We had twelve people show up for our first meeting last night and everything went great. We read three pieces:
1) a 20-minute version of Chuck Cabell's full-length medieval fable "Jurgen"
2) "Prisoner of Love", a short scene about love and adultery from a longer piece titled "CohoEmails" by Janice Black
3) "Table for Three", a 10-minute comedy about a couple struggling to share a quiet anniversary by moi.
The actors were all excellent and really put their heart into the readings. It can be difficult bringing a character to life with little time for preparation, but I know that the reading for my play gave me several ideas for improving my piece, highlighting lines that needed to be cut or punched up to make them funnier.
One other key to the success of the evening was a surprise to me, but it shouldn't have been. We had several people who just wanted to watch, and their enthusiastic interaction with the performances reminded me how important the audience is to live theater.
Therefore, if I haven't mentioned this yet, let me make it clear now. You don't have to be a writer or actor to be a part of the Drama Lab. We need audience members just as much.
So come on down to our second reading from 7pm to 9pm on Monday, October 10 at the MAT!, 1367 Pecan St.
Anyone want to bring cookies?
