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I was sad to learn today that William Gibson, incredible playwright and a major inspiration and influence to me, died this week.
Gibson’s success as a playwright came in this 50s. He said, Good things come to those who wait … far too long…. and
Writers go bad when the angels desert them…. Dylan Thomas was a marvelous poet and drank himself to death. Somewhere along the way, the angel left him. An angel has left me too, but the writing angel is still with me. And that’s the thing where I feel most alive — at least while I’m doing it. I started out to be a writer and I’m still a writer. Not bad (TheDay.com).
Here are some interesting articles commemorating Gibson’s life and craft:
Associated Press, Telegraph (UK), and a great one from the Washington Post which quotes Gibson, discussing his most well known play The Miracle Worker:
The author of ‘The Miracle Worker’ believed in children, was young, energetic, incorrigibly optimistic, no stranger to the ‘uplifting’ in life; these are not objectionable qualities, and they flowed naturally into the script.
And it was obviously a love-letter…. I like to fall a little in love with my heroines, and the title — from Mark Twain, who said, ‘Helen is a miracle, and Miss Sullivan is the miracle-worker’ — was meant to show where my affections lay. This stubborn girl of 20, who six years earlier could not write her name, and in one month salvaged Helen’s soul, and lived thereafter in its shadow, seemed to me to deserve a star bow.
Here’s a complete list of his dramatic works that appeared on Broadway from the Internet Broadway Database:
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This play would be interesting to check out. An examination of some passages in the Bible the play’s director refers to as ‘terror texts.’
2 interesting quotes from the Newsweek article:
“This particular project has affected the way I view negative emotions — grief, anger, bitterness and spite and hate. We are meant to be emotional people. The Bible in a lot of ways shows us that that’s OK…. We need to embrace that we’re going to be very, very sad and we won’t know what to do with that.”
- student Actor, Hannah McBride
“These mysterious, dark stories of the Old Testament, they bring us face-to-face with the suffering of the world…. It says we are capable of great evil and we must not forget these stories and we have some serious things to be accountable for in our own lives as a group and individually.”
- Theatre professor, Jeff Barker
The Amy Award
What happens when you get a line like the gem above, 3 hours of writing, the talent of 4 actors, a director, stage manager, costume designer, a saddle, and some tree branches?
The second annual Scriptease.
And maybe an Amy Award. Mine frightens me. You may see figurines like the one above mounted on the hoods of cars, strewn in back alleys, fixed as lawn ornaments, hanging as tree decorations, or burning as effigies in the upcoming days.
It was fun to be a part of the fundraiser last night for Prime Stock Theatre in conjunction with Scripts at Work in Red Deer and to see creative minds thrown together under some bizarre guidelines to produce a mix of plays.
It’s great to see local artists and local creativity in play. If you need a theatre fix this year, check out Prime Stock’s upcoming line up of plays this year. And don’t forget about the Red Deer College Main Stage productions. Lynda Adam’s is directing a production of Treasure Island that you won’t want to miss.
SCRIPTEASE
4 playwrights. 4 directors. 4 plays.
A Fundraiser for Prime Stock Theatre
November 8, 2008 at 9 PM
at Scott Block, 4817 50th Ave, Red Deer
a 12 hour event. 4 playwrights start writing at 8:30AM
their plays are performed with full set, costumed actors and lighting later that night.
Tickets $25 for Adults, $20 for students and seniors, $60 for a table
Available through Sunworks (403.341.3455) in Red Deer, or at the door.
Well, I guess you could say I hit the ground running on the return from Kona. I have another exciting week.
Deuteronomy in the Blackfalds SBS
I’ve been asked to fill in to teach the book of Deuteronomy for the YWAM Blackfalds School of Biblical Studies Core Course. The base is a plant of YWAM Medicine Hat. I’ve met a few of the staff and students at Streams on a few different Sundays and they’re an eclectic group. The base started a coffee shop called After the Grind that is volunteer run, with delicious coffee, and gives proceeds to various ministries. I’m plugging away at studying to teach a book I loved in my SBS (I’ve not taught it before). It’s a powerful and inspiring part of the Torah. I look forward to my time with the class on Wed/Thurs.
Scriptease
I’m a contributing playwright to Scriptease, a local fundraiser for Prime Stock Theatre on Saturday 8
November. The premise is 4 playwrights draw an opening line out of a hat and are given certain props and products to fit into their script which they write in 3 hours. Then each script is taken over by a director, stage manager, and 4 actors who perform the plays that evening starting at 9 PM to a captivated audience that critiques and judges the plays. What have I got myself into? 12 hours of craziness. Should fun and challenging.
Preparing for Mannatech Founder Sam Caster
I love Mannatech’s products. I’ve taken them for nearly a decade. I think they are the best supplements a person could have. A group of friends and family are helping to prepare an exciting event in Red Deer on November 15. 
My brother Matt and I had the privilege of sitting with Mr. Caster when we were in Dallas. It’s amazing to hear from him how the company began, what challenges it’s faced, and how it became a global corporation. So, we’re prepping for his arrival and are excited to connect with him and to catch his vision on the Canadian Provision Tour.
I saw Nathan Schmidt and Mike Thiessen in Damien today onstage at Rosebud. It was fantastic. Check it out! The show runs until 25 October.
Synopsis: In the tradition of Mother Teresa & Martin Luther King, this performance is a heroic and triumphant story of real-life Father Damien de Vesteur and his struggles. His hard work and care for others, while fighting for social justice on the island of Molokai in Hawaii, is an inspiring adventure for the entire audience.
Ellen and David Sanborn are incredibly talented actors and musicians. They’re musical Judah Ben-Hur (which I have yet to see, and really want to!) debuted in Singapore to rave reviews. I met both of them while living and working in Malaysia. (Where I saw excerpts of David’s “Song of the Shepherd”).
I’m hoping this show will land on broadway. At the moment, you can check out some scenes from the musical on You Tube.
Check out the 3 minute clip above as well as these music videos:
Rosebud School of the Arts, along with LeapKrog Productions, is putting on a production of Michel Trembley’s For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, translated by Linda Gaboriau, on the studio stage this summer. The play features Aaron Krogman (Narrator) and Marie Russel (Nana).
I saw Aaron in a staging of the play last summer. It was fantastic, and as usual, so was he. You can learn more about it here, and get tickets for a July or August showing.
I’m excited to announce that my play Shelter will be read at Nextfest in Edmonton on Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 2PM. Tanya Ryga is directing the reading with an incredible cast of actors! The play is about potatoes, an affair and grace.
Nextfest is an “11 day celebration of music, theatre, dance, film, visual art and much, much more from the hottest up-and-coming artists from Edmonton and beyond.”
Shelter was an official selection of the 2007 Scripts at Work in Red Deer and will be the second of three plays to be read on Sunday at Conrad’s Sugar Bowl on 10724 124 ST. (Visit the site for maps and the full festival schedule.)
Come and check it out and be part of the continued journey of Shelter!
Note: Mature themes.
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