We were lucky enough to have a reading of YELLOW by the very fabulous, Jessica Dickey, on June 6th. The private room at Ryan's Daughters pub was a snug fit for our 25 audience members and 5 cast members. The reading was the perfect blend of an informal social experience (geez, I had so many awesome friends come!) and theatre, as we heard the most recent version of this beautiful play, I play I fell in love with over a year ago before I had even met Ms. Dickey....
I caught up with Jessica to touch base on the reading and all things YELLOW and JD:
MB: What stage are you in the writing process of YELLOW? Is this place in the process familiar territory for you?
JD: YELLOW is an interesting play for me. It's taught me so many lessons already! It's affirmed for me that each play really is a new land, and I have to begin my work in each one with the confidence that I've explored new lands before, but WITHOUT the assumption that that necessarily means that this land will be the same process as the others. Does that make sense? It's like I'm beginning to understand that all I can do is trust that I've hewn a sensitive compass within myself-- to find the North of the story and the characters-- and the rest I have to just take as it comes.
Which is a complicated, abstract way of saying that YELLOW is a very challenging piece for me because of its narrative structure and the personal nature of the subject. Right now I feel very lost in the woods-- lol! But I'm trying to stay in the spirit of adventure and enjoy the trek.
MB: What if anything surprised you in the reading - either worked or didn't work?
JD: I was very surprised and pleased that the audience and the actors found so much humor in the play. I thought it was pretty funny (in my head), but I was really delighted to discover it's so. I was also struck with how obvious something is out loud. I mean, I know that to be true when I'm reading something as an actor-- you can usually sniff out "overtelling" in the writing, if you know what I mean... But as the playwright, it's hard to trust that what you're trying to connect for the audience will automatically be connected by them. Theatre audiences of 2011 have many centuries of theatre under our belts! We know what's happening as soon as you give us a clue, which is both a blessing and a curse. I love the way THE AMISH PROJECT zooms forward and just trusts the audience to keep up (and they do! In spades!), and I'd like to find that same subtlety and clarity with YELLOW.
MB: You're also an actor and theatre artiste in other realms than writing - What's up next for you on any and all fronts?
JD: Well speaking of AMISH-- this week I go to Amsterdam to perform THE AMISH PROJECT at a Peace and Reconciliation conference there. I won't be doing the entire production, it'll be more like concert readings or something, and then there will be a lot of talkbacks with community leaders in the Mennonite/Amish world. It should be extremely interesting and I am really honored to be included. Then I'm doing a workshop (as an actor) of Epic Theatre Co's collaborative piece called WATER, directed by Daniella Topol and written by Sheila Calaghan. And in August Rattlestick will be reading my new play CHARLES IVES TAKE ME HOME in their Fucking Great Plays Series. And around all that I'll just be auditioning and rewriting and trying to enjoy the summer and my friends and family. :)
MB: What is the next step for YELLOW?
JD: This recent Project Y reading with Michole was probably the most useful for me in terms of YELLOW's evolution. I've had readings of YELLOW before, but it was my first time hearing the play with an audience, and Michole and I had a very clear, helpful conversation about it afterward; the combination has made me feel that I have a plan for two drafts I'd like to do next with YELLOW... I'd like to explore two different structures for the play, as I think I've discovered that the play is perhaps floating between two structural ideas, just to see what works and what doesn't. Then I have to make some decisions about what story I am most trying to tell and which structure will tell that story most effectively! That may have been too much information-- maybe I should have just said "Rewrites"! :) But clearly I have a shit-ton of work to do on YELLOW! :) But I do feel heartened by the reading and I'm looking forward to it. Huge thanks to Michole and Project Y for their consistent fun-loving support and honesty.
MB: Huge Thanks right back at you, Jessica! Project Y is excited to support your work and we are honored to have been able to have your play as part of our RACEY PLAYS reading series.
No comments:
Post a Comment