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.

All paid up

We had a small group last night, just ten of us, but we read some really good plays and heard some excellent performances.

I was especially glad to welcome Mark and Lauren Arnest back to our cozy group. Both have written for the Gazette (Mark was the arts writer for many years), and together they've written several produced plays. Their short comedy The Shrine of Blowbar was performed as part of FourPlay last year at the MAT and their full-length farce Maynard Dines In premiered a decade ago in Midland, Texas after being named runner-up in the McLaren Memorial Comedy Play Writing Competition. They promise to bring some of their stuff to next month's meeting.

Last night was a first of sorts: all of the plays were full-length. We opened with the start of Katherine Perrone's gritty child abuse drama Jade. We followed that with the start of Tim Phillips' rockin' girl band drama The Decibelles. And we wrapped up with the end of my backstage farce Kill the Critic!

There was some discussion of doing a full production of Kill the Critic!, if we can find someone willing to put up with all the physical abuse as the dead theatre critic. So keep your eyes open for developments on that front.

One big piece of news. I've now collected dues from 12 members, which means we've covered our rental cost at the MAT for a year. Any dues we collect from future members will be split between MAT and the Drama Lab and will go towards all sorts of edible goodies. Thanks to all for your prompt payments!

Sarah rules

Theatreworks usually has interesting guests for their Prologue Lecture series, but next month's offering promises to be a blockbuster. They're going to host Sarah Ruhl, the Pulitzer- and Tony-nominated playwright of In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, Eurydice, The Clean House and Dead Man's Cell Phone.

Unfortunately, they scheduled it for Monday, October 8, the same night as our next Drama Lab meeting (don't they check these things?). Sarah Ruhl is a must-see for our writers, and probably a large chunk of our actors, so I'm postponing Drama Lab until Monday, October 15.

I think it would be fun to go to the Sarah Ruhl talk as a group. The problem is that she's going to draw a TON of people. Kevin Landis of Theatreworks has already heard from one high school drama teacher in Denver who's planning to bring her entire class of students. He promised that everyone who wants to see Ruhl will see her, but I'm not sure how he plans to do that.

To be on the safe side then, we'll probably need to get there early. If you're interested in joining me, let me know. We'll figure something out.

For more info on the talk, visit the Theatreworks web site.

Happy birthday to us!

We had a small but cozy meeting last night, with nine attendees including one newbie (our newest writer, Katherine Gee Perrone). We started with a fun 10-minute play by Tim Phillips titled Esau and Jacob. Next up was part 3 1/2 of my full-length farce, Kill the Critic! We finished with part 1 of an intriguing family dramedy by Katherine very tentatively titled The Mormon Mom Play.

Jim Jackson also popped in to remind everyone of the playwriting contest for their upcoming FourPlay show. The theme will be announced at 7pm on Friday. Stop by the MAT or check their website at that time to find out what it is. Writers will have 44 hours to complete their play. If you think you want to participate, call 465-6321 before Friday to let him know you'll be writing.

Also I made one last pitch for my staged reading of The Butler Did It! this Saturday. Visit thebutlerdidit.eventbrite.com to reserve your free (yes, free!) tix. And thanks to everyone who brought costumes. You guys are going to look great!

Our next meeting is Monday, October 8. If you haven't paid your dues (dirt cheap at $25), you'll need to do so by Oct 31. Thanks!

And yes, as of September 12, the Drama Lab is one year old. We celebrated in our usual way, with cookies instead of cake. Here's to many more years--and cookies!

The butler did what?

The Drama Lab is a truly wonderful thing, giving actors an opportunity to practice their craft and writers the opportunity to hear their short works brought to life.

The one thing that's been a challenge for us is longer pieces. I've brought a couple of full-length plays to the Drama Lab, breaking them up over several meetings, and while I've gotten some excellent feedback this way, it doesn't give me a grasp of any pacing or continuity issues. It's also hard to tell how well the actions will work.

Which is why I'm pleased to announce that I will be producing a staged reading of my play The Butler Did It! on Saturday, September 15. We did readings of it from January to March this year, and now we're going to really put the pedal to the metal by adding a set, props and costumes.

The play is a comedy/mystery about a butler who gets falsely accused of murder and must prove his innocence while tied to a chair. The cast includes many of our regular actors:


JENKINS -- Craig Engle

SARAH JANE -- Linda Roeming

COLONEL NIGEL COVINGTON -- Dan Robbins

LADY MIRANDA COVINGTON -- Barbara Mosser

GRAM -- Karann Goetsch

KAT COVINGTON -- Nancy Holaday

TREVOR BARSTOW -- Roy Kieffer

FATHER TIMOTHY -- Buck Buchanan

EDWINA CORRY -- Mary Sprunger-Froese

There will actually be two readings next Saturday, one at 3pm and one at 7pm. The location is the Little Theatre at the University School of Colorado Springs, 2713 W. Cucharras. Nancy is the drama teacher there and she was extremely generous in offering us the use of her space.

Tickets are free, but must be reserved ahead of time. To get yours, click on the button below:

<a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4117896740?ref=ebtn" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.eventbrite.com/custombutton?eid=4117896740" alt="Eventbrite - Staged reading of THE BUTLER DID IT!" /></a>

Paying the piper

A year ago, when I first approached Jim Jackson and Birgitta De Pree about hosting a playwriting group at the Millibo Art Theatre, they loved the idea and agreed that we could use their venue for free the first six months while we worked to attract new members. After that, they would charge us a nominal fee.

That six months became a year, which was more than generous on their part. But now their board has voted to require a fee of all outside groups.

The fee I negotiated is $300 per year for twelve monthly meetings. That breaks down to $12.50 an hour. If you've ever had to rent a theatre, then you'll know how incredibly cheap that is. When I was running Pikes Peak KidStage, we would often do our shows at District 20 school auditoriums, and they charged $200 an hour.

So I think we can swing this. The challenge is finding a convenient and equitable way to do so.

One thing I don't want to do is a charge a per-meeting fee. That would be a constant headache to collect.

Instead, what I would like to do is charge all writers and actors a $25 annual membership fee. I think we have at least 12 people who would be willing to join, which would meet the $300 fee. If we get more people, the extra money would be used for cookies and other goodies. If we get a lot more people, we could reduce the membership fee.

Spectators would always be able to attend for free. Besides encouraging a large and enthusiastic audience, this would give potential writers and actors an opportunity to check our group out before they commit.

I hope this won't be a financial burden to anyone. Let me know what you think.

Playwrights, start your laptops

Jim Jackson took some time during this month's meeting to let us know about Four Play. This showcase of four short plays is returning in September, and Jim encouraged the writers of the Drama Lab to submit.

This is a wonderful opportunity for local playwrights to get produced. Last year, the MAT received 17 submissions and produced--you got it--four. That might seem like tough odds, but most 10-minute festivals get 300+ submissions and produce only 10. So this contest is well worth the effort.

All sscripts must include the prompts that will be announced at the MAT (1367 Pecan St.) and on their web site at 5pm on Friday, September 14. The deadline is 1pm on Sunday, September 16, giving the playwrights a scant 44 hours to complete their plays. (I talked to one of the winning playwrights from last year, and he told me he cranked out his script in one 6-hour binge on Saturday night.)

Jim did offer one piece of advice to help contestants improve their chances. It's all about producability. You may write the cleverest, most amazing play in the world, but if it's hard to produce, it's not going to be selected. The MAT puts these plays together in just a week, so there can't be any unreasonable technical challenges in terms of sets, costumes or special effects.

There's no strict length limit, but pieces should be around 10 to 20 minutes. And stay away from those casts of thousands. Three to six actors seems to work best.