100 Plays

I am taking a play writing class in July. Why plays? That is a good question. Could it be because I am such an attention seeking melodramatic person? Could it be that I love going to plays and always have? Or could it be that that was the only summer class that fit my schedule and I REALLY want some time to myself that is NOT work? Most likely-a combination of all three. So play writing it is. It could easily have been ceramics or auto mechanics, perhaps even yoga. BUT-since this class fit the times, this was the winner.

Here is where my mega memory kicks in. I haven't taken a writing class since high school- and Crying Daddy was in the same class. Maybe that was when we learned our blogging skills. I doubt it, as it was 1991 and who had ever heard the term blog? Sounds like something you would throw up. That creative writing class was interesting. One girl in it grew up to be an English professor at Vanderbilt. I was lucky enough to sit in front of the guy who wrote country music songs for all of his assignments. There was also another girl who saved all of her money to buy a motorcycle and then she dropped out of school and drove off on it. North Carolina sure was a great place to grow up.

The teacher was a little bit better off than the students. She assigned us a short story to write, but BEFORE we could start to write it, we had to read 100 short stories. Yes, that sounds like a treat to me now, but at the time my sixteen year old self did not want to read 100 short stories when I could have been watching Star Trek the Next Generation on the couch. Does anyone else wish they could go back in time and turn in old assignments? Is that way too nerdy of me?

I sort of get my chance. By the end of this summer class, I will have written a play. Please don't anyone spit their drink out of their nose-but yes, I will have one work written by July 31st-I'll give it to Harry Potter for his birthday. I got inspired from the wisdom of the old teacher and her philosophy. I have set a goal for myself. Before I start the class, I need to read 100 plays! That sounds horrible for a working mom of three, but think about it. Plays are short, plays are fast paced, and plays are designed for a wide range of people to come and enjoy. So I can do this. I have already read four in less than a week. Plays are perfect "mommy reading" because they go so fast.

Here are my first four:

1) Our Town. They did this one on Growing Pains and The Wonder Years. I think my 81 year old grandmother played Emily when she was in high school or college. Yes, it is a popular one because you don't need a lot of scenery. We definitely need to appreciate life while we live it, I get it, I get it!

2) Love Letters. I saw this one in high school, my BFF just went to see it a few weeks ago. I loved it because of its simplicity. You don't even really have to memorize it. Just sit there and read the letters. I also like the Forest Gump/Jenny theme it had going on. You are so used to a "good girl" falling in love with a "bad boy" that when the roles are reversed you pay closer attention.

3) How I Learned To Drive. Ok, this is one of those plays my freshman roommate would have looked at me in horror for suggesting we go see. It was really good, although it dealt with sexual abuse as compared to learning to drive a car and who is and is not in control. Very much a "fun" in dysfunctional kind of performance. Miss Weeds herself Mary-Louise Parker had the lead when it opened!

4) The Mineola Twins. Great play about twin sisters that represent different roles women have in three different decades. The writer is Yale faculty. Wish I could meet her!

As I read them, I'll post more of them here and there in between the grocery store diaries. I only ask that people DO NOT recommend plays to me. I want to pick them on my own-and yes, I am going to include some Shakespeare, Eugene O'Neil, and Tennessee Williams in my list. Must have the big wigs represented.

And IF my play is good enough, I'll make my girlfriends act it out this summer and we'll post it on youtube. Just you wait!