Plugging for my play! I assume you already have a copy, but if not, you should. Here's where to get one. It's also on Amazon.com, of course.
The script is full of great monologues, if you're looking for new audition pieces, and it's a strong script for a company that has minimal set requirements and likes weirdness. So, colleges? Indeed. It's for you.
About Me
- Freeman
- Matthew Freeman is a Brooklyn based playwright with a BFA from Emerson College. His plays include THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR, REASONS FOR MOVING, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE AMERICANS, THE WHITE SWALLOW, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, THE MOST WONDERFUL LOVE, WHEN IS A CLOCK, GLEE CLUB, THAT OLD SOFT SHOE and BRANDYWINE DISTILLERY FIRE. He served as Assistant Producer and Senior Writer for the live webcast from Times Square on New Year's Eve 2010-2012. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Gamespy, Premiere, Complex Magazine, Maxim Online, and MTV Magazine. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., New York Theatre Experience, and Samuel French.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Get to Know The Brick
Love this video that provides an introduction to The Brick.
The Brick Theater: Get to Know Them With TDF from Theatre Development Fund (tdf) on Vimeo.
The Brick Theater: Get to Know Them With TDF from Theatre Development Fund (tdf) on Vimeo.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Repost: Rules for Writing Plays
Just because I love you, and you may not have been reading my blog way back in 2007, here's a post from the early days of the days of the interweb blogs, where I explain how to do things so you don't have to think about it too hard.
----
I have decided that this blog needs more substantive posts about the
process of writing plays (playwriting, in the vernacular). Hence, I
shall use the authority bestowed upon me by having free time, to write
these important rules for playwriting. These rules, without a doubt,
will exist for generations to come, who will Google the term "Rules for
Playwriting."
RULES FOR THE WRITING OF PLAYS
1. Do not write "Chapter 1" at the top of a scene. Instead write "Scene 1."
2. When writing a play, remember that the operative word is "play." Have fun. For example, Samuel Beckett wrote a play called "Play." That play is a hoot. Enjoy yourself.
3. All the characters are "you," just as everyone in a dream is "you." Even if you are 19 years old and currently attending college in Connecticut, when you describe a character as "a 59 year old housewife with a mournful eye on her past as an alcoholic;" "she" is "you."
4. When you write "The End" or "Blackout" at the end of the play, remember that your work is not yet done. Soon, the vipers will descend, teeth full of venom.
5. Choose whether or not you will write a Drama or a Comedy before you decide if anyone in the play has cancer.
6. That joke you heard over coffee that seemed so darn great when your friend explained it in detail, his eyebrows going up and down while he did all the funny voices? Do not use that joke. It is not as good as you think.
7. Tell the truth. Except when caught. Then lie.
8. Your precious God will not help you. Prayer will only lead to revision. Avoid revision. Your first draft is your "vision." Revisioning your vision is also known as compromise. Do not compromise. Even for your precious "God."
9. If you are a playwright that is also a woman you are a "lady writer" and therefore must write about Abortion. If you do not, you are missing the whole point.
10. Tell long stories about drinking, but do not drink. Then you will have the edge in this poker game we call "The American Theater."
11. All of your best play ideas will come from the Utne Reader.
12. Dialogue is a cloud, whispy and soft. You can tell the way the wind is blowing by looking at this cloud. The higher the cloud, the further from the earth it is. The further from the earth, the less like fog. Fog is not dialogue; fog is a monologue.
13. Aristotle doesn't really "get" you. He's never played a single game on the Xbox and didn't have to pay student loans. F*ck him.
14. Write plays about issues. These issues include: war, sexism, racism and "those idiots in the Bible Belt."
15. You'll be told to write what you know. Think about it, though...do you really know anything? Does that mean you shouldn't write anything? I mean, seriously, we're all completely blind. So write about being blind. Try taking a tie and wrapping it around your eyes and wandering around for a day, trying to remember where all the light switches are and how many steps there are to get up to your room. Write about that.
16. There are dogs in the streets, howling. Heed them, oh Playwright.
17. Microsoft Word really helps the Dada in you. Cut and Paste, baby. Cut and Paste.
18. All plays have a beginning, middle and an end. Should the end come in the middle, and the middle after that, you've screwed up.
19. Keep a chart of the irony.
20. When you feel, deep in your heart, that you have completed the finest work of which you are capable... quit. Immediately. Who needs that next play, and the feeling of being over-the-hill. Trust your instincts. It won't get better.
----
Rules for the Writing of Plays
RULES FOR THE WRITING OF PLAYS
1. Do not write "Chapter 1" at the top of a scene. Instead write "Scene 1."
2. When writing a play, remember that the operative word is "play." Have fun. For example, Samuel Beckett wrote a play called "Play." That play is a hoot. Enjoy yourself.
3. All the characters are "you," just as everyone in a dream is "you." Even if you are 19 years old and currently attending college in Connecticut, when you describe a character as "a 59 year old housewife with a mournful eye on her past as an alcoholic;" "she" is "you."
4. When you write "The End" or "Blackout" at the end of the play, remember that your work is not yet done. Soon, the vipers will descend, teeth full of venom.
5. Choose whether or not you will write a Drama or a Comedy before you decide if anyone in the play has cancer.
6. That joke you heard over coffee that seemed so darn great when your friend explained it in detail, his eyebrows going up and down while he did all the funny voices? Do not use that joke. It is not as good as you think.
7. Tell the truth. Except when caught. Then lie.
8. Your precious God will not help you. Prayer will only lead to revision. Avoid revision. Your first draft is your "vision." Revisioning your vision is also known as compromise. Do not compromise. Even for your precious "God."
9. If you are a playwright that is also a woman you are a "lady writer" and therefore must write about Abortion. If you do not, you are missing the whole point.
10. Tell long stories about drinking, but do not drink. Then you will have the edge in this poker game we call "The American Theater."
11. All of your best play ideas will come from the Utne Reader.
12. Dialogue is a cloud, whispy and soft. You can tell the way the wind is blowing by looking at this cloud. The higher the cloud, the further from the earth it is. The further from the earth, the less like fog. Fog is not dialogue; fog is a monologue.
13. Aristotle doesn't really "get" you. He's never played a single game on the Xbox and didn't have to pay student loans. F*ck him.
14. Write plays about issues. These issues include: war, sexism, racism and "those idiots in the Bible Belt."
15. You'll be told to write what you know. Think about it, though...do you really know anything? Does that mean you shouldn't write anything? I mean, seriously, we're all completely blind. So write about being blind. Try taking a tie and wrapping it around your eyes and wandering around for a day, trying to remember where all the light switches are and how many steps there are to get up to your room. Write about that.
16. There are dogs in the streets, howling. Heed them, oh Playwright.
17. Microsoft Word really helps the Dada in you. Cut and Paste, baby. Cut and Paste.
18. All plays have a beginning, middle and an end. Should the end come in the middle, and the middle after that, you've screwed up.
19. Keep a chart of the irony.
20. When you feel, deep in your heart, that you have completed the finest work of which you are capable... quit. Immediately. Who needs that next play, and the feeling of being over-the-hill. Trust your instincts. It won't get better.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Attend the Meet the Candidates forum tonight
If you're a New York City area theater artist, you should make every effort to be at the League of Independent Theater candidates forum tonight.
The event is March 12, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Players, 16 Gramercy Park South. The event is free but RSVP is required. Please RSVP at http://litforum-eac2.eventbrite.com/.
Turnout is key here. Candidates respond to constituencies that are paying attention, that vote, that take action. If we want to ensure we have friends who can help us as we try to keep small theaters open, we need meetings like this one.
The event is March 12, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Players, 16 Gramercy Park South. The event is free but RSVP is required. Please RSVP at http://litforum-eac2.eventbrite.com/.
Turnout is key here. Candidates respond to constituencies that are paying attention, that vote, that take action. If we want to ensure we have friends who can help us as we try to keep small theaters open, we need meetings like this one.
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Ian Gould on getting an agent
My very good friend Ian Gould, a fantastic actor, writes with candor about getting the interest of an agent. A good read for actors on the Answers for Actors blog.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Pam Grossman on Midnight Archive's new episode: Art and the Occult
My wife, Pam Grossman, is profiled in the latest episode of Midnight Archive: Art and the Occult. Check it out.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Red Room will close
Another Off-Off Broadway space will soon be gone. I directed plays at the Red Room years ago, happily, working with Anthony Pennino. It's a place where lots of Off-Off Broadway performers cut their teeth, enjoyed some stage time, experimented. Sad to see it go, but it's not alone. There's less room in Manhattan these days for the scrappy plays, more space for oddly prepared comfort food and brunch. It's the way of things. So it goes.
Forward.
Forward.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Announcing my new eBook - Short Plays For Grown-Ups
Announcing my latest eBook, now available through Amazon...SHORT PLAYS FOR GROWN-UPS.
This digital-only collection features some of my short, comedic plays, including "The White Swallow," "What To Do To A Girl," "The Metaphor," "The Dress You Should Wear" and "Last Words."
The first three were all a part of the Standards of Decency series, also available here.
"The Dress You Should Wear" is quietly one of my favorite plays, a quick, mean piece for two women.
"Last Words" was a part of the One-Minute Play Festival way back in 2008.
The collection is only $2.99.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Standards of Decency Series Collections now available
I'm pleased to announce that IndieTheaterNow has published Blue Coyote Theater Group's Standards of Decency series in three digital collections.
Standards of Decency was the name of three themed productions of short plays, where playwrights were challenged to show justifiable use of nudity, blasphemy and/or profanity. I was lucky enough to participate in each production, with the plays What To Do To A Girl (pictured above, with Joseph Yeargain, Cat* Johnson and Matthew Trumbull), The White Swallow and The Metaphor. Each of those three plays, only a few minutes long, are some of my favorite pieces, and I'm thrilled they've been made available to read and perform.
You can find each collection below, featuring work by David Johnston, David Foley, Brian Dykstra, Boo Killebrew, John Yearly, Adam Szymkowicz, Kristen Palmer and more.
Standards of Decency Series 1 (Featuring What To Do To A Girl)
Standards of Decency Series 2 - Blue Coyote's Happy Endings (Featuring The White Swallow)
Standards of Decency Series 3 - 300 Vaginas Before Breakfast (Featuring The Metaphor)
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Blogging about Much Ado
My dear friend Ian is blogging about his experience directing a production of Much Ado About Nothing at Winchester Thurston, where he graduated from high school many years ago. So far, it's sensitive, insightful and a pleasure to read. Very few people have as much insight about Shakespeare as Ian. Give it a read.
http://www.wt-much-ado.org/
http://www.wt-much-ado.org/
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Reading - Wednesday night
I'm having a reading of a new play of mine, open to all and free, tomorrow night at the Alchemical Theater Laboratory at 8pm.
The play is called That Which Isn't. It'll be performed by David DelGrosso, Katherine Gooch-Breault and Moira Stone.
Love to see you there and hear your thoughts.
The play is called That Which Isn't. It'll be performed by David DelGrosso, Katherine Gooch-Breault and Moira Stone.
Love to see you there and hear your thoughts.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
2013
And so it begins. Another year.
Perhaps a good way to start it off is to check out my lovely spouse's new website, which shows off her fantastic projects.
Perhaps a good way to start it off is to check out my lovely spouse's new website, which shows off her fantastic projects.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Make a gift to your favorite theater company
This year, blogging was extremely light from me. I haven't officially closed up shop here - you never know when I'm going to feel the need to write about some subject - but I realize it's been much less consistent. For those of you that have looked for me this past year and found less than they'd hoped, I apologize.
Usually, I create a list of theaters I recommend you give to before the end of the year. With the rise of IndieGoGo and Kickstarter, it's a bit less important for me to link to individual pages and tout the importance of various small theaters. So this year, I'm going to refrain from a list like that.
Still, if you haven't made a year-end gift to one or more of your favorite theaters, you should do so. Consider, also, supporting the company or institution itself as opposed to a production or project. There's nothing better than general operating cash for small companies, gifts that are not earmarked for certain kinds of projects.
When I started this blog, I suggested gifts of $10, $25 and $50. I said those gifts add up. IndieGoGo and Kickstarter proved that's true. If you're in the habit of making those smaller donations, maybe your year-end, special gift could be $250 - which is just under $25 a month for a year. Combine that kind of giving and make one payment. It'll be more substantial for the company, and feel better for you too.
I hope your 2012 was productive and fun, and 2013 is even better.
Onwards and upwards!
Usually, I create a list of theaters I recommend you give to before the end of the year. With the rise of IndieGoGo and Kickstarter, it's a bit less important for me to link to individual pages and tout the importance of various small theaters. So this year, I'm going to refrain from a list like that.
Still, if you haven't made a year-end gift to one or more of your favorite theaters, you should do so. Consider, also, supporting the company or institution itself as opposed to a production or project. There's nothing better than general operating cash for small companies, gifts that are not earmarked for certain kinds of projects.
When I started this blog, I suggested gifts of $10, $25 and $50. I said those gifts add up. IndieGoGo and Kickstarter proved that's true. If you're in the habit of making those smaller donations, maybe your year-end, special gift could be $250 - which is just under $25 a month for a year. Combine that kind of giving and make one payment. It'll be more substantial for the company, and feel better for you too.
I hope your 2012 was productive and fun, and 2013 is even better.
Onwards and upwards!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Merry Merry and Happy Happy
I hope everyone's had a lovely holiday season thus far and are looking forward to a very happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
PS Jones and the Frozen City
Off to see the show tonight. I hear it's cool. Seen it? What'd you think?
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Ich Liebe Jesus!
This weekend, engage in some holiday cheer. Robert Honeywell's despairing, wicked, fun musical about the joys of Christian Christmas, Ich Liebe Jesus, has three more performances: Friday, Saturday and Sunday the 7th, 8th and 9th. You should and must attend. You are compelled to attend by duty. It's a German thing.
Find more info at the Brick.
The show features the only truly nasty bit of song I've ever seen on stage about lactose tolerance. Delightful. Mean, mean, mean and fun. The whole cast is great, but the MC...Jenny Lee Mitchell? Is just plain amazing.
It's on a double bill with Piper McKenzie's lovely and brief The Ultimate Fate of the Solo System and Other Plays Without Words. It feels like a collection of really groovy b-sides from one of your favorite bands.
Go! And See It!
Tickets here.
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