Me and Freddy (aka Alfred) Cook - the very first presentation after my residency.
I've just finished the summer presentations of my play-with-music, "Unsung" ("Inconnue" in French) for the Château de La Napoule.
And I'm taking a breath. Taking stock.
For four months, I spent most of every day doing nothing but this. Writing, rewriting, translating, casting, rehearsing, promoting.
And I loved every minute.
(ok, almost every minute).
What lit me up enough
to keep me going,
even when the going got tough?
(WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?? THINK ABOUT IT AS YOU READ ON...)
- I had Beginner’s Mind
I’ve been writing for theatre for a while, and in a very competitive milieu (NYC/musicals). I'm gratified that often, it’s gone well. But it's also not always gone so well.
But here, no one knows me. I look good on paper. I don’t know the rules, the competition – so I just do it. Play. I feel free. Whee.
How you do something is more important than what you do.
- I went back to my roots.
I’ve always loved research, digging like a detective. Rooting around at the château, I discovered things about the Clews even family members didn’t know. When I was young, I wanted to be an archaeologist. At age huminahumina, I became one.
- I went WAY back to my roots
I started French when I was six, went on to a few other languages. I’ve always been fascinated by what language reveals about a culture, about how people think. I got to really luxuriate in that.
- I finally got to include all the fascinating, fun-facts I love.
I usually write about the past. Real stories.
However, I often get feedback from playwrights/directors. I have too many facts
This time was different. Since it was also a tour that needed to inform about the château, I didn’t have to cut them!
And the audience has Tour Mind on - they're more willing to pay attention. Yes, they want the story. But the facts, Ma'am, they want the facts.
- I love creating something DIFFERENT. Cross-genre. Cross-cultural.
I could write typical musical theatre. Well-made plays. Not interested. I like to invent things. Cross-cultural subjects. Multi-genre expressions.
I've made a wonderful discovery: I may be making sort of a new genre here.
Some plays that are site-specific take place in the sites, but they're not about the sites.
Other immersive experiences have guides dressed up as characters who tell the story. But they don't act out the story.
My piece is a real play. You observe, up close, the lives of Marie and Henry Clews. And it's deeply embedded in the site. Here is where they co-created. Here is where they fought. Here is where she sang.
The closest experience I've seen to this was in Paris at the Musée Camondo. An actor played the major-domo who worked for the family. But those family members weren't real characters, he didn't act them out. But he took us to a day back when the family was alive - and the tour came alive.
I met with an agent in Paris who didn’t know what to do with what I’m doing. But she loved it. So...have I created a new form? I need to keep looking...
- I remembered how much I love to perform.
I missed the charge of sharing this with the audience. Maybe it’s ego. All I know is I had FOMO. Actually, POMO (Pain of Missing out).
But I did get to sing in the French version. It wasn't much. But it colored everything about the experience. Gave it an extra charge.
-And last of all - JOY
I'm such a Puritan. A good girl. I do my homework.
But Joy is what keeps you going.
It was an unintended metaphor, naming my main character Joy.
Corollary: sustaining joy can be hard. So be sure to choose something that has enough sugar to make the medicine go down.
My Joy kept me going. She let me tell a story that deserved to be told, of Marie Clews. She got to be funny and the uncensored mouthpiece for my personal dreams - and grievances. She was the first French-speaking character I ever birthed. She made me remember HOW COOL THIS WHOLE ADVENTURE WAS.
AND YOU?
WHAT GIVES YOU JOY?
CAN YOU DO MORE OF THAT - RIGHT NOW?
PLEASE share one thing in the comments below.
You're a joy, Beth!