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Paprika’s Playwrights-in-Residence
I feel energized and old at the same time. Energized by the talent, drive, and enthusiasm of so many young artists. And old when I realize I’m a decade older than them. But I just want to be their friend because they’re so cool.
This week marks the start of the 11th annual Paprika Festival, ‘Toronto’s only theatre festival celebrating the work of young and emerging artists, primarily those who are 21 and under.’
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of working with the Playwrights in Residence. I’m not sure if “working” is the right term (although scheduling busy young pro-stars is pretty work-y).
My job mostly consisted of getting the group together over tea, stew, or ice cream and having them discuss, explain, and help each other through their writing challenges and successes on their path towards a new script. They are all much more eloquent and insightful than I have ever been.
This week, their creations are being read at the Tarragon Theatre, along with all the other amazing works and productions by young Paprika artists.
If you’re in Toronto and want to see and hear outstanding new work, come check it out.
It’s in the Tarragon’s awesome Extra Space, it’s only $5, and, in a few years, you could very well end up saying “I knew them when…”
And you will be humbled by the amazing talent of this group of young emerging artists, there is no question.
The Paprika Festival runs March 1st-10th at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. For the schedule of shows and events, check out www.paprikafestival.com
-this post originally appeared on in80plays.wordpress.com-
Shackles – A Push for Perfection
Upon the sudden realization that one has only a single week left to perfect their production, it is not uncommon for them to wish they were heavily skilled in the art of sorcery. However, as medicine, mathematics, and that old thorn in the side physics constantly reminds us, sorcery is usually considered useless when paired against its more physically plausible components; laser beam focus, perpetually burning energy, and good old fashion, fist-clenching stress.
Now, I’m not saying all the latter options are things we’re exploring (and I’m not saying we’re all wizards either…) but it would be unwise to think we’re not well aware of how little time we have left. Which raises an interesting question, we’re off book, blocked, polishing our characters, so why, Dearest-Paprika-Blog-Followers, is this still so gosh-darn stressful?
Well, you see, it’s because there are certain sacrifices one must make when one is an all-out perfectionist. Unlike the alternative, a person who only-sort-of cares, perfectionists have a very particular way of doing things. Such a comparison can be made in the following way:
SEMI-INTERESTED, PRE-OCCUPIED PERSON:
1. Get good idea.
2. Wait 19 days.
3. Assemble appropriate resources, use the “Just Enough Time” you have left, be extremely flexible on the integrity of your original vision based on the abilities of the people you’re working with, fix major problems, but leave the minor ones – because, who the heck are you kidding? – and ultimately create a piece of work that wins no awards but entertains many, offends few, and comes across as whole-heartedly acceptable.
Fantastic.
But then, all of that goes away when one values perfection over all other things. Good, simple ideas turn to epic, life affirming sagas lost in a blur of delusions of grandeur and success. And easy, quick runs of work are stopped constantly to fix insignificant bugs which, let’s face it, will always be there.
The final product can then take one of two turns: One that appears outwardly desirable, with a production that’s amazing, earns mountains of respect for all involved, and receives a standing ovation lasting a minimum of 8 minutes.
OR: A production full of problems. The problem that there was not enough time in your clocks to do what you wanted, the problem that all your actors wish you were dead, and the problem that so many problems were trying to be solved, that non-problemed portions were forgotten, creating new problems and leaving many still unsolved, until the entire production collapses into a twitching, problematic mass.
Alright, do not misinterpret me here. We’re not having that problem. As I said before, our production’s coming along nicely. I say this only because, as almost all of us are at some point, we’re a time when we’re likely to be almost as good as we’re going to get. And such a time is something every single one us young, ambitious theatre people have to discover. If I had one word of advice to my peers (as I too have worked with actors who prayed for my funeral and written monologues intended to be short but have inexplicably taken up four pages) it would be to have faith in the work we’ve created, and with the festival so close and all of us of course being so gosh-darn stressed, now’s the time to step back and simply enjoy the show.
…I’m not sure if any of this is valid, because this post’s longer-than-usual-length is an example of everything I said not to do…
But anyways, until next time,
Shackles Team
Sweet Dreams Are Made of Short Rehearsals, Peanut Galleries, and Six Weirdos We All Can’t Stand
Coleen/Reality: Hi, I’m Reality, but I’m sometimes called Coleen.
Kealin/Possibility: And I’m Kealin, also known as Possibility.
Coleen/Reality: And we’re in a play, a delicate balance where we all know the true reality,
Kealin/Possibility: But are also here to explore the possibilities. The play is titled, ‘Sweet Dreams’ and it revolves around a seventeen year-old girl named Sam who encounters and befriends her future mentor, Tara, a bartender at the Beaver Pub. Tara in her own essence teaches Sam about getting what you want but also facing the consequences that come along with it.
Coleen/Reality: Then there’s Amala, who is a prime example of settling and knowing how to make herself content. Through the relationships between these three women, we discover the consequences of risking possibility and facing reality.
Kealin/Possibility: And that’s our play, pretty much. Reality and I are always at odds.
Coleen/Reality: No, we aren’t.
Kealin/Possibility: Mhm, sure.
Coleen/Reality: We’re supposed to talk about how we’re doing, and our process!
Kealin/Possibility: No, it’s a blog post. We can talk about anything, the possibilities are endless!
Coleen/Reality: Really now? I’m pretty sure they want something with actual information.
Kealin/Possibility: Yes, because our title was so self-explanatory. Do they know that ‘peanut galleries’ means chatting? Not very clear.
Coleen/Reality: Well fine then! Dear reader, if you’re wondering how our process is going, here’s the facts: we rehearse for less than two hours every Monday and Wednesday in a stairwell at Ryerson University, we talk non-stop, watch youtube videos, bicker, and somehow manage to block a scene.
Kealin/Possibility: Ha! You can hardly call our rehearsal space a stairwell, it’s HUGE. We call it the ‘room’. And we get work done, just WHILE talking and watching youtube. Broaden your horizon there buddy, the reader is going to think we’re slackers.
Coleen/Reality: Well, we finally are posting on the blog-after over a month.
Kealin/Possibility: It’s not homework. Calm yourself. Dear reader, ignore our bickering, it’s pretty much our play. Coleen and I have been watching our cast help create this show, and wanted to let you know what has been going on. So what has been going on…
Coleen/Reality: We’re focusing on transitions, last minute additions, and cleaning up some scenes.
Kealin/Possibility: That and also the fact that we’ve all come to the understanding that this story, what it says for us and for so many out there, is a story we feel more than privileged to share at the Paprika Festival.
Coleen/Reality: Yes, despite the very cheesy way you’ve worded it, I do agree.
Kealin/Possibility: Really, you do?
Coleen/Reality: Yes. I think the love we have for this show is something we can both agree to agree on.
Kealin/Possiblity: We hope to see you there!
Coleen/Reality: We will see you there.
Instructions for Use: A Blog Post
Hi there, this is the blogger checking in from the Instructions for Use team. Hopefully this blog will give you an inside look on the Paprika process.
Instructions for Use, written by Aviva Philipp-Muller, is built around the character Emmanuel, who makes his living writing instruction. He, the family next door, and a door-to-door blender salesman are the cast of characters for this balanced, character-driven piece.
Here’s a snapshot of a couple of our rehearsals. In one, we focused on improv. Now, the only kind of improv I had ever done was Second City-style, so I had no idea what this was going to be like. In the character improv we did, all you have to do is try to be as natural as possible. Being funny isn’t the goal; nothing even needs to happen in your scene. It’s all about trying to get a more natural, realistic feel for your character.
Another rehearsal was our first with our mentor, Weyni. We worked on the first few scenes, and she made some simple suggestions which helped clarify those scenes. For instance, in the first scene, she suggested playing with the idea of having more distance between the two characters. With that suggestion, the relationship between the characters and the dynamic of the scene were suddenly much clearer. I’m really excited to be working with someone so experienced and knowledgeable.
Anyways, that’s all from me now. Keep checking back to this blog for more blog posts from Instructions for Use and other shows!
Sincerely,
Instructions blogger
Exploring the Creative Process: Drafts
Hey there fellow Paprikans, just thought I’d check in with you guys and keep you guys in the loop as to the sort of things we’re trying to do here at Drafts. As it’s a very movement oriented piece, we’ve done numerous exercises trying to explore just that, movement. What you’re seeing below is an activity we’ve used a few times which we refer to as “Filling the Space”. An actor goes up, and makes a pose of some sort. Then, one or two other actors go in, and fill the empty space left by the first volunteer. One drops out at a time and is replaced by a new one, and in this rotation we are left with interesting poses that would never have been thought of on their own. These sort of exercises have proved invaluable to our creative process along with… Well you know, rehearsal. So feel free to comment on whatever is making your rehearsal process more… Productive!
Cheers from all of us at Drafts,
Elias Wilson
