Challenge #25 - Unstageable

Hi folks

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Again, sending you two prompts from the future again today, so you can work ahead for the holiday weekend if you wish.

This prompt is the one you would be writing Thursday to be turned in on Friday morning, but just label your email for prompt 25 and you can turn it early and I’ll credit it ahead.

And of course, you can always use the mini-play at the bottom of the email and blog post as an escape hatch for the day’s writing.





Let’s get you that writing prompt…


Challenge #25 - Unstageable

Due: Friday, November 26th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

Personally, I don’t think anything play is unstageable.

Theater has the benefit of suspension of disbelief and the power of the audience’s collective imagination behind it.  Anything is possible.

Producers or directors sometime think too literally, as if everything in a script needs to exist in an exact replica of reality on the stage, as it would in a film or TV show.

Another call for scripts along these lines from a couple of years ago amused me, so I offer it up to you, to see what it might inspire:

A theater out of St. Petersburg, Russia called Vibrating Body declared their intention to create an Independent International Award for Improper Dramaturgy, to support and identify underground dramatic writers.

One prize was to be awarded in the category of:

A Play That No One Will Ever Agree To Stage

Under Requirements it said:

Formal requirements are absent
There are no linguistic and geographical limits.

The theater Vibrating Body described itself as “an independent project in the field of theater, contemporary art and social service.
Our field of activity: mysticism, the joy of creativity, archetypes, dreams, paranormal, complex, subtle.
Our projects implemented in the field of modern theater, art performance and video art. In our works we rely on our own aesthetics and philosophy. We like to use mysticism, local archetypes, symbols and images. Each project is unique and has literary, theatrical, artistic and musical components.”

So, given all that, what do you want to put down on the page?

How to submit your work for Challenge #25

You have options.  They are:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and send as an attachment to an email sent to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Copy and past your script in the body of an email and send it to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Post your script online (as a Google doc, or in a blog post, on your own personal website, etc.) - email a link to this script to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com
(If you’re going to Google doc route, just make sure to have the document public, or give permissions to our email address to open it)

When emailing us, make the subject line of your email - Challenge #25
(That just helps us sort through the email more quickly)
(Or, you know, just reply to this email if you want :)

OR

Post the link for the online document option above in the comments section on this very blog post for this challenge on our writing challenge blog.


Again, this is: Due: Friday, November 26th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

 

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 8am on Friday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

A friendly reminder - you don’t have to write to the prompts if they don’t inspire you.  You can ignore them and just write whatever you want, just as long as you’re writing (that’s the main thing, not what you write)

Someone had a good question about the overall goal of the month, are we supposed to write a full-length play, or two one-act plays, etc.?  The short answer is no (unless you want to).  The longer answer is here if you’re curious.

For those concerned about format, we’re pretty liberal about that, too - just as long as it’s legible and in English.  More on that here.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. You have 5 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it make sense to you.

It just needs to be something.

And that something can be:

Lights up.

Something happens on stage that causes the audience to scratch their heads and wonder, “Why the hell did they do that?!  How the hell did they do that?!” 

Lights down.

The End

That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day (and a half).

Just write.