January 17, 2010

ISO: Directors who want to do my stuff

I moved to New York from Boston in the summer of 1999 and wanted to have my plays staged in the city. I had asked a few friends of friends how the hell that would be possible. Most of the options were the same: either form some relationship with a theatre so that they may (may) do a staged reading of my work in a year's time (though most likely longer), or spend a year filling out the paperwork to become a 501c3 (not-for-profit) entity.

My reactions to both options were the same: Fuck that.

The only thing that has to change about that quote is to replace Boston with Richmond and 1999 for 2008. The rest is exactly the same, except it took me longer to believe my "Fuck that."

This is how my scammy-looking Craigslist ad would look:

Unproduced, unpublished playwright seeking director with no real-world experience to put on my stuff for no money and no chance of fame. No credentials? No problem!

Interested? Good! From there it's just a simple matter of planning an entire production from scratch with no money. No biggie. We can just hit up our friends and family for some money. Just reassure them that you're not on drugs, and everything should be fine. I heard panhandlers make more than minimum wage employees. So maybe we could try that. Do you have great ideas for signs that will make people give us their money?

So - no budget, no clout, and no connections. But! I may have a place to rehearse for next to nothing, and I know a few people who may be willing to help build and strike a set. Yes, it's in Brooklyn. Remember: rehearsal space for next to nothing.

While we're working together, feel free to exploit the production for your thesis project or applying for a grant or MFA program. Just give me credit as the playwright and lie about me being easy to work with.

Sounds cool, doesn't it?

Shoot me an e-mail and let's get started!

1 comment:

  1. If anyone can make this happen it's you.

    ReplyDelete