It has occurred to me in recent weeks that our entire approach to encouraging creativity in young people is wrong. When I was a child, my parents took me to see great Broadway Shows that had garnered many Tony Awards. They took me to the opera and concerts and ballet. We had a house full of musical scores and I loved to sing along...in private. The realization that I was not as good as those stars made me terrified to even try. My parents should have take me to see flops! I had the bug but was so easily intimidated by brilliance, I couldn't bear the thought of not being as good.
My own acting and writing careers have had their ups and downs. But lately, I have been exposed to -how to say this without sounding arrogant - bad plays.
Some context: I fell in love with a play a few years ago written by a writer I really like. It was a two-hander about two legendary figures in the world of art and commercial art. It was funny and touching and had a real message that people could take home with them and think about for days to come. I produced and directed this delightful and deceptively profound little piece and felt strongly it should move to New York. We didn't make it. We didn't know how. I didn't know how. I deferred to people who spoke a good game but, ultimately screwed it up anyway.
Last year, I got involved with another play. I loved my part but not the play as a whole. If anyone had told me that this play would end up with a New York run I'd have been very skeptical. And yet this is were we stand, on the precipice of an open-ended run in NYC this year. It is testimony to an ambitious producer who knows how to get things done, and it has, for me, been both educational and inspirational.
It inspired me to start writing again. I thought, "If this could play NY, why not me?"
I remember being told as an actress, "Never type yourself out." Submit even if you don't think you're right for a role. I always had a problem with that. I only submit when I believe I am the best person for the job. I'm not one for throwing spaghetti at the wall in the hope that something will stick.
I have also been reading plays submitted for a One-Act Festival we'd like to start. My partner in this endeavor advertised for a specific type of play with certain parameters to be met. He pressed "send" and the responses started pouring in almost immediately. Now, with over half read of the 200 submissions to date, I have made some additional observations. They are not all good. In fact, very few are good. Some are just awful! These self-professed writers must have trunks full of plays just waiting for the right occasion. They are professional spaghetti tossers. And here I sit with a similar collection of material and I NEVER sent any of it out. And they're good! I think they're good. Well, some of them are good. Certainly none of them are causes to hang my head with shame. Is this reluctance to share or risk because I HAVE read and seen great plays? And I'm afraid mine won't be as good so, therefore, they should never see the light of day? I've learned that there is a lot of gray area between
Fiddler on the Roof and
Frecklefaced Strawberry.
And maybe, just maybe, my work can fit in there somewhere... if I send it out.
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