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
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 today, with the deadline to sign-up now behind us, there are 111 playwrights signed on for the challenge (which is a new record, congratulations to all of you signing on to prioritize your creativity for the next 30 days)!
(For comparison, last year’s total was 101 playwrights - 2023 was 57, 2022 was 40, 2021 was 45)
New York State ended up on top of the listings this year with 15 playwrights signing up,
Minnesota made a respectable showing in 2nd place with 13 writers,
11 from California,
9 from Illinois,
8 from Ohio,
6 from Massachusetts,
5 from Pennsylvania,
4 from Florida,
4 from Georgia,
4 from Washington state,
3 from Colorado,
3 from New Jersey,
3 from Texas,
2 each from Indiana,
Michigan,
and Virginia.
There’s also a single representative hailing from each of the following:
Arizona
Connecticut,
Kansas,
Kentucky,
Maryland,
Rhode Island,
Utah,
Wisconsin,
and Washington, D.C.
All this alongside the 4 in Canada, our returning friend in Glasgow, Scotland, and a new friend in faraway Malaysia this year.
It’s nice to see, particularly in times like these, a group of writers gathering together, even if it’s only electronically, across 24 states and D.C. in the US, with some of our neighbors from up north, and a little trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific partnership going on as well.
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 bit earlier each day the day before, 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. I’m still knocking the rust off my challenge-coordinating typing fingers this weekend, and the second job devoured most of my Saturday today between the morning/early afternoon matinee shift, followed by the new union group’s monthly informational meeting on how our first contract negotiations are going (in a word, slowly) there on site for the afternoon after that, so thank you for bearing with me.
And so…
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Challenge #2 - O Superman
Write Sunday, November 2nd - or earlier if you like
Due: Monday, 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)
This suggestion comes to us from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Maren Findlay:
“listen to the 1982 song O Superman by Laurie Anderson and write a scene inspired by whatever that vibe is”
Which is wild for many reasons, not the least of which is that song came along decades before Maren was born.
Here’s the video (and I’ve appended the lyrics to the bottom of this message)
I might also suggest her song “Language is a Virus”
Here’s that video, (and again, the lyrics are tacked on here at the end if you’re interested)
And there’s a delightful interview of her from a few years back on the TV show “60 Minutes” that takes you through her career, her current art exhibit at the time, and even her long-term relationship with rocker Lou Reed.
At the 11:15 mark in the interview, there is a part of her art exhibit that is an enormous room full of words and sketches, which if you freeze frame it could probably give you enough material for the whole month of November all by itself.
She also recounted something a cryptologist once sent to her:
“If you think technology is going to solve your problems,
You don’t understand technology
And you don’t understand your problems.”
Personally, I have an unconventional history with the character of Superman. He’s my brother’s favorite superhero, so any Superman-related paraphernalia is always a good gift for him. Our family Christmas tree accumulated a great many Superman ornaments over the years.
Also, I was in the cast of a Minnesota Fringe Festival show written by a friend who wanted to queer the Superman character a little. Among other things, Superman was carrying on simultaneous affairs with Lois Lane (which involved bondage and kryptonite) and Jimmy Olson (which was oddly enough the more conventional, emotionally vulnerable relationship). I played the role of Jimmy, which meant I got to make out with a cute guy in a Superman outfit all summer. There are worse fates. The late theater critic John Townsend played the villain Lex Luthor, and I think we missed a marketing opportunity by not trumpeting, “A theater critic is killed at every performance!”
And of course there are also the TV shows “Smallville” and “Superman & Lois” as well as both the Snyderverse and more recent James Gunn versions of Superman, just to name a few other iterations of the popular character.
Between Laurie Anderson and Superman, something should spark your imagination.
The world is short on both whimsy and heroes, so try to inject a bit of either one.
And if not, just like any day this month, ignore us and write whatever you like.
Just write something.
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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 try 2024’s challenge #2: RIP: HUGE improv theater
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 :)
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How to submit your work for Challenge #2
We’re streamlining the process this year with a Google form,
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header
but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.
After you enter the required fields of
email,
name,
challenge number (for today, that’d be 2 :)
and page count,
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:
Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.
OR
Post
your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a
Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.
OR
Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form
OR
Type directly into the Google form.
(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)
Write Sunday, November 2nd - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Monday, November 3rd, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
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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) - 2025 edition
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 27th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2025 edition
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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 Monday 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 makes sense to you.
It just needs to be something.
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And that something can be:
Lights up.
Look! Up in the sky!
It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
It’s…
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 :)
And take good care of yourselves, and each other.
Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his)
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O Superman lyrics (1982)
O Superman
O Judge
O Mom and Dad
Mom and Dad, ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha-ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
O Superman
O Judge
O Mom and Dad
Mom and Dad, ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha-ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Hi, I'm not home right now
But if you wanna leave a message
Just start talking at the sound of the tone
(Ah, ah-ah)
(Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
Hello? This is your Mother
Are you there?
Are you coming home? (Ah, ah)
(Ah, ah, ah-ah)
Hello? Is anybody home?
Well, you don't know me, but I know you
And I've got a message to give to you
Here come the planes
So you better get ready, ready to go
You can come as you are, but pay as you go
Pay as you go
And I said, "Okay, who is this really?"
And the voice said
"This is the hand, the hand that takes"
"This is the hand, the hand that takes"
"This is the hand, the hand that takes"
Here come the planes
They're American planes, made in America
Smoking or non-smoking?
(Ah, ah-ah, ah, ah, ah-ah)
And the voice said
"Neither snow nor rain, nor gloom of night
Shall stay these couriers from the swift completion
Of their appointed rounds"
'Cause when love is gone
There's always justice
And when justice is gone
There's always force
And when force is gone
There's always Mom, hi Mom
(Ah, ah)
(Ah, ah, ah-ah)
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms
In your automatic arms, your electronic arms
In your arms
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms
Your petrochemical arms, your military arms
In your electronic arms
(Ah, ah-ah)
********************************
Language Is A Virus lyrics
Paradise is exactly like
Where you are right now
Only much, much better
I saw this guy on the train
And he seemed to gave gotten stuck
In one of those abstract trances
And he was going: Ugh... Ugh... Ugh...
And Fred said: I think he's in some kind of pain
I think it's a pain cry
And I said: Pain cry?
Then language is a virus
Language
It's a virus
Language
It's a virus
Well, I was talking to a friend
And I was saying: I wanted you
And I was looking for you
But I couldn't find you
I couldn't find you
And he said: Hey!
Are you talking to me?
Or are you just practicing
For one of those performances of yours?
Huh?
Language
It's a virus
Language
It's a virus
He said: I had to write that letter to your mother
And I had to tell the judge that it was you
And I had to sell the car and go to Florida
Because that's just my way of saying
That I love you
And I Had to call you at the crack of dawn
And list the times that I've been wrong
Cause that's just my way of saying
That I'm sorry (It's a job)
Sorry!
Language
It's a virus
Language
It's a virus
Paradise is exactly like
Where you are right now
Only much much better
(It's a shipwreck)
(It's a job)
You know?
I don't believe there's such a thing as TV
I mean - they just keep showing
The same pictures over and over
And when they talk they just make sounds
That more or less synch up
With their lips
That's what I think
Language
It's a virus
Language
It's a virus
Language
It's a virus
Well, I dreamed there was an island
That rose up from the sea
And everybody on the island
Was somebody from TV
And there was a beautiful view
But nobody could see
'Cause everybody on the island was saying:
Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!
(Why?)
Because they all lived on an island
That rose up from the sea
And everybody on the island
Was somebody from TV
And there was a beautiful view
But nobody could see
'Cause everybody on the island was screaming:
Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!
Paradise is exactly like
Where you are right now
Only much much better
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