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Vol. XXI No. 2 October 2005 |
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'Ten Times Ten': Dramatic Math To celebrate Juilliard's centennial, the Drama Division commissioned 10 alumni of its Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program each to write a 10-minute play. The authors were given one stipulation: the number 100 must figure into the theme or action. The plays will premiere this month in a single evening's program, titled "Ten Times Ten," with third-year acting students starring and Will Pomerantz directing.
Berman: I performed my own writing in downtown bars, clubs, and small theaters. I began writing material for myself, then writing became the most essential and effective way to communicate. Once I took myself as a performer out of the equation, the writing could become more dangerous and universal. Cho: I'd secretly dreamed about becoming a writer, but didn't have the courage to focus on it, so I went into academics. After a couple of years, I decided I had to give playwriting a shot or I'd always regret it. Haidle: I wanted to be a physicist and was heartbroken when I found out I was terrible at math. So far playwriting has required no math, but if it ever does, I'm screwed. Harper: I wrote my first play in the sixth grade. Directed a few times, and I'm also an actor. Juilliard put my writing in the driver's seat of my artistic life. I'm particularly inspired to create plays for actors of color, and to tell stories about healing and community. Laufer: I was an actor for 10 years. I started writing when I was pregnant with my first son. Lindsay-Abaire: In college I considered myself an actor, but took playwriting classes and wrote plays produced at school. When I got out, I submitted to contests and theaters, and got my first production in New York. Still, it wasn't until Juilliard that I thought, "Am I really going to give this a try?"
Cho: I hid behind my hair. I wanted the Earth to swallow me up. It was a very vulnerable feeling. Laufer: It was pure terror. Auburn: I was performing in a sketch I wrote for a college revue. The reaction from the audience rolled over me like a hot wave. It was absurdly, dangerously intoxicating. Haidle: It was hallucinatory and continues to be. No amount of experience has prepared me for how unnerving and weird it is to hear actors read your words. Belber: It was amazing; it was like we were all suddenly on a team together and we couldn't wait to play more. Harper: I feel like I'm being channeled. It's almost mystical, but certainly satisfying. Warm. Comfortable. Lindsay-Abaire: The first play I ever wrote was for our fourth-grade holiday pageant; it was called Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Land at the North Pole. I played the villainous cowboy out to destroy Christmas. I remember a room full of 9-year-olds laughing their asses off. That's what hooked me.
Haidle: Its reputation. And it was free. Cho: It's a dream of a program; I knew how lucky I was. Berman: I was such a fan of Chris Durang and Marsha Norman [the co-directors of the Playwrights program], I had to go. Laufer: I met Marsha Norman at a playwriting conference in Missoula, Mont. I've followed her wherever she's let me since. And I'm stupid crazy about Chris Durang. Getting feedback from them and from a small group of really smart playwrights every week was fantastic. Harper: The desire to work with Chris and Marsha was an amazing draw. Lindsay-Abaire: I met Steve Belber at a playwright's festival in South Carolina, and he told me how amazing the program was. When he told me that Chris and Marsha ran the program, I had to apply.
Melaver: An abundance of chocolate. Listening to Marsha and Chris tell great stories about the theater. Haidle: Walking around the fourth floor listening to people rehearse, feeling anxious about a work of mine to be read that day. Auburn: I remember how challenging and stimulating it felt to write for the actors. Many remain friends and collaborators. Lindsay-Abaire: Chris and Marsha always addressed us as fellow playwrights. They would say things like, "When you have a play at Playwrights Horizons …" It was incredibly affirming and empowering. Belber: I remember discovering my passion for full-time dedication to writing, the excitement of having incredible actors to read my work, and the passion, intelligence and kindness of Chris and Marsha. And the relatively subsidized cafeteria, from which I could smuggle coffee and muffins into the library. Harper: I remember Marsha telling us to learn from and absorb the commentary that people offered in class. When I graduated, I could take those helpful voices with me. They live in my head and they keep me honest.
Berman: You only have time to do one thing. It's like a haiku; it forces you to look specifically at one moment. Cho: It lets you experiment with ideas that would be impossible to sustain for an hour and a half. Auburn: A 10-minute play is (theoretically) perfectible. Lindsay-Abaire: The 10-minute play doesn't appeal to me as a theatrical form. The challenge can be fun, but if I weren't commissioned, I'd never write a 10-minute play. That said, I did have fun writing my piece.
Lindsay-Abaire: I was honored to be among the playwrights being asked to write. Melaver: I was very honored to be asked. And I love 10-minute plays. Haidle: To give something back to the institution that changed my life more than any other experience I've had. Barfield: I loved my experience at Juilliard and I welcomed the opportunity. Berman: Juilliard made me a playwright, and I love Joe Kraemer [literary manager of the Drama Division]. Cho: If Joe Kraemer asks me for anything, I say yes. I owe that man so much. Harper: I was honored and thrilled about creating something for Juilliard. Laufer: I was flattered and delighted to be included. Belber: I loved my time at Juilliard. I love the notion of a place that's been around that long; in this world, in theater particularly—that's rare.
Barfield: I had a difficult time coming up with an idea, until I decided to examine the most well known historical achievement that occurred a century ago. Cho: Most challenging was the topic: something with the number 100. Most stimulating was having a deadline. Nothing makes you write more diligently than knowing people are waiting to see what you've done. Haidle: In parameters is freedom. Laufer: I love that a complete story—usually in one encounter—can be told in that amount of time. It's kind of the short story of playwriting. Every word should count. Melaver: It's challenging to have so little time to signal the tone of your piece. But fixing the structure of it is a lot easier, because there's so little of it. Belber: You want to tell a complete story in a short time—as well as draw fun, full characters with transformative moments, if not arcs. Harper: It's fun to try to find the balance between saying too little or too much.
Harper: Hit the moments because there are so few. Bring your character history stuff with you, because there's no ramping up. Finally—have fun! Berman: The most important "advice to the players" is that the characters never feel sorry for themselves. They are in love with the act of storytelling. It's meant to be very light, delicious, even when discussing difficult subjects. Cho: The great danger, since the play deals with death and loss, is to play it sad. No one in the play is sad per se; they are struggling and doing the best they can. Laufer: It's going to be tough for some poor actor to stand on one leg for 10 minutes.
Harper: No. Melaver: No. Haidle: No. Lindsay-Abaire: Good Lord, no. Laufer: I'd be loath to ask someone to stand on one leg for longer. It wouldn't be right.
Laufer: You mean there are other plays being done? Berman: The plays can't be competitive. The combination of random subject matter and leaps in between is part of the fun. Meaning occurs through juxtaposition. Cho: If anything, I felt less pressure. I'm putting aside my own ego to celebrate this amazing institution that changed my life. Lindsay-Abaire: I don't feel competitive. I swear. Wait—what'd Julia Cho say? Was her answer better than mine?
Belber: I haven't felt too competitive about this. We're all doing it for the right reason, which is to honor our time at Juilliard, so it's less about achievement and more about the gratitude we have for having gone through such a good program and having learned as much as we did. Lindsay-Abaire: Honestly, I feel lucky to be included in such a talented and diverse group. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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