Maureen, I'm Not a Theater Person!
My dad wants me to do less theater. He says it's fine as a hobby, but it will never do anything for me in life. He doesn't understand that not only is theater basically my entire social life but also it provides me with more personal fulfillment and satisfaction than my actual job.
In past years, I have submitted three pitches for the SF Olympians Festival. This year [2012], I was so busy and apparently uninspired that I could barely muster up one, which I almost didn't send because I figured no pitch was better than a bad one. I had resigned myself to that one shot when the organizer announced on Friday that no one had submitted for The Bow, which was one I had been trying to find a pitch for. I spent the rest of the day tossing around ideas, not really expecting to find the time to put together a real pitch. And then I saw Superior Donuts, and it gave me emotions, and I rode those emotions into a pitch I thought up on the way home, where I tried to make my idea sound as good as it had in my head before the midnight deadline. I figured I had failed, but at least I hadn't obsessed over it for more than an hour or two.
When I was offered The Bow, I was so giddy and excited I was almost crying. I took a chance, I said what the hell, and it had paid off. And now I get to turn my idea into a short play. I get to tell that story. I get to have my words presented to an audience. I look at the list of names and can't believe that I'm going to be in a festival with such talented writers.
You can't win if you don't play. Always play, you guys.
Remember when I won a Stuey last year? Of course you don't. But I do. And this year, I was mentioned again! I am part of the "jewel in the crown," Pint Sized Plays III (Best Theater Festival); I gave an "excellent" performance in the Best Break Through, Atlas; and I wrote the "wonderfully absurd (and oddly unsettling)" "Man vs. Beer," which featured the Best Chemistry. It really was a good theater year for me, and I was glad to be a part of such great productions!
I have been really involved with San Francisco Theater Pub, and this year [2012] we had a retreat and everything. Theater Pub has a show every month, and they wanted pitches from us for the 2013 season. I've actually had an idea for a murder mystery that I've been wanting to write for a year or two now, but I didn't have time to flesh it out enough to be confident enough to pitch it (maybe next year). But another idea did quickly take hold: I wanted to put together a night of short genre plays, a night of sci-fi/fantasy/horror theater. There isn't a lot of genre theater out there as far as I can tell, and I wanted to provide an outlet for the writers who are writing that stuff, find some new local talent. I put together a pitch...
...and it was accepted! I GET TO DO THIS TOO! I...I have to figure out submission guidelines, solicit submissions, promote the submissions call, put together a reading committee, choose the plays, find directors, run auditions, cast the plays, promote the show, work with Borderlands however much they want, and hope everything comes together on May 20.
But first, I need a catchy title! I want something that can encompass sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. I was thinking Worlds' End, as in the Sandman pub, but that sounds too much like an apocalypse-themed night. Right now I'm thinking The Pub from Another World. Any other suggestions?
In past years, I have submitted three pitches for the SF Olympians Festival. This year [2012], I was so busy and apparently uninspired that I could barely muster up one, which I almost didn't send because I figured no pitch was better than a bad one. I had resigned myself to that one shot when the organizer announced on Friday that no one had submitted for The Bow, which was one I had been trying to find a pitch for. I spent the rest of the day tossing around ideas, not really expecting to find the time to put together a real pitch. And then I saw Superior Donuts, and it gave me emotions, and I rode those emotions into a pitch I thought up on the way home, where I tried to make my idea sound as good as it had in my head before the midnight deadline. I figured I had failed, but at least I hadn't obsessed over it for more than an hour or two.
When I was offered The Bow, I was so giddy and excited I was almost crying. I took a chance, I said what the hell, and it had paid off. And now I get to turn my idea into a short play. I get to tell that story. I get to have my words presented to an audience. I look at the list of names and can't believe that I'm going to be in a festival with such talented writers.
You can't win if you don't play. Always play, you guys.
Remember when I won a Stuey last year? Of course you don't. But I do. And this year, I was mentioned again! I am part of the "jewel in the crown," Pint Sized Plays III (Best Theater Festival); I gave an "excellent" performance in the Best Break Through, Atlas; and I wrote the "wonderfully absurd (and oddly unsettling)" "Man vs. Beer," which featured the Best Chemistry. It really was a good theater year for me, and I was glad to be a part of such great productions!
I have been really involved with San Francisco Theater Pub, and this year [2012] we had a retreat and everything. Theater Pub has a show every month, and they wanted pitches from us for the 2013 season. I've actually had an idea for a murder mystery that I've been wanting to write for a year or two now, but I didn't have time to flesh it out enough to be confident enough to pitch it (maybe next year). But another idea did quickly take hold: I wanted to put together a night of short genre plays, a night of sci-fi/fantasy/horror theater. There isn't a lot of genre theater out there as far as I can tell, and I wanted to provide an outlet for the writers who are writing that stuff, find some new local talent. I put together a pitch...
...and it was accepted! I GET TO DO THIS TOO! I...I have to figure out submission guidelines, solicit submissions, promote the submissions call, put together a reading committee, choose the plays, find directors, run auditions, cast the plays, promote the show, work with Borderlands however much they want, and hope everything comes together on May 20.
But first, I need a catchy title! I want something that can encompass sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. I was thinking Worlds' End, as in the Sandman pub, but that sounds too much like an apocalypse-themed night. Right now I'm thinking The Pub from Another World. Any other suggestions?