Tofu Soup for Everyone
No matter how stale I feel I may be getting as a writer, I can always count on PS 100 to force the juices flowing, even for a mere 20 pages.
Y'see, my wife usually teaches the drama program there, and when she does, I get to write her a new class play. The demands of PS 100 are different than what you might find from any play publisher of children's plays (though I can't figure out why). You see, the constraints I usually have to work with are the same -- 20 minutes for 20 kids. Granted, sometimes that number waivers a bit, but it's always a large group ranging from 15 to 32, though twice it was for 70.
It is surprising to me that it's so hard to find commercially published plays for larger groups like this. I can feel the void due to the overwhelming demand for the plays I've written. Honestly, I can't even count the number of schools worldwide who have performed them. This makes me glad that every year or two I can squeeze out a new one that will undoubtedly get snatched up by every elementary school who's teachers have Internet access. There are even those who feel that I should abandon writing regular plays and just do children's plays.
Not that they're literary gems. I feel they don't always represent my best work. But, what they do is unique. They do just what you think -- they give large classes a play to do. Granted, I've squeezed out one or two dogs that I don't offer up. But there are enough of the good ones to where I send out at least 5 per week.
And here's the funny part ... I sent them to a publisher who felt they weren't commercially viable. HA!
So, the new one takes two kids trying to write a report on a tour of New York City to discover its cultural diversity. The working title is "Tofu Soup for Everyone," though that may change. I'm hoping it'll be a worthy addition to the tome.
Schools, start lining up for your copy!
Y'see, my wife usually teaches the drama program there, and when she does, I get to write her a new class play. The demands of PS 100 are different than what you might find from any play publisher of children's plays (though I can't figure out why). You see, the constraints I usually have to work with are the same -- 20 minutes for 20 kids. Granted, sometimes that number waivers a bit, but it's always a large group ranging from 15 to 32, though twice it was for 70.
It is surprising to me that it's so hard to find commercially published plays for larger groups like this. I can feel the void due to the overwhelming demand for the plays I've written. Honestly, I can't even count the number of schools worldwide who have performed them. This makes me glad that every year or two I can squeeze out a new one that will undoubtedly get snatched up by every elementary school who's teachers have Internet access. There are even those who feel that I should abandon writing regular plays and just do children's plays.
Not that they're literary gems. I feel they don't always represent my best work. But, what they do is unique. They do just what you think -- they give large classes a play to do. Granted, I've squeezed out one or two dogs that I don't offer up. But there are enough of the good ones to where I send out at least 5 per week.
And here's the funny part ... I sent them to a publisher who felt they weren't commercially viable. HA!
So, the new one takes two kids trying to write a report on a tour of New York City to discover its cultural diversity. The working title is "Tofu Soup for Everyone," though that may change. I'm hoping it'll be a worthy addition to the tome.
Schools, start lining up for your copy!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home