the service free to donors and those with season passes. American Repertory also positions babysitting as a subscriber perk for its select Saturday matinee performances, at $10 per child per show.

If one of the theatres already on my “I Like Their Work” List offered babysitting as a benefit of their season subscription program, the scales would very likely tip in their favor to receive my membership dollars. It is my sincerest hope that this idea will catch on like wildfire. As it’s said, “The family that family that plays together stays together.”

Do you know of any other theatres, American or otherwise, that offer a childcare perk? Would you be enticed to become a season subscriber with this benefit?

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Hello Mom Playwright friends. Here’s an opportunity that was shared with me, and I am happy to pass the word along to you:

The International Centre for Women Playwrights is looking for volunteer readers for an anthology of monologues on the Mother/ Daughter experience.

Each reader is requested to view at least 12 monologues and rate them on the following criteria:

* Cleanliness/Presentation of the Monologue (no typos, missing words, etc) (1-5)

* Relative Completeness of the Monologue (does it feel like a whole and complete theatrical unit?) (1-5)

* Adherence to the theme of Mother/Daughter Experience (1-5)

* Reflection of overall ICWP Mission available at http:// www.netspace.org/~icwp/about.html (1-5)

(possible score of 20 * 5 = % out of 100)

Additional dramaturgical comments on the material for the editors are welcome, but not required. All playwrights will be given the opportunity to review comments and revise the work prior to publication.

The monologues and the review process will be entirely online. A private, free Google account will be required. Some training and support will be provided. You cannot be a reader if you have submitted a monologue to the project: both ICWP members and non-members are encouraged to review. All proceeds of the publication will benefit ICWP. Reviewers will be thanked by name in the manuscript and on the ICWP website unless they wish to remain anonymous.

The review period will end on or around September 15, 2008.

If you are interested, please email icwpmotherdaughter@gmail.com with your name, city, and country ASAP.

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(AP Photo)

“Children see things very well sometimes – and idealists even better.”

I’ve spent this week seeing those who’ve been hidden in plain view. Their stories will appear in my writing. More to come…

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