The Curtain Call
It's strange, recalling a recollection, but it also puts things
into a new perspective. I did used to think plays were easy to write, and even
when I wrote that I still had the lingering feeling that I would breeze through
this programme, that I could write a play then and there and keep it close to
me until the very end. I know now that if I had committed to that feeling, I
would not have written a good play. Over the course of this programme, I have
learned so many things and have developed my work, as well as myself, so much.
Plays are not easy to write, and that's a good thing, and I
realised this as I wrote my official play; "Function".
Stories can be impactful, and I really wanted to tell a story that impacted people with a message I really wanted to express.
I had a big problem, and the big problem was that I had the big
problem but not a bold image. For all my life I had struggled to be heard, to
be understood, to be valued. I struggled with communication in almost every
facet of my life, allegory was where I functioned best, the truth so slant it
expressed what I wanted to express without the struggle of relating it to my
own reality.
Talking with people and having my words be interpreted correctly
was a challenge; for so many people writing in full grammatically correct
sentences in chat is seen as the writer being angry or hostile or pedantic. And
vice versa, I struggles to interpret other people's words correctly too; when
they say 'look in the back' at work do they mean behind the counter, behind the
fryer, behind the wall, in the kitchen, in the washing up area, in the office,
near the potatoes, out the backdoor, out the side door, in the shed, in the
freezer in the shed, behind the shed, around the side of the shop, or do they
mean just the cupboards in the front, with in the back meaning behind me?
Miscommunication. Misunderstanding.
That was my big problem that I wanted to explore, and that's where
I found my real problem, how to communicate a story about communication.
Words are delicate, but used in countless misshapes, thus language mistakes. I struggled to convey what I wanted to convey, at the start. I didn't know I was struggling until we went over my lines.
The points of the plot of the play. They weren't conveying the
message of miscommunication as I intended. The stories kept getting caught up
in the elements of the allegories that for me weren't the focus but to the
readers were the point, and that was my bad. My very understanding artistic
director and my perceptive reader kept me on the right track, fighting the
uphill climb that was the plot beats of my play, pointing out things I hadn't
noticed like the direction moving towards the idea of trauma rather than
communication, and the logical inconsistencies of character and setting, and
all the big things that I had glossed over. Without them I would have submitted
a play that made very little sense and accidentally conveyed ideas I did not
intend at all.
I cannot overstate how thankful I am for having readers who were
both critical and compassionate towards my work. Plays are not easy to write,
you have made sure the story you are telling works with the ideas you are
expressing, otherwise it could all fall apart. It's very important to have
other read your work, go over your lines, and express their thoughts on it,
otherwise you may think you wrote it easily and you miss all the errors you
laid along the way.
Try to tell your truth, but tell it slant, but keep aware that
care isn't scant.
Language should be allowed to evolve. I had expressed this around halfway through this programme and I wanted to incorporate this notion into my work.
This is more of a minor element in the overall development of my
work, but still an element I want to touch on, a sort of payoff to my blog
"Systemic Change in Modern Language". In that blog I explained how
language over time evolves and newer generations find easier ways to express
themselves, with examples such as "God be with ye" being shortened to
"Goodbye". I argued that statacco punctuation is an emerging form of
writing that expresses emotions and reactions without actually writing
anything.
! means being alerted to something.
!!! means total shock and awe.
? is a furrowed brow and a questioning look.
??? is total bewilderment.
. is a slight pause, a hesitation to answer.
... is a longer, more drawn-out pause, which is open for suffixes
to punctuate the emotion, such as ...? meaning the pause is one of confusion or
...! being a pause before it finally clicks in their mind.
And so, to experiment with form and to see how it would work in
theatre, I employed stattaco punctuation across my play, and I'm comfortable
with the results.
The authentic, performed, realistic self; entirely staged. In developing my final play, with the themes set down and the intention formed in my head, I was informed of a concept of Grice's Maxims by my reader. It was exactly what I was looking for, my play centred around the idea of miscommunication and now I have the structure to how to communicate so I could break apart from it. This contributed greatly to my the plot points of my play. Soon enough, the full story was realised.
Charlie, trying to get their box through a gateway, is stopped by
an Officer, and in the following misunderstandings, is arrested and taken to
the Judge, who wilfully misunderstands Charlie for their own agenda and leads
Charlie into understanding that communication is more complex than people give
it credit for. Charlie stumbles into a pitiful collision between the politics
of language and the clarity he seeks.
It was a balancing act, trying to make the final story of the play into the final script of the play.
I had to cut a lot, the first draft being over 28 minutes long,
but I also had to ensure the meaning of the play was not lost in the final
draft. Killing your darlings, I think, was the hardest and most important
lesson to learn for me. I created a notepad file of all the neat lines I had
deleted that I didn't want to bury just yet, but I understood that they could
not survive the play without hindering the play in some way. Out of the whole
process of creating this play, I think killing my darlings was the least
comfortable but also the easiest, the creative director, assistant director,
and actors were very polite and helpful in this process and when it came time
to cut lines, they made persuasive enough arguments that most of the lines felt
like the they were already gone, but it was still tough to make peace with. I
used to think it was easy to write, but it's not, nor is it easy to cut what
has been written.
And so we get to the showing.
...
It was brilliant. I was very comfortable with my play as a script
and watching it being performed was a phenomenal experience. I loved every
minute of it. The way it was directed was perfect, it had to be conveyed
through a Zoom call (due to some sickness, dunno, sounded kinda serious) but it
worked so well despite of this, I had never seen Zoom be utilised in such a
creative and streamlined way before. The actors were utterly fantastic, the
actor who played the Officer and the Judge brought such authority and menace to
the role, and the actor who played Charlie was able to convey the exasperation
and emotion with such a gentle conviction. The entire showing was brilliant.
Watching my fellow playwrights have their work be performed was also such a joy
for me, they were equally as great to watch and I'm so proud of them all.
If anyone is wanting to get experience in becoming a playwright,
this programme is the best there is to offer. It won't be easy, but it will be
worth it a thousand times over.
I am Thomas McClure, I was a part of the inaugural year of the
Bunbury Banter Young Playwrights Programme 2019-2020, and I had a great time.
Stay safe, love you all xX
Thomas McClure
Thomas is part of the Bunbury Banter Young Playwrights Programme 2019-2020
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