Another rough draft of my new play Circus is completed. This version opens up the play and takes it in new directions. I’ve added one character, expanded the storyline and I’m playing with timelines. The play explores mental illness and centers around Raina Shepherd and her family as they all struggle to cope with Raina’s deteriorating mental state. I will be having a reading of the play with the director of Blue, Jane Miller on October 19. We have gathered a troupe of actors to read parts and my hope is after the reading I will have a clearer idea as to where I need to take Circus.

Writing is a funny thing. You think you’re done…you’re never done. At some point, one must put a project and aside (abandon it, in a sense) and move on, only to revisit that same project later on. Circus has been kicking around in my head for almost two years now. I like the current draft, but I know it’s far from complete. I will continue to pick away at it until the reading in October. I was also planning to apply for a writing grant but, discovered the grant period had passed and will wait till the new year for the next one.

This past month I’ve also put together a five minute film for a festival run by LG Electronics. LG is looking for five minute films that explore the theme of “life’s good” and/or the inspiration of the human spirit. I spent a couple weeks coming up with an idea -wrote it, sent if off to a few friends, re-wrote it several times before shooting. I gathered a couple friends over a weekend and we shot the script in 3 days. I ended up acting in it as well. The film came together very fast and it is in the process of being edited with a deadline of October 16. The film explores imagination and the idea that no matter where we find ourselves, life can still be good and an attitude can never be taken away from how we approach life.

I’ve begun rehearsals for the Christmas Production that I wrote called Story of a Boy. This is a mostly community-lead effort that involves 10 actors, a choir and band that will be staged at the Stone Church on Dec. 12 and 13. As I said in my previous post, the play takes place over 4 decades and audiences will see certain characters change in appearance and attitude. It is sort of a take on A Christmas Carol with characters from the Christmas story visiting our protagonist to get her to deal with her past in order to make peace in the present and have a future to look forward to.

My hope for when I post again here is that I have begun writing a new screenplay. I began writing some brainstorming ideas but my other writings took over. Studio Speranza website is also being updated and I’ll be getting a brand new website hopefully before year’s end.