Playwriting

To write or not to write...there is no question.

Ours is but to question when...

Playwriting is something everyone can do. Should do. It's an exceptional teaching device...no pressure. It's not an essay...the language doesn't have to be grammatically correct. In fact, it'll sound absurd if it is. It's not even like writing a novel -- the plotline lives itself.

I worked briefly with a playwriting in the schools program when I was in grad school in New Jersey...it was a fantastic State-sponsored program. I hope it still exists.
I assisted a fellow playwright when he taught an after school series in Trenton. The students were from an English/theatre class. The lives they lived were rarely easy. Time was scarce. Parents were scarce. Drugs, alcohol, and teen pregnancy were more family norms than rarities.

One kid in this class of volunteers had to leave early each day to make football practice...Freshman varsity, I think.

He'd rush out at the last minute...

 

The final project this 14 year old young man brought back to the class was a shining star in a sea of stars that glistened to be seen and heard.

This child wrote a simple play with a complex relationship.

He wrote about two college roommates re-united years beyond graduation...they, too, played football at one time. The star player, a renowned ladies' man, came to visit his old buddy and share a few laughs.

When the player met his roommate's sister, he found someone he wanted to spend time with...his roommate feared for his wild ways and tried to interfere.

Turned out that all this had-been-hero wanted was a friend...a companion. Recently diagnosed with testicular cancer, he needed someone he could talk to without reminiscing about beer, ball, and balling.

 

Whether the spelling was perfect, the form pristine, or the language divine made no difference -- the writing was there...
 

Playwriting is about words.

ords

Spoken words

and

ctions

taken

Brought to life

differently by

each

and every

actor who speaks the

words.
 

 

It is power

Here is some of mine.

(Call my agent, George Batz, if you want to talk production)

Monologues

Excerpts from the full-length High, Lonesome Sound