Most of December I devoted in getting Coffee & Cake onto the stage and it was well received over the December 13th weekend. We had a total of 3 performances and I was very proud of the many hours people put into the project. This production involved approximately 40 volunteers coming together and during the tech week we really gelled and created a solid, trusting community of players. For the rest of December, I did my best to chill a bit and did not write – although writing is never far from the mind. I read a few plays and saw some films….Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, Doubt, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons.

Benjamin Buttons was my favorite of the movies I’ve seen of late. The dialogue is rich with some beautiful language including this line:

“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.”

I saw Jane Miller (director from Blue), in the musical Charlie Brown. Jane played the part of Lucy and she is a spark of energy on stage. I spent part of the day with Jane and we talked about Circus, which is what I plan to focus on in January. Circus has all the elements of a great play, with engaging characters and an interesting setting, but the play needs a page 1 re-write. Basically, I have to start over and re-construct the course of events in the story. I think the biggest element I am struggling with in Circus is the idea of showing rather than telling. At present, there are four characters which could expand to five in the re-write.

This month I also eagerly await the results of the Karios Prizes in Screenwriting. The Tree of Life is in competition and come mid January, results for the first round will be in. I’m optimistic about my chances and look forward to sharing some great news. I just recently entered Home, into another competition called Bluecat. Bluecat is run by Gordy Hoffman (brother of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his competition offers screenwriters feedback on their scripts. They are a very well run competition and I will be getting comments on my script come Feb. 1. If I so chose too I can resubmit a re-write before the competition closes. Stay tuned…