The reading of Writer's Block on Thursday went well. I waited until now to post something because I wanted to give it a little space to sort of matriculate before I did.
The turn out was good. Nice mix of members of the Fringe Playwrights Unit and other folks unrelated to that but who are good friends who keep coming out for stuff.
Thanks to Peter and Victor and James, the cast. They have pretty much been the only ones reading this piece over the last year or so that I've been taking it in to the Fringe. It was really valuable to hear it read. Though I have to say, it generally got better laughs in the workshop . . . it sort of makes me wonder if too much of the humor is theater-centric, but y'know what? That's ok because so am I!
I got great feedback . . . and confirmation for some things I kind of already felt about the piece. There were some clunky and problematic things about the script that I looked at very closely today and sort of think I solved most of them.
We'll see. I'm taking the new pages in on Tuesday so hopefully all will go well. There is a build to the end of the piece that felt a little abrupt before, but I worked to fix that today . . . and I think I did.
It had been a very long time since I had heard one of my full length plays read all the way through and it was refreshing to say the least. You can really get a better sense of the arc and how it works . . . I think this one does. But then I think all my plays do! Surprise!
So the next step is getting it out into the world. We'll see how it goes. It has been incredible fun to work on this piece and it's a real good example of how our lives intersect with our art. One of the key elements of the play, for example, is a play called The Conversation of Death. In the early days of working on this idea I read H is for Hawk . . . and one of the things she talked about in the book was the interaction between prey and hunter . . . well . . . that was too juicy to pass up so that influenced the play. There are other, smaller things as well . . .but it all goes into the baggy and gets mixed up until it comes out as this play . . . the title of which, by the by, I didn't put all that much thought into. Actually, when I was writing the program for Like a Sack of Potatoes, I wanted an announcement of this reading and I needed a title, which it did not have at the time . . . so I said what do I call it and the first words that bubbled up were Writer's Block . . . and it fit so beautifully . . . it kind of tells you that the piece is about the creative process without really rubbing your nose in it, so I think it's perfect for the piece . . .we'll see what kind of traction I get with it!
So . . . register with the Library of Congress and away we go . . . onto the next one!
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Friday, April 22, 2016
Writers Block around the corner
I took the first ten pages of the second act of Writers Block to the Fringe last night. It went very well . . . my cuts proved to be timely . . . I mentioned in a previous post that the 80 page play is now around 55,and most of that cutting is in act two. Specifically, the first twenty pages of the act. What is now the first page of act two was 23 pages in before . . . a lot of stuff I kind of like got lopped out, but it doesn't really matter whether I like it or not, what matters is if it serves the play . . . and in this case the play is better for the cuts.
So it'll be nice to have the whole thing read in one fell swoop. Last year we only read the first act of Brother of the End of the World, and I really missed not hearing the entire thing . . . but this play is significantly shorter and moves more spryly I think. It got nice feedback last night and some nice laughs (which is the best feedback of all if its in the right places, and it was). So I feel like we're ready. The three actors reading it have pretty much been doing so for the entire time . . . all last fall when I was bringing the piece into the workshop ten - fifteen pages at a time, so they know the parts pretty well and it's fairly ideal. It would be nice to have time for a run through, but I doubt that is gonna be possible.
So we'll see what happens. I'm gonna read stage directions since sitting and listening to a reading of my work is hard, there aren't that many directions and I can make notes in the script real time if something is awry.
I'm ready to start submitting this one now . . . I think it might have a shot at some interest since it's: 1) small cast, 2) one set and 3) a tip of the hat to the creative process.
But we'll see.
So it'll be nice to have the whole thing read in one fell swoop. Last year we only read the first act of Brother of the End of the World, and I really missed not hearing the entire thing . . . but this play is significantly shorter and moves more spryly I think. It got nice feedback last night and some nice laughs (which is the best feedback of all if its in the right places, and it was). So I feel like we're ready. The three actors reading it have pretty much been doing so for the entire time . . . all last fall when I was bringing the piece into the workshop ten - fifteen pages at a time, so they know the parts pretty well and it's fairly ideal. It would be nice to have time for a run through, but I doubt that is gonna be possible.
So we'll see what happens. I'm gonna read stage directions since sitting and listening to a reading of my work is hard, there aren't that many directions and I can make notes in the script real time if something is awry.
I'm ready to start submitting this one now . . . I think it might have a shot at some interest since it's: 1) small cast, 2) one set and 3) a tip of the hat to the creative process.
But we'll see.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Beckett
It was, I guess, unavoidable in this year of Beckett, that we would go see the evening of three pieces performed by Lisa Dwan. The three solo pieces, Not I, Rockabye and Footfalls were at the Skirball Center at NYU.
Traffic was bad news (not unusually bad in Manhattan, but really really bad on the Sawmill Parkway), but after we got there everything settled down. We went to Dojo on Mercer St. which is a couple of blocks from the theater. I've always been fond of that place and it didn't disappoint; food is good and prices are extremely reasonable. The one downer about Dojo is it's across the street from what used to be The Bottom Line . . . ah memories!
The first thing out of Wallace's mouth when he saw the space was 'This is not the right theater for these plays'. And he was right. Especially for Not I. The disembodied mouth was a tiny speck elevated 10 feet or more and way upstage. You could barely see it. I guess for a lone voice screaming into the void it was an interesting choice, but I think the piece would have been better served in a more intimate space.
I didn't have a similar problem with Rockabye and Footfalls. I guess with virtually any play the more intimate the better, and Bette had seen and been knocked out by these two plays with Billie Whitelaw when she originally performed them in the early '80s in NY in one of those smaller spaces on Theater Row. In the case of last night's performance, I think haunting is the best adjective. Beckett had a real sense of not only the poetry of the words but of the stage pictures themselves. In these two pieces an actress alone in the world, with the exception of the recorded voice. In the case of Footfalls the voice is the mother of the character and in Rockabye it is the internal monologue of the lone figure rocking her way through life 'alone in a window'.
Technically these pieces were amazing. The lighting in footfalls was ghostly and evocative, and in Rockabye it was stark white, from the side as she rocked and we hear the voice, providing an image of one side of her face lit and the other as dark as the far side of the moon, then the lighting would change when the voice and rocking stopped . . . and the woman in the chair would say simply: More. And the lighting would change back and the rocking start again.
Lisa Dwan was very good; in fact, Bette said she surpassed Whitelaw in Footfalls. At any rate, I'm glad we made the effort and went . . . a rare opportunity to experience Beckett on a very high level of performance and production. The director was Walter Asmus, who also directed the amazing Godot I saw a few years back. He is also a direct link to Beckett, having worked with him extensively.
Good stuff. I'll sure never forget it.
Next up in Beckettland: Happy Days with Diana Weist at Yale Rep! And you know what comes after that!
Traffic was bad news (not unusually bad in Manhattan, but really really bad on the Sawmill Parkway), but after we got there everything settled down. We went to Dojo on Mercer St. which is a couple of blocks from the theater. I've always been fond of that place and it didn't disappoint; food is good and prices are extremely reasonable. The one downer about Dojo is it's across the street from what used to be The Bottom Line . . . ah memories!
The first thing out of Wallace's mouth when he saw the space was 'This is not the right theater for these plays'. And he was right. Especially for Not I. The disembodied mouth was a tiny speck elevated 10 feet or more and way upstage. You could barely see it. I guess for a lone voice screaming into the void it was an interesting choice, but I think the piece would have been better served in a more intimate space.
I didn't have a similar problem with Rockabye and Footfalls. I guess with virtually any play the more intimate the better, and Bette had seen and been knocked out by these two plays with Billie Whitelaw when she originally performed them in the early '80s in NY in one of those smaller spaces on Theater Row. In the case of last night's performance, I think haunting is the best adjective. Beckett had a real sense of not only the poetry of the words but of the stage pictures themselves. In these two pieces an actress alone in the world, with the exception of the recorded voice. In the case of Footfalls the voice is the mother of the character and in Rockabye it is the internal monologue of the lone figure rocking her way through life 'alone in a window'.
Technically these pieces were amazing. The lighting in footfalls was ghostly and evocative, and in Rockabye it was stark white, from the side as she rocked and we hear the voice, providing an image of one side of her face lit and the other as dark as the far side of the moon, then the lighting would change when the voice and rocking stopped . . . and the woman in the chair would say simply: More. And the lighting would change back and the rocking start again.
Lisa Dwan was very good; in fact, Bette said she surpassed Whitelaw in Footfalls. At any rate, I'm glad we made the effort and went . . . a rare opportunity to experience Beckett on a very high level of performance and production. The director was Walter Asmus, who also directed the amazing Godot I saw a few years back. He is also a direct link to Beckett, having worked with him extensively.
Good stuff. I'll sure never forget it.
Next up in Beckettland: Happy Days with Diana Weist at Yale Rep! And you know what comes after that!
Monday, April 11, 2016
A moment for my poor ignored blog
Time flies don't it? You get up look around and a couple of weeks have gone by without a blog post! So anyway, lots of stuff happening in this most amazing of years. Now we have Like a Sack of Potatoes behind us, next up is the reading of my new piece Writers Block. It's Thursday, May 28th at 7 pm at the Westbeth Community Center. Then there are no other encumbrances to distract from Happy Days (except perhaps working for a living of course!).
I'm pretty happy with where Writers Block is now. Still working on it of course but it will be very nice to see how it goes over with folks. We read the first fifteen pages in the workshop last week and lots of laughs; it seems my surgery on the piece has worked its magic. And the real reconstruction has been in the second act. Vast swaths of the second act are gone now . . . to the extent that what was once an 80 page play is now under 60.
My process involves finding the story a little at a time . . . and then when I finally figure out how to end the piece I have to go back and make sure all the little bits that were written piece-meal fit together into a satisfying whole. A lot of work, but that what it's all about . . . so this is a fun piece. I like the characters, and I like the resolution of the piece . . . swinging for the bleachers . . . and if it works . . . what a rush . . . if it doesn't? Back to the drawing board.
So anyway, lots going on right now and couldn't be happier . . . one thing that does suffer though is this bit of navel gazing . . . but that's ok . . . you can't do everything!
I'm pretty happy with where Writers Block is now. Still working on it of course but it will be very nice to see how it goes over with folks. We read the first fifteen pages in the workshop last week and lots of laughs; it seems my surgery on the piece has worked its magic. And the real reconstruction has been in the second act. Vast swaths of the second act are gone now . . . to the extent that what was once an 80 page play is now under 60.
My process involves finding the story a little at a time . . . and then when I finally figure out how to end the piece I have to go back and make sure all the little bits that were written piece-meal fit together into a satisfying whole. A lot of work, but that what it's all about . . . so this is a fun piece. I like the characters, and I like the resolution of the piece . . . swinging for the bleachers . . . and if it works . . . what a rush . . . if it doesn't? Back to the drawing board.
So anyway, lots going on right now and couldn't be happier . . . one thing that does suffer though is this bit of navel gazing . . . but that's ok . . . you can't do everything!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Post Mortem
Maybe should have done this sooner, but it has been a pretty crazed week and I sort of wanted to take a bit of a breath after the run up to and the performances of Like a Sack of Potatoes.
It was a pleasure to do. A ton of work, but that's what it takes if you expect to be operating on any kind of professional level. All three performances were amazing from my perspective. As often happens they had their distinctly different aspects, including audience response. The first night there was more laughter the second more listening . . . the third was the smallest of the bunch (Sunday evening after all), so it was hard to track the tenor but they all really really liked the experience.
The challenge from an actors point of view, is to avoid the trap of trying to please an audience based upon what they are or aren't giving you. Just because they are quiet doesn't mean they aren't engaged, and pushing the performance to compensate is deadly. You dance with them that brung you; you trust the work that you've done and carry on . . . and spin your web.
So. Onward.
Spent the week working on Happy Days with Bette and my new play . . . with a title now: Writers Block. We're presenting a reading of it in May so I have work to do . . . but it's a pleasure to be thinking like a writer again, not just an actor.
I had to take Tuesday evening off as far as shlepping in for the Fringe Playwrights Unit. Three trips into the city is enough for the week and I needed to kick back a bit.
As to Writers Block: total reconstruction mode. The first draft got it down on paper/screen; figured out the story and how it ended . . . but as often is the case, since I tend to write in bursts, there were things that were redundant or that completely contradicted something earlier in the play . . . what I start off with evolves in the process and by the time I get to the end of draft one I look back at the beginning and have to figure out how to make it work to get to what I came up with for an ending.
So that's where I am now . . . going through it line by line, deleting, rewriting. And when I get to the end I'll have another look and see how it holds up . . . take some pages into the workshop and hear it read. By late May I will be ready.
It was a pleasure to do. A ton of work, but that's what it takes if you expect to be operating on any kind of professional level. All three performances were amazing from my perspective. As often happens they had their distinctly different aspects, including audience response. The first night there was more laughter the second more listening . . . the third was the smallest of the bunch (Sunday evening after all), so it was hard to track the tenor but they all really really liked the experience.
The challenge from an actors point of view, is to avoid the trap of trying to please an audience based upon what they are or aren't giving you. Just because they are quiet doesn't mean they aren't engaged, and pushing the performance to compensate is deadly. You dance with them that brung you; you trust the work that you've done and carry on . . . and spin your web.
So. Onward.
Spent the week working on Happy Days with Bette and my new play . . . with a title now: Writers Block. We're presenting a reading of it in May so I have work to do . . . but it's a pleasure to be thinking like a writer again, not just an actor.
I had to take Tuesday evening off as far as shlepping in for the Fringe Playwrights Unit. Three trips into the city is enough for the week and I needed to kick back a bit.
As to Writers Block: total reconstruction mode. The first draft got it down on paper/screen; figured out the story and how it ended . . . but as often is the case, since I tend to write in bursts, there were things that were redundant or that completely contradicted something earlier in the play . . . what I start off with evolves in the process and by the time I get to the end of draft one I look back at the beginning and have to figure out how to make it work to get to what I came up with for an ending.
So that's where I am now . . . going through it line by line, deleting, rewriting. And when I get to the end I'll have another look and see how it holds up . . . take some pages into the workshop and hear it read. By late May I will be ready.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
An interview
Review Fix Midtown International Theatre Festival Coverage: Ric Siler Talks ‘Like a Sack of Potatoes’
Posted by Patrick Hickey Jr. on 3/12/16 • Categorized as Theatre
Review Fix chats with playwright Ric Siler, who discusses his production, “Like a Sack of Potatoes” at this year’s Midtown International Theatre Festival.
About “Like a Sack of Potatoes”:
LIKE A SACK OF POTATOES by Ric Siler, directed by Bette Siler; starring Ric Siler. The ‘shotgun and rock salt talk’ usually was enough to keep boyfriends in line, but when one of his daughters marries an abusive husband, a farmer finds more drastic measures may be called for. (Hillbilly Gothic) *AEA Performance Schedule: Tues 3/15, 7:15pm; Sat 3/19, 7:45pm; Sun 3/20, 5:45pm
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?
Ric Siler: Like a Sack of Potatoes began with an image, a cloud of dust raised by something falling in a dusty barn. After that it was figuring out the story, which was inspired in part by my grandfather who was a farmer in Kentucky and grew tobacco, tomatoes and much more. He would sit under the walnut trees in front of his house and sell his tomatoes.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Siler: I discover the piece as I’m writing it. I didn’t know where Like a Sack of Potatoes was going when I started it, but as the story grew it took on a life of its own. It came pretty quickly and didn’t require much in the way of rewriting.
Review Fix: What makes this different or special?
Siler: Being from Appalachia informs my writing in not only my ‘voice’ but also the stories I tell. I like to think there is an authenticity which gives people a window into people they don’t normally get to meet, except as stereotypes. I refer to some of my pieces as ‘hillbilly gothic’ with a sense of pride.
Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Siler: It’s funny how much autobiography leeches into these pieces. As I said my grandfather was a farmer, and some of my fondest childhood memories involve being in the tobacco fields with him. Many of my character’s traits come straight from him (he really did eat the fat of the meat and he really did go blasting moles in his yard).
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?
Siler: I cherish any opportunity to perform my work. And having three performances in the city is nothing short of a delight.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?
Siler: For this production: to take people on a ride they will never forget. For the future: More.
Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?
Siler: The storytelling. This is, I hope, an engaging character. He’s a charmer at first, who takes action when he has to. With any luck people will be on the edge of their seats by the end of it.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Siler: Beckett’s Happy Day’s in August at the Byrdcliffe Theater in Woodstock, with my wife, Bette playing Winnie (Bette directed Sack of Potatoes), directed by Wallace Norman.
Posted by Patrick Hickey Jr. on 3/12/16 • Categorized as Theatre
Review Fix chats with playwright Ric Siler, who discusses his production, “Like a Sack of Potatoes” at this year’s Midtown International Theatre Festival.
About “Like a Sack of Potatoes”:
LIKE A SACK OF POTATOES by Ric Siler, directed by Bette Siler; starring Ric Siler. The ‘shotgun and rock salt talk’ usually was enough to keep boyfriends in line, but when one of his daughters marries an abusive husband, a farmer finds more drastic measures may be called for. (Hillbilly Gothic) *AEA Performance Schedule: Tues 3/15, 7:15pm; Sat 3/19, 7:45pm; Sun 3/20, 5:45pm
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?
Ric Siler: Like a Sack of Potatoes began with an image, a cloud of dust raised by something falling in a dusty barn. After that it was figuring out the story, which was inspired in part by my grandfather who was a farmer in Kentucky and grew tobacco, tomatoes and much more. He would sit under the walnut trees in front of his house and sell his tomatoes.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Siler: I discover the piece as I’m writing it. I didn’t know where Like a Sack of Potatoes was going when I started it, but as the story grew it took on a life of its own. It came pretty quickly and didn’t require much in the way of rewriting.
Review Fix: What makes this different or special?
Siler: Being from Appalachia informs my writing in not only my ‘voice’ but also the stories I tell. I like to think there is an authenticity which gives people a window into people they don’t normally get to meet, except as stereotypes. I refer to some of my pieces as ‘hillbilly gothic’ with a sense of pride.
Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Siler: It’s funny how much autobiography leeches into these pieces. As I said my grandfather was a farmer, and some of my fondest childhood memories involve being in the tobacco fields with him. Many of my character’s traits come straight from him (he really did eat the fat of the meat and he really did go blasting moles in his yard).
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?
Siler: I cherish any opportunity to perform my work. And having three performances in the city is nothing short of a delight.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?
Siler: For this production: to take people on a ride they will never forget. For the future: More.
Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?
Siler: The storytelling. This is, I hope, an engaging character. He’s a charmer at first, who takes action when he has to. With any luck people will be on the edge of their seats by the end of it.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Siler: Beckett’s Happy Day’s in August at the Byrdcliffe Theater in Woodstock, with my wife, Bette playing Winnie (Bette directed Sack of Potatoes), directed by Wallace Norman.
An interview
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