Slow but steady

They said it couldn't be done, but we did it. Last night, we read six scripts in 2 1/2 hours. And what a great lineup it was, too.

We started with Daddy, a 10-minute relationship dramedy by one of our new writers Charlie Ammen. Next up was the first part of The Cafeteria, a dystopian business comedy by our other new writers Mark and Lauren Arnest. After that came the third part of The Decibelles, the edgy girl band musical by Tim Phillips. We moved on from there to the beginning of Chef's Surprise, a one-act restaurant farce by me. Next we read the first part of Selkie, a musical drama which co-writer Katherine Perrone based on the Scottish folktale The Seal Wife. And we wrapped up with the first part of 00:00, an experimental drama about a lonely professor by David Overbey.

Whew! A lot of scripts--some moving, some funny--but all wonderful.

Of course, to get out of there by 9:30pm, I had to keep discussion to 10 minutes per play, but it seemed to work. The pace of the evening stayed light and brisk, and all of the writers got great feedback. It seems like all the best ideas come out in the first 10 minutes anyway.

And with all seven writers signed up to bring something next month it looks like it'll be another full night on December 10.

For this reason, I'll keep to the 10 minute rule. And I'd also like to cut back on the number of pages per play from 20 to 15.

Sure, it'll take longer to get through each play. But if you think about it, each writer will end up with more feedback because we'll be breaking each play into more bits.

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. We had a total attendance of 13, with one new actor, Katherine's husband Matt, who showed a real flair for accents as a gloomy Russian waiter.

Anyway, thanks to all who came. And thanks too for bearing with me as we manage our slow but steady growth.