Letters from the middle of the night - part deux

I asked the playwrights to email me in the middle of the night, in the middle of the process or when they were done, to let me know how it had gone (reminder: the theme is Liquor is Quicker)

12:48am - Paul Mullin is done. He says it has no comedy in it at all. (We'll see.) "I had it mapped out by the time the bus dropped me off in Green Lake. It's so obvious in retrospect. We all know who the greatest alcoholic of all time is."

1:19am - Brian Neel and Paul Shipp were separated last night after the first show. "We're fine now. Midway on page two."

2:24am - Celene Ramadan writes to say started at about 11pm and she's done and she's happy with it. "I see it as something I'd like to film someday soon, which was a goal of mine for this weekend but nothing I wanted to force."

3:160am - Glenn Hergenhahn sends an email that he's finally finished. It's the second night he's finished by 3. "Too early to tell if it is intelligible, but there is a monster with horns and vikings (sort of) so how wrong could it go?"

4:59am (ouch!) - Brian Neel writes to say that he and Paul Shipp had each, in their separation, written some ideas and sketches. When they reunited "we shoved our material together and discovered that Mr. Neel forgot to include our fifth character. Hurdle number one." Once again, a photo (above) from the boys. I'm thinking that co-writer thing sounds a little dicey after all.

6:11am - Jerry Kraft actually finished his writing by 2am but was up early reviewing it and reflecting on the previous night's performance and tonight's. "The fact that my show will be the first up tonight actually helped me focus on the kind of thing I wanted to do, and since the style is more presentational than last night's play, it was easier to compose."

The emails give a glimpse into the war zone of the Friday night writing process. It doesn't really tell anything except how hard it is to do. And perhaps Brian Neel sums it up best when he says, "Take heed: do not seek perspective in the blur of creativity at four in the morning."

See you soon!

Becky Hellyer