Is it wrong to be disappointed when something isn’t as depressing as you thought it would be? I thought this play would be sad and there are certainly layers of sadness but not an overwhelming sadness that I expected.
Also I like this shirt. And of course the awesome Gravity Falls cap that is slightly too big for my tiny head.
Didn’t I say I was going to post every day again? Whatever happened to that? Hmm…
This is a fantastic play that everyone should read. That is all.
Everyone considers this to be a classic play, and that is depressing as hell, which basically sold it for me. Maybe because I was prepared for depression, I wasn’t really all that depressed by it. Sure, the ending is devastating on different levels and I’m a fan of Miller’s criticism of the American dream, but some of the scenes seem to run too long and too repetitive. Still a decent read though.
I thought I’d take a picture of me in normal clothes for once. (Much to the relief of many, I’m sure)
I really enjoyed this play.
Also, this is what I looked like at work today.
Should I get involved with next year’s Brace New Play Rites Festival? It would be an interesting experience, but at the same time, I wonder if it’s a bit too much of an undertaking. It’d be really fun to do some acting, but at the same time, I don’t really have any acting experience (unless you count the times I read parts in the playwriting class last year, and the bit parts in elementary school plays). I don’t want to say yes and then be overwhelmed later, which is partly what I’m afraid of. At the same time, you never know, right?
Thoughts?
When people think of writing, they think of writing on a piece of paper, on a computer. But at least for me, ideas, stories, characters, structure — they’re all considered, sifted in my mind even before my fingers ever touch a keyboard or a pen. I’ve been pushing myself to come up with an idea for a one-act play by next week for the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre’s MSG Lab and was stuck for a while. Then I came up with what I think is a pretty interesting idea, and certainly a somewhat controversial one, and have been figuring out how the story will unfold since yesterday — all the deliberations done in my head. At least for me, it helps a lot more to know what the story will be, generally, before I ever go and write. Last year, when I did NaNoWriMo, I had an idea for a novel I wanted to write but ultimately couldn’t get more than 200 or so words down because I didn’t know the characters, setting, and story well enough to know how it was supposed to go.
The biggest challenge for me is writing a complete one-act play, which I’ve never done before. I’m also in the process of writing a two/three-act play but even that was a struggle because I’m not used to writing longer forms. The longest play I wrote was just over ten pages and it was on the shorter side compared to the other plays at the Brave New Play Rites Festival earlier this year. I guess I feel like some of the pages in between the beginning and the end are filler pages, and I don’t want there to be any. Anyway, it’s my play and I should be able to do with it how I want. Now let’s see if I can knock off a draft or two before next week.
Read this one a while back but I accidentally returned it before I took a picture with it. Luckily, I now work at a library so going to get books is no longer a problem.
It’s been a while since I’ve read a play, but this one is really good. I can definitely hear how angry Larry Kramer is through his words. There isn’t really anything else I have to say about it except that it is a really, really good read. Some great writing in here. Now that I’ve seen the HBO TV movie as well as a stage production, it’s interesting to see how it carries over and how others have worked with the text. But no one wants to hear me blab on about that, so here’s a picture of me upside down.
I have to finish writing the last three acts of a four-act play by Tuesday and it’s difficult. I think people have this idea that writers can just sit at a computer and words flow through their fingers on the keyboard, but it’s really not like that at all, at least for me. I have to be in the right mood, in the right setting — but I think most importantly, I have to know what the hell I’m writing about. One reason why this is going so slowly is because I wasn’t sure where the story was going. I knew important plot points but I didn’t necessarily now how these points were connected. Being self-aware about everything finally has its positives though: I realized I needed to map out what I was going to write so I made an outline/beat sheet, which helped. Now it’s just a matter of getting to it and finishing it before Tuesday… wish me luck.
I just want to congratulate my friend Minh Ly for his fine play, Ga Ting, which I managed to catch earlier this afternoon. I will freely admit that despite some humourous moments, I cried a bit during certain parts. It’s a really moving play that I think does a really good job at starting conversation and bridging the gap between being gay and traditional Chinese culture. There’s only one more performance left — Sunday March 30th at 2pm. Buy tickets here: http://www.vact.ca/index.php?id=398
Check it out if you have time! It’s well worth a watch.
It’s strange because you know how the words sound in your head, the details of how characters move about the stage, but seeing it on stage — watching actors say words in surprising and different ways, watching them move around differently — is like a different version of the story in your head. It makes sense, since the director of the play is not me, but I found myself constantly thinking about the next line and the next line, rather than enjoying the play and becoming immersed in the production. All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the night of plays, including my own, and I’m really happy with how it all turned out. I also had no idea one of the actors was a first-time actor!
In the Movies and the rest of Program 1 of Brave New Play Rites will be showing again on Friday March 28th (tomorrow!) at 7:30pm, as well as Sunday March 30th at 2:00pm. For tickets and info, visit http://bravenew.ca/
aaron's random musings 