Caryl and Martin and a couple of strangers

I went to a double bill of plays last night – This is a Chair by Caryl Churchill and Advice to Iraqi Women by Martin Crimp. It was from this company who I haven't heard of before but seem to be a bunch of former uni students getting out there and making theatre. Nothing wrong with that, in fact there is a lot right with that. They seem to have only done a few productions and have neatly carved it up between plays by Martin Crimp and stuff they have written themselves. Much to like about that.

They did This is a Chair first. I think this is one of Churchill's less successful plays. Compared to A number which I thought was incredible, this was a bit cold and too in your face politically. Don't slam it down my throat Caryl. I feel the same way when seeing Stephen Sewell. I want to walk up to them and say you think you're the only one who has realised the world is fucked up? Seriously. But that wasn't what really bothered me last night. It was the seriousness of the production. It was as if the director sat them down on the first day of rehearsals and said we are doing a serious play. Act accordingly. I think you have to have a little fun with Caryl. I think she demands you flow through the play with loose gestures and an even looser tongue. All those crisp cut-off sentences demand a loose, lazy body. Just my opinion.

However, they redeemed themselves spectacularly with Advice to Iraqi Women. Now, upfront, you'd have to completely baby rape Martin Crimp for me to find something wrong with it. But they didn't come even close to it last night. This is an incredible 10 minute play about child protection. It's humorous and slap you in the face horrific. And the good folks last night seemed to have a lot of fun with it. And halfway through Mr Crimp's play I got how to start my new play Good World. So thanks Mr Crimp, thanks Welcome Strangers. I'll give you a credit some day.

Travelling North

I was watching In The Company of Actors last night, the documentary about the making of Hedda Gabler for the Sydney Theatre Company. And I have to say, that it was incredibly boring. I mean, I have been in enough productions to know that they are a hotbed of tantrums, exhaustion and more than a couple of erotic clinches behind the curtains. None of that with Cate and co. All they talked about was the artistic wonderfulness of theatre and how it was the highlight of their careers. Boring. Give me the struggle people. Show me the blood, sweat and tears. Give me a little drama!

Got 10 pages out on The Cleaning Station yesterday. Which was better than the five from the day before. But then did absolutely nothing else. Well, did Pilates and then did nothing else. Today, I'm going to try and write this until the end. It would be lovely to write The End today, even though I have to go back and rewrite some stuff. That would be a good feeling.

The long haul

So I started the writing of The Cleaning Station yesterday morning. I don't know if the writing is good or bad but the writing process was fucking awful. Talk about pulling teeth. Even with my handy plan next to me telling me where to go next, it was still akin to banging head against thick concrete wall. But I got five pages out and five pages is five pages and no one should be complaining about that. Even me.

I also worked out more of the short film I started around Christmas time about twins. Is there a filmmaker out there that wants to make a short film about twins? Oh yeah, they have to be identical or the whole story ain't going to work. Sorry about that. And it's not quite finished yet. So you'd have to hang on for a while. But I think it's going to be really cool. So all aspiring filmmakers should be getting ready to come and line up outside my door. Any time you're ready. I just put some coffee on.

I don't really feel like writing again today. Even though I know that I only have these few weeks to get some real work done. We had a HUGE family bombshell dropped last night by M's daughter and we're all kinda reeling. But this is the job right? Get it done no matter what else is happening. Even though this is really huge and is going to change absolutely everything. Well, we'll see what happens.

Terror and laughs

My movie day was great. Charlie Wilson's War is hilarious and proves yet again what I have thought for the longest time. Aaron Sorkin is a fucking genius. So are the Coen brothers. No Country for Old Men is terrifying. I mean, really terrifying. And I usually don't go all girly on violence. Bring it on I say. But this hits you in the face and never stops. And the ending is perfect. So all in all good good day.

Haven't managed to quite finish the plan for The Cleaning Station but it will definitely get done this morning. Got some good work done on it last night and also managed to write some prose in my new moleskin notebook which I got for my birthday. I like getting new notebooks for different projects. Actually I think I just like the idea of being able to start afresh. Clean paper, nothing crap written on it.

Anyway, The Cleaning Station gets done this morning because I'm going to start writing it tomorrow. And that's just the way that is going to go.

How to not write your way to writing

Things we do not to write.

1. Read about other people's successes and guilt myself into writing.
   
2. Can't write until the house, garden, neighbourhood, world is tidy.
   
3. Can't write until all the errands are done.
   
4. Can't write while next door neighbour is playing show tunes at hideous levels.
   
5. Can't write until pilates/legalised torture exercise is done.
   
6. Can't write until I'm clean.
   

Well, happy to report that I managed to do/avoid all of the above and still managed to get some writing done. I got about six pages of the new plan for The Cleaning Station done last night. And even though I haven't thought about it for a couple of days, it all came back to me and then some. I'm really starting to like it and all the characters are starting to find connections with each other.

I'm going to get some work done on it this morning and then I'm off to cheap movies on Monday. Going to see Charlie Wilson's War and No Country for Old Men and then it's back home and off to aqua aerobics and then hopefully get some more done. I would love to get it finished today but that may be a little over the top. I am trying to learn to be realistic – What? You mean I'm not a superhero? Damn you all. - so I'll just put the time in and see what we get.

What Happens Next

Well, the birthday celebrations were as great as I needed them to be. And the restaurant we went to last night was superb. Even if best friend and husband were an hour late. But now it's on to the business of writing.

I work temp jobs in order to supply funds to my writing addiction and I've managed to almost have enough money to get the month of February off. So I'm taking the month of February off. Now, I just have to get some writing done.

I have so many projects and so many opportunities I want to apply for, I tend to become lost in the miasma I create for myself. Or – and this is the one I do a lot – I try to do too many things at once or I try to set myself too many goals for any given period and then get all down on myself for not getting it all done.

But that's NOT what I'm going to do for the next month. I'm going to get things done. Specifically, I want to get work done on two projects. One is the play I'm writing with J, The Cleaning Station. I spent two days last week getting the plan down in note form so now I have to get the plan typed up and then write the next draft.

The second project is a full-length play called Good World. I've had this project in the back of my head and in scribbled notes for a very long time. Too long. So now it's time to get it written. Well, at least a first draft. I inadvertently did some work on it when I was writing my application to the Blue Mountain Center. So now I've got a clearer idea of the sort of play I'm writing. I'm not sure if I should just dive straight in to the first draft and figure everything out later or do some preliminary work. Mmm.

First things first is to get the plan of The Cleaning Station into some sort of workable document. That's the goal for the next couple of days.

A big YEAH for birthdays

Ah, and another February 2^nd rolls around. Birthday time for this dear, sweet writer hitting the grand old age of 31. Since I moved to Melbourne, I usually head back home to Brisvegas for my birthday but with the trip to Albury last week and a general need to just kick back and do not much at all, I decided to stay put this year. So I've just woken up and feeling quite eager to just go and do a bit of exploring in my little hometown, going to places I love but just don't get there enough in my normal life. Then it's off to dinner at an oyster bar with M and the best friend and her husband. So all in all looking like it might be a great day.

WOOHOO for birthdays!!!