We had about six actors over to the producer’s house in Ohio City. One of our actors was a real doctor. One of the things that I love about writing plays is seeing the actors bring your characters straight off the page and into real life. Everyone was crammed in the living room. The actor playing Dante, the cook, had to sit on the floor. We even had a tiny audience and a big dog.
After the read through, I took notes from everybody and answered some questions about why I did certain things.
“It will only take me a few weeks to put the notes together.” I told the producer and the actor who portrayed Dante that day. She’s the director now.
However, once I sat down to the play again, the worst possible thing happened – my creative brain woke up with tons of energy. I changed, in one way or another, almost every line in the play. I added scenes. I changed the ending and parts of the middle. It was a beautifully destructive overhaul. And, of course, I HAND WROTE all of the edits because that’s how I roll. (I also hand wrote my entire novel, The Witch at Sparrow Creek). I did a lot of it at Moxxee coffee shop in downtown Charleston.
Months and months and months later, I am happy to announce that the play, entitled A Thing of Shadows, is written and has been submitted to the producer and director at Ohio City Theatre Project. Needless to say, the production, originally slated for the end of October this year – will be delayed because of my edits.
For those who haven’t been following, my play is a retelling of the novella “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell. The story was made into three movies, most memorable was the one starring Kurt Russell and directed by John Carpenter called “The Thing”.
I’ll keep us posted… thanks for sticking with me!
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