What will your verse be?

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Poetry, beauty, romance, love...these are what we stay alive for. You are here. Life exists and I guarantee that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

"Dance like a dervish..."

“It’s not what you say about him, it’s what you don’t say. There’s not an ounce of excitement, not a whisper of a thrill. I want you to get swept away. I want you to levitate. I want you to sing with rapture and dance like a dervish. Be deliriously happy, or at least leave yourself open to be. Love is passion, obsession, something you can’t live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. And how do you find them? Well, you forget your head and you listen to your heart. The truth is, there’s no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven’t lived a life at all. But you have to try. If you haven’t tried then you haven’t lived. Stay open, who knows, lightening could strike.”

I love this.

Character Expansion

I apologize for the post being weird....I don't know why it formatted like this.

Title Ideas:

Cover Up

Unmasked

Transferred

Character 1:

Female

On her knees

[possible masks as costume]

Desperate for someone to prove her wrong

At the end of her rope

Too many failed relationships

Too many second place finishes

She’s been lied to and used

She trusts too easily, therefore she has been hurt

She is a romantic; a poet; a dreamer

She lives in books and stories

She doesn’t want to give up, but she sees no other way out

No one knows how hurt she is because she wears a mask for her friends

This character will have a dance number, performed on her knees

[her pain is hidden by the mask that she puts on]

She wants someone to be genuine towards her, expecting nothing in return

Character 2:

Male

Standing, facing the audience

He stands in a very defensive stance

He is “arguing” or “explaining” to God that he doesn’t know what to believe

anymore

When he asks questions, his family and mentors scold him

The books he has read and the lessons he has been taught by professors has made

him question what he has been told

Now he is trying to figure things out on his own but he is looked down upon for

this

He will perform his dialogue towards the ceiling

This characters dialogue may possibly be presented in Shakespearean dialect.

[he hides his anguish and confusion with a good, Christian boy attitude; he does

the routine and says the right things; he never questioned anything; he just took

everything he was told as truth.]

He wants someone to tell him that it’s alright to ask questions and that one

day, there will be an answer

Character 3:

Male

[actor must have long hair]

Standing, with their back towards the audience

He suffers from self-destruction in the form of cutting.

His dialogue will be presented as spoken word poetry

He has been ignored his entire life

His family ignores him because he is “different” from them

No one at his school seems to notice him

He has never felt or understood love, therefore religion has no interest to him

He feels alone

He does not feel abandoned because he has never felt wanted before

He has never been made fun of or hurt by others, he’s just never been noticed

He cuts so that he can feel a different kind of hurt than emotional

His heart can’t take any more pain, so he transfers that pain to his physical body

[his pain is hidden within his words that he shares with no one]

He wants someone to smile at him, so that he knows he does exist outside of

his own head

Character 4:

Male

Begins sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

He ends lying face down on the floor, as if he has jumped from a window or

building

This character will never speak. All of his dialogue will be presented as film noir

by an offstage voice accompanied by dark jazz music and the sound of rain

He is a “Jesus” like character or martyr

His purpose is to make others happy

He is drawn to those suffering, publicly or privately

He can sense their pain and knows what they need

For the moment that he offers that comfort that others need, he takes the pain that

they feel and suffers for them

So for one hour or one day, those who normally know nothing of pain, can

breathe and smile for possibly the first time in years

On this certain day, he encounters 3 different people with 3 different types of pain

His burden becomes so heavy, that he cannot bare it for even a day

He takes his own life, in order to rid those 3, that he has met, of their pain, so that

they may have a better life

Theme:

Sometimes, we are all so wrapped up in our own problems that we forget to acknowledge the suffering of others. If we would just stop for one day, worrying about ourselves and look out, we may see someone screaming out to us. Sometimes, a smile, a hello, a helping hand, and kind word is all it takes to turn someone’s life around. Sometimes, the person who makes a difference in our life is the same person who needs our help in return. But again, we’re all so consumed with our own lives and problems, we often times never return such a simple, yet life-altering favor.

Structure of the Play”

They begin by telling of their suffering, in their own different way, and how they have masked it. Then, they tell of their encounter with a stranger one-day. Lastly, they express how that one encounter changed the way they thought about themselves. The 4^th character explains his 1) purpose in life, then 2) his encounter with each person, then 3) his consumption and death for their pains.

Shall I Write A Play???

For my playwriting class, we have to write a 10 minute play, which is the equivalent to 10 pages of dialogue. I was not really excited about this assignment because I was lacking in the idea department and I wanted to write something that was some what humorous. I've realized that I can't really write humorous. So I'm sitting in class and I see a stage with 4 people standing on it at random places. I saw them on a completely black stage with no light and, at points of dialogue, spotlights would hit each character. I wanted them all on stage at the same time so the audience doesn't know they are there until the spotlight hits them; no entering and exiting the stage. Then I saw each of them on stage in different positions, to add contrast and a distorted view of balance. I saw one character on their knees, one standing in a defensive way, one with their back to the audience and one lying down on the ground. I hadn't seen any gender yet, but these different positions reminded me of different forms of suffering.

After much deliberation and thought, and still not quite right, I decided that the character on their knees would be female and her suffering idea is "I have no hope. I am at a dead end. I can't try anymore. I see no point in it. I can only wear this mask for so much longer." She is the victim of failed love interests. The character standing defensively is a male who is arguing with God about his beliefs. All of his dialogue will be presented upward towards the ceiling. his suffering idea is that all of his beliefs have been challenged and what he has based his whole life on is now nothing but a mix of confusion. The character with their back towards the audience is also male and he is suffering with the idea of self destruction and represents those who cut. His dialogue is presented as spoken word poetry. The character on their back is male. Originally I had him beginning on his back but after speaking with a few colleagues I decided to have him start off sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. This character, in a way, represents each of the other characters but at their breaking points. This is what connects each of them: each person suffers in their own way, but sadly, this is how most of them end.

Each person will have probably 3 turns to speak. The final spotlight after each person has had 3 turns to speak will be a spotlight on the guy in the chair, lying face down on the ground as if he has just jumped from a window or building.

At some point in the girls dialogue, i want the spotlight to shine on her and their be distressed music and have her do a choreographed number while still on her knees, and that's the only thin that happens in that spotlight. The guy in the chair, I don't think I am going to have speak at all. When the spotlight hits him, I want it to be film noir-esque. With light jazz music playing, the sound of rain and an off stage male voice explaining his struggles. Then, the guy with his back turned, like I said earlier is a spoken word poet. Possibly having a bongo hit a few times once his spotlight comes on before he speaks. The defensive stanced guy, I thought about having as a shakespearean genre with him speaking in shakespearean language, but I'm not sure.

After typing this all out, I don't really like the message that is being portrayed, so I'm going to try and come up with a more calming or hopeful ending, but this is just what I have so far. I also need dialogue, obviously, and also, a title.

My first audition experience...

Despite what the title says, this was not technically my first audition. I "auditioned" for my senior production in high school.....but, I was already cast before the actual audition. Also, at the end of last semester, I auditioned for the spring shows here at App, but again, the audition process isn't that "professional" so I don't count that either.

But this past Saturday, February 13th, I, along with 8 other people from my department, auditioned for Boone's outdoor summer drama Horn In The West. Horn In The West tells the story of how the city of Boone was settled and how it got it's name......from Daniel Boone if you hadn't already figured that out.

I woke up Saturday morning at 7:00 am and showered and got ready, then I picked up my friend Liz at her dorm and we made our way to the theater where auditions were being held. We got there around 8:30 and the doors didn't open until 9 so we sat in the jeep and ate blueberry muffins. Around 9, the rest of our friends showed up and we went inside and filled out the audition form and turned in our resumes and headshots and got our audition numbers. At this point, it's about 9:30 and dance auditions didn't start until 10:30, so some of us walked to Burger King for breakfast and coffee.

Around 10:15 we walked back and changed and stretched/warmed up. The dance auditions were pretty easy. We did a few ballet moves across the stage and a warm up movement exercise and then we learned an easy/short little routine. Then we partnered up and did lifts. Like i said, very simple. It only took 30 minutes.

After the dance auditions were over, we all went back up to the warm up room and changed clothes and then lined back up downstairs for our monologue auditions. Since our group of friends got their first, we were all grouped together....it was great! Lucky me thought got the first number so I had to go first.....the one person out of the group who had never done a professional audition before!! Well, the monologue that I performed was from Lost In Yonkers by Neil Simon and the song I sung was a small bit from His Eye Is On The Sparrow. My monologue went very well! I didn't struggle for a line at all and once I started it, I don't really remember doing it....it happened so naturally. But then we got to the song. I sang it a capella and I started on too high of a note. I was so nervous singing I could hear it in my voice and the whole time I was just ready to get the song over with. I don't even know if I sang the right words in the right order!! But I finally finished the song and walked off and sat down. I can't describe how I felt afterwards.

After everyone had finished, we waited outside for about 5 or 6 minutes and when they brought the call back list out we had all gotten called back for either chorus or acting and some for both! Once we signed up for a call back time slot we all went to Los Arcorois and ate lunch.

Chorus auditions started at 2:30 so we got back to the warm up room and sat around for about 45 minutes til those started and we ended up all doing the call back as a group so they could see if we could sing together as a group. That was kind of annoying because we aren't singers, we're actors. But we did sound good together.

It's now about 3:20 and my friend Will and I had been called back to read together, for the two young leads. So we got our scripts and found a place at the theater to rehearse for a while because our call back time was at 4. Keep in mind that it's around 3:20, so we don't think we have that much time. So, we run through our lines a few times and figure out exactly what we want to do with blocking and interaction because our two characters are love interests. Luckily, Will and I have great chemistry together so it wasn't that hard to figure out.

We don't end up doing our call back until 6. Somehow, they got really behind. Did I mention that it was about 45 degrees in the hallway?!?! It was......the air conditioner was on and no one knew how to turn it off. It was ridiculous! Once Will and I finally were able to get into the theater we did great! I think the director was really surprised out how well we worked together because we did two scenes together and after each one we heard her say "Wow!" "Oh! Good!" Haha, so hopefully we made an impression!

I can't explain how amazing Saturday was! Besides the bitter cold and the waiting around, I had such a good time!! I went into this audition not confident and nervous and not expecting anything to come of it and I end up reading for the lead role!! Do you understand how excited I am going to be if Will and I get cast as the leads?! I'd be just as excited for the understudies because we still get to act and get paid! I wish I could explain to you how freaking amazing that would be!! It's unimaginable! The bad thing is is that we won't find out for another 5 or 6 weeks because they have 2 more auditions to hold.....1 at NCTC and then they hold a 2nd audition in Boone in March I think. But oh I hope we get it!!

"the lonely will fly..."

This is a song by Edwin McCain and i have fallen in love with it so much!!

[Caleb, this is the song that reminds me of you.]

Write Me A Song

"Kelly is raising her son
His dad left just after the birth
And now she's living on child support checks
I guess that's all that man was worth
She said I just need a man who will love me
But they all just want one night of sin
I know our life could be better
I just don't know where I should begin

She said write me a song
One that makes all the girls cry
And the old women swoon
With the sound of my tune
And the hearts of the lonely will fly
Yeah, they'll fly

Beth she sings straight from her heart
She's hidden her tracks very well
But these days she's fallin' apart
And it makes me feel just like hell

She says, boy, you can't imagine my life
The death and the drugs and the pain
And though I keep running
I just can't seem to break from these chains

She said write me a song
Fill it all up with words
Like brilliant and heavenly
Make it sound just like me
Just like the first time I love you was heard

And now write me a song
One that makes all the girls cry
And the old women swoon
At the sound of my tune
And the hearts of the lonely will fly

We're all feeding our lonely
Like it might go away
The doors of heaven swing wide
If we just find the right words to say

She said write me a song
Fill it all up with words
Like brilliant and heavenly
Make it sound just like me
Just like the first time I love you was heard

And now write me a song
One that makes all the girls cry
And the old women swoon
At the sound of my tune
And the hearts of the lonely will fly"

Poetry by Rives

I've just discovered a poet who I think I like very much. He goes by Rives (pronounced reeves). There is some language and a little bit of sexual imagery, but appreciate it as poetry, not moral teachings. My favorite is "Kite".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZsmneEtdWU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XptoJ_UoeM8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4fVoT4P9Kw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wbToZkJwY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu_PQBmk-6c&feature=channel