I’m So Freaking Tired, But I Have Neglected To Write About My Play Reading…So, Here You Have It

I’m not sure why I write plays, but I have since I was a little girl.  Whenever my friends came over I subjected them to performing in my “skits, which were often direct rip-offs of the campfire “skits” the cool CIT’s performed at my YMCA sleep away.  Eventually, skits turned into original sketches with a punchline a 4th grader would think of like, “well, then why don’t YOU shove it?”  (I would then instruct the actor to pause for gales of laughter…). What I believed in my youthful innocence, was that a train wreck is, actually, very entertaining (especially to fourth graders. Often, I cast male classmates (also known as “boys) in my “work,” but only if he had the chops.  While I was always boy-crazy, The Work came first. I was an artist before a girl, then, as now.  (Hence, no husband or kids).

Fast forward thirty years:  For various complicated reasons (thwarted biology) I wrote a  play about dating, sex, and emotionally stunted men (don’t know any of those…) and emotionally stunted women (again, I completely relied upon imagination). Then, on the advice of a Playwright friend I organized three separate readings in my apartment.

Here’s what you need for a play reading.

1. Wine.
2. Actors.
3. More wine.
4. Play script.

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A year later I joined Playwrights Six, and on May 1st the organization produced a staged a reading with what I hoped were actors who actually fit the part.  Note: If you want to cast any part in Los Angeles that is not a pretty twenty-something female or a pretty twenty-something male, good luck.  However, through the miracle of show biz magic I managed to find a perfect cast.  Everyone fit the age, race, (and gender…that’s important), and brought great acting skill.

So, I showed up for this reading on May 1st, 2012 ready to work, only to realize that the work is done.  As a writer, all you do is sit, watch, and hope the reading is not torture.  (I’ve had enough experiences to know that it can go horribly, horribly wrong.) So, I set up the concession stand and waited.

The reading was fantastic.  But I felt weird.

I’ve never had a child, but I imagine it was like watching your child walk for the first time.     Like, I had never met these characters before. Who wrote this?

Just for today, I’m a lifelong playwright.