Let there be Action . . . a Challenge to Writers

Playwrights grow depending on their willingness to recognize the holes in their work.  On a local level in Atlanta there are many talented writers but they seem to hit a wall when it comes to recognizing the need to be a dramatist and not simply a writer of words.  The key element many writers fail to miss is the need for action.  Many writers simply fall in love with their characters talking and never challenge themselves to evolve more as a writer.  Writers enjoy plays with lots of words and characters talking.  Audiences enjoy a play where something is happening and there are stakes involved for all.

I could state this point in many ways and many, many times and it will still fall on deaf ears.  Writers can be absent minded about their work but see a flaw clearly in another’s work.  I know this to be fact because I’ve had to go through this point of “writing maturity” for myself but have also seen it in every playwright I’ve known and at every level of writing.

I recently saw "Evelyn in Purgatory" by Topher Payne, a very talented playwright and someone that has achieved a lot of success in Atlanta.  The play was basically people stuck in a room talking.  To Director Carolyn Choe’s credit, she found ways to make most of it work.  But there were simply way too many literary references littering the play, and then Act Two opened with the characters reading a screenplay in the play.  We had to listen to characters read a screenplay in a play!!!!!  It was a poor choice by a talented writer.

The lesson is that writers must challenge themselves to get beyond their own habits and work to craft a play. It doesn't matter if you love something or if it strokes your ego, it is not a piece of art until the writer has made hard choices. Just like actors making choices about a character, writers must constantly be pushing themselves to make strong choices.

So what is a strong choice? Well, having characters read a screenplay in the play is not, and reading poems, quoting Shakespeare or spending time analyzing literature also qualify as weak choices where the writer is settling for the easy route.  But a strong choice is to have a character ACTIVELY trying to achieve their goal by trying to gain something from another character(s).  And the writer must find a way to demonstrate this agenda by what the character does, not by what they say.  As my friend Daphne Mintz likes to say, “Action is character.” The simple act of a man or woman putting on his/her clothes can tell me far more about that character than any words on the page.  Obviously physical confrontations on the stage are strong forms of actions but so are smaller acts like deception (stealing, hiding items). How one character may touch another character is a great indicator of how they use their personal power and how a character relates to the set pieces or props (yes, the writer should be thinking of these things). On stage everything should have a relationship to the people and the chosen set pieces and props on the stage.  And they all provide opportunities for action.  A simple stage direction of “CHARLIE bangs his head against the dented front door” tells me he has done this before. Or “LAURIE folds all the chairs in the room and carefully organizes them during this stretch of dialogue.” In this case the writer is providing an opportunity to argue about chair stacking as a means to get to the underlying emotional issue.

As a writer, being direct and writing on point is something that should be used sparingly.  As an audience member, I say, “lie to me” and show me “how you feel” by “what you do” and by “what you avoid saying.” If you can do this, then you are beginning to craft a play and not settle for just being a writer.

And if you don’t believe what I am trying to communicate in this post I will reference an article in Entertainment Weekly from August 30, 2013.  A friend recommended the article and it makes some great points.  It is a quick interview with the writers of “Game of Thrones.”  The article is by Darren Franich.  It quotes writer David Benioff,  “If you have a scene where somebody is telling you a 10 minute story about something that happened to them back in the day . . . I’m not saying it can’t work, but it better be a damn good story because otherwise it’s a guy flapping his lips for 10 minutes on screen.”  Currently there is way too much gum flapping in the world of new plays.  We have some very talented writers in Atlanta, but the time is now for them to challenge themselves and to not settle for words on a page that make them feel good but to craft a play that integrates words, action, character, and set into a whole picture that becomes a work of art.  It is a rare thing.  But it is a very worthwhile goal.

Ahead of the Curve

At Onion Man, we like being ahead of the curve. Why wait for change, create some instead.

In 2009, Onion Man started producing original short plays by local playwrights, putting to work Atlanta actors and directors with the goal being to help build a vibrant, strong new play environment in the Atlanta theater community. Each June, Onion Man has staged original 10-minute plays by local playwrights for two weeks at Lionheart Theatre in Norcross. This year we even added a second collection and produced 13 original new short plays by local writers. Over the five years we’ve produced 55 original short plays, creating opportunities for 47 directors and 145 actors.

Now we look around the Atlanta theatre scene and can see new work blooming all over the place. Of course, we are not claiming credit for this growth in new work, just simply acknowledging the change in the Atlanta theatre landscape. Onion Man has certainly had a positive impact and has led in fostering a creative environment for new plays. And as we sit mid-way through 2013, we are seeing the beginnings of a community taking ownership of its collective creative force.

So then, what is the goal from here? That’s easy. It is time to both broaden the base and deepen the well. We need to see more and more local playwrights getting produced. This community has a large number of talented writers who just need an Artistic Director to say “yes” to producing their plays.

So why should an Artistic Director produce new work by local playwrights?

a) There are some damn good plays in need of production.
b) It is a good business decision. A local writer will help bring audience. Not only the people they know locally but all of us who want to support new work.
c) It will be an affordable production.
d) A local theater company has a responsibility to serve its community. If a company is getting a tax exempt status or taking money from local or state government sources, I would argue they have an ethical responsibility to use those funds to invest in the local artistic community – that includes writers.
e) The company will be building a stronger theatre community. When the plays are locally grown and produced we all share in the bounty.

At Onion Man, it is our belief that a rich environment for new plays in a theatre community is the engine that is needed to create sustainable and dynamic theater. And it is because we have invested in our local talent of writers, actors, and directors that we are building up their artistry and creating unique challenges that come with producing new work.

So, we look for the next five years to be far bolder than the last five in terms of fostering new work by local writers. In just a number of years I expect a good number of Atlanta based playwrights to be having an impact on the national level. Why expect this? Because of the investment we have made in the artistic talent right here in Atlanta.

Lastly, if you are an Artistic Director and would like help finding a new play by a local playwright, email me and I’ll gather some scripts from some very talented writers for you to read.  Just let me know what you are looking for. Email me at james@onionmanproductions.com

So, let’s get to it. See you five years down this road.

JAMES BECK’S ADVENTURES IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Onion Man Productions is renewing our commitment to give back to our community as we move into 2013. This initiative is part of our Community Garden, which includes a program for mentoring young artists. Recently, OMP Founder James Beck visited a local middle school to work with young playwrights. But in this situation, who was really the teacher, and who was the student?

I was anxious. Maybe it was the experience of walking into a foreign setting to do something that I had not done before that gave me a feeling of unease. Lanier Middle School is part of a modern school complex in Gwinnett County, close to Lake Lanier. I had come to Lanier Middle to help my friend, Joanie McElroy (part of the OMP team), by providing feedback to her drama class. And so at 8:00 AM in the morning, this 47-year-old part onion, part man walked into a middle school to help young people.

I was there early because I really don’t know any other way to arrive at an appointment. They didn’t have middle schools when I was growing up in Dekalb County. We went to seventh grade and then headed to high school in eighth grade.  Middle school seems like a far more sane way to slice the educational experience. So, everything about this experience was new. Yes, I would be helping the students with the plays they were writing, so that was familiar. But I also knew I would have to find a way to communicate so I could actually be helpful.  Therefore, I drew on my faith that I would find my way to the right approach.

Chaos comes quickly in a middle school. Young people approached Joanie, now “Mrs. McElroy,” with questions and the need for copies of their scripts to be made, and she artfully conducted the molecules of middle school to orbit around a space where there was a small stage. There was a lot of energy in the air from the kids for 8:00 AM. I would have been dragging, were it not for the two cups of coffee I had already consumed that morning. So, we dove in. The young playwrights cast their plays with other students and we listened. One student said she needed props for her reading. Had an adult asked the same thing at a workshop, it would have been hard not to hide my disdain. But, here it seemed fun. After all, we had talking reindeers, so how could you not enjoy yourself?

The whole experience flew by. I tried not to give too much feedback and instead I just made a quick strong point or two. My feedback seemed to make sense and register with the students. I could not have been more impressed by these young people. They are all so far advanced compared to the kids of my generation. And I was really struck by the teachers and administrators, who spend their day nurturing, instructing, and providing opportunities for the wild random fluctuations of human spirit contained in those growing bodies. These youngsters walk in the doors daily with the emotions and reality of what they experience at home, both good and bad, and they are in need of so many different things. It is quite a job that the teachers have day in and day out. And it would seem really hard not to care, love, and occasionally, want to pull their hair out. My part in the morning was small. Hopefully something I said helped or added to the molecular middle school mix in a positive way.