Friday, November 1, 2024

Writing Challenge #2 - RIP: HUGE improv theater


Hi folks

A quick reminder to start - for those who have early voting or mail-in voting options available to them in the U.S., please avail yourselves of them if you haven’t already

(for instance, in Threshold Theater’s home of Minneapolis there’s three standard early vote locations, plus a pop-up location available until 6pm tonight.  The three early vote locations are also available Saturday, Sunday and Monday.)  

Then Tuesday’s Election Day.
Make your voice heard.

And if voting impacts your ability to write and make the deadline for one of these first few days of writing, amnesty is availability for the deadline - just let me know you were out voting (we’re not gonna penalize anyone for something that important)



And now, back to playwriting…

As of this morning, there are 101 playwrights signed on for the challenge!

(For comparison, last year’s total was 57 - and we thought at the time THAT was a lot - a new record a year ago compared to the two years prior, but you all blew right past that this year :)

It was back and forth all day yesterday between Minnesota and New York for the highest number of participants but a flurry of last minute entrants at the end pushed Minnesota back into the lead:

Minnesota ended up with 17 playwrights
New York bumped its total writers up to lucky 13

Other locales added on as well yesterday.  We ended up with the following:

7 from California, 7 from Georgia,
5 from Massachusetts, 5 from Ohio,
4 from Colorado,
3 from Arizona, 3 from Florida, 3 from Maryland, 3 from Texas, 3 from Washington state
2 each from Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
There’s also a single representative hailing from each of the following:
Alaska, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

We picked up another Canadian participant in Victoria, to go with our three folks from Ontario already in the mix.  And last but certainly not least, hail to our friend in Glasgow, Scotland.

Welcome, one and all!  Thanks for joining us in this little daily exercise in flexing your writing muscles for a month.

I am going to continue to endeavor to get you all the challenges a day early, so you have plenty of time to write, but you’ll also have the option that way to move on to the next one if you finish a challenge early.

And so…


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Challenge #2 - RIP, HUGE improv theater

Due: Sunday, November 3rd, 12pm noon Central Time
Oh, and just to complicate things - daylight savings time is also in the mix that day :)
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


Sending this out on the Day of the Dead, so let’s ponder the passing of a local theater, shall we?

HUGE improv theater sadly closed its doors for the last time on October 31st.  They had an impressive 15 year run offering a stage for new and veteran improvisors alike, serving also as a summer stage for the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and creating a hub of community (and classes) for long form improv comedy in the Twin Cities.  HUGE spawned so many performers and improv groups and concept shows that its influence around town will continue for a great many years, but HUGE itself has ceased to exist as of yesterday, with its last night of performances the day before.

Coincidentally, Threshold Theater just held auditions for my play “Spellbound” and will be rehearsing and performing in the spring of 2025 at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis

The Phoenix Theater used to be the home of the long running sketch comedy ensemble the Brave New Workshop, where I first saw Improv-A-Go-Go, the weekly entry level improv showcase that provided some of the impetus for the creation of HUGE.  A weekly showcase that continued for 15 years at HUGE theater every Sunday.  And starting in 2025, Improv-A-Go-Go kicks back into gear at its new home Strike Theater - a space dedicated to storytelling, sketch comedy and spoken word that came into existence in the wake of HUGE first opening its doors. In fact, Strike is proving to be a new refuge for improv classes and performances in general.

Circle of life.

Theater spaces, like nearly all spaces, have a history - so many artists, so many audience members, so many stories, crammed into a single space.  Memories, ghosts, think of it all what you will.

Write something about the past life of a space (whatever space you like, a performance space, a home, a church, a store, a TV/movie set, etc.) manifesting somehow in the present, and have fun with the overlap.

Or, as always, just write whatever you like.

Just write something.


And I’ll leave you some parting words from the folks at HUGE improv theater:

TO THE IMPROVISORS
OF HUGE NO MORE
from your buddy Jill Bernard
(one of HUGE’s founders, there from the beginning til the very final night of performances on Wednesday)

I HOPE
…you absolutely demand that your improv teachers authentically create a space where students have agency over how they will be treated and what subjects are fair game, and model for them how to do it if they don’t know.
…you notice when you see an all-white improv team or an all-men improv team. What you do with that observation is up to you, but I want you to be tuned to observe it and not accept it as a default setting.
…you learn how to make an online form and book a space and contract a teacher and make a class happen.
…you continue the spirit of ‘cooperatition’, which is a gross fake word for cooperation + competition wherein we help other improv groups and theaters and never see ourselves as adversaries.
…you never confuse creativity and irresponsibility; you show up on time, do what you said you would do, and clean up after yourself. Maybe change the toilet paper even.
…you rent spaces and stages that can be accessed without stairs.
…you are more than queer-friendly, you’re queer-best-friendly or beyond.
…you hone the eyes through which to see your own improv style, unique to you, and polish it up.
…you’re brave about speaking the truth, kindly but surely.
…you find a way to avoid loud dull people.
…you are utterly unprecious about any one school of improv thought and try on them all.
…you recognize the fragility and loveliness of improv itself, the people who do it and watch it; and the places where it happens.
…you prank the Star Tribune newspaper however you can.
…you take your water bottle with you when you leave.



HUGE Improv Theater. 2011-2024
"Find the others.
Find the people in the same place as you who want to build the same things.
Ask them what they're interested in, ask them what they're making, and ask them if you can help. Put it together...
It's not too late for you.
It's not too late for the future.
Start talking. Start building it.
Make it calmly, and make it complex and inclusive.
Make it real.
Make it human.
Make it weird and wonderful."
- Warren Ellis


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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can

try 2021’s challenge #2: Fire Escape

Or try 2022’s challenge #2: What Haunts You?

Or try 2023’s challenge #2: Fox and Rabbit (from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Kate Cosgrove)

Or, you know, just ignore the prompts altogether and write whatever you want - as long as you’re writing and turning it in by the deadline, that’s all that matters for the challenge :)

*********************************

And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips)

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress About November 28th (however you recognize the holiday weekend)


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How to submit your work for Challenge #2

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 paste 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 #2
(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 noted above in the comments section below on this very blog post for today's challenge on our writing challenge blog



Again, this is: Due: Sunday, November 3rd, 12pm noon Central Time
Oh, and just to complicate things - daylight savings time is also in the mix that day :)
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


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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 on the first few days.  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 12 noon Central Time on Sunday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

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 28 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.


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And that something can be:



Lights up.

A person sweeps an empty stage, in front and behind a couple of painted black flats that form a doorway.

Someone stacks up the chairs in the auditorium.

Some turns the lights off and locks the doors for the last time.

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.

Just write.

(After you vote, of course :)

 

 

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