Conrad's Playspace Has a New Home

Thanks for stopping by, but I'm moved my blog. Please visit conradsplayspace.wordpress.com. Muchos gracias!

witty stuff

"He sure went out of his way to stick up for Donald Trump (because he is just so shiny!)"
- Jason Linkins, CNN Correspondent Asks White House About Obama's Birth Certificate. April 28, 2011. Huffington Post

In other words, he’s pretty far from being a can.
- Chuck Mindenhall, Ellenberger leery of avoiding 'the trap', April 28, 2011, Espn.com

In need of DISCIPLINE

"Trying to work on a script and developing an artsy-fartsy attitude telling meself that "it feels too early to slip into that writing mood." Not cool to feel that it's "right" to create in that 2-3am world. Need more discipline to be able to write at any time."

The above was a facebook status post. I'm thinking that it's just the atmosphere that I'm writing in: American Idol in one ear and being distracted by it and feels like there's just too much light. In short, I'm not in that zone. I don't think it's a matter of being focused, but more so that I don't have the discipline yet to be able to slip into that zone. Zone: that place (kind of like where I am now) where I have that skill to block out everything around and actually get lost in the world that I'm creating.

Discipline also means that I should block out WRITING TIME every day so that when I do slip into these distracted moments, I know that I can automatically slip into that Zone. Well, I'll have to work on that as well. Being a writer shouldn't be easy at every second when you want it to be. Let's go!

Taking Your Play for a Test Spin: The Un/Staged Reading

Stories High 12 Reading Cast of Thicker Than Wine (l:r-Patrick Silvestre, Rob Trinidad, Alan Quismorio, Aaron Niles, Gemma Calderon, and Aura San Miguel)

Ooooos Ahssss And Hahahas are what hooked me into the Theater game in the first place, but those audience reactions were always a by-product of seeing a story brought to life on stage. One of my favorite audience moments was during the reversal scene from my play, BORDERS. In it, a woman discovers that a flirtatious guy sitting at the next table in a cafè isn't whom she (or the audience) thinks he is. "Oh my God," was caught from an audible whisper of the person next to me as I watch the scene unfold from my back row seat at the old (current Boxcar) Bindlestiff Studio Blackbox Theater.

Sometimes I get so caught up in being solo in writing a story that I tend to over intellectualize it. From dissecting the level of conflict, flow of dialogue, to character names, especially in during the incubation of a play can be a very personal and sometimes lonely journey. But the light at the end of the tunnel appears when I finally get that story in front of a real AUDIENCE during an un/staged reading. I'll define audience as consisting of a sample size of more than 10 strangers "off the street" type.

What I love about writing for the stage is, duh, the ALIVE audience! If they're asleep, you fail. Bored, looking around, reading the program, talking on a mobile - all the same. Fail. That's why the value of these pre-produced readings is Gold!

I recently had one of these readings produced by Bindlestiff Studios for my newest play, THICKER THAN WINE. I've already heard my play hundreds of times in my head, so I know it's good, but that judgment isn't worth spit if the people I'm writing for aren't engaged in the story I created.

There is a caveat to this though: don't let the audience change the core of the story. Their reaction can cause you to re-write the entire play, but the core/theme/message chose you to write. I've been down that road with THE GIFT. After a reading, I re-wrote the whole script with new characters and setting! Lesson learned: Don't do that again. But I did learn from that audience reaction from this staged reading.

Look for these opportunities to get your play seen in these types of readings cuz you'll def learn so much from them. I did!

Launching a career as a Playwright

One of the things I learned from the Anthem Salgado's workshop on Blogging was to have a "search-friendly" Blog Post title. Hopefully this will be the first of many posts that will bring more insight on what's the goings on as I really do launch into this career that I've always felt was my calling and have honestly took for granted.

I've been writing plays since 1995 and I believe the exact moment that set me on this path was hearing an audience laugh at a line during the PCN (Pilipino Culture Night) Play I wrote for Samamhang Pilipino at CSU, Sacramento in 1995. I remember when everyone was off to the Union at the reception after the final bows, I was left cleaning up the Music Recital Hall where the production was performed. I sat down in one of the seats of the auditorium, and soaked in every moment of that night. People actually cared about the story I remember handwriting in the bed of my old pickup after having the different characters' stories intertwine during the life of a marketplace (palengke) in the Philippines. Back then, I didn't know what drama, conflict, structure, or a dénouement was. I just had a story that needed to be told. And by golly, I did it and an audience reacted to it. It also taught me how much working in a production can't be done on it's own. I "directed" it, but I knew how much each individual person would bring to the role. I felt bad because I had to re-cast one of the roles, well, the actor missed A LOT of rehearsals without explanation, but other than that, I've been hooked on storytelling for a live audience ever since.

It's 16 years, and quite a few plays later, and I'm now ready to make that leap into trying to turn this into a career. A career? Like actually trying to make a living at this? I'd love to, but it's also a comfort to know that I have a really good day-job to fall back on as a Web Developer. But it's still nice to dream. BIG!

The Batmobile

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/mis/2161327767.html

Location: Chevron on 41st
Me: Cute girl driving black Civic - my friend gave you a thumbs up :)
You: I think you're Batman, but I need to know for sure. You drive what's known around here as the Batmobile. I've seen your car around before, but today I got to see you through those skinny windows. I liked what I saw.

To be honest, your car really turns me on. I'd love to go for a ride sometime. Let me know if you're interested. ;)

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

The Batmobile
by conrad panganiban

GABRIELLE
So how long have you had the car?

BRUCE
Not that long. People really call this the Batmobile?

GABRIELLE
Well, maybe just me and my friends. You're new here, aren't you?

BRUCE
Not that new. You just never saw me before.

GABRIELLE
Right. The skinny windows.

BRUCE
Right.

GABRIELLE
So. You gonna take me out for a ride?

BRUCE
Depends.

GABRIELLE
Depends on what?

BRUCE
If you're worthy.

GABRIELLE
Worthy?

BRUCE
Yeah.

GABRIELLE
Trust me. I am.

BRUCE.
Not in that way, Gabby.

GABRIELLE
It's Gabrielle, and how'd you know my name?

BRUCE
Well, then excuse me, Gabrielle, but not in that way. I was talking about something you can do for me.

GABRIELLE
What I can do for you?

BRUCE
I need the keys to your dad's shop.

GABRIELLE
What are you talking about?

BRUCE
You said that you wanted a ride?

GABRIELLE
Yeah, but…

BRUCE
Well, how much of that ride do you want? Or is it, how much do you want to drive it?

GABRIELLE
I told you, the car turns me on.

BRUCE
350 dual-cam carburetor with a

GABRIELLE
500 cubic manifold intake valve.

BRUCE
It's 550.

GABRIELLE
You might want to check again. So what do you want from my pop's shop?

BRUCE
Does he still have the three-quarter Edge Spring for the '66 Chevy Firesnake?

GABRIELLE
A '66 Firesnake?

BRUCE
I guess you're not very interested in the Batmobile anymore.

GABRIELLE
It's a Prius compared to a Firesnake. No offense.

BRUCE
I wouldn't say Prius. More like Mustang… but definitely not a Prius.

GABRIELLE
You know what I mean. So… how'd you get the other one? Since there were only...

BRUCE
Can you get me the Edge Spring?

GABRIELLE
He's gonna notice it's gone.

BRUCE
Of course he would. But by the time he'd notice, we'd be long gone too.

GABRIELLE
We?

BRUCE
The people I work for would appreciate your line of expertise, Gabby. A lot more than your father does.

GABRIELLE
How much more? And it's Gabrielle.

BRUCE
Let's just say that the Edge Spring isn't for my car. It'd be for yours. Trust me. The best thing to ever come out of this rinky dinky town is you, but if you wanna stay rinky dinky, you can stay right here taking orders from your old man who'll keep you trapped swapping oil underneath Soccer Wagons and Priuses forever. Call me crazy, but I'd think that working on Lamborghinis, Bugattis, or a Koenigseggs would be a step up.

GABRIELLE
A Koenigsegg?

BRUCE
The Agera, Trevita, and I almost forgot, the CCXR. You think you can handle those?

GABRIELLE
I… uh.

BRUCE
We don't have time for "uhs", Gabby. 1:23am. In the back of your pop's shop. You're there with the part, and we're gone. If not… then I'll be. I'll see you soon… Gabrielle.

THE END

Standing... Blind writing

What I mean about blind writing is that I began writing this script, Standing Above Pajaro, about two years ago and while I have my notes a out the play on my home computer, which I'm currently away from, I'm rewriting what I have of the script from memory. It's going pretty well but now I'm near the climax of the story and it feels like it's kinda falling apart because I don't have my notes on what's going to happen next.

But overall, I'm happy with the pacing of the dialogue, which is more my style. Which is to say that, I'm incorporating the LaBute quickfire overlapping (using his same script shorthand / at the point of overlappage) while paying close attention to how much to reveal and Jeanie's rules of what every line needs to do: 1) push the story along, 2) describe the charter and 3) show/infer action. If the line does neither of these three, kill it!

So hopefully, I can present this at a Wordy Word to hear this skeleton script: how it fits together before adding flesh/soul/meat to the play.

My goal on this vacation is to finish this one as well as a re-write of Boys Don't Bake Cake.

Ciao for now!