NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED ABOUT DAVID MAMET AND HIS HYPOCRISY

 

The Cover of Mamet's new collection of rambling essays, perhaps better titled "Get Off My Lawn!"

David Mamet, who I have long thought became a parody of himself in terms of his work, is now proving to be a parody of a human being with any kind of rational or sane thought. While promoting his new book of old essays, he made comments accusing teachers of being prone to pedophilia (especially male teachers), all in a discussion ultimately geared toward encouraging the "Don't Say Gay" bill (so much for the Free Speech in his book's title). While these comments are indeed flabbergasting and upsetting, I don't really think anyone should be surprised that Mamet made them, nor should they be surprised that he made them with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in terms of facts to back them up. One should almost have expected it considering that Mamet, since becoming a relic of a playwright, has spent the last 25 years of his career working hard at being a contrarian, who I'm sure would prefer the terms "iconoclast" or "rebel," a blowhard hoping that there is some connection between notoriety and relevance. Sadly, though, the very aspects of Mamet that enables him to shamelessly make such idiotic comments, were given to him by the theater critics and audiences over the years, the ones who built him up and confused much of is bluster with "bravery" and "genius". I am not blameless in this myself. 

It would be a lie if I said I was never a Mamet fan. Like many playwrights (particularly, but not exclusively male) of my generation, I grew up hearing he was the best. The movie adaptation of his play "Glengarry Glen Ross" was electrifying with James Foley's slick direction and a handful of truly wonderful and wonderfully energetic performances by some great actors. I remember buying copies of his plays "Sexual Perversity in Chicago/The Duck Variations" and "Oleanna", and trying to break them down. His Pulitzer-winning "American Buffalo" is perhaps the first example of Mamet being called a master of dialogue, a poet using four-letter words. And indeed, there is no question he has made an impact on American Theatre in a big way--- but it hasn't all been good. In fact, I would say it is arguable that "Glengarry Glen Ross" is his last good play, and that was in 1984.  "Oleanna," though immensely popular for college scene work, is a play that doesn't come from character but from theme. In fact, I would say that the playwright's intentions are like a big fingerprint all over that script, making it more of a diatribe than a play. By the end, both characters feel more like husks that are being moved around. As for plays like "Race"--- well, who really needs another rich white guy talking about how complicated race is, except when seen through his own white lens? 

Mamet has always had a problem with education. His book, "True and False", encourages young actors to not go to college, and his own daughter, actress Zosia Mamet, told Conan O'Brien during an interview that her father encouraged her not to pursue higher education. Much of what Mamet describes as being the job of an actor in "True and False" is to learn their lines and to say them "courageously". He wrote the slim volume in the height of "Look at me! I'm slaughtering sacred cows!" days. And certainly, the silliness of some method acting needs to be taken down more than single peg, and one can't help but argue that was part of Mamet's intentions with the book. Though one should also remember that Mamet himself went to Goddard College, and also studied under famed acting teacher Sanford Meisner--- he is interviewed for a Meisner documentary and blurbs Meisner's acting book--- and said he was one of the great teachers who was telling the truth. One should also remember that "The Practical Handbook for the Actor" (which I bought when I was in high school and highlighted extensively) was written by STUDENTS of David Mamet and his frequent collaborators William H. Macy and Gregory Mosher. Mamet himself wrote the introduction, calling it the "best book on acting written in the last twenty years"---- this, of course, was before "True and False" came out. The Atlantic Theater Company, founded by Mamet, Macy and their ACTING STUDENTS, still teaches classes based Mamet's thoughts on what actors should know. 

So much for a generation of actors who should stay out of school. 

And one must wonder how someone who has spent a good deal of time teaching can make statements about male teachers being especially predatory. I certainly couldn't accuse Mamet of being predatory himself, though he seems to have no problem generalizing about the predatory nature of teachers for an interview on Fox News. 

Still, he has reason to believe that the verbiage he spews on any topic that crosses his mind is sacred, because so many are quick to call him a genius. He used to get off on it when it came from Hollywood liberals, but, after he very publicly rebranded himself as ultra-Conservative (in typical blustery fashion, saying he was no longer a "Braindead liberal"), he is happy to take the label wherever he can get it. This is why he can call Trump a "great President" and even talk about how the election was stolen--- even though, in a rare moment of walking back, he said he "misspoke".  He has propped up by many to be one of the sacred cows he used to enjoy slaughtering so much. One could reasonably guess he prefers actors without training because they make better puppets. One may suggest that he thinks his dialogue, in which people hardly speak in full sentences but are cut off by dashes and ellipses, is realistic because he likely prefers to be the only one talking and not letting anyone else sneak a thought in a conversation. 

If Mamet possessed any self-doubt instead of his brash, encouraged narcissism, he might be mortified by how ignorant and absurd his recent statements about teachers came off. Unfortunately, I've no doubt that his ego is steering him to view the justifiable backlash as "cancel culture", probably going so far as to smugly think how it proves his point. And this is the same narcissism that destroyed his work long before it hindered his reputation. It doesn't seem like coincidence that Mamet stopped being a "Braindead liberal" as soon as he was completely affluent and celebrated by New York critics as being "the greatest living American playwright," a title which, even when I was a fan, I never thought was true. 

When it comes right down to it, David Mamet is just another hypocrite with too large a platform, an overpraised rich white dude, who believes that what "free speech" means for him (and other overpraised rich white dues) is to never be criticized or ostracized for the "brilliant" things he says, no matter whether they are true or not. Cancel culture only exists when it is directed to people of his ilk. Mr. Mamet wants the rest of the world to be cut off by his dashes and ellipses--- because it really only matters if his speech is free of opposing opinions. 

30 PLAYS IN 30 DAYS: Play #26 "Summer and Smoke" by Tennessee Williams

 

I have decided for the month of September to read 30 plays in 30 days. It is my belief that, if possible, a play should be read in one sitting to get a better inherent sense of the dramatic arc. Each day, I will write a short post here about the play of the day.

Play #26

Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams

One can't really have  discussion about 20th century American theater without mentioning Tennessee Williams (born Thomas Lanier Williams III). Along with biggies like Eugene O'Neill, he is considered to be one of the most important dramatists of the era--- his play A Streetcar Named Desire is considered as seminal an American work as O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. His first major success came with The Glass Menagerie when he was just 33, and the prolific, lyrical playwright followed it up with a string of hits, including winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, once for the aforementioned Streetcar and again for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. 

Summer and Smoke opened in 1948, his first follow-up to Streetcar, though he had been working on it since 1945 under the title Chart of Anatomy (such a chart is pivotal in the play). The play is sort of a love story (or maybe, more appropriately, a love story that doesn't really happen) between Alma, the minister's daughter, and John, following in his father's footsteps by becoming a doctor. Alma, her name meaning "soul", believes in the spirit within a person, while John is more interested in the flesh. The play is told in two parts--- Summer and Winter--- and in many ways is a philosophical argument between these two ways of looking at humans (argument being the word the characters use). Alma loves John, believes he could ascend to be above what he is in the first part, that is, a drunkard who goes after pleasure where he can find it. By the end, however, Alma and John have reversed, or so we are led to think--- she has "won the argument" according to John, who now believes in the soul, and Alma is no longer sure of such things... only sure that she loves him and can't be with him. Now, I say that John has supposedly changed, though, by the end, he is with a woman who he admits is still "just a child", who we first met as a 16 year-old student with a school girl crush on him.  So... yeah. 

While Tennessee Williams is always a pleasure to read--- he is such a gifted writer and spins an interesting tale that you want to see reconciled--- this play is not his best. Alma really is little more than a symbol for the spirit, and her "nervous attacks" (John gets her hooked on pills for that--- yay) and strange laughter feel more like quirks than actual character traits. John is also too much of a symbol, and, as mentioned before, I did not find his journey believable or earned. Nor did what keeps them apart at the end seem genuine to me, either. 

I know this sounds like I didn't like the play, but that is not true at all. It really is a great read, and Williams, very specific in his stage directions, sets up a nice visual picture, and there are beautifully written monologues. 

Interestingly enough, this story must have kept kicking around in Williams' head, because he rewrote the play in 1964 with the title The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. It is said that he prefers this play to Summer and Smoke, and some of the criticisms about the character Alma are said to be rectified in Nightingale. This, of course, makes me want to find a copy of it so I can do a side-by-side compare/contrast... perhaps some day. 

One final note: the play begins with a Prologue of a young John and Alma at the fountain (which also is of importance in the play). It is a short scene, but I really like it. Williams, in my opinion, was pretty good at writing children, and I almost wish this scene had been longer. Makes me want to take another look at his excellent one-act, This Property is Condemned. 

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to check out the rest of my blog. If you're interested in my plays, you can click HERE, HERE, HERE or even HERE

AN INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT SUSAN PARKER

 

NOTE:  This interview was conducted for Lakewood Theater's program for their production of Who's In Bed With The Butler?

BACKSTORY WITH BOBBY KENISTON

 I had no idea when I set out to write this final backstory of the season that it would turn out to be a kind of love story. Michael Parker, the playwright behind Who's In Bed With The Butler, passed away in 2019. I had been in touch with Mr. Parker a few years ago for an interview about his play The Sensuous Senator which he wrote with his wife, Susan, and received a very generous and kind response. I reached out to Susan to offer my condolences, and learned that she and Michael had met when she had acted in a few of his plays, including the world premiere of Who's In Bed With The Butler, where she played opposite Michael, leading to a real life love connection. Susan described the original production vividly:

“A world production means you are the first to bring to life the character that was written by the playwright. As an actor you pray that you do both the playwright and the character justice. The cast for the premiere was extremely talented and working with Michael was great. He was always encouraging and giving us insights into what he was looking for in the characters. However, he was a stickler for getting your lines correct; which is why as we walked to rehearsal, we practiced the scenes which we had together. I played Susie and he was Clifton, the butler. Finally, when opening night arrived, we were ready. I could have recited my lines in my sleep. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always imitate art, and I forgot my lines! Having the playwright in the audience when this happens is one thing, but having him on stage with you is another. I had complete confidence that Michael would rescue us! As we blindly bantered back and forth trying to find the lines, all I could think of was, 'You wrote the damn play, why can’t you remember the lines?' Eventually, the play continued, we received a standing ovation from the audience and afterwards, had a great laugh. Being in a world premiere is a once in a lifetime experience. You have the opportunity to be in a production that no one has ever seen, your name is included in the manuscript as a member of the original cast and more importantly you create lifetime memories. For me, the most special part of this play was that life finally did imitate art….Susie really did get the Butler.”

Becoming Michael's writing partner as well as his life partner was also another great source of joy, as well as tremendous learning opportunity for this former teacher. “I think having the opportunity to act in Michael’s farces gave me a much better understanding of what the actors need in order to tell the story being created,” Susan wrote. “I learned that as a playwright, it is my job to find the balance between telling an actor what to do and not giving them enough information to understand what it is you want.” The Parkers' website shares their philosophy on how farce best works, and I asked Susan if she could elaborate on this philosophy, and she happily obliged:

“The concept of keeping the characters grounded, having them play the role seriously, originates from the English farces which Michael grew up with. This is what makes Parkers American Farces different and funnier. This concept is often missed by many directors and actors who do not relate to the English style of farce. One example of a great American actor who did understand this philosophy was Bob Newhart.”

Susan is keeping up the Parker brand as she continues to write, and acknowledges how blessed she has been to have had careers as an actress and playwright, and, even more importantly, to help spread laughter to audiences all over the world. “One of the best compliments I’ve ever received,” Susan told me, “was from an elderly woman who had just seen Who's In Bed With the Butler? She said, 'My husband died 6 months ago, and this was the first time I’ve laughed since.'”

For her part, Susan likes to find productions of the plays she wrote with her husband and sit in the audience, soaking up the laughter. It is a way for her to connect with her late husband, and to “experience that same ‘aha’ moment of joy,” that she and Michael had when writing the play together.

If you would like to learn more about Michael and Susan Parker's plays and their philosophy of writing farces, you can do so by visiting their website:  https://www.michaelparkerplaywright.com

30 PLAYS IN 30 DAYS: Play # 5 "All Over" by Edward Albee

 

I have decided for the month of September to read 30 plays in 30 days. It is my belief that, if possible, a play should be read in one sitting to get a better inherent sense of the dramatic arc. Each day, I will write a short post here about the play of the day.

Play #5

All Over by Edward Albee

Despite the huge success of the playwright's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, both on Broadway and in Mike Nichols first feature film as a director, and the Pulitzer Prize he won for A Delicate Balance in 1966, Edward Albee's All Over was torn to pieces by many critics and closed after only 40 performances on Broadway in 1971. This despite Albee's (in my opinion, much-deserved) renown, and a powerhouse team, including Jessica Tandy and Colleen Dewhurst in leading roles, and John Gielgud at the helm of the production.  The play fared better a year later with the Royal Shakespeare Company's production in London, a production which featured Angela Landsbury. Clive Barnes, who felt Woolf was overpraised and considered All Over to be Albee's most important work to date, wrote, "It is a moving meditation and threnody on death--- and there indeed is the rub. One could hardly expect such a subject to be popular on Broadway, nor did it prove so.... the notices were almost gleefully savage, pointing out the work's melancholy and mood, the special musical tonality of its texture, and its slowness, without catching its poetry and subdued passion, its operatic grace, and careful construction, its beautiful writing, and, most of all, its grave and noble sense of man's mortality." Barnes concluded: "Perhaps people do not wish to be assured that they too will one day die."

While I do not find All Over to be my favorite of Albee's early work--- I am incredibly fond of Zoo Story, the Ionesco-inspired American Dream, and yes, I am captivated by the energy in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?--- I do agree that All Over has a great deal of beauty in its writing, and find it puzzling that it failed so terribly here in the states. Yes, it is slow--- Albee uses variations of the word "languid" more than once in describing a character's demeanor--- but it is not without precision and passion, as Mr. Barnes notes. 

It is literally a deathbed play. An unnamed "great" man (or at least mildly famous, as the press awaits on the property for word of his death) lays dying, while being cared for by a Doctor in his 80s and a Nurse. In wait are the man's Wife, his Mistress, his Son and his Daughter, and his Best Friend, who is also the family lawyer (none of the characters are given names, only these titles in relationship to the dying man). The Wife seems closer with, and more fond of, the Mistress than her own grown children. Indeed, she is disgusted by her Son (though I find him to be the most likeable of the characters, but perhaps that says more about me) for showing too much emotion at times, and the Daughter and Mother wage an all-out war of words and emotions against one another for much of the play. 

I believe Albee to a lyrical and wondrous writer, and there are many speeches that do not disappoint. Perhaps though, it is the number of ponderous monologues delivered that kept U.S. audiences from completely tuning in, as well as the inability to find a completely consistent tone between family drama and Theatre of the Absurd. Albee once said that his three favorite playwrights were Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Eugene Ionesco (in that order), and this play feels Pinter inspired in some ways--- it has no fear of pauses and silence--- and that can be disconcerting for many audiences. 

I dig this play and its language, but at times find it has a "trying too hard" quality for me. Perhaps this is something I ought not be critical of, but I am. I also find that, unlike Zoo Story, Virginia Woolf, or a later work like Three Tall Women, the speeches, while still well-written, seem to run out of energy. Perhaps this was by design, but it doesn't change the fact that, at least on the page, some feel a bit overlong and tedious by the end of them. 

But only a bit. This is still great writing, folks, and I would be more than happy to catch a production of it some day. But then, I have never hidden the fact that I am an Albee fanboy in many ways, as it was early viewings of readings of some of his plays that first made me see what theater could be capable of that not even movies can achieve. So I will always presume that even when I find problems in his plays, some of them may very well be my own. 

How Covid-19 Made an Effect On This Playwright

 

The Virus that Stopped the World

I have a confession to make right up front: 

I take care of my parents who are both of advanced years. Since having this responsibility, I have found myself becoming more and more afraid of germs, even before pandemic. When directing plays during the Maine fall and winter, I made it clear to my cast that if they felt sick, they should stay home. I had bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere, especially near me. 

You can imaging that the pandemic only exacerbated these feelings within me, and, to be frank, I have been dealing with what is called illness anxiety, or, what some might call being a hypochondriac. Because of this, when I tell you that I believe safety should always come first, you can believe I mean it. I have known three people who lost their lives to the virus, and many others who were quite ill but fortunately recovered.  

I want to make it clear that this post is not a post against the lockdowns that occurred and the activities that were cancelled for public health and safety. I am pro-science and pro-safety all the way.

But I did want to write a post to let people know how the pandemic made an impact on my playwriting career, as a workman playwright who depends on royalties from schools and community theaters. 

I think you can guess the answer:

Obviously, my productions went down. Drastically. Performances were (again, understandably) cancelled. All in all, I would say I experienced easily a 60% drop. And that hurts one financially. But what hurt even more, was that I felt I had at last published a play that could be a holiday hit for me, certainly the biggest hit I would have had up until this point in my writing career.  The play is called A Wicked Christmas Carol (it is published by Playscripts, Inc., and you can order it by CLICKING HERE). Watching theater disappear just as I had a play that I thought could really go somewhere was devastating to me. It is not easy to have a hit when you're in my market. 

As you must know if you are theater folks reading this, many wonderful groups did their best to keep the spirit of live theater alive using Zoom technology. That is one way I maintained some royalty payments at all!  In fact, a theater group in London did a Zoom production of A Wicked Christmas Carol (did I mention you could order the play by CLICKING HERE). I thought this was an ambitious undertaking---the play is a solid 2 hours long, which isn't necessarily easy to maintain on Zoom. But, this wonderful group really made something special and unique from it, using the medium in creative ways. And certainly one major positive from the entire situation is the fact that this Maine-based playwright who never could have afforded to travel to London to watch the production, was able to watch it live streaming, which was by far the highlight of my Christmas season. 

I suppose I could wind up being divisive here, but it is my blog these are my feelings: 

If we want live theater to come back, we've got to bring it back safely. That means cast members who are old enough, should be vaccinated. And there is nothing wrong with a theater telling the public that audience members must show proof of vaccination, and still wear masks. With the Delta Variant, we can't be too careful. This is how Broadway is proceeding, and I believe it is the smart way to proceed. There should also be some kind of air replacement system that keeps air circulating in the theater. Ventilation is important.

Again, this isn't about politics, or about being divisive, it is about public health and having the things we love once more, and helping artists like me to make a living again. Please get vaccinated and please mask up, so that when Christmas rolls around we don't have another outbreak, forcing all of the Christmas productions to be cancelled. 

And speaking of Christmas productions, I know of a great Christmas play. You can learn more about it by CLICKING HERE. 

Please keep theater alive moving forward by being safe. Overcautious, even. Because as lovely as Zoom can be, we all know it is not quite the same thing as being there in theater experiencing it all together. 

Let's make that happen. 

HOW READING PLAYS MADE ME A PLAYWRIGHT: The Tale a Theater Kid, A Local Library, and a Ten Cent Book Sale

 

Me, With Two of My Childhood Teachers

For better or worse (I like to think better, except when I'm short on cash and in need of a bigger royalty check), I grew up in a theatrical household. I don't just mean because of the drama, though we certainly had our fair share. No, I mean that my parents were both involved in theater from the time I was a very young age. I remember tagging along with my older sisters to my parents' rehearsals for Blithe Spirit as part of a theater group they were trying to start in our home town, and then, later on, driving an hour to and from Lakewood Theater every summer. Certainly it was this life of witnessing rehearsals, hearing them run lines (and memorizing them before they did) and experiencing their love for it that made me want to be involved in theater myself. And indeed, I got my chance when I was cast as Winthrop in The Music Man at the age of ten. Throughout the next years, I was not just tagging along with my parents to Lakewood, but rehearsing for plays myself. 

Along with my own burgeoning love of performing, I was simply fascinated and terribly curious about how plays were made. From the time I was twelve or thirteen, I began to simply love the act of reading scripts, seeing how they worked. I suppose in my mind, I wanted to learn how to write plays for me to star in. I was barely a teenager, so I can be forgiven such a self-serving ambition, right?

My hometown library is called the Thompson Free Library, and while it didn't necessarily have the largest collection of plays you could ever hope to ask for, it had more than one might think for such a small town. In the picture above, you can see there volumes of "The Best American Plays" which spanned from the 1950s to the early 1980s. I started taking those books out and devouring as many plays as I could. I distinctly remember reading Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and, while not completely understanding what was going on, I was excited by the electricity of the dialogue and the characters, the way they talked to each other, using their words as weapons. I remember reading Arthur Kopit's Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad and again being thrilled by this energy, this complete sense of possibility. Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky spoke to me in a way I couldn't fully describe. I checked out each volume of this Best American Play series more than once ( as well as collections they had of Neil Simon, Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder). I began to learn the work of some of the masters, and witnessed how theater evolved from decade to decade. 

Though I didn't know it at the time, reading and re-reading these volumes were just as much a part of my theater and playwriting education as all of my work in college. My playwriting professor at Bennington, Gladden Schrock, had indeed made the point that a great way to learn how to write plays was to read plays (and see them, too, of course). These plays made me want to be part of their world.

As I got older, and found more extensive libraries at college, I was able to branch out from simply the best AMERICAN plays, and learn where favorites like Albee, Kopit, Tennessee Williams, Christopher Durang, and David Mamet picked up their bag of tricks from (Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, etc.). But these volumes gave me an incredible base of knowledge, but, perhaps even more importantly, it kept me wanting to know more, to read more, to act more, to write more. Would I have ever wanted to direct a play if I hadn't directed the plays in these volumes in my mind dozens of different ways? Would I have ever taken joy in creating dialogue if I hadn't learned from the masters on these pages? 

I tell you this, and I believe it wholeheartedly:  one way to really keep our American Theater vital and vibrant, is to normalize the reading of plays the same way we do novels, from a very young age. I know some schools in fact do this, but it should be a given in every district all around the country in my opinion. Reading out loud helps students connect to the characters and the story, it teaches empathy, teaches us how to relate. It inspires us to set the stage in our own minds. If we started with plays early on, Shakespeare would not be such a challenge when we get to high school.

But I digress:

The Thompson Free Library had its first ten cent book sale since Covid-19 a few months ago. I love the ten cent book sale, and always am proud of certain finds. But this year, when I went in with my Mother, as they were only allowing a few people at a time, the woman who runs the sale said, "We have some books set aside that we thought you might be interested in."  She went off into a side room, and came out with four volumes of these Best American Plays, the very same books I had taken out so often, more years ago than seem possible. It brought up a great deal of emotion in an interesting way. To buy these books that have meant so much to me, that have been a part of me even more than I realized. These four volumes truly were some of my earliest theater teachers. 

A great education, now purchased for only forty cents. 

Cracking the covers and looking over old favorites is already actively filling up the creative well. 

If you love theater, read plays. Lots and lots of them. You'll be glad you did. 

A Look at "JENNY'S HOUSE OF JOY" by Playwright Norm Foster: Strong Women and Hearty Laughs

 

Promotional Material From Lakewood Theater's Production of Jenny's House of Joy, starring (from left to right to up) Chelsea Martel, Christina Lovett Steeves, Kalyn Black, Sarah Johnson, and Midge Merrill Pomelow

BACKSTORY with Bobby Keniston

Norm Foster, the author of tonight's entertainment Jenny's House of Joy, is the most widely produced playwright in Canada, and for very good reason. His plays are relatable, accessible, and oh-so human. It doesn't hurt that they are laugh out loud funny, too! I personally had the pleasure to appear in his play Skin Flick here at Lakewood a few years back, and I had a blast. I reached out to Mr. Foster with a few questions about what inspired him to write this play set in an old West brothel, and its companion piece Outlaw, which is set in the same town and year as Jenny's and features overlapping characters. To my surprise and appreciation, he generously took the time to write back with his thoughtful answers.

"First of all, the western genre has always been my favourite", Mr. Foster writes, complete with delightful Canadian spelling. "I chose Baxter Springs, Kansas as the setting for Outlaw and Jenny's House of Joy because of the role it played in the cattle drives of the day."

When asked about the subject matter of the play, he makes it clear that he set out to write a play about strong women. "I wanted to show this group of women in a different light from what we would expect of women in that profession... I think audiences should know that some of the women who took part in this profession back then were fairly normal by most standards and had dreams like any person might."

I asked Kalyn Black, one of the lovely and talented actresses you have the pleasure of watching in theshow tonight, for her thoughts about the play's female characters. She tells me how "each one of thewomen find their way to Jenny's House of Joy through various paths of finding their true self worth.Each woman has a barrier that is unique to them that prevents them from seeing their own value."

Ms. Black concludes with perhaps my favorite insight of the play, saying it is "a story about losing yourself and finding your way back."

But what about us in the audience? If we lose ourselves in the world of the play, will we ever be able to find our way back to it?

"I always intended to write a third story about the people from Outlaw and Jenny's,"  Mr. Foster assures me. "Maybe someday I will complete the trilogy."

We can always hope!

Note:  This interview/essay first appeared in Lakewood Theater's program for their production of Norm Foster's Jenny's House of Joy.

Find out more about Norm Foster's plays here:

NORM FOSTER: CANADIAN PLAYWRIGHT

The Backstory of "But Why Bump Off Barnaby": Will the Real Jack Sharkey Please Stand Up?

 

Note:  This piece originally appeared in Lakewood Theater's program for their production of Buty Why Bump Off Barnaby by Rick Abbot

BACKSTORY WITH BOBBY KENISTON

Greetings, friends! I would like to welcome you back to Lakewood Theater for the summer! I know I am not the first to do so--- I have no doubt that the wonderful box office staff, the indispensable volunteer ushers, and the tireless gang at the Lakewood Inn Restaurant have all beat me to it. Still, I would like to add my gratitude to the list and thank you for supporting theater here in central Maine as the world creeps back to sense of normalcy.

Nature often works in cycles, so it feels appropriate to open our 2021 season with last season's closing show, But Why Bump Off Barnaby?, a delightful mystery farce by Rick Abbot. If you have read myessays before, you know I often try to contact the authors of our plays for interviews. Sadly, this is not possible with Rick Abbot. He passed away in 1992. Further, he wasn't really Rick Abbot.

Don't worry, there's no mystery here. Rick Abbot was one of four pen names for prolific writer Jack Sharkey (the others were Monk Ferris, Mark Chandler, and Mike Johnson, who only wrote stage thrillers). Like many other prolific playwrights, Mr. Sharkey employed these pen names to avoid saturating the market, and because he wisely realized that many theaters don't like to produce multipletitles by the same author in a single season.

Born in Chicago in 1931, Jack Sharkey served in the army where he wrote and directed shows for theEnlisted Men's Club. In 1958, he moved to New York City to pursue writing, and, oh boy, did he pursue it! He wrote countless science fiction stories, novels, and chapbooks for children before deciding to solely write for the stage in 1975. And though it is estimated that he wrote 85 plays or more, it is very likely his name isn't nearly as recognizable to you as a playwright like Neil Simon or Beth Henley. This is because Sharkey was one of the playwrights who made a fine living, but never a “killing”. A “working class” playwright, Sharkey geared his plays toward the community theater and school markets, like so many others in his field (Tim Kelly, Pat Cook, and yours truly come to mind), making sure to write great parts for large casts to shine.

“His first play, Here Lies Jeremy Troy, was about two days from opening on Broadway on two occasions,but just didn't happen,” his widow Pat Sharkey told the L.A. Times in 1996. “He got comfortable with not trying for that anymore. He wrote what he would enjoy seeing, feeling that if he would enjoy it, other people would.”

Mr. Sharkey particularly enjoyed creating fast-paced, joke-filled shows that were easy to produce and made people laugh without offending them. It seems he couldn't resist going for the funny bone.

“I remember a few times, Jack would try writing a straight mystery,” Pat Sharkey said, “and after a few pages he'd decide to turn it into a comedy mystery, after all.”

And here, nearly 30 years after his death, Lakewood Theater carries on his legacy of laughter by bringing back the crowd pleasing But Why Bump Off Barnaby?, a quintessential comedy mystery. It is our hope it keeps you guessing--- and chuckling--- until the very end.

Thank you so much for joining us on our journey for 2021! Full steam ahead!

If you are interested in learning more about the play, or producing it, follow this link to Concord Theatricals:

'But Why Bump Off Barnaby?' | Concord Theatricals

A History of the Play "Mid-Summer" by Viña Delmar: How Vaudeville Lies at the Center of this Nostalgia Piece

 

BACKSTORY WITH BOBBY KENISTON

Note:  This was originally written for Lakewood Theater's production of Mid-Summer

Mid-Summer, tonight's entertainment, was one of only 3 plays Viña Delmar wrote, but don't let that fool you--- she was a very prolific writer for nearly fifty years, rising to fame in the late 1920s with her then provocatively titled novel Bad Girl, and went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of The Awful Truth in 1937. Mid-Summer, premiering in 1953, was a love letter of sorts to vaudeville, and featured a young Geraldine Page in her Broadway debut. Speaking of auspicious debuts, I am happy to report that this production marks the Lakewood directorial debut of (among many other titles) my good friend, Arturo Meneses, who was good enough to talk with me about the play, about vaudeville, and about his love of Lakewood Theater.

“It really is like home,” he told me, a sentiment to which I, and many others, can certainly relate.

Audiences have been enjoying Art's work for quite some time. He made his acting debut while still a teenager in 1997 in the musical Jungle Queen Debutante, and played a memorableHarvey Johnson in Bye, Bye, Birdie. I first acted with him a few years ago in Incorruptible, andaudiences cheered his performances in The Legend of Georgia McBride and Godspell. On topof his work as an actor and director, Art has been spending some time this summer organizingthe Lakewood archives, sifting through old memories of friends made throughout the years.

Art found his summer home after working with Mark Nadeau at Messalonskee High School,who encouraged him to audition, and also cites the late Jeffrey Watts as a mentor and influence. He first pursued his interest in directing at the University of Maine at Farmington, taking the helm of such productions as Pillow Talk and Medea (the hilarious Christopher Durang comedy). He really cut his teeth by directing his very own production of Bye, Bye Birdie at the Hsinchu International School in Taiwan with a group of young people who had never acted before!

“They all auditioned very well,” he said with a shrug. “But then didn't know how to act as soon as they were cast in the play.”

A self-proclaimed “Actor's Director,” Art has certainly made an impression on the cast of Mid-Summer. “He really takes the time to ask us questions, encouraging us to find our motivation,”

Kaelie Merrill, the talented young actress who plays Lily, the Geraldine Page role, told me. “He really wants us to think about our characters and how we connect to them. This experience has taught me how I can grow as a person just by putting myself in her [Lily's] shoes.”

Art has delved into the world of vaudeville, and read the delightfully titled No Applause- JustThrow Money, a history of vaudeville by Trav S.D. When I asked him how we make an older art form like vaudeville accessible to audiences today, he said, “The issues we go through today are the same ones people went through back then. The situations will always be relevant.”

Kaelie agrees, and adds, “I think vaudeville is fascinating... They could say things that we can't say!”

Though the brilliant Viña Delmar is no longer with us, and, sadly, vaudeville itself has faded away, we are all fortunate to experience a kind of time travel tonight, thanks to the hard work of Arturo and the talented cast and crew. So prepare to be transported to the Lenoir Hotel in New York City in the year 1907, as we enjoy Mid-Summer during our very own glorious mid-summer here at Lakewood Theater.

If you are interested in producing Mid-Summer, you can find it at Concord Theatricals by following this link:

Mid-Summer (Delmar) | Concord Theatricals

INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT MARY LYNN DOBSON

 

Playwright Mary Lynn Dobson

Note:  This interview originally appeared in the Lakewood Theater program for their production of Ms. Dobson's play Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van.

BACKSTORY WITH BOBBY KENISTON

Whenever possible, I like to reach out to the playwrights of our productions and let you read what they have to say in their own words. Mary Lynn Dobson was gracious enough to take the time to answer some questions I sent along to her.

BOBBY KENISTON: Having worked as an actor and director, do you feel that acting and directing influences your work as a writer?

MARY LYNN DOBSON: Acting came first, directing and writing came shortly after. I think having an actor/director viewpoint helps when writing because you know details about production/performance that can fill out your story. But directing is probably my favorite. It takes the onus off you because you’re collaborating with others on someone else’s play. When your own work is being performed there’s a whole new level of stress, especially when you write comedy. If the audience isn’t laughing, your play’s not working. You know instantly. Then, there’s the actually writing process where you beat yourself up for hours over a single word. For me, Dorothy Parker summed it up best: “I hate writing. I love having written.”

BK: Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van, performed as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, one of the largest multi-arts events in North America, where it received the Summer Theatre Citation for Outstanding New Play and an award for Best Ensemble Cast. Could you tell us a little bit about performing as part of FringeNYC?

MLD: The play won and was first performed in the YES Festival at the University of Northern Kentucky and went over really well. So, I credit them with giving the play its start. After that, it had a several interim productions. Then I was approached by producers, Tiger Theatricals and Peter Riga, and they entered it in the Fringe Festival. Now let me tell you, everything in the Fringe happens really fast. We had next to no time to put publicity together, secure designers, get rehearsal space and hire actors. I actually auditioned 2 actors at the Cheesequake Rest Stop on the Garden State Parkway. But I was lucky because I ended up with a stellar cast led by Jim Stanek, Natascia Diaz and Gordon Joseph Weiss. We had very limited rehearsal time and you’re only allowed one tech rehearsal at the venue. Plus, there are 2 other shows going up on the same day. We literally had 15 minutes to put up and break down the set each night. For most shows that wouldn’t be problem, but we had to get a van on and off stage. It truly took a village and while it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, it was like being on the most terrifying rollercoaster in the world, and you don’t realize you had fun until 5 hours after it’s over.

BK: Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van is part of the glorious tradition of plays about the theater, giving audiences a behind-the-scenes view of what really goes into mounting a production. What do you think makes plays about the theater so accessible and enjoyable for audiences? Is it a way of inviting them into our world as theater-makers, or does working in theater simply lend itself to comical situations?

MLD: It’s both. What I tried to do was write for theatre people as well as an audience who just wanted to see a comedy. I chose “shows” that I thought most everyone would know. And even if someone wasn’t familiar with them, I wrote it so they still would know what was happening in the story. My goal was to try to make it universally funny, which I hope I did.

BK: Along with your plays for a more adult audience, you have written the family-friendly The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, published by Dramatic Publishing, which has been produced in all fifty states. Is there a difference in how you approach writing a play for all audiences that is different from writing your other plays? Do you feel it is important for playwrights to diversify in this way to reach a wider audience?

MLD: Two on the Aisle, Dracula and Skin Deep are for adult audiences. Skin Deep is a comedy about child beauty pageant moms being interviewed for a “documentary.” Out of 982 plays, it was one of 6which won the Samuel French Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. I seem to gravitate to writing for adult audiences more. I have no children and shouldn’t be the person molding the minds of young America. I think Robin Hood will be my only family-friendly play. Truth be told, I kinda Forrest Gump-ed my way with the success of that one. When Dramatic first published it, I thought it would just get a couple of productions a year at best. It’s global now. Seriously, it’s been performed all over the world. And it’s a really weird feeling when you’re sitting in your den watching Dancing with the Stars and you realize in a few hours part of your life will be going on in Albania without you.

BK: A few drama teachers describe The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood as having a Mel Brooks vibe to it, and one theater company described your play Dracula, Down for the Count as a Young Frankenstein for Dracula. Would you say you are inspired by the comedy style of Mel Brooks? Who are some of your other influences?

MLD: Actually, both my Robin Hood and Dracula were first done in the mid-eighties before Mel Brooks did his versions. That being said, if anyone feels my work resembles Mel Brooks’, even if it’s only by a hair, I can die happy.

BK: It is a clearly an uncertain time for playwrights and all other theater artists. Do you have any thoughts on how Covid-19 will affect live theater moving forward? What do you think of the many theater companies trying to offer new content through Zoom and other online resources during this time?

MLD: I commend anyone for doing anything they can to keep theatre going. Unfortunately, many shows might not fend well in a Zoom format— mine included (except for Skin Deep). This is such a horrible, crazy time. I think some necessary changes will have to be made. Will they be permanent? That I don’t know. But one thing I truly believe, and I believe this with every fiber of my being— we will make our way back.

If you would like to learn more about Mary Lynn Dobson and her work, please check out these links!

https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/2406/mary-lynn-dobson

https://www.facebook.com/TheSomewhatTrueTaleOfRobinHood/

https://www.dramaticpublishing.com/the-somewhat-true-tale-of-robin-hood

And feel free to check out my book review blog, MY ONLY FRIENDS ARE BOOKS!

INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT LESLIE KIMBELL, author of FOUR OLD BROADS

 

Leslie Kimbell, successful playwright!

Note:  This interview first appeared in Lakewood Theater's program for their production of Ms. Kimbell's play, Four Old Broads.

BACKSTORY WITH BOBBY KENISTON

Though probably the last thing the world needs is another Zoom meeting, I am happy to report that this oh-so-necessary pandemic technology has made it much easier for me to reach out and actually talk to people like Leslie Kimbell, the author of tonight’s entertainment, Four Old Broads. And what a pleasure it was to talk shop with this playwright who is just as funny and charming as her work! After sharing a mutual relief that THEATER IS BACK and a brief discussion about how Zoom has changed the standards of formality for online meetings (who needs pants when you only see the top half?), I talked with Leslie about what inspires her work, and the joys that come with writing plays and watching them come to life.

Leslie wanted to write ever since she was in high school. Born in Tennessee and now living in Georgia, she has had a long career in acting, burlesque, and directing, all disciplines she says have enriched and inspired her writing, giving her a sense of the big picture and what is playable on stage. In 2015, she was on a lunch outing when her friend and mentor Billie made an “off-color joke” that tickled her enough to jot it down on a napkin. And while this joke did not make it into the play you are about to watch, it proved to be the seed of inspiration that Leslie needed to start her playwriting journey, reminding her of the sass and spunk of the real “old broads” in her life. And just like that, she was off to the races, eager for time at her computer to bring her story to life, excited when her two boys left for school giving her precious distraction-free writing sessions, and always on the lookout for any spare moment to keep working on her play.

“You can you use the word obsessed,” Leslie told me with a laugh.

The first draft of Four Old Broads was roughly two hours and forty-five minutes long. The “get the story out, throw everything in” draft, as she calls it, an important part of the process for any writer. After a reading of the play with some theater friends, Leslie could hear what her story needed, and what could be tucked away for use elsewhere.

“Too bad we couldn’t have an evening of deleted scenes and additional footage like on DVDs,” I joked. Fortunately, Leslie had the better idea of incorporating some of the material into the sequel, Four Old Broads on the High Seas, including the “off-color” joke from the napkin!

When I asked if she set out to write a play with juicy parts for women, since women audition more for community theater than men but seem to have fewer roles for them, her answer surprised me in the way we are often surprised by the things that should be obvious. “Actually, I wanted to write a play for seniors,” she told me. “You never see plays that are about seniors.” And, indeed, since Four Old Broads has been published, she has received letters from a number of senior community theater actors, thanking her for writing a play that gives them such fun characters to perform, and a story that is all about them.

Not every baseball player hits a home run their first time at bat, and not every playwright knocks it out of the park with her first play. But Leslie Kimbell is not every playwright. Since Four Old Broads premiered in 2017, it has been published by Samuel French (now Concord Theatricals) and performed all over the world. The publication Carolina Curtain Call even favorably compared it to The Golden Girls, a favorite of mine that Leslie had never seen until after she wrote the play and heard the comparison!

But despite this success, Leslie is a playwright who is grounded in gratitude for her collaborators and her audiences. When I asked her what it was like the opening of night of Four Old Broads, which had its world premiere at Winder-Barrow Community Theatre, a place that she loves and has worked with often, Leslie told me the question gave her goosebumps and was “...going to make me cry.” And indeed, she did get choked up as she talked about sitting in the audience, her loved ones on each side of her, watching the actors bring her play and characters to life. As the audience laughed at the lines she had put down on the page months ago while sitting alone at her computer screen, tears of joy and appreciation streamed down her face.

Leslie Kimbell understands that a playwright’s work is only fully complete when it is watched and enjoyed by an audience. We thank each and every one of you in the audience today for helping complete the work of this talented and generous playwright with your laughter and your applause.

If you would like to learn more about Leslie Kimbell and her work (like her new comedy with heart, Packing Up Polly, which premiered in April), please visit her website, www.lesliekimbell.com

INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT NORM FOSTER, CANADA'S MOST PRODUCED PLAYWRIGHT!

 

Norm Foster, Canada's Most Produced Playwright!

Note:  This interview first appeared in Lakewood Theater's Program for their production of Mr. Foster's play, Drinking Alone.

Norm Foster, the author of tonight's entertainment, is the most produced playwright in Canada,

known for delivering the laughs and plenty of heart in his scripts. Lakewood, like Canada, loves Mr.

Foster's works and have produced several of his plays over the years, much to the delight of

audiences like you. He was gracious enough to take some time out of his day to answer some

questions for me about his work, his characters, and the importance of truth in comedy.

BOBBY: While reading reviews of your plays, something critics seem to praise over and over

again is your characters being relatable, like "real people." How important is it for you to keep

characters relatable for the comedic circumstances to work?

NORM: It’s very important for me that my characters are relatable to the audience. I want the

people in the audience to see people they ‘know’ onstage. This heightens the comedy. It’s

funnier when real characters are going through real life situations that could very well happen to

any of us.

BOBBY: While your plays are hilarious, it is also noteworthy how there are tonal shifts to

moments of true poignancy and heart. How do you so skillfully balance comedy and emotion?

Does it all come down to the characters being relatable?

NORM: Balancing the comedy and the emotion is a knack I developed early on in my writing

career. I found that if you have a good mixture of both, it makes the play better. The comedy

makes the emotion run a little deeper, and the poignancy makes the comedy funnier. They

compliment each other. To balance these two, you have to know when to pull back on each

one. If it’s a serious moment, you need to know when the audience needs a break from that

seriousness. That’s when you lighten it up a bit. Going from comedy to a serious moment is a

little more difficult. You have to ease into the seriousness and not make it seem too abrupt a

change. Both elements are made easier if the characters are real people. If they have a truth to

them.

BOBBY: "Drinking Alone" in many ways centers around a dysfunctional family. What do you

think makes family relationships so easy to mine for comedy?

NORM: Families are something we can ALL relate to. That’s what makes them so natural to

write about and why we find them so funny. We have all been through it. Some to a lesser

degree but we all know what’s going on with family dynamics. You can make up the most

bizarre situation, and if a family is involved, we all say “Oh I get it.” When writing a play, if my

idea revolves around a family, like in Drinking Alone, then I know the battle is already half won.

BOBBY: Now that theater is slowly but surely coming alive again, do you think comedy can be

not only a salve for live audiences moving forward, but also a tool to show just how essential

theater can be?

NORM: I think this might be our chance for comedy to finally be taken seriously. And what I

mean by that, is getting the respect that it is due. For some reason people thinks it’s easy to

write a comedy. Really? If you think that, then try writing one. Try and make an audience of 300

or 500 laugh as one. But now, we are all ready to laugh again. We have had enough of hard

times. Comedy to the rescue!!

Comedy to the rescue... I couldn't have said it better myself! For more information about Mr.

Foster and his plays, you can go to his website, www.normfoster.com

My Favorite Dream: Writing With Love and Zest

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Theater is a Sport, back after spring break.  My name is Bobby Keniston, and this is my own little piece of the internet where I talk about whatever's on my mind in the realm of theater.

Recently, I've been re-reading a great deal of Ray Bradbury and watching old interviews with him on YouTube.  What stands out most about this prolific writer (who not only wrote novels and short stories, but many plays and screenplays as well) is his incredible zest for writing and for life, and how he constantly used one to fuel the other.  To him, writing was inspired play, and he kept the words "Don't Think" taped above his typewriter to remind himself the importance of trusting his intuition and subconscious.

For those who are not familiar with Ray Bradbury, he was the great mind behind such books as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, The Halloween Tree, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and over 300 published short stories.  He wrote a number of plays, one of my favorites being The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, and wrote the screenplay for John Huston's classic film adaptation of Moby Dick.

Here's the man himself, Mr. Ray Bradbury

I have been trying to write like Mr. Bradbury lately.  No, I don't mean by copying his style or his themes or plot ideas--- I mean, I have been trying to reconnect with the youthful sense of play in an attempt to write with zest again.

It's not always easy.  Writing can be difficult.  It's frustrating when the words won't come, when a sentence or a line of dialogue doesn't read the way you want it to, when you simply can't seem to communicate your thoughts, or when the tank seems completely empty, devoid of any ideas one could possibly care about.  

When this happens, one could do worse than to follow those two words of advice taped up on Mr. Bradbury's desk:  DON'T THINK.

While writing certainly flexes intellectual muscles, it is truly at its most rewarding when it is an emotionally engaging experience.  When the play or story you want to write comes flying out, and you laugh, love, and cry along with it.  If you have this investment, it is a safe bet that an audience may as well.  

When you're deep in the act of creation on a first draft, it is often beneficial to surf the tidal waves of inspiration and intuition, even if they seem dangerous.  Especially if they seem dangerous.  Too much thinking can kill a project before it has started to live.  Don't let that happen.  Remember, your brain is always there to switch back on for the act of rewriting.  

I can't tell you how many times I have to tell my mind to shut up (even now, writing this blog post, I've had to shush it more than once).  Every now and then, I close my eyes, take some deep breaths, and invite my characters to talk to me.  I visualize them, ask them questions.  They don't often steer me wrong.  Ray Bradbury once said that there is no need for writer's block, so long as you are willing to listen to your characters and your subconscious mind.  The more I read his work, the more I believe he is right.

So each day, for a few weeks now, I approach my notebook or computer, not with a sense of worry about what may come out today, but with a joyful anticipation of what I am going to create.  I am recapturing the "play" in "playwright".  

And I thank you, Ray Bradbury, for the inspiration.  

REMEMBER:  WHEN IN DOUBT, JUST STOP THINKING!  Breath, relax, and tell the story that needs to be told.

To learn more about my plays, CLICK HERE,  OR HERE, OR HERE, OR FINALLY HERE.

I've started a new blog!  I am writing a story a day for a year!  Each story will be between 100-250 words!  If you would like to read and follow, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.  

Ten Minute Plays With Two Characters for Youth and High School Groups

Greetings everyone, and welcome to Theater is a Sport.  My name is Bobby Keniston, and this is my blog where I talk about all things having to do with theater.

Today, since it's Friday, and I have nothing better to do, I thought I would indulge in a little self-promotion.  When I first started getting my plays published in 2010, a whole new world was opened up to me by my editor at Brooklyn Publishers.  He encouraged me to write ten minute plays, duets for two characters, monologues for a single actor or actress, and skits involving 3 or more performers.  I had never focused on writing ten minute plays before, but there is a definite market for them.  It's relatively easy and cheap to produce an evening of ten minute plays and offer a great deal of variety for the audience.  And, of course, there are speech and forensic teams at high schools all across the country that are looking for ten minute monologues and duets.

So I began to write some ten minute plays.  At first, it was quite a challenge, as my mind seems to always stretch to half hour one acts or full-length stories, but, once I started getting the hang of it, I really began to enjoy writing these short, self-contained plays, and consider many of them to contain some of my best writing.

Below are a list of some of my ten minute works, followed by a little description.  I have decided to share only the duets today, as they tend to be my most popular ten minute works, and are all suitable for either productions or forensic competitions.  Please click on the title to learn more about each play, or to even order it if you're of the mind.

BIG BAD WOLF GETS BUSTED!
When the Big Bad Wolf meets Little Red Riding Hood on the way to her grandmother's house, he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for!  This ten minute duet is a twisted take on a classic story, perfect for middle schools and high schools.

COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT
Jeffrey Butter just wants to return his cell phone.  Unfortunately, the Returns Department is run by a very bizarre young woman named Helen, who insists on calling in the "Complaint Department".  But, hey, complaining is good for the soul, right?  Another duet.

CONFESSIONS OF THE EIGHTH DWARF:  A BEHIND THE FAIRY TALE EXCLUSIVE!
In this ten minute play, the eighth dwarf, known as Conspiracy Dwarf, is on the popular talk show, Behind the Fairy Tale.  He plans to tell the TRUE story of Snow White!

DEATH AND PEZ
This is one of my most popular ten minute duets.  Reggie is a hard-working high school student, and is busy studying when Death knocks on his door.  The Grim Reaper (or "Necessary Reaper" as he likes to be called), teaches Reggie a little lesson about living life to the fullest, while Reggie tries to bargain for his life with his Pez collection.

END OF THE MOVIE
At 17, Derek has had enough.  He plans to leap off the railroad trestle in his hometown.  That's when he meets Kelly, an unorthodox Angel-in-Training.  Here's a testimonial from Gail Wagner, who directed the play for the Reedy Point Players:  "Another winner from Bobby Keniston!  This play won our theatre One Act Festival and was awarded an Ensemble award at the state level"  By the way, this is my most widely produced ten minute duet.

A FORGETFUL REMEMBRANCE
Colin and Mya, an elderly couple, sit on a park bench, reminiscing about their married life together. While Colin is forgetful about many things, there is no doubt about the love he has for his wife.  This is another popular ten minute duet of mine.  Here's a testimonial from Laura L. Abuhl, director for Trinity Christian School:  "This piece is touching, emotion, and yet full of hope.  Thank you, Bobby, for writing it."

Well, that's all for today.  Some time I'll do another blog post about my ten minute monologues and my ten minute pieces with three or more characters.  Feels right to focus just on the duets today.

Thank you for reading and considering my work.  I hope you have a great weekend!

As always, please feel free to comment below...

THE TRUTH ABOUT MAKING MONEY WRITING PLAYS FOR THE AMATEUR THEATER MARKET or PLEASE DON'T RIP OFF PLAYWRIGHTS

WRITING PLAYS = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Whoa!  Slow down.  As much as I would love to have you believe that I can teach you how to earn fat stacks of cash by writing plays, I really can't.  I'd like to, honest.  But first, I would have to be proficient in making fat stacks of cash by writing plays, and, though I'm happy and grateful for all the successes I have achieved, I do not make a living writing plays.

Welcome to Theater is a Sport.  My name is Bobby Keniston, and this is my little piece of the internet that I use to write about theater.  Thanks for stopping by.

Today I want to talk about writing plays for the amateur market (schools, community theaters, etc.), and the truth about how the money works.  If you're looking for the financial possibilities for a playwright who has a play on Broadway, you've come to the wrong place.  Sorry.

There's an old expression, credited to Robert Anderson, that says you can make a killing on Broadway, but you can't make a living.  And it's true--- many of the top playwrights working today supplement their income working for the movies.  Which really means, these screenwriters supplement their income writing plays.

The late Tim Kelly, who published over 350 plays for the amateur market, once gave  talk describing how one could make a living writing for the amateur market, the way way way way way way off-Broadway stages.  Mr. Kelly admitted that writing for this market wasn't going to bring you critical acclaim, or glitz and glamour, but you could make a living.

By and large, I think Mr. Kelly is right.  But it's not easy.  If you've ever glanced through school and community theater catalogs for plays, you might notice that a playwright's name shows up many many times.  In the five years since I've first been published, I know have 33 plays with four different publishers, and have been called prolific by some people.  This might seems like a lot, but I would appear practically blocked next to many of my colleagues.  To make headway in the school and community theater markets, you need to write and focus on output.  However, you must also focus on quality, so that you'll be published and produced in the first place.

Even though this is a theater blog, I'm going to do a little bit of math right now to demonstrate.  I'm often asked by people about the financial side of my career, not out of nosiness, but out of a genuine curiosity of how it works.  I know I didn't know much about it until I was published.  In fact, to be honest, I was a bit naive.  I thought a few plays doing well meant moolah city, but it's really not that simple.

So, that one act play you write for middle schools and high schools (and yes, you want it to be suitable for both if at all possible) has just been accepted for publication!  Congratulations!  You deserve to celebrate!  And this excitement is well-deserved... it's not easy to be a published playwright!  So feel free to dance around.  I'll bet you even get goosebumps when you sign that first contract.

Now, you're a person who's looking to make writing plays for schools and community theaters a full out career.  Please do not quit your job just yet after your first publication.  Unless you've got huge savings to draw from, or are independently wealthy, in which case, go for it.  But for the rest of us, stay employed.

So, most likely, if you've just got your first one act play published, your publisher will offer it out in their catalog for a licensing fee of anywhere between $35 and $45 a performance.  Of this sum, you, the playwright, will receive anywhere between 50-60%, sometimes more, depending on the company. A good number of my plays, I receive 60% of the performance royalty.  Others, I receive 50%.  It's important to not just look at this percentage, but also to the quality of the catalog, how often it's mailed out, it's reputation for handling plays, etc.

Okay, along with this percentage of the performance royalty, you will also (most likely) receive a 10% royalty on the book sales.  For a one act play, an individual script can cost anywhere between $5.95 and $7.99, depending on the publisher.  To be honest, it wasn't until I had a few plays published that I made sure I received a royalty on script sales, but it's important to have.

For the amateur market, it is very unlikely that you will get any kind of advance, like you might for a novel.  By and large, advances for playwrights go to the shows with the big New York runs and reviews.  I've heard of only one amateur market publisher who paid an advance, and it may very well have been due to the author's previous successes.

Now, on a special note, again, before you quit that day job... pay special attention to when royalties are paid out.  Some companies pay twice a year, a select few pay quarterly, and some only once a year.

So, you want to make a living.  Well, what's a living?  Let's look at something as simple as $20,000.  I should note, I have yet to make this much in a single year from my playwriting, but I do okay.

Let's split the difference, and say your one act play is licensed for a $40 royalty per performance, and your contract gives you 60%.  That means your cut for each performance is $24.  This means you would need to have your play performed 834 times to make $20,016 from a performance royalty.  Now, let's say that the average number of performances a school will license is 3.  You will need 278 productions of 3 performances each to make that money.

Now, factoring in book sales:  let's say that each school needs to order ten books, that are priced $6 a piece.  That gives you another $6 per production.  So $6 multiplied by 278 gives you another $1,668, for a grand total of $21,684.  Well that's not too bad for a one act play, now is it?

Unfortunately, you'd have to be the rarest of the rare, or luckiest of the luckiest to hope that your one act play received 278 productions in one year, for 834 performances.  It's a pretty full market.  The play catalogs are thick, after all.  Yours is but one name among hundreds.  You'd be pretty lucky to have your play receive 25 productions in its first year (much better than mine did).  And, even more likely, it will be lower than that.

(Starting to see why we publish a lot?)

I don't mean this example to be discouraging, but just honest.  It is often true in this market that the harder you work the more successful you become, so that's a good thing.  Try not to think of yourself as competing with other playwrights, because you're not, not really.   You're competing with yourself to keep creating quality work at a decent rate.

All I really wanted to show here is how playwrights for this market are compensated, and how, not licensing a production, or not paying for every performance, is truly stealing money from a playwright's pocket.  And it adds up.

I've been saying this a lot lately, but you can't claim to support the arts without paying the money to support artists.

Thanks for wandering through this little lesson in finance with me.  Again, it's all relative--- some folks are lucky and publish major hits that do get hundreds of productions a year.  And if you become one of them, good for you!  I hope to become one too, and that's why I keep telling my stories.

Until next time, thanks for reading Theater is a Sport.  You can learn more about my plays by clicking HERE,  HERE, HERE, or HERE.  Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment below.

PHOTOS From My Plays that Seriously Make Me Wish I Had Seen the Production!

Hello, and welcome to Theater is a Sport.  My name is Bobby Keniston, and, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I am a playwright for the youth and community theater markets.  I have been fortunate to have plays produced in about 38 states at last count, as well as having productions in Canada and Australia.  Obviously, I do not have the means to travel and see all of these different productions, but, when I'm lucky, theater groups will send me really awesome pictures that make me wish I truly could have seen them.  Just having the pictures, though, is a great treat.  So, I thought that I would share some photos with you all today from some of the productions that have been done of my plays!

I figured I'd start with one of the most recent, End of the Movie, as produced by the Reedy Point Players in Delaware.  Here are some awesome photos from that the production: 

Emily Ciuffetelli and Kevin Austra

I feel very fortunate to have had such a great group put on my show,
and, judging by the pictues, it is clear that the director had a very nice vision of the piece, and the actors look so wonderfully intense.  Definitely wish I could have gotten to Delaware to see this show.  However, I feel lucky to have struck up a nice friendship via facebook with these really cool folks.




Here's some pictures of my play The Dark Tower as performed by the Pope Theater Boosters in Marietta, GA.  There were dozens and dozens of shots, so I pass along the very favorites out of many favorites:

Pope Theater Boosters, Marietta, GA

Roland, a warrior, and Nimue, the Lady of the Lake

Roland saying goodbye to his dying wife, Susannah

While I could share many more from this group, I shall move on.

Here are some really cool shots from my play Frankie and the Gingerbread Boy as presented by UMEI Christian High School in ON, Canada.  Really cool group of kids, many of which sent me lovely e-mails about being in this really challenging show.  I loved these pictures!



The Greek Chorus:  Victor, Mary, and Shel



Frankie with her creation on the baking table, Ginger

Love this picture of the end of "Frankie and the Gingerbread Boy"--- very cool and eerie

Okay, this is is a small sampling of the pictures I have been sent over the last few years.  I will post more as time goes by.  If you're interested in learning more about these plays, I made their titles links to read more about them. 

I want to thank these great community and school groups for choosing my plays, and for sharing their hard work with me.  It makes me proud and happy to be a playwright whenever I see pictures like these.

Thanks, and, remember--- Theater is a Sport!  Just look at the people in these photos if you don't believe me!