Working working working

so my new project is to adapt a short story or poem written by a filipin@-american author into a 20-minute play. i've selected the short story "A Portrait of an Aristocrat" from the novel WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE by Tess Uriza Holthe. i've been drawn to this story ever since reading this 3 years ago. for some reason, it's really taken a hold of me. i think it's just seeing a scene where the protagonist, Fredrico Jacinto-Basa is mixing it up with the contagonist, Divina Zamora. The scene is where Divina first confronts Fredrico in his painting studio after he runs over her mothers vegetables in the market place with his Kalesa. she splashes wine all over his painting and i see him totally enraptured by her passion... something that none of his other portraits have.

at any rate, my task is to take this story of about 21 scenes and compress it into 15-20 minutes. it's gonna be hard, but it eases my mind to know that i've taken the steps to get to that point:

- re-write the story in my words point-by-point
- break this point-by-point re-write into scenes
- identify all of the characters
- identify the main theme
- create a "This story is about..." sentence. Learned this from Philip Kan Gotanda.
- this actually changed from my initial thought of what i thought the story was and this was only accomplished by having the point-by-point re-write.

This story is about how an aristocratic painter changes his beliefs on social equality after meeting his muse and her family during the late 1800's of a Spanish-colonized Philippines.

what i still need to accomplish:
- edit out the scenes which will help me tell the story into 20 minutes
- figure out what's the best method to do this
- cut out as many characters as i can and maybe combine characters

i'm on my way and the more times i go over what i've already done, the story will come more clearly into focus :)

Yeah! A new idea for a play

This story is about...

Mindy Garcia is the editor of her school’s newspaper who meets a young farm-worker named Fermin Tobera. While helping him recover something from his past, she uncovers the town’s longest secret. At the same time, she unexpectedly falls in love with him. Unfortunately, there’s a big problem: he’s a ghost.

I can't believe it. This idea had just come to me as I started writing out a scene and everything... just happened. I actually have a story: beginning, middle, and end. Characters. And most importantly, an ending. I know how it ends. I really can't believe it. Welps, the next step - write it! Good luck na lang!

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.

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!

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.