Everything's coming up Emma!

I saw in the Dramatists Guild publication an ad for plays related to free speech issues. I immediately thought of my play about Emma Goldman, Words of Fire, and started compiling a character breakdown in preparation to send it in. Then I put on the brakes for a second and decided to have a look at my second Emma Goldman play, The Nature of the Beast. Turns out it is specifically related to free speech issues as Emma and Alexander Berkman were being persecuted for speaking out against the war effort in WWI.

Well . . .that was a surprise . . . so I figured I should read the play and much to my surprise and delight, it worked pretty well. So guess what, I decided it was the one to send. Yesterday I spent about four hours on reformatting the play, writing the bio, history of the play and how it relates to first amendment issues and sent it in.

Now, this is a play I haven't looked at or thought about much in oh maybe at least ten years (though more likely twelve since that is when I applied for the copyright). This play is one of the few that I've written that I have never had a reading of and never worked on in workshop (that I can remember). So what made me think of it now?

No clue.

This was the second of a planned trilogy, but I have not yet gotten around to play three . . . so I guess it's a duology. I did have something of a false start on a third play at one point but couldn't sustain it.

There was a moment in time when I was deeply immersed in all things Goldman/Berkman. I read her two volume autobiography, read other books about her and wrote a fairly massive first play, which had a successful reading or two way back when. But I never could crack the nut on play three. Perhaps part of that is that I never got any nibbles on Words of Fire . . . it is quite an effort to write a play, and even harder when you have to adhere to the facts of someone's life. I may get around to it one day or may not, but either way I am happy with the two plays as they stand right now.

Interestingly enough, I recently entered Words of Fire into a competition for plays about a famous woman. Maybe it's the year of Emma - it has been 100 years since the events that kick off The Nature of the Beast, which is another interesting note.

So onward.