Tips from Kurt Vonnegut

Eight rules for writing fiction (http://www.troubling.info/vonnegut.html):

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

-- Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 1999), 9-10.

back to reality...

so i workshopped BLANK CANVAS/LEAVING MY <3 IN SF and it didn't go over very well. and to be truthful, the play wasn't my best, WHICH SUCKS!!! cuz I know that i write better than this. I know it and I'm really disappointed in myself more than any ribbing I can take from anyone else. I really can't make excuses, well I can, but that excuse will be remedied very soon... like in 2 weeks :)

but yeah, play sucked, but you know what, it just made me stronger. and it was a real reality check for me cuz after going from a high with the reading I had in Sac in front of an audience to what happened today... it just makes me want to write more than I ever did before. just a little setback. but one thing's for sure, i'm gonna burn this play and start another one... and another one... and just keep trying to get better and better. i've ALWAYS been a slow starter.

Still focused on death

My subconscious is still focused on death and I don't know why! I thought I got over this by first writing GARDEN OF DREAMS and ROOM 812, and the newest short play I finished last night BLANK CANVAS circles around death once again. I've discovered that my writing style is to just write, much like PGK, after trying the outline view. However, I DO have in the back of my mind a structure, I still free flow and have the characters speak through my pen... and I keep coming back to someone crying because of someones death. I need therapy. It's been two years since the passing of my dad and one of my best friends and this still keeps coming back, like some really deeply rooted theme that needs to come out, which it does in my writings.

OKAY. Now that I've gotten this out of my way, hopefully, I'll consciously move on to something more lighthearted. Meaning that I have to read some Durang to get me in that mode of thinking!

more ideas

2) The Greeter... about a person who's job is it to greet hundreds of people everyday, but sinks more and more into a hole of depression from lonliness.
3) Rent-a-wife: a story about a person who posts an ad about being a part-time-wife/escort/made. based on a real posting i found on craigslist.

10x10 Exercise

Here's the exercise: on a piece of paper grid out 10 boxes by 10 boxes. by doing so, you'll have 100 little squares just big enough to put 1 word in each. using the following instructions, put a word randomly into any of the 100 boxes. At the end, you'll come up with some really funky 100-word prose/spoken word/word art that might or might not make any sense, but it's cool creative prompt to get ya goin'!

1) someone you love
2) place where you grew up
3) name of a body of water
4) a body part you don't like
5) 5 verbs
6) 5 adverbs
7) 5 nouns

This is what I came up with today :)

Chair underneath the immovable earth hurridly spinning while dizziness runs numbing wildly brown hat from where Marina meets the blue ocean. I laugh in peace even though life's lamp is tossed in the pacific bay where cooking and cleaning inhabits the Raine of my mind's resting place. I journey into the center of my soul gracefully stepping around my quietly everchanging mind - shoot the scene. I walk down the block of blood fearlessly spitting in the eye of a speeding car careening into undeniable murder by running over tummy after eyes over hearts where my life's book ends.

===

wtf was that? there were some incredible examples read during the workshop, but i learned that this really didn't make sense mostly because my mind was really random today. *sigh*

Things I LOVE in stories

I was flipping through the channels this morning and saw david duchovny in a movie. i was admiring how natural, in his "look at me. i don't look like i'm acting, doesn't it?" kinda way. and wished that's what i like to see, the acting part - very human that doesn't look like they even care to be in a movie/stage cuz they're just THERE. i guess that's why i love watching one of my best friends on stage acting. i first noticed it when he auditioned for a role with a theater company in sacramento, and when he read, this was cold reading, it just came out naturally for him. like a character, who's a real person, stumbled onto that stage and became, not became, but is that person/character. i'm doing such a lousy job of explaining this... but that's what i look for in actors, can this actor transcend the stage into being a person i can relate to. and i think that this can only be seen in the minute details, especially on screen. the details of an actors action is what makes a character human. and that's what i look for in a writing a good character which in turn translates to a story i'd love to watch, and write, and hopefully an audience will love as well.

so after this long introduction on david duchovny's acting style, this is my list of things I love in Drama (and that's the general term for anything that's on stage or screen since i've stopped discrimating against that medium - i've grown.) this is an ongoing list, but hopefully when i'm stuck on saying, "this scene just doesn't float my boat," I can refer to this list and say, cool. this is what i love to see and this is the stories I want to write. WRITE!

- i LOVE characters that are 3-dimensional, in other words, human. if they are evil, what about them not only makes them evil, but about them reveals that there is some humanity left? compassion... or humor... but of course they are evil because of the dramatic action that drives them to their evil doing ways. and of course, this includes "good" characters too. if they were too cutesy-tootsey then they would make me throw up. their flaws greatly interest me, and maybe these said flaws would best be done with action instead of words!

- family and home. i love stories having to do with families. maybe it's because, not in spite of, i'm filipino. and i'm speaking of the family in the, i wouldn't say in the broad sense, but in the close sense of what a family is. in my case, i have a really small family - me, mom, and sister. but in a bigger role, i TRULY consider my best friends my brothers and sisters - not by birth, but meaning, i would do ANYTHING for any of them. it's that sense of belonging. that "i'm not alone, nor will i ever be again" family feeling that i want to bring out in my plays.

- sharp and quick hitting humorous wit. durang and sorkin are currently my favorites. a nod would go to simon, but i'd need to read more recent stuff of his work. but with durang, i'm absolutely ROFL! another great comedian that comes to mind is Craig Furgeson. Recently on a blog by BAMBOO NATION, Prince wrote a post about this guy, and there's a clip on it as well. i remember hearing about it on ET when Britney shaved her head and all the hosts of late night tv were bagging on her, but Craig said he wouldn't do that. i can't put into words, as well as Prince does, but this monologue had me uncontrollably cracking up one second and at the next beat, made me care about this person. i admire him for not this monologue... but for this wonderful work of art in weaving his personal demons, suicide attempt, urine (not sure if it's indeed his), and Britney Spears. genius for the construction of this piece, and also human because of the content.

The Good Old Days

This story is about two elderly Pilipinos working as security guards at the Asian American museum at the opening night at the Great Filipino Artists exhibition. As they reminisce about life back home, a woman in one of the paintings brings these memories to life.

Trust Me...

Based on my SHORT play, "Burgundy, Cerise, and an Apple" which was posted on this blog last year.

Writer's Block

I'm standing on the corner of lazy and another episode of Heroes which intersects with Dancing with the Stars and I'm wondering why can't I write!? Sucks to be feeling like I'm in a catatonic state of mind on the Writer's Block. Just means that's it's time for me to head out to my special place where it's crowded, yet not within a 4 foot distance - the Marketplace in Emeryville. It's a "food court" if you will, without the mall. It's attached to a HUGE Borders Books, but there are hecka tables, and the last time I was there I think I re-wrote part of GARDEN OF DREAMS. Nonetheless, it was productive. But yeah, it hecka sucks to be stranded out here!

Luckily another cure for this incipid writing disease I have is called a DEADLINE. Either the 20th or November 3rd is it. After I have my outline done today, I'll make a decision on when it'll be done. Okey-dokes, off to my day job!

Raiders of the Lost Anting-Anting

This story is about... a gambler/alcoholic tour guide of the Bayou who is hired by a wealthy business person with corrupt morals to find a faith healer in the Louisiana swamplands who holds the key to immortality.

This is one of the stories I'm thinking about for Stories High. I really see this as again an exercise for what is part of the backdrop for my next full-length on Fermin Tobera. We'll see where this leads.

This story is about...

So, i'm starting a string of posts for ideas that I have for plays, short and full-length, because I don't want these nuggets to go to waste and forgotten. To make sure that these plays will get written, I'll start each post with "This story is about..." This is a lesson I learned from Philip Kan Gotanda. When he'd grill us in the class/workshop, he'd ask us this. These four words brought initial fear in all of us because it truly is a struggle to concisely break down a whole concept for a play into one sentence. However, this statement lays the foundation of the play. This short sentence begins the elevator pitch!

(elevator ding. an artistic director for a theater company gets into the elevator with you.)

ME
Hi. I'm Conrad Panganiban and I've written a play I know you'd want to produce.

AD
Really... what it's about? You have 3 floors.

ME
The story is about...

Pamilyas

This story is about... how a struggling community is brought together after a woman refuses to sell her family's restaurant to a vindictive businessman who happens to be her ex-fiance.

I've actually finished the outline with character names, for this musical, but I got stuck on a scene... and a few months, about 6, i still haven't returned to it. When I dig it out, I'll edit this post to at least have it down with hopes of sparking new ideas.

Congratulations! You Killed Your Son!

This story is about... a game show with parents competing against other parents to see who can make their child feel the most guilty. The winner is determined by who's child commits suicide first.

Of course this is a satire, but it's based on my truth. Dark, di ba? I've held off on writing this because of the content, but it's been biting at me for so long, BEGGING to be written. If anything, the script will be posted on here!

King Lear - Script Review

Going back to the classics, I decided to read KING LEAR by William Shakespeare. I initially decided to read this because this play was mentioned in another book I'm reading called Reverse & Forwards...or is it the other way around? At any rate, the book was an analysis of how to break down a script. Even though the main focus of the book was on Hamlet, I've already read that and this play was mentioned just as much as Hamlet. Oh... I also use the No Fear Shakespeare Editions of his plays because I want to focus on the plot, characters and structure instead of taking the time to translate the language, albeit beautiful, of their times.

SYNOPSIS
Lear is an aging King who wants to retire by abdicating to his three daughters. However, in an act of petty ego stroking, he asks them who among them loves him most. While two daughters eagerly toady to him, his one loving daughter, Cordelia, refuses play along with this foolish charade. In a rage, Lear exiles her along with his one loyal aide who dares to stick up for her. This foolish move works to Lear's sorrow as his two remaining daughters cruelly and gradually strip him of his status and possessions until he is rendered an insane hermit attended only by his fool. All the while, the illegitimate son of another lord is plotting his own ambitions while contributing to this tragic tale of ego and familial cruelty. {kchishol@home.com} Written by Kenneth Chisholm for the tv version of the play for imdb.com.

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
- I LOVE how he sets up the wickedness/virtues of each of his characters. Very "classical". Without any BS, I know who the bad people are and who the good people are.
- He doesn't dumb down too much, meaning that if someone dies, and like everyone dies in this play, he'll allude to it. For instance, Edmund gives a note to a soldier who leads Cordelia and King Lear to a prison with a note. But being that Edmund is such a dirty scoundrel, you know that it's not good news for either the King or his daughter. We don't know of their fate until Edmund is about to die and is heightened when the King carries his daughter's body into the next scene.
- There has to be a way for me to incorporate soliloquies in my plays to further have a voice for the antagonists dirty thoughts leading into deeds.
- What I like about Shakespeare is that he uses really CLASSICAL themes. Good vs. Evil. Justice. Being blind to what is good and wanting flattery and glitz instead. He really tapped into Human Nature, both good and evil.

The Odd Couple - Script Review

Another script finished. The ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon. This was originally produced on stage in 1965, but the story is still applicable to today's culture.

SYNOPSIS
A divorced slob invites a group of the boys over for cards, one of the guests, who happens to be very meticulous and tense, has just been separated from his wife. The slob and the neat-freak decide to share one apartment; but patterns of their own disastrous marriages begin to reappear with hilarious results.Credit to the description page of the play at - stageagent.com.

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
- Neil Simon's timing is incredible and I guess that's what makes great comedy.
- There's a lot of play on words in this play that makes things funny. Grrr.. If I had the script (i had to return it to the library) I'd quote some great lines.
- Unlike the other plays I've read so far, this was very... down to earth. The dialogue just flowed as if it was made for TV. Very natural and at first I thought I was watching the TV Show, but towards the end, it had a deep message and understanding.

Unfortunately, I didn't see too much of an arc with Felix's character. Plus, at the beginning of the play, they kept mentioning Murray's a Cop, but nothing really followed up with him being a cop. Like, because they played it up so much, there should've been something more significant, like a murder or a theft, that used this follow of him being a cop. The other characters seemed a little thin as well.

Scene Stream - Exercise

One of my goals for having this blog is to keep record of the exercises I do in order to become a better writer. So this is an intro of what I'm calling, a Scene Stream. It's basically writing a scene, that's timed, out of thin air without thought or any preconceived notion of where the play/situation/characters will take me. Of course, for a real play, knowing me, I NEED to have an ending for me to plot out where I'm going and how I'm getting there.

This is an exercise that we learned in class 2 weeks ago. 2 characters are in a situation and I have to write a script based on their conversation. To begin, I'll need character names which are RANDOMLY picked from my iTunes library and base the character's names from the artists I select. After the character names are set, I'll find a situation/event/dialogue snippet to place them taken RANDOMLY from the book, The Writer's Book of Matches). After getting the names and the event, it's fair game from there!

But there are objectives that I must try to achieve:
1) each character MUST have their own voice
2) there is dramatic action (drive towards one's goal) constantly happening with EVERY character ALL the time
3) each scene and/or beat must:
    - move the story forward
    - reveal something about the character
    - infer action
4) keep writing CONTINUOUSLY for the allotted amount of time.
5) after I'm done writing, give the piece a KICK-ASS unique title!

Oh, yeah... i'm not expecting these scenes to be any good at first! As I said, this is an exercise to get me writing. What sucks is that I don't get into a groove with the story until the last couple of lines when I realize just where the hell is this story going? But in a way that's the fun of all this!

My Destination Ends at You

My Destination Ends at You
a Scene Stream exercise

Character 1: Brian (Littrell - Jesus Loves You)
Character 2: Nelly (Furtado - Say It Right)

Situation:
While driving to work one morning, (Brian) decides to pass the office and keep on driving.

Time: 20 minutes (start: 11:34pm)

NELLY
Brian, what are you doing? You just missed the exit.

BRIAN doesn't say anything.

NELLY
You know that I have a meeting at 9:30 with the marketing person from Tokyo. I can't miss it.

BRIAN
You'll talk to him next time.

NELLY
You crazy? I've been prepping for this presentation for a month now. I even learned some Japanese.

BRIAN
Like what?

NELLY
Like, "I need this job!"

BRIAN
That doesn't sound like Japanese to me.

NELLY
That's because my Learn to Speak Japanese in 1 month book is on my desk where I need to go but you just missed the exit.

BRIAN
Let's just take this time off.

NELLY
What's wrong, Brian? This isn't like you.

BRIAN
But this is me.

NELLY
No, the Brian I know gets freaked out when he's 5 minutes late for anything.

BRIAN
Didn't you ever have one of those days when you just wanted to explore life and everything around it. You know not just the everyday stuff?

NELLY
Sure, who doesn't?

BRIAN
I don't. Every morning I get up at 5:30am. Put on a pot of coffee. Put on the Jogging shoes. Head out the door. Run until 6:30am. Take a shower. And get the clothes from the hanger that I selected the night before, get dressed. Read the paper with my coffee and jump in here and be at work by 8:45am. Every day.

NELLY
For the last 5 years. Every day.

BRIAN
Exactly.

NELLY
So, what's the change? What's different today than those other days in the last 5 years?

BRIAN
Kevin Sparber.

NELLY
Did this Kevin Sparber tell you to drive passed your work?

BRIAN
He couldn't have. He's dead.

NELLY
So if he's dead, what does he have to do with me missing my Japanese appointment?

BRIAN
Kevin and I went to school together. High school. He was a good guy but I never saw him really achieving much. He was always happy, but the thing I didn't ever connect with him on was that he never achieved. He was a slacker. I haven't seen or heard of him since we graduated from High School... like all high school kids did, we lost contact. We're from a small town, and all I ever wanted to do was move to the big city and make it big. Have the best car. The best Job. Respect. Power. Yeah, that's all I ever wanted... until this morning, in between sips of my Sumatra Blend, I read KEVIN SPARBER from Marina, CA leaves behind a wife and 2 kids ages 9 and 4. He's my age... and I came to think to myself. I don't have anything that I can leave behind. How sad is that? I clawed myself up the school and corporate ladder to travel the world and have this success and now not to have anyone to share it with is... sad.

NELLY
Uh... geez thanks. I thought I was something you'd... fine.

BRIAN
That's not what I meant. I meant that.

NELLY
Why are you stopping? It's the middle of the freeway.

BRIAN
That's why I wanted to drive passed the lives of us trapped in a building. Why we're here on 101 in the middle of the freeway during rush hour. Look, everyone's constantly moving with a destination in mind, when my destination is sitting right next to me. I want to end the crazy pursuit of what I thought was life. I want to have something to leave behind. I want you. Will you marry me?


DONE! time 11:57pm

I totally forgot the other objective to this exercise and that's to have the other person, NELLY, have a totally DIFFERENT voice!!! she has to sound different and I guess my character of BRIAN got too monologue heavy. Eh, it's an exercise, and I'll learn to get better with each one of these I do. Hmmm... now I gotta come up with a title....

Remembering Fermin Tobera

I started doing research about the 1930 Watsonville riot that claimed the life of Fermin Tobera. A play is in there somewhere. The weird coinikidinky in this research is that the riot started at The Filipino Club in Palm Beach which is 7 miles SW of Watsonville, so that would make it near Moss Landing. Anyways the club was owned by William and Charles Locke-Paddon. William Locke-Paddon bought the land called, Marina - My hometown! I can't believe all this Filipino-American history was only 18 miles from my home. here's where I started my research: Remembering the Watsonville Riots from a website called, ModelMinority.com.

The story is about two brothers: Venancio, aka Ben, and Fermin Tobera. Fermin is an idealist who believes in labor workers' rights. Ben just wants to have fun and is always trying to get the girl and having fun. One night when Ben gets in trouble, they come to their house at night where one of the girls' that Ben's has been messing with, anyways her brother shoots up the house killing Fermin. This play is based on the 1930 Watsonville Riots.

Garden Of Dreams

The cast of GARDEN OF DREAMS
Well it's over... for now. On Sunday, I had the first public reading of my play, GARDEN OF DREAMS. I was nervous as fuck, but i got through it okay.

LESSONS LEARNED
- LISTEN TO YOUR ACTORS - A concern was brought to attention by one of the actors. He was having some trouble getting out some of the lines because they read melodramatic. Unfortunately, being the writer with blinders on, I couldn't see it myself. He was absolutely RIGHT. What he calls 'melodramatic' I call 'barf dialogue'. You know when watch something campy, and we see someone saying something utterly romantic or over-the-top that it makes you want to throw up in your mouth. Well, that's what I had in my script by that character.
- OFFENSIVE ACCENT - An audience member came up to me telling me that 1) he liked the whistling device I used and 2) he found it offensive for someone to fake an Filipino accent. I told him that I appreciated his honesty. I'm not going to take that part out! but I will add on to Lisa's character as a reaction to the use of this accent. It's my hope that this is a powerful action by her as to how using this accent can be offensive to people. It was in the play for a reason, and I'm glad someone caught it, but lemme flip it on its ear to teach a lil sumn-sumn.
- DON'T BUTTER UP MY ACTORS - I did this. I'm not taking it back because whether they know it or not, they helped make one of my dreams come true. But moving forward, I'll try and refrain from doing this publicly, but to let them know of this in a more private manner will work just as effectively.

Luckily, I have the reading on videotape which I'll try to review tonight and come up with more notes to post here.

Six Degrees of Separation - Play Review

So I watched SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION tonight at the SF Playhouse and I really liked it. It's so weird now to watch a show from the playwright's POV. Being from the "actors" world before in another life, I would always watch the performances and analyze how they do what - but now, I'm so focused on ALL the elements that I've studied so far and see how this play, or any play I watch, adhere or break from those rules. SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION blew me away, except that I could've done without the naked guy with his thingy flopping around...

SYNOPSIS
Inspired by a true story, the play follows the trail of a young black con man, Paul, who insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy New York couple, Ouisa and Flan Kittredge, claiming he knows their son at college. Paul tells them he is the son of actor Sidney Poitier, and that he has just been mugged and all his money is gone. Captivated by Paul's intelligence and his fascinating conversation (and the possibility of appearing in a new Sidney Poitier movie), the Kittredges invite him to stay overnight. But in the morning they discover him in bed with a young male hustler from the streets, and the picture begins to change. After kicking him out, Ouisa and Flan discover that friends of theirs have had a similar run-in with the brash con artist. Intrigued, they turn detective and piece together the connections that gave Paul access to their lives. Meanwhile, Paul's cons unexpectedly lead him into darker territory and his lies begin to catch up with him. As the final events of the play unfold Ouisa suddenly finds herself caring for Paul, feeling that he gave them far more than he took and that her once idyllic life was not what it seemed to be.Credit to the description page of the play at - Dramatists Play Service.

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
There's just SO MUCH that I'm STILL trying to absorb from this play! But there are something things that I'll take from this experience:
- The characters would break the 4th wall and Narrate the scene as if they were telling the story to someone. e.g. After we got done with dinner, I cleaned up the plates, but Paul took them away from me and walked into the kitchen.
- Paul's monologue about IMAGINATION with allusions to THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is AMAZING!
- The beginning of the play began with the moment RIGHT AFTER the major event where Ouisa and Flan are shocked about what they just saw. They start telling the audience of how the evening started that led up to that point and then went back to that point. ie. say the play was from 1 to 10. 1 being the beginning and 10 being the end. The structure went from 4 to 1 to 4 then up linear to 10. I likes!
- Monologues are used very strongly in this play.
- Phone calls are handled by the person on one end of the phone facing the audience and the person on the other end of the phone behind a scrim that is lit up as they are talking. IMPORTANT: neither one of them are pantomiming that they are on a phone, but the fact that it's in the text (e.g. I got Paul on the phone) works and pushes the action through the dialogue instead of being literal.
- A true mystery play! I was on the edge of my seat wondering who was he going to con next and what would eventually happen to him.
- I recognized who the protagonist was at the end of the play, where I was seeking which of the characters had their own arc - it was Ouisa. The only thing missing was that I couldn't really see when Ouisa had that instance of connection with Paul as he was on the phone.
- The use of subtext is what's truly blowing my mind away. Sure there is the con plot that's above the play, but I was intently listening and trying to comprehend, WHY? why does this person who fools others into giving him money and a place to live do such things. At the core, Paul, the con, is lonely. He makes up this world to always have someone with him. And he is SO INTELLIGENT, yet so troubled that my heart bled for this cat all alone in the world. And it's in this dramatic action of him doing anything to have a place to call home, or for company, that I try to find any of the text that supports his drive, and it doesn't even have to be in his text, but overarching with other characters. It just opens up more questions about Kandinsky, JD Salinger, and South Africa. How do these appearing random subjects support this theme.

Yankee Dawg You Die - Script Review

I just finished reading YANKEE DAWG YOU DIE by one of my teachers, Philip Kan Gotanda. Again, I'm inspired by it. For some reason, I always thought the play was something that it obviously is not.

SYNOPSIS
Bradley Yamashita is one of the new breed of Asian-American actors. Highly political and outspoken, he will only take on acting roles that are dignified and unstereotypic. He has recently starred in a small independent film that is the darling of the art crowd, and he arrives in Hollywood full of himself and his politics. Vincent Chang is a survivor. He cut his teeth on the old "Chop Suey" circuit as a hoofer and went on to star in feature films, even garnering an Oscar nomination in the 1950s. Now, though still regal and debonair, Vincent is forced into taking often stereotypic and undignified roles. Through a series of quick-moving scenes, we follow the two men as they meet, form a tenuous friendship and together do battle amidst the often humorous and at times ruthless backdrop of the Hollywood film world. While maintaining the portrayal of integrity as all important, Bradley must face the reality of the same lack of work for Asian actors as Vincent faced in the early days of film. Vincent also teaches Bradley the dignity of survival as he learns to take on more of the cultural responsibility Bradley wishes him to accept.Credit to the description page of the play at - Dramatists Play Service.

MY TAKE
The play is about VINCENT and BRADLEY. 2 Asian American actors trying to make it in the movie industry. One is older, the other is younger. 2 very different views of what they see their roles are being an Asian American actor - yet the art of acting is what brings these two unlikely characters together. I saw these 2 begin at a party with the beginnings of animosity, to them working together, which bred true dislike for one another, and then eventual friendship and respect. Both of the characters had definite arcs and I was really happy to see their turns.

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
- Philip uses Interludes, a monologue/short scene, to set up the next Scene. I've seen this done with COWBOY VS. SAMURAI by Michael Golamco. But I've never really seen this written on the page.
- Another thing I've yet to see in written form in a play is that Philip titles his scenes. I like this idea because it truly sets up the scene and structure wise, i saw the play as a series of individual scenes rather than all together. YET they still work perfectly all together.
- On these previous notes, he also ends each scene and interlude with "End of Scene" or "End of Interlude"
- Wraps things up nicely. Something I love to use and do with forwards. He'll mention something and will reintroduce it later on to make interject a point or use it in a different way to magnify the same or different subject. This technique of using the same lines and reintroducing them to mean something else happens a lot in this play. Effectively done so, without getting to the point of tiresome. Well maybe in some points, but because I'm usually slow at catching on that he's doing this for a purpose, as EVERY WORD in a script should be, I appreciate it more. The play begins and ends using this method as well!
- I love how the characters tell a story. One of the most challenging things for me to even wrap my head around are MONOLOGUES. How? Why? What? are mainly my questions, but seeing how Philip use them to tell stories and using sub-text between the lines to have meaning/lessons to these stories is a valuable lesson.

In summary, this play has affected me more than just reading it. I saw a lot of things I could use, and made me question how I see myself as an Asian American in this crazy world of succeeding and what, if any, personal sacrifices I allow myself to take. A definite goal of what I want to write.

Zoot Suit - Script Review

I just read ZOOT SUIT by Luis Valdez play and I LOVE IT! There's just so many great things that I've learned from reading it.

SYNOPSIS
In Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez weaves a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial — when a group of young Mexican-Americans were wrongfully charged with murder — and the Zoot Suit Riots. In the play, Henry Reyna (inspired by real-life defendant Henry Leyvas) is a pachuco gangster and his gang, who were unfairly prosecuted, are thrown in jail for a murder they did not commit. The play is set in the barrios of Los Angeles in the early 1940s against the backdrop of the Zoot Suit Riots and World War II.Taken from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_%28play%29


WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
OMG! I don't even know where to begin...
- In wonderful surprise, well not maybe considering Valdez's history with SFMT, that it felt "like" at Mime Troupe production. There were songs and music and dancing to totally bring to life the era that this production takes place in. If I was in the audience, I'd me immersed in the chicano flavor.
- There was a court scene where Della is explaining what happened that night at Sleepy Lagoon and it switches between scenes of her giving her testimony and the actual night that her and Henry were there. Visually amazing even though this was written on the page.
- Pachuco was the inner voice of Henry. He was also the narrator. In a way that I've never seen, he controlled the play. In Act 1, Scene 9, when the judge says, "The zoot haircuts will be retained..." and then Pachuco, "You hear that one, ese? Listen to it again." (Snaps) The Judge repeats the line automatically. So cool!
- In the same way, he changes the end of Henry's story 3 times.
- Like Equus, when there's a scene where Alice writes the boys, she speaks what is in the letters, but also answers the letters as if they were having a conversation... through the letters.
- I really loved the Family aspect of the play.

How to write a 10-minute play

HOW TO WRITE A 10-MINUTE PLAY
copied and pasted from 10-Minute-Plays.com (http://www.10-minute-plays.com/index.html)

TWELVE RULES FOR THE ASPIRING PLAYWRIGHT

1) NO EXPOSITION! Just jump into your story. This presents a puzzle for the audience to unravel and allows them to play with you. Remember—we are fascinated by the unknown!

2) EVERY DETAIL MUST RELATE TO THE ACTION OF THE PLAY. You've got ten minutes—there's no time for anything extraneous. Nothing is random. (Although at first it may appear to be so!) If you are writing a play about dogs, the curtain goes up, and there on the stage is a bone.

3) KNOW WHAT YOUR PLAY IS ABOUT AND WRITE INTO THE METAPHOR. More than anything else, this will give your play a sense of unity.

4) A CHARACTER SPEAKS TO GET WHAT HE WANTS. All characters have DREAMS. These dreams are what make him unique. How are they fulfilled? How are they not fulfilled? How do they turn in on themselves?

5) A CHARACTER SHOULD BE OFF-BALANCE IN SOME WAY. Real characters are excessive in some areas. Deficient in others. If there is no disparity between what your characters are saying and what they are doing, you probably aren’t writing theatre.

6) DON’T WASTE TIME TALKING ABOUT ANYTHING YOU CAN SHOW. Images are more powerful than words!

7) EVERY GREAT PLAY HAS A POINT OF NO RETURN. The protagonist crosses the line. Now there is no turning back!

8) NEVER LET YOUR CHARACTERS OFF TOO EASY! If you do, what they’ve just been through won’t have meant anything. They may escape with their lives—but just barely!

9) EVERY PROTAGONIST MUST HAVE A JOURNEY. He should end up someplace radically different from where he began. BIG THINGS HAPPEN—not everyday life with endless pouring of coffee and lighting of cigarettes. LIFE-ALTERING EVENTS. If your protagonist ends up in the same place he started, he must go through Hell and back to get there.

10) FIND WHAT IS UNIVERSAL IN YOUR SCRIPT. These are windows that allow us to enter your world. Fuck Brecht! We want to relate!

11) REMEMBER THAT THE CLIMAX IS WHERE A PLAY WINS OR LOSES! The audience is rewarded for their attention. (The big pay-off!) The test of a great play is SELF DISCOVERY.

12) EVERY DETAIL COMES TOGETHER IN THE END. (See Rule #2) Somehow or another, we come back to that bone. Always pay off the bone!

Stories High Session 2 - Playwriting Notes

Here's some general notes that I took for me from the latest class.

- Beat:
  - building blocks of theater/play/script
  - each beat moves the story forward
  - can be seen when different tactics or strategies are used to develop the protagonist's Action (want)

- If you have a block, look at the play's Action, Conflict, and Event

- Event: the moment when a character either gets what he or she wants,
or definitively does not get it; there are normally many smaller
events in a play, but the main event is the result of action and
conflict; an event may take many different forms, but is always some
sort of change. (from Sam's notes)

- Reading/Listening tips:
  - write down beats
  - what sounded good
  - what doesn't make sense
  - what information is revealed by the dialogue/action

- Stakes:
  - goals should be high to make the protagonist NEED to get their want
  - explore what would happen if the character DOESN'T get what they want

- EACH character should have an action!

- All characters need a sense of history.

- Characters:
  - General Qualities: ie. how would you/others describe them
  - State of mind: ie. if they are lonely, how does this drive their action
  - Speech and Act: what do they say and do to define themselves and their drive towards their action.

Where's Your Brother?

Where's Your Brother
by conrad panganiban

Louise Parker - Mid 50's
Benny Parker - Late teens

Setting: Night, The Parker living room, Rural Kansas, Present

LOUISE and her teenage son, BENNY, are in their living room where BENNY is cutting his mother's toenails. There's an pizza box and a glass of wine on a table.

LOUISE
Don't cut my toe nails too close, Benny.

BENNY
Sorry, Ma.

LOUISE
Did you hear from your brother yet?

BENNY
No, Ma.

LOUISE
It's getting late out there.

BENNY
Yes, Ma.

LOUISE
Just one at a time Benny. You don't have to go so fast. Look at that. They're crooked.

BENNY
Sorry, Ma.

LOUISE
It's okay, Sweety. Did you eat all your slices?

BENNY
Yes, Ma.

(BENNY gets up to open the window.)

LOUISE
Look at you. So thin. Don't they feed you anything at that school of yours? I swear, this heat is killing me. Open the window dear. Let some air in. Doesn't it sound pretty out there? Me and your daddy used to sit under those stars and just wonder how our life would turn out. I miss him. While you're up, get me that glass on the table will ya? (BENNY gives wine glass to LOUISE) That's a good, son. Your brother shoulda come home by now.

BENNY
He'll be here soon Ma. He told me after he dropped me home. He always keeps... keeps his word Ma.

LOUISE
I wished your daddy did the same.

BENNY
What are you thinkin' Ma?

LOUISE
Just where the hell your brother's at.

BENNY
You... you don't have to worry about him Ma. I'm... I'm here. You don't need him to protect you.

LOUISE
I didn't mean it like that.

BENNY
I think... I think that you did. I'm a big boy too, Ma.

LOUISE
Oh Benny. I know you are.

BENNY
The you don't need... him... any more.

LOUISE
I love you both Benny.

BENNY
No... no you don't!

LOUISE
Now, don't get huffy and puffy.

(BENNY picts up the bottle of red wine.)

LOUISE
Benny. Put that down!

BENNY
You don't need him!

(BENNY throws the bottle of wine down causing the red wine to splatter everywhere.)

LOUISE
Look what you did! The wine's all on the carpet. That stain's going to be hard to come off. And look at your shirt. You got wine all over it.

BENNY
I'm a big boy, Ma. You don't need him.

LOUISE
Oh, my. I ran out of Clorox the other day. How'm I gonna get that red out of your brand new shirt? I told your brother to bring back some clorox on the way back from the store, and it's already late.

BENNY
No Clorox! No Clorox coming!

LOUISE
Okay, I'll call it bleach.

BENNY
Why do you love him more?

LOUISE
And I just washed the whites yesterday.

BENNY
Ma?

LOUISE
Take off your shirt, boy. I'll get rid of that stain.

BENNY
No! No Clorox coming! Never. Why don't you love me?

LOUISE
What's this have to do with this stain?

BENNY
The stain is Robert. Barn.

LOUISE
Robert? What about your brother? Where you two messin' with the barn paint again? No wonder this stain is so red.

BENNY
Robert... stain... love me Ma!

(BENNY starts to sob.)

LOUISE
Oh dear. Don't start cryin'. It'll come out. Look, it's a little red. Where is that brother of yours now that I need him.

BENNY
Stain... Robert...

LOUISE
You said that already. Robert this this stain on you at the barn.

BENNY
No! Robert is the stain. He's already home.

LOUISE
Well, why didn't you say that? Where is he?

BENNY
Behind the barn.

LOUISE
Well go get him.

BENNY
He's dead and I killed him.

LOUISE
What?...


THE END... for now.


NOTE: This is written as an exercise for my Playwriting Workshop. The workshop is offered through Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco for their Stories High Program. The assignment was to write a dialogue between two people. We were given the names and the setting with the rule that these two people would not be allowed to leave the room. Also, we had 20 minutes of continuous writing to come up with this scene.

So, I had no idea where this was going when I first started writing. Slowly, the characters started to open up and tell their story.

Every Character needs to have an Action

Before I run out again, I just got back from the Stories Hight Playwriting workshop and , for me, the most important lesson I got was that EVERY character that appears in a scene needs to have an Action defined as having a defined want and goal at that particular space in time. I'll write down my notes in a new blog. bye!

Defending A Treasure

This story is about... a young lawyer who is assigned a case to defend a recently retired U.S. Navy veteran for treason.

Write Actions to Show Character

I'm still at home waiting for the electrician to get back from getting things for my stupid doorbell and address light fixture. But I'm flipping through the channels and stopped on THE INSIDER on HBO with Russell Crowe.

Anyways, in 2 short minutes, there's a scene with Russell Crowe and his daughter as she's having a asthma attack. He hooks up a machine and she's cured. In this scene we can tell that this isn't current because it's a machine not an inhaler. and also, really briefly, before the scene started it looked like there was conflict between Russell's character and his wife. after the daughter's asthma attack subsided, the wife is sitting next to the daughter, Russell is in front of the daughter with the machine, and we see the wife put her hand on Russell's hand. The conflict is resolved. True, with the use of camera, we can see that the spouses give each other the 'understanding' look, but still it communicated.

I've been having an internal conflict of whether or not to write stage directions in my scripts. You can see examples of that from my previous posts labeled 'script'. but with this brief action, a hand on top of another, that direction spoke volumes to me.

Briefly, another direction/action that comes to mind is when I watched a production of MACBETH. Macduff, when talking about his wife, kisses his wedding band. Not written, but again, spoke volumes.

There are times when I'll opt not to use stage directions, which I'll feel the director can aptly take care of, but when it comes to an IMPORTANT action to reveal a character and move the story forward, I will. Huge lesson learned.

GARDEN OF DREAMS - A Play Reading

In a few weeks, the Sinag-tala Program of SFTPAA will be hosting a script reading of my first full-length play GARDEN OF DREAMS. No lie, I'm nervous as hell. In fact, I don't really know how to feel, since it kinda changes every day. Now, I'm really glad that we're having a quick rehearsal a day earlier. Also, luckily, at least I had the first read in February where hopefully I've addressed some issues, as well as take the feedback from PKG's workshop.

What I hope to gain from this is to see what works and what doesn't. I'll tape it cuz of my on and off memory for details.

I'm NERVOUS!

On The Page - A Scriptwriting Podcast

So I'm racking my brain about the best way to "attack" writing my next play. My biggest hurdle seems to be Research. I have my subject, but I think that I'm taking way too much time figuring out how I'm going research this subject instead of actually writing the play. I was, still planning to, write to my previous instructors on how they research subjects for their plays, but then this topic came up on a podcast that i'm listening to called ON THE PAGE hosted by Pilar Alessandra.

In the most current episode of ON THE PAGE, it was kismet that the topic of Research came up. What her and her co-hosts/producer advised to do was WRITE THE SCRIPT. All the research stuff can come up after the story is done. Which makes perfect sense to me, since that seems to have pinned the nail on my problem of not even starting to write the play - I've been spending too much time worried about how to research it.

Other advice from them regarding research:
- Use the internet. Luckily, with this medium, I can research different locations and thoughts even.
- Ask someone with knowledge on the topic. Spend a couple of bucks on a coffee or Jamba Juice and the information you get back might be ten-fold that amount - which is $20 - $30... but you know what I mean.

Thanks ON THE PAGE for the advice!

A Few Good Men - Script Review

As I type this, I'm waiting for the electrician to knock on my door to fix the broken doorbell. In an earlier post, I said that my next script will have something to do with U.S. Filipino Navy Veterans and their families. I'm thinking about wrapping that theme around a courtroom drama - something I have yet to see involving a filipino family, but an idea that's been floating around since that kid got busted for planning a Columbine attack on DeAnza JC in Cupertino. Anyways, in trying to figure out how to attack writing the play I'm starting with some research, which brings me to A FEW GOOD MEN by Aaron Sorkin. I love this movie and I also loved THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT which he also penned. But I needed to see how it read for the stage.

SYNOPSIS
In this dramatic courtroom thriller, Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a Navy lawyer who has never seen the inside of the courtroom, defends two stubborn Marines who have been accused of murdering a colleague. Kaffee is known as being lazy and had arranged for a plea bargain. Downey's Aunt Ginny appoints Cmdr. Galloway to represent him. Also on the legal staff is Lt. Sam Weinberg. The team rounds up many facts and Kaffee is discovering that he is really cut out for trial work. The defense is originally based upon the fact that PFC Santiago, the victim, was given a "CODE RED". Santiago was basically a screw-up. At Gitmo, screw-ups aren't tolerated. Especially by Col. Nathan Jessup. In Cuba, Jessup and two senior officers try to give all the help they can, but Kaffee knows something's fishy. In the conclusion of the film, the fireworks are set off by a confrontation between Jessup and Kaffee. Written by Matt Curtolo {curt@epix.net} Unfortunately, I didn't like the ending in the play as much as I liked the ending of the movie, however, I'll give it a pass since Sorkin wrote the screenplay as well. The movie ending was MUCH MORE taught including the moving of the famous 'You can't handle the truth!' line.

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
- I LOVE Arron Sorkin's INSANELY quick humor and one-liners. But each one liner has a background to them as well as planted history. Example, we first meet JO (played by Demi Moore in the movie) in WHITAKER'S office because she wants to be assigned to the Santiago case. History is planted because JO made his staff handwrite court documents during Christmas. Almost 50 pages later, when ROSS (Kevin Bacon) first meets JO, he brings up, 'Ebenezer Galloway?' Genius. There's more examples of this in the link provided below.
- Like EQUUS and HYSTERIA, Sorkin used a device of "flashback" through a letter from PFC SANTIAGO.

WHITAKER
This letter that Santiago wrote wasn't the first.

JO
In fact, it was his twelfth...

(Lights up on SANTIAGO)

SANTIAGO
Dear Senator, My name is PFC William T. Santiago. I am...

FAVORITE LINES
here's a link with some of my favorite lines... which makes me think. I'll do this to moving forward - a new section with my favorite lines/stage directions pulled from the printed text.
A Few Good Men Lines

Hysteria - Play Review

On Sunday afternoon (aka the Blue-Haired Show), I went to see a play called HYSTERIA at the Aurora Theater, which is right next to Berkeley Rep. It was hilarious!

SYNOPSIS
Set in 1938, in the study of the aged and dying Sigmund Freud, in his Hampstead home in London, the peace of a wintry night is disturbed by an unexpected visitor. This is Jessica, a young woman who has a complex emotional problem to resolve. Upon further exploration it soon becomes apparent that Jessica is the daughter of a former patient of Freud’s. Freud is reluctant to engage in discussion with Jessica but she is persistent. As the action progresses, the suburban calm is further ruffled as a further two visitors appear. First is Abraham Yahuda, close but critical colleague and friend of Freud, and then the Spanish maestro of surrealism, Dali himself. In an attempt to take control of the situation and manage the meeting of the three very different visitors Freud becomes embroiled in the most ridiculous farce.

From then on nothing is what it seems. The clock on the wall seems to melt, the telephone turns into a lobster, files and manuscripts mysteriously change places, and Dalí begins to pursue the young Jessica with blatant advances. As the play unfolds, the audience is subjected to dark and disturbing stories, juxtaposed with hysterically funny mishaps and revelations that beg the questions ‘is this real, or the product of Freud’s unconscious mind?’ ‘Is Freud, dead or alive?’

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
- this play used a bookend structure - it begins and ends with the same scene. Using this device made me question whether if Sigmund Freud was already dead or just about to die in his search to uncover the mystery of Jessica's Mother's death.
- In his final moments of life he continues to "cure" himself of his fears and questions his prior work if they indeed meant something.
- There was a clock UR on a back wall. Between Acts I and II, the lights faded on stage except a special on the clock, which forced the audience to see the clock's hands fast forward.
- Jessica starts to read from her mother's journal entry about her mother's session with Dr. Freud. She has committed it to memory whilst Dali read's Dr. Freud's part. While reciting, she becomes her mother in that moment as she describes horrendous acts by her father.
- In reciting this story, she uses ACTIONS of 1) constantly wiping her right shoulder while keeping her 3 middle fingers togther and 2) constantly gagging because of the saltiness she tasted in her mouth used in the beginning of the play. Also, these two ACTIONS were used to describe 2 different stories, first as a guise, second as the truth.
- Farce was used amazingly. I haven't seen a good farce since NOISES OFF at CSUS. a lot of switched identities, slamming doors, and absurd images abound!
- I guess that there's no limits to special effects: 1) the walls melted 2) clock melted 3) lobster phone 4) train smoke and lights at the door 5) rubbery door knobs...

Wanna see a play, but they're too expensive?

Hey, money's a grip which sucks cuz i really want to see as much theater as I can. Luckily I found a group that I was a part of a while ago, but I forgot my stupid password. So I signed up again, and I'm glad that I did. It's called Goldstar.com! I've noticed that I'll be able to save up to 50% on tickets. Hella stoked! something i'll be using a lot.

But it wouldn't be fun if it was only me using it, so if I'm passing the savings on to you too, if you want! click the logo above or this link to start saving: Goldstar Events.

Thanks!

Equus - Script Review

Here's my first Review of a script that I just finished reading. This is actually my FIRST review I've written about anything. But the more I do, hopefully I'll learn from the devices the playwright uses and adapt them into my writing.

The play is called EQUUS by Peter Shaffer. It was first produced at the National Theater in July of 1973. I think I messed up when I bought this version of the play from Borders. It wasn't until Act I Scene 5 when I realized the stage directions used in this production was used in the book. But when I was looking for an image to use for this blog, I saw a whole bunch of pictures that pretty much looked like they were from the descriptions in the play I read. That didn't make any sense...

MY SYNOPSIS
In my first reading, meaning that I really need to read it again, I was really taken in by how the play began: a monologue by the Narrator, Dr. Martin Dysart. There's an image of Alan Strang, the main character, as he is with a horse. Dysart reveals that Alan had just blinded six horses in a stable where he worked. Alan was sent to Dr. Dysart instead of prison because the judge felt that he is a little too looney for life behind the bars. So the play is about this Doctor deciding whether or not this kid is crazy or putting on an act to stay out of jail. When we first meet Alan, all he does is sing jingles from the tele (the play takes place in England). The play reads like a courtroom drama because the Dr. asks him questions about why he did this? The themes of religion and parent-child relationships hold strong with this play. We are introduced to both his parents and we see how they affect his outlook on life. Each parent is different: Mother, very religious; Father, not. We slowly get to see how screwed up this kid really is because he thinks that the horses are talking to him, and actually he thinks that they are Gods. When he is with a girl, Jill, in the stables "doing the do" he feels the horses are mocking him. This drives him crazy to do what he is accused of doing. Of course, there's more to this script, but you'll have to either read it or find a summary of it.

WHAT I'LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
- The play is about how the Dr. explores Alan's family and his past. One way this is done was having a character remember sitting in front of the television and from behind the actors playing the parents start to explain their case why television is bad.
- The set is minimal. The human actors are seated around the set and when they are needed they step into/around a light to designate a location.

My goal

My goal is to have a play produced in a state outside of California by the age of 40. Can I do it? Sana... But that's why I started this site. Hope you take this ride with me... like all good drama - will i succeed or fail?

Constant learning

So another thing that I'm doing aside from reading other scripts and writing is looking at other sites on the web to learn about the craft of playwriting. PLUS, I'm also compiling a list of blog sites of other playwrights. See if I could glean something from their experience. I'll post links on this site of the ones I really like and learn from.

Welcome to Conrad's Playspace

Hola! I've decided that I'd set up my own blog just for my plays, reviews, and randomness about my journey into being a playwright. I'll be transferring all of my entries from my personal blog onto here so I can officially journalize this trip, plus so I can have my personal space back to itself to comment about random things that happen in my life. I'm excited about this new blog/journal.

These are all the stuff I'll have on here:

• My Short Plays
• Links to my longer plays
• Reviews of Plays I've seen
• Reviews of Plays I've read
• Lessons I've learned about Playwriting from various sources
• Personal thoughts of Playwriting/Theater
• Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera

Thanks for dropping by.

Gabriella in the Hood

Gabriella in the Hood
by conrad panganiban

Mac G - early 20's
Gabriella - mid 30's

Setting: Sidewalk. East Oakland. Present.

GABRIELLA
What? You're cutting out. I said that I'm in East Oakland. It's near San Francisco. I'll be fine. What? Research. This will be good. I swear. Hello? Hello?

MAC G
Nice phone.

GABRIELLA
Thanks.

MAC G
Looks expensive.

GABRIELLA
Not really.

MAC G
Give it to me.

GABRIELLA
What?

MAC G
I said give it to me and your bag!

GABRIELLA
Are you in a gang?

MAC G
What?

GABRIELLA
Are you in the 12th Street Crew?

MAC G
Bitch! I ain't playin'! Does this look like a toy?

GABRIELLA
Crap. Hold up. Can you say that again?

MAC G
What?

GABRIELLA
Start off with 'bitch'! I like how you said that.

MAC G
Fo realz, I ain't playin'! Get that tape recorder out of my face.

GABRIELLA
Biatch!

MAC G
What you call me?

GABRIELLA
No. Can you say 'Get that tape recorder out of my face.' again? And add 'Biatch' to the end of that.

MAC G
What the fuck? Nobody says biatch.

GABRIELLA
What about 'bizzle mah nizzle'?

MAC G
Just give me your shit! Damn, this bag's heavy! What the fuck you got in here?

GABRIELLA
Just some books and paper.

MAC G
That's it?

GABRIELLA
Yeah.

MAC G
Then give me that too.

GABRIELLA
You can take everything but this. I have all my notes recorded on this.

MAC G
Imma bust a cap in yo ass if you don't give that to me!

GABRIELLA
Good stuff! 'Bust a cap in your ass!'

MAC G
In YO ass!

GABRIELLA
Right. 'In YO ass!'

MAC G
What the hell are you doin'?

GABRIELLA
Research. I'm writing a script about girl from the rich suburbs kidnapped by a gang and then chooses to become one of them to spite her over-protective parents. It's going to be called, "Chloe in the Hood." I haven't had a script produced in a while, and I really need this story to work.

MAC G
What? That story's hella wack!

GABRIELLA
Why? Because your gang wouldn't kidnap anyone, right?

MAC G
Stupid cuz no one chooses to be in a gang.

GABRIELLA
But it's to spite her parents.

MAC G
I'm just sayin' that shit ain't real.

GABRIELLA
Then what is?

MAC G
I'm warning you! Get that shit out of my face.

GABRIELLA
Research. I need to know what you know about the gritty life in the innercity.

MAC G
Told you this ain't a game out here! Shut that recorder off, before I permanently shut you off!

GABRIELLA
Oooo... that's good! What's your name?

MAC G
Fuck it! You're pissing me off.

GABRIELLA
Hey! Where are you going with my stuff?

MAC G
You wanted life in the innercity? Think of me as Ashton Kutcher of the hood. You just got JACK'D!

GABRIELLA
I need your name for the movie.

MAC G
Movie?

GABRIELLA
I might not give a shit about my things, but I believe in being fair. Do you want to help me out?

MAC G
With the movie thang?

GABRIELLA
I need to fly out to L.A. in a couple of days to show my boss what I got, but I can't leave without a story - a Real story. And I don't think I can do that without your help. So, are you interested?

MAC G
Marcus Gardley, but everyone calls me Mac G.

GABRIELLA
Gabriella Montez.

MAC G
Hold up? Like in Gabriella Montez from High School Musical? I meant, yeah, fuck. My little sister watches that shit.

GABRIELLA
Yeah... I get that all the time. My ex-boyfriend wrote the screenplay. And his name is Troy.

MAC G
No shit. Like Troy Bolton and the Wildcats?

GABRIELLA
Nice to know you like that kind of stuff.

MAC G
Yo... I said my little sister watches that. I just happen to catch it when I'm babysitting her.

GABRIELLA
So, do we have a deal?

MAC G
Will I get paid?

GABRIELLA
As a consultant.

MAC G
Fuck yeah, I'm interested! I mean. Yeah. S'all good.

GABRIELLA
Great! Thanks. Take my card from my bag.

MAC G
Oh shit. Sorry. Here's your shit back.

GABRIELLA
As I said, take this card and call me tomorrow and we'll make this story... real.

MAC G
Coo... I mean, Thanks!

GABRIELLA
Fo sho.


THE END

NOTE: This is written as an exercise for my Playwriting Workshop. The workshop is offered through Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco for their Stories High Program. The assignment: Write a scene with two characters. Character A wants something tangible from character B, and character B wants something intangible from character A.

Michael Jordan Killed the Fil-Am Mullet

Michael Jordan Killed the Fil-Am Mullet
by conrad panganiban

Will - Early 20's
Theo - Early 20's
Lisa - Early 20's

Setting: Theo's kitchen. Early 1990's.

WILL
Hey Theo. Theo! Lemme in fool! Open up! Hey... Waaasssuuup?!

THEO
Hey. 'Sup Will?

WILL
What's wrong with you?

THEO
Shhh... not too loud. Words of advice... don't ever something called a 'Tequila Popper!' Oh, my head.

WILL
That'll teach you to get drunk for the 3rd time this week.

THEO
It's Spring Break... It's what we're supposed to do. Speaking of which, where the hell was your ass last night? I kept paging you. Jocelyn Enriquez performed at DV8.

WILL
I'll catch her next week at the Fiesta, but last night, I was busy.

THEO
Too busy for (singing and dancing) I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU, AND I DON'T Ouch! My head...

WILL
Where do you keep the aspirin? Take this. I was talking to Lisa last night.

THEO
If you're not talking about Lisa Lisa from the Cult Jam, I'm not listening.

WILL
No. Lisa from Chicago.

THEO
Oh, yeah (yawns) that girl you met at your cousin's debut.

WILL
No, she's my sister's College roommate.

THEO
Same thing. Hey, can we hook up a little later? I need my beauty rest.

WILL
I don't have forever to wait for your beauty to come around. She's on her way here and I need your skills.

THEO
Not now, man. I can't even think straight.

WILL
C'mon. She'll be here soon. My sister's picking her up from the airport and I can't have her seeing me with my hair looking like this!

THEO
Just put on a hat!

WILL
I want to impress her.

THEO
If you want to do that, why don't you just take her to the Warriors' game against the Bulls tonight?

WILL
Duh. That's why she's flying in. C'mon, Theo. Hook a brotha up.

THEO
You coulda hooked me up with a ticket to the game too.

WILL
One step ahead of you, Bro.

THEO
Sit down.

WILL
Thanks, man. Wait 'til you meet her. She's great!

THEO
Yeah. Yeah.

WILL
Remember the way I like it. Short on the sides...

THEO
And long in the back. I know.

WILL
We talked for hours last night about everything. Like the new BoyzIIMen CD and even the OJ thing in the Ford Bronco. You'll love her, Theo. Theo!

THEO
What?

WILL
Dude, you were falling asleep! I heard a snore!

THEO
If your story about Lisa wasn't so damn boring, I'd be awake.

WILL
Shut up and cut. She even told me that Filipinos are different out here than in the Midwest.

THEO
Yeah? (yawn)

WILL
Yup yup. She says that she's never even heard the word 'hella' before.

THEO
Yeah. (yawn) Hella interesting.

WILL
Remember. Keep in long in the back. Hey. Do you still have any more spray in the Aquanet can? I wanna spike my hair in front.

THEO
Yeah... I got.... .... Oh shit!

WILL
What?

THEO
Nothing. Nothing! I'm awake. I'm awake. You said that she's flyin' in just for the game?

WILL
Hopefully not just for the game, if you know what I mean. But, yeah, she got mad knowledge about basketball. Well, duh, she's from Chicago. Home of the greatest basketball player to ever live.

THEO
Bill Weddington?

WILL
No, fool! Michael Jordan. That's her favorite player.

THEO
Yeah. That's cool.

WILL
Are you done yet? Where's the mirror?

THEO
Not yet!!! Uh, almost done.

WILL
Everything okay?

THEO
Of course! Why'd you ask? Everything's fine. Perfect even. You just haven't... had a hair cut in a long while. Yeah. Lots of hair. Lots of it...

WILL
Dude. I'm a guy. I don't have that much hair... which is all on the... floor?! What the hell?! Where's the mirror?!! Where's the... What the hell did you do to my head?!

THEO
I told you I was tired... besides it's the new thang?

WILL
Short on the sides - not all the way around!

THEO
The Fil-Am mullet is going out of style anyways.

WILL
Then let me get rid of yours!

THEO
Now, let's not talk crazy!

WILL
I'll kill you! Where's the knife? You're dead! Come back here!

(Enter LISA)

LISA
Uh, Hi. I'm Lisa. Will's sister found a note saying that Will would be here. But I can come back later...

WILL
Lisa. Hi! It's me. Will!

LISA
I didn't recognize you without your...

THEO
Mullet?

LISA
I was going to say hair.

WILL
Uh, yeah. My EX-best friend and next door neighbor got a little carried away with the clippers, and...

LISA
No need to explain. I kinda like it. The shape of your head looks a lot like Michael Jordan's. I really like it. Especially, how it feels...

WILL
You do?

LISA
Hella.


THE END

NOTE: This is written as an exercise for my Playwriting Workshop. The workshop is offered through Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco for their Stories High Program. The assignment: Write a scene with two characters in which character A wants something from B, and gets it or doesn't get it, but in getting/not getting it, gets a third, unexpected thing.

Subliminal Devices of Microscopic Marketing

Subliminal Devices of Microscopic Marketing
by conrad panganiban

Harrison - early 20's
Marié (Mah-ree-yay) - early 20's
Mirabella - early 20's

Setting: Harrison and Marié's apartment

MARI´E
Looks like they got you good, Harrison.

HARRISON
Shh... you don't have to yell. How bad does it look, Marié?

MARI´E
Lemme see. I don't think that a penis on your forehead will come into fashion soon. Luckily, markers aren't too permanent.

HARRISON
Fuckin' Dino! He's always carrying around a Sharpie. Oh, my head. I swear I'll never drink again.

MARI´E
Sure you won't. Hey, I was wondering, didn't you have a class with Professor Lee?

HARRISON
Yeah. I'm glad I got that class out of the way.

MARI´E
Who'd of ever figured that a class called Business 319: Subliminal Devices of Microscopic Marketing would be so hard?

HARRISON
It really wasn't that bad.

MARI´E
Wasn't that bad? Did you hear about that one student a couple of semesters ago?

HARRISON
Jeremiah Splat?

MARI´E
That wasn't his name.

HARRISON
What else do you call someone who jumps off the fifth story of the Business building after failing one of Professor Lee's tests?

MARI´E
It wasn't just a test. It was a final. Not only that, it was the Final Final. The one all marketing majors need to pass to graduate. And you're saying that it wasn't that bad?

HARRISON
Eh...

MARI´E
So, what'd you do get through it?

HARRISON
I'm just naturally gifted. What? What? Okay, fine... with... where is that thing? Bingo! With this.

MARI´E
Big whoop. Everybody needs that for the course.

HARRISON
Open it.

MARI´E
What the...? Where'd you get this?

HARRISON
And you said that the only benefit for joining Zeta Omega Psi was the Raging Keggers!

MARI´E
Isn't it?

HARRISON
Well, yeah. But another thing is hookups from frat brothers. Dino gave it to me.

MARI´E
I love you, Harrison! The notes in here will so get me through to graduation.

HARRISON
Sorry. I'm giving this to Mirabella.

MARI´E
But you know how much I need this to graduate!

HARRISON
You can buy one from the bookstore.

MARI´E
Hello? I can't buy the Teacher's Edition at the store.

HARRISON
Sorry, muchacha. Yo no can-oh do-oh.

MARI´E
My dad will kill me if I don't graduate!

HARRISON
I already promised her.

MARI´E
I'm your roommate.

HARRISON
But you don't sleep with me.

MARI´E
I will if you give me the book.

HARRISON
Ew... you're like my sister.

MARI´E
You're right. I think I just threw up in my mouth. Okay. Okay. I'll pay your share of next month's rent.

HARRISON
You don't have to do that.

MARI´E
I'll also take care of the cleaning duties for the rest of the semester... including your bathroom.

HARRISON
The whole semester... No. I can't do it. I'm in love with Mirabella. She needs it to graduate too. And when she does, we'll both get good jobs at marketing firms, get married, and live happily ever after.

MARI´E
Don't forget to visit my rotting corpse at the cemetery with your wife, kids, and minivan after my dad kills me for failing that class because you didn't give me that book.

HARRISON
Guilt won't work on me, cuz you're not my mom. Besides, he's not going to kill you.

MARI´E
Yes, he will! When we went to the Philippines last summer, he did things with a bolo knife to a pig that would make Jeffery Dahmer proud of him.

HARRISON
Speaking of which, is there any lechon left in the fridge?

MARI´E
Didn't you even listen to a word I said? And No. Don't you remember what you did to it after the party?

HARRISON
Why? Did I do something inappropriate with it?

MARI´E
You kinda blew chunks all over it. You really don't remember anything from last night?

HARRISON
The last thing I remember was falling into the tub filled with Jello shots.

MARI´E
What about what happened after that?

HARRISON
I woke up naked in the laundry room. Don't tell me that you took a picture of me in there. What's that?

MARI´E
Dino borrowed my phone to take some pictures of ya! What else do we have here? Whoa. Uh...

HARRISON
What? Who is...? Give me that! Oh my God... Erase those picts, Marié!

MARI´E
Do you even know her name?

HARRISON
I don't even know her.

MARI´E
Looks like she got to know you very well.

HARRISON
Oh my God. What did I do?

MARI´E
I know what you will do and that's to give me the book.

HARRISON
That's blackmail.

MARI´E
And this is cheating on your girlfriend.

HARRISON
You wouldn't.

MARI´E
Apparently, you did.

HARRISON
(despondent) What did I do?

MARI´E
You can start by giving me the book.

HARRISON
Here. Keep it. Crap! What am I gonna do?

MARI´E
Harrison. I was kidding. Look. I'm deleting these. You know that I wasn't really going to show these to Mirabella.

(Enter MIRABELLA)

MIRABELLA
Show me what? Hey, babe? Why's there a penis drawn on your forehead?


THE END


NOTE: This is written as an exercise for my Playwriting Workshop. The workshop is offered through Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco for their Stories High Program. The assignment: Write a scene with two characters. Character A wants a book from character B.

my new full-length play

my new full-length play will be about Filipinos in the US Navy. That's my subject, but i have no idea about what the story will be, YET! i'm hoping that by brainstorming here, something will come out.

so this started from going to a wedding this past weekend down in san diego. the wedding was on a naval base, and the daughter for one of my dad's closest friends was the one getting hitched. anyways, it made me start to think about these men. what made these men join the navy and provide for their families? i just found out that the US started granting filipinos to join the us navy in order to have a military base in the pi. just everything about this subject is very personal and add onto that... i miss my dad. we never really talked about anything, well except when he'd yell or nag at me about something. but being at this wedding... seeing his compadres. all navy retired men.

so, as i said this is my subject. i have no story. i'm almost finished reading a screenwriting book by this guy named syd field. at first i was very weary of picking up this book for the simple fact that i'm going to be a PLAYWRIGHT, and i was feeling pretty stuck up. but i had to put that aside and tell myself that at the core of ALL OF THIS is that i just want to be a storyteller. this book, "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting" has totally opened my eyes and really made me aware of a story/films structure. something that i never really thought about, but something that i definitely needed.

so here a couple of story ideas that are floating in my noggin':
- a group of navy retirees get together to honor someone who's died and there's a hidden treasure involved
- something to do with a navy family
- more things...

anyways, i'll write more later.

btw, i had a lot of fun just getting away! very much needed!

becoming a playwright

becoming a playwright has been 13 years in the making for me. i started writing in 1994 when i wrote a script for the filipino club i was associated with. "ang palengke" started out of a very visual dream i had. i saw all these characters who worked in a marketplace in the philippines and the story was about all of their dreams. i remember physically in the garage of my parents house writing the first draft. what started out as basically writing down everything that exactly happened in the dream, turned into a story that added onto itself. a very weird feeling came over me and something very unexplainable until i recently talked to others who felt the same way i did. nonetheless, i finished the script, had the pcn coordinator and others read it, and on mother's day 1994 had my script produced. what's running through my head was the production process. that was the first time i directed anything as well. and mind you this was BEFORE joining Sinag-tala, so I DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE what i was doing. and if you read the script, which is odd, cuz i haven't read the script in a couple of years (it was just by happenstance that i saw the word file on my other harddrive) you'll see how novice i was as a writer. back to the production stuff, i was 22 at the time and i think that was the first time i really stepped into a leadership role. it was then when i also found out what kind of producer/director i know myself to be. i casted about everyone who asked me for a part. BJ was introduced to me by some other folks and I casted him for a part i don't think i even wrote yet. i had to tell a person, actually a key character, that she was out of the pcn because she missed rehearsals and never really felt like she wanted to be with us. then i cast a person who i was a little iffy on about but she did REALLY well. there was A LOT of things that changed between when i first thought of the story to what became on stage, but going through all of that... i found my purpose in life.

i already went through 4 years of college and here i was just FINALLY realizing what i wanted to do with my life, which kind of shows how (in)valuable college can be for some of us. and I'm talking about this now because it's been 13 years later, and i'm finally realizing this "calling." in a month, i'll have a public reading of my first full one act play. "ang palengke" was 17 pages long... "Garden of Dreams" is 55.

Finally FINISHING "Garden of Dreams" has been a long road. i had just finished having my first 10-minute play "BORDERS" produced by Bindlestiff, but it was still after the death of my dad and one of my best friends. The combination of writing and these events shaped this script, so the story just means so much to me. I started the play as a tribute to my friends, and this will remain at it's core. But, this play also signifies the beginning of a solid foot forward on my path. Just in the last month, I've been blessed to have taken some classes by AMAZING and established playwrights in Jeannie Barroga and Philip Kan Gotanda. In total 4 sessions with them. And I've learned so much from their techniques, advice, and experience.

I'm proud to say that "Garden of Dreams" is my first official play. It took me a year-in-a-half to write, but this play was truly 13 years in the making.

theater...

the more and more i'm getting into this journey and realization that i need to be a playwright, the more and more i'm falling in love with the theater. i just love to be around it and thinking about it. i love watching plays and musicals. i love being around other people who love theater. i'm actually reading more books on how to be a playwright as well as listening and watching podcasts produced by the American Theater Wing on playwrights and their views on being a playwright. it's like a course in it, i'm like diving into it head first.

i'm still up re-writing my script, Garden of Dreams. Yup, i've shortened the title once again, and maybe 85% sure that this title will stick. I have a writing workshop with PKG tomorrow at his place in berkeley, where i am more than ready to be torn to shreds! i have a couple of things that STILL doesn't make sense to me that i need to iron out before sending this script to my cast. a couple of questions:

- why doesn't DOC want to help R.J. right away? Actually, I kinda have this answered. It sucks cuz i had to cut out one of my lines that I really loved, but it needed to be done :(
- i want to build more of Jasen's character. It started out that he's fine without having any direction in life while R.J. is the complete opposite, yet they are still best of friends. urgh, this isn't making sense, but it's something i want to explore.
- i hope that the new scene between DOC and R.J. will work without it being to cliche. we'll just have to see.
- build R.J.'s arc. that's a little harder to grasp, but it's definitely rollin' around in my noggin.

yun lang. that's it.

i started this idea from my "writer's matchbook". it's a book FULL of really short phrases or plots that will start a fire of imagination for a writers next work. anyways, here's the idea that's sticking and burning to be read... "a man and a women find a bloody knife underneath their staircase" that's it, but i have an awesome story for it... START WRITING! :)

oh.... i'm gonna see avenue q with a good friend next week :) love the show and i hope she likes it too! night, inkernet!

Take Me Or Leave Me... Scene

This is a exercise on taking a monologue from a musical and remixing it as dialogue between two people.

===================

Take Me Or Leave Me
Adaptation from Jonathan Larson’s RENT


MAUREEN
Joanne, what’s wrong? I didn't stay and dance at the Clit Club last night, 'cause you wanted to go home...

JOANNE
You were flirting with the woman in rubber!

MAUREEN
That's what this is about!? There will always be women in rubber, flirting with me... Gimme a break.

JOANNE
Maureen, I’m asking you to remember that you’re with me.

MAUREEN
There is only you.

JOANNE
Then don’t flirt.

MAUREEN
What? That’s a part of who I am.

JOANNE
A skank?

MAUREEN
But I’m your skank.

JOANNE
That’s exactly what I mean. Can’t you take yourself seriously? Can’t you take US seriously?

MAUREEN
I am serious… just not all the time like you. Pookie, can’t we just have just have fun?

JOANNE
Don’t call me Pookie!

MAUREEN
What?

JOANNE
All I’m saying is that I want to be yours, and not some nickname that you call all your other skanks.

MAUREEN
Where’d you hear that from?

JOANNE
From Mark. Your ex-boyfriend told me that you called him, and apparently all the other people you slept with, Pookie.

MAUREEN
Fine. I won’t call you Pookie anymore!

JOANNE
And no more flirting with women in rubber.

MAUREEN
Again with the rubber women! Joanne, I walk down the street and men, and women too, yell out, “Hey baby! You lookin’ sweet!” I can’t help that.

JOANNE
Well, you don’t have to acknowledge them.

MAUREEN
What would you have me do just walk on by?

JOANNE
Yes.

MAUREEN
Just in case you didn’t hear me the first time (Pantomimes sign language and speaks) “This is who I am!” I will stop and say hi and let them know me, something that you just don’t get.

JOANNE
I know who you are because that’s what attracted me to you in the first place when I saw you on stage. But do you ALWAYS have to be in the spotlight?

MAUREEN
And be a droll, yet lovable, geek like you? Jesus, why do you have to be so anal?!

JOANNE
Well, this is who I am. I make lists in my sleep. I follow through on my promises. And also unlike you, I need to see what I’m leaping into instead of just putting on a blindfold, wear a stupid smile and just jump.

MAUREEN
You didn’t mind the blindfold the other night. (pause) My point is that every night I’m in bed with you and that should at least count for something. Don’t you see how lucky you are?

JOANNE
Lucky I am?! Me? Lucky? With a mess you?

MAUREEN
Alright, that’s it! I quit! (gathers some of her stuff) All I was asking was for you to take me for who I am… and you couldn’t even do that. I’m leaving.

JOANNE
Fine!

MAUREEN
I’m gone!

MAUREEN exits.

52 Cents

52 Cents
by conrad panganiban

Raining. Market and 6th Street in San Francisco. THEOLONIUS is on the street corner with a box of broken umbrellas.

THEOLONIUS
52 cents. 52 cents! Stay dry for 52 cents!

Enter MAXIM as he tries to take cover from the rain holding a Wall Street Journal over his head, talking on his cell phone and trying to hail for a taxi.

THEOLONIUS
52 cents, Mister?

MAXIM
(on phone) Brigid, can you tell the candidate that I’m running late to start her interview? (pause) I’ll be there in 10. Okay. Thanks. Bye.

THEOLONIUS
52 cents, Mister?

MAXIM
Sorry not today.

THEOLONIUS
I’m sellin’ not beggin’. 52 cents for an umbrella?

MAXIM
52 cents?

THEOLONIUS
That’s including tax.

MAXIM Picks up one of the umbrellas. Opens it to find that 2 of the brackets are bent broken.

MAXIM
This is shit.

THEOLONIUS
That’s what you call it. I call it a cover for the top half of your body against the elements, otherwise known as an umbrella. And despite some of it’s flaws, it’s worth 52 cents.

MAXIM
It’s worth almost nothing because it’s broken.

THEOLONIUS
It ain’t broke. It still opens up and happily functions to the will of it’s owner… like protecting that finely gelled quaff of yours. It might not be much but it will have a purpose and I’d have to admit that that purpose is worth 52 cents.

MAXIM
What’s with the 52 cents?!

THEOLONIUS
The cost is a penny for each year I’ve been alive, which I’d have to say is more than nothing.

MAXIM
Look, I’m just trying to catch a cab.

THEOLONIUS
No, you’ll be catching a cold if you don’t buy one of these here umbrellas for only…

MAXIM
52 cents. I get it. If anything, I’d have to admit that you’re persistent.

THEOLONIUS
This is my job. One of the only things I have left in this world since I’ve been living out here for the last five years.

MAXIM
You mean here in San Francisco.

THEOLONIUS
And meaning here on a bench in Golden Gate park, a doorway on Geary, or under a tree near the 80 on Howard.

MAXIM
Sorry, man.

THEOLONIUS
Sorry for what? You didn’t force whiskey down my throat when I did have a home, a family, and a job.

MAXIM
What’d you do?

THEOLONIUS
I was in Realty. How’s that for irony? A homeless man who used to sell homes. And I was damn good at it too. So, I guess that’s where my persistence comes in… speaking of which, that paper of yours is starting to leak.

MAXIM
52 cents?

THEOLONIUS
You know the price.

MAXIM takes out his wallet and pulls out a couple of dollar bills and a business card.

MAXIM
Here’s a couple of dollars and here’s my card. I could really use a persistent sales person.

While THEOLONIUS looks at the business card MAXINE hails and gets a taxi to pull up.

MAXIM
I better get going, Mr...?

THEOLONIUS
Macabenta. Theolonius Macabenta.

They shake hands

MAXIM
Nice to meet you Mr. Macabenta. I’m Maxim. Give me a call.

As MAXIM enters the taxi, THEOLONIUS grabs an umbrella and gives it to MAXIM.

THEOLONIUS
Almost forgot to take your umbrella.

MAXIM
Thanks. Hey, I was wondering, what do you do when it’s not raining?

THEOLONIUS opens up his jacket to reveal a collection of sunglasses.

THEOLONIUS
Can I interest you in some sunglasses? Only 52 cents.

THE END

Workshop

Well I just got back from the workshop with the playwright above - Philip Kan Gotanda. This was one of the best workshops I've had and this is without any writing! We got to basically pick his brain about how to write a play.

One homework assignment was to write a 30-page play and we'll break it down for our next meeting. Luckily, I had "A Dance..." with me, so I turned it in. And for the first time, i'm confident with it. I'm not saying that it's good, or that this particular play is something that is a masterpiece, but you know what? it's mine. it's the story that i wanted to write and it's done... for the most part. there's still more i need to work on, but it won't matter how much he tears it apart - i don't really care cuz the way i look at it, i did it. i wrote a play. and it's just the beginning!

new AATC Workshops

I knew it was a bad idea to move to an office that's overlooking the bay! it's friday and i'm looking out the window at sailboats that float by. yeah, i'm rubbing it in! kidding lang. i'm just not in the best of moods to work, especially on a project that needs to be done by tuesday! maybe, i'll come in on sunday and work on it. haven't done that in a while.

anyways, I'm so excited about these workshops that i just signed-up/paid for with AATC. 1) a vocal workshop for musicals
2) monologues for musicals - with Jeannie Barroga
3) PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP WITH PHILIP KAN GOTANDA!!!

http://www.asianamericantheater.org/

i can't wait for all these workshops to start, but c'mon now, a workshop with the playwright of one of my favorite plays that i've ever read - THE WASH. I'm sure I've written a blog entry about my loving this play. but yeah... i'm stoked. One thing I am nervous about though is that I have to submit 5 pages of written dialogue for his workshop! i'm scanning all my past work to see what i want to turn in. right now, i'm thinking about my revamped scene of when R.J. and Lisa first meet in "A Dance...". I just found my re-write of Borders and I forgot how good the dialogue between my characters were... it's their dialogue and i'm just recording what they say in my head. and yes, i'm mental that way. again... we'll see, but i have to turn this in soon.

alrighty, better get back to trying to work.

writing

as you can see in the previous post, i FINALLY finished Room 812. I started writing this scene 2 years ago. i got side tracked with BORDERS and A DANCE... it's funny cuz i remembered talking about this play with Jeannie while driving her back to her place in Marin. I asked her one bit of advice on that trip, "When will I know what to write about?" she said simply, "Just write what's on your mind. What are you feeling at this moment and put it down." This was just one thing that i felt passionate about at the time and i'm glad to have finally finished it. Not sure if I'll submit this to Stories High or save this for something else. at the very least, i'd love to hear this read to see how it flows.

Hip-Hop Theater Festival

Just got home to wind down and check in with you about two plays that i've just seen. last night was watching the Suicide Kings Trio's "In Spite of Everything" and tonite's "Representa" which played at La Pena in Berkeley.

"In Spite of Everything"
It's a theater piece that combines spoken word and interweaving personal stories of a school shooting and the questioning of 3 poets who last talked the shooter. INCREDIBLE! i was mezmorized watching the poets bare their souls and experiences in their poetry and stories. i was also impressed how they infused their delivery with a story of the police interviewing questioning them as it was their fault for giving this kid who killed 29 other kids in his classroom the idea to do this. they weaved personal stories with stories of other people who could be involved as to insights on why this happened. and that's really the goal of this play - what could have made this person do this? this play that ran about 100 minutes with a 12-minute intermission blew me away. my favorite parts were the way one of the cops forensically told another detective exactly what happened in that classroom. "he fired two shots at that girl. (looking at a sheet) miss davis, one missed as you can see on the far wall another stuck in her abdomen. by this trail, she crawled to this spot before said shooter fired point blank into her temple..." and he continued to detail this slaughter WITHOUT feeling for the victims. matter of fact. by the book. were these all these kids were? matter of fact? then they'd mimic a news reporter who was only there for the story. then the dad of the shooter. powerful. and finally, they profiled the shooters from Columbine and that eventful day - in reverse! from the point where they committed suicide in library at 11:23 am and worked backwards: "the fire inhaled the smoke and bullet into the chamber of a 9mm with the eric kleebold's hand moving back down" just incredible use of telling a story in reverse. at the end, using the fact that they travel the country facilitating poetry workshops, they encounter a kid who is quiet and ask him to share his feelings, not with guns, but with poetry. for more info on them, check out their myspace page: www.myspace.com/thesuicidekingstrio and their page: suicidekingsspokenword.com


"Representa!"
Taken from La Pena's site: REPRESENTA! A hilariously, entertaining & provocative bilingual play combining spoken-word and poetry. Despite an atmosphere laden with stereotypes and anxieties between North Americans and Cubans, Chicano spoken word poet Paul Flores & Cuban rapper Julio Cardenas struck up a friendship when they met at the Havana Hip-Hop Festival. A fiercely incisive commentary on terrorism, immigration, Cuba, U.S. foreign policy, Bay Area lefty culture, New York after 9/11 and pan-Latino identity. A bilingual theatre, which combines spoken-word poetry with character portrayals, that is hilariously, entertaining & provocative. Directed by Danny Hoch. Presented in conjunction with Hip-Hop Theater Fest, SFIAF, & Mission Cultural Center. Saturday at 4pm a post performance talk with artists.

Again, INCREDIBLE! the story telling is incredible as they weave a number of different characters from their personal lives that interact with each other. it's hard to describe, but one that i definitely want to experiment with.

All in all - INSPIRED. not only do I want to Write, i want to perform.