Oh well..."Old Soldiers" will get older

The results are in and it ain't good.

"Don't beat around the bush, Eleanor. Give us your latest "Old Soldiers" update."

In the way of a memory jogger because some people may have forgotten, a while back I wrote a short story based on an interview conducted for Remembrance Day with army veterans for my newspaper column. Their recollections were vivid as they related their war experiences along with strong bonds of friendship created between the combatants. Reading over the notes, the story suddenly took on a life of its own and the first edition, a short story, of  "Old Soldiers" was born leading to the creation of the play version of "Old Soldiers."

Initially, it was start-stop, start-stop writing and long periods of the dreaded white-screen syndrome with minimal progress made, until the opportunity arose to enter the BBC International Radio Playwriting competition. As is my habit, a lot of time passed until the decision to finish the play and enter it as my submission to the competition. It was a difficult task having no experience in writing for radio and the story line had to be adjusted to accommodate sound effects, plus adding substantial dialogue. Eventually, I managed to finish it and sent it on its way to the BBC.

"You do go on so, Eleanor. What's the end result?"

The long list of semi-finalists was posted last week and ~ sigh ~ my name was missing. Must have been an over sight or something on their part because the play has all the ingredients of a good story, with a good mix of drama and comedy, my specialty. Thinking back and in retrospect, it would work better as a film given some of the changes of scenes but if one doesn't enter the competition, then for sure one can't win. Right? Soooooo...I'm re-writing the story (once again) this time as a proper stage play, which will require some re-thinking of the story line and changes in the characters. So what else is new.

On a positive note, my play "Retribution" will be part of "The Originals: Sundog Summer Reading Series put on by the Sundog Theatre of Staten Island, on Thursday, August 7, 8 o'clock p.m. at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens, building "G" - room 201, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY. Entrance is free of charge and I can guarantee you that the story line will hold your attention and then some.

And so, it's onward to the next re-write, new play waiting to be written and the continuing search for potential producers, theatres and the like. Is there anything else worth pursuing?

Good news update - progress at last!

People who drop by this blog regularly or from time-to-time are aware of my moaning, groaning and general kvetching about my play writing and all the hang-ups thereof. This includes unfinished plays that appear to have potential but end up stored in the to-be-examined-at-a-later-date file. Later could mean a month or years. Sometimes though,. things just seem to work.

I've been in a play submission mode of late and decided that my play, "Retribution" deserved to be seen and heard by the world. To this end and after submitting to the Sundog Theatre of Staten Island, I am pleased - nay - delighted to report that they have selected Retribution to be part of their Summer Reading Series to be held on Thursday, August 7, 7:30 p.m. at the St. George Theatre in Staten Island.  A one-act play, a drama, focuses on revenge  specifically (adapted from the synopsis) "after years of patiently waiting and planning for their paths to cross, a hairdresser has an opportunity to exact revenge for a horrific past crime that has gone unpunished." Drop by and see the drama play out in person if you live in the New York area since admission is free of charge.

Still more progress to report in other areas. Finally finished the first draft of "Neighbors" now called, "The Shrubs." It took me a year or more to complete but I'm very pleased with the end result. This is yet another play that started out as a short 10-minute writing exercise but over the years - yes years - evolved into a one act and then a full two-act play. There were a lot of twists and turns along the way and change of story lines but in the end, it wrote itself. All the good plays seem to write themselves. In any case, I'm going to put it away for a while before embarking upon the editing process.

"So tell us, Eleanor - what's on your agenda for your next project?"

I'm planning to take a serious read-through of "Dead Writes" and see where this story can go. It's a fun play with touches of the supernatural concerning an old, crusty newspaper reporter (Felicia) who lead a rough-and ready life that focused on getting a story at any cost. Having been relegated to a holding position where a decision will be made on her next step into either heaven or hell, she accepts the responsibility of training a newly hired, naïve reporter, but doesn't anticipate the moral issues and challenges that arise along the way. Only the newbie reporter is aware of the dead reporter's presence, which makes for some interesting and humorous proceedings. Her progress will be monitored by a heavenly spiritual adviser who is assigned to keep Felicia on the straight and narrow. Think this just may work...

More news will be forthcoming on the play reading and hopefully more positive news on other submissions.

Playing around: sending out the word

As an aspiring playwright (insert deep sigh here) continually seeking out potential submission sites, it occurred to me that it would simplify the process by keeping track here of where the plays go and the end result. Sometimes the end result is made known with a rejection note while other times the fate of the submitted play is never known.

Not sure how many hopeful and striving playwrights read this blog but perhaps it would be helpful and somewhat cathartic for me, to share the names of the various theatres/groups/whoever and the end result (where applicable) when sending out one of my plays. I'll also add commentary (where applicable) and any commentary (when applicable) passed along by the contact person. In sharing, we all learn.

The most recent play submitted was my one-act, which also happens to be one of my favorites, "Retribution" sent to the Sundog Theatre in Staten Island on April 9. Came across this theatre while conducting my daily search and the theatre just stood out as I combed through the various sites. After querying them, did further checking with their mandate being: "Sundog Theatre is a performing arts organization in Staten Island that provides entertainment for adults and children in the form of contemporary and original theatre." Having visited New York but never Staten Island, this theater excites me quite a bit. Here is the coordinates of their web site: http://www.sundogtheatre.org/

The content is definitely not for young children and although I mentioned this in my communication with a theatre administrator, she mentioned that on occasion they do perform other types of plays and to pass along the play, anyway. At this point, I'm waiting to find out whether or not my "baby" has found a home and obviously hoping - really hoping - that it has. I've sent a follow-up query and patience isn't one of my strong points but I'm philosophical in that whatever happens - happens (profound Eleanor - profound!).

Additionally, I've also been querying some theatres that are presenting short play festivals. Having written quite a few, it might be a good fit.

Riff-Raff Productions in the UK sounds like an intriguing concept worthy of further thought and investigation.

There are a few other theatres I'm waiting to hear from as to whether they accept play submissions from outside their country of origin. Meanwhile, will provide updates here regarding the end result(s).