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

An email from Brian Neel at 11:30

"THIS JUST IN: The team of Neel, Shipp separated
Neel lost his keys, realizing just after Shipp dropped him at his car. Neel bussed home. Shipp is wandering who knows where, mobile phoneless."

Oh boy.

Becky Hellyer

The 8:00pm show

The first thing I should admit is how few times I've attended 14/48 when I wasn't writing. Very few. In fact, to be honest, once. And it was before I'd ever participated. So tonight I'm reminded how fun it can be to just watch - to just enjoy - to not have any ownership of what's about to go up on stage. It's relaxing, it's exciting, it's fabulous. I'm basically loving it. How come I don't do this more often?

The band and Matthew Richter kick us off and then we see (and I realize this is a redundant recounting as Ben has already done one but this is what you get with two bloggers!)...

1. A play about neighbors fighting over a patio with Chuck Leggett rising from the band as a sage, scary dude.

2. A woman who doesn't leave her apartment is visited by a charming young neighbor (Aaron Washington) who invites her to rejoin the living.

3. A battle played in reverse between two men - the escalation instead working it's way backward from death to a simple challenge. (Kudos Celene Ramadan.)

4. An aggressive girl (Erin Stewart) and a sweet boy (Mark Boeker) are coached on playground bullying by two over-involved adults.

At intermission, there is a buzz. These were four funny plays - each successful in their own way - each with a little something to say. I admit to myself that the testosterone rush I was expecting from the theme and the abundance of men is more subtle than I'd predicted. It's sweeter and funnier. Post-intermission...

5. A play about a boisterous playwright (Paul Mullin, played by Troy Fischnaller) who recalls a wish he had to be with a pretty, successful woman. (I know, I know, that doesn't capture it - I'm trying to keep it short here!)

6. An opportunist tries to blackmail a potential political appointee , only to be reminded of his own indiscretions.

7. Women try to identify the enemy to their happiness and, while they don't ever discover it, they find the cure in drugs. (One gal's interpretation.)

And then it's over and the band plays us out the door! And what fun it was! The second half was less tight but I liked it for its roughness - its cockiness.

The new theme is - Liquor is Quicker.

Selfishly, I'm relishing the fact that I don't have to write a script tonight or even remember what the theme is. And I don't have to stay for the 10:30 show and find the strength inside myself to perform again. I don't have to clean up or lock up or get ready for the morning. I'm going to go home and have a glass of wine and go to bed. I'll sleep the sleep of a woman who has enjoyed an evening of strong, brave theater from some of Seattle's most talented artists. Life is good.

Becky Hellyer

Before the show

I'm sitting next to the stairs. Jaimie Roberts sits next to me for a minutes. She tells me she'll be doing the second night as an actress but not the first - she couldn't get out of work. Her theory about why it's so calm tonight - it's because the building is so large and rehearsal spaces didn't have to overlap with each other so much. Not as much stress. I agree but later I think about the rehearsal spaces I had to walk through over and over today. That may not be it.

I catch up with a couple of playwrights and they look dazed, tired, and/or like hell. They're worried about how the script they wrote last night will come off. They're thinking about the next one. I track down Glen and Louis - the two playwrights I missed yesterday - and ask them to send me a middle-of-the-night email. I think they think I'm crazy. Maybe asking a playwright to report back on the Friday night process is a little crazy. I'm part of the asylum.

The lights are dimming. The show is about to start.

Becky Hellyer

Dinner

I return to 14/48 after work just in time for dinner - pizza, soup, and salad. Nice. Being in the building at this time, 5:30pm or so, is like being in an insane asylum where you can't tell the crazy people from the staff. A person laughs and talks to you, you turn to respond, and it turns out they're not talking to you at all. They're running lines with an imaginary castmate. Or you ask someone a question and they're looking right through you as though you aren't in the room. And at the same time people are sewing costumes and making sure props are in order - completely sane. And then there are the moments that cross the line between insanity and sanity and you're not really sure which side of the line you're standing on:

Gary Menendez: We had to go buy another dildo. I tell them, "We want your cheapest, largest dildo." I've had to do this three times for 14/48.
Stan Shields: Yeah, because they keep disappearing. That big black one was around for the cast party and it got passed around and it just never came back.

Alex Samuels: I had a thought about you, Becky, and 14 pounds of beef brisket. (And he's not crazy or kidding.)

Lisa Viertel: I'm a princess. (She's wearing a pink tutu at the time.)

Peter Dylan O'Connor: If you plan to go up to the artist's viewing area, go with Alyssa so she can show you. If you take a wrong turn, we'll never find you.

And it's weirdly calm for dinner and the company meeting at 7:00pm. I'm not sure if it's a good sign or a bad sign or a sign at all. Looking for "signs" is a little crazy, after all.

Becky Hellyer

Buy tickets now for 14/48 Saturday night!

Right here. Get 'em. They're going fast. As we speak. Seriously. Don't miss out. Buy tickets now.

8pm show was awesome!

Blogging is awesome. My girlfriend is rubbing my shoulders between shows. She's a true volunteer. She knows how hard it is, to watch rehearsals all day, to responsibly contribute to the draining of the 14/48 keg all day, to listen to inside jokes and try and interpret them ALL....DAY...

the 8pm show was officially fucking rad. 7 plays, 0 bombs. Every play was worth watching. From the perspective of the random audience member, that's all that really counts...I mean, I didn't actually PAY to watch the show, but if i HAD paid the measly ticket fee of $20 (for advance tix, $25 at the door -- so you should probably buy tickets online RIGHT NOW RIGHT HERE, shouldn't you?) --- let me start my run-on sentence over. If i HAD paid the measly ticket fee to see tonight's 14/48, at no point would i have asked myself, "Ben, what the fuck did I just pay money for?" It was that good.

And better! Play 1 entailed a married couple, a condo rep, and a disturbed honky, all fighting over the future of a mysteriously large concrete courtyard. It was ghostly in its drama, hilarious in how serious it asked us to take it. Big ups to the harmonica player who suddenly became a character in the play.

Number 2 was a sweetly awkward tale of a female agoraphobe, who overcomes her fear of the outside world with the help of a relatively effeminate and (frankly) unsettlingly friendly neighbor. There was also a dude in his pajamas who played the lazy demon in her mind.

Play 3 was an 8-part duel between two nerds, played completely in reverse. It started with the death of one at the hands of another, via swords, and ended with them sitting on their asses one afternoon, bored. Perfect.

The climax before intermission (also known as number 4) was a slightly original and....okay fine, very endearing tale of a violent little girl, the lovestruck boy she makes her victim, and the life coaches that try and make everything better.

After the break was Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin Paul Mullin. One of the stars just asked me to retitle the show, "Paul Mullin Masturbates, featuring Shawn Belyea". Yeah. Ya had to be there. I'll explain more tomorrow.

The penultimate (good word!) show was a political drama about a woman being vetted for public office, which either evolved or devolved into homoerotic slapstick. I'll let the 10:30 show be the judge of whether it evolved or devolved.

Finally, an extremely strange parable that taught us a message about women, and, well, life: we may complain about problems, and how everyone's the enemy, and we may turn to drugs and sex to cope, but...well...actually, I'm not sure what the message was. But it was damned funny! And there was a foot-long double-dildo. I'm NOT sitting in the front row for the 10:30pm show.

Speaking of! It starts in 9 minutes! We have another packed house waiting, and we shan't keep them. More info, more recaps of these kickass shows, more photos, and, hopefully, more wonderful audience LIKE YOU --- all tomorrow.

Buy your tickets to Saturday January 10th's 14/48 NOW! Our 8pm show is almost sold out, so I'd move fast. GET THEM NOW!

P.S. Check out this picture of Paul Mullin, wherein he looks like Aragorn.

Tech Photos

House opens in 5 minutes! Enjoy! Be here at 10:30pm or prepare to be called 'that guy' for the rest of your life.

8pm performance SOLD OUT!

Tonight's 8pm performance of 14/48 is officially SOLD OUT! Please come to the 10:30pm, there's still a bit of room but you have to ACT NOW!

Everyone's getting pretty excited around here. Trick Danneker just showed up and eighteen of the women immediately flocked to his side. His dreamy, dreamy side. ANYWAY---come to 14/48 at ACT Theatre tonight at 10:30pm!

TICKETS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT HERE.

14/48 is Morse Code for LOVE.

Lunch, tech design, and rehearsal photos: (things are picking up speed so forgive the lack of captions - just enjoy, and come see 14/48 tonight and tomorrow at 8pm and 10:30pm! Get your tickets HERE.