Let me tell you about my first time…
Ah, I see that got your attention. Well, every now and again, it’s just great to do something that is absolutely new to you, and is not at all like something you’ve done before. No matter how old you are, it can be quite a magical experience.
One of the things that contributed to my insanely busy existence toward the end of last year was an unusual project that I was involved in. I was writing a play. It arose out of my often-expressed (on this blog) view that we need more (and better, and more varied) portrayals of science and scientists in the media and the arts, as part of the all-important effort to reduce the public’s fear of (discomfort with) science and scientists, and to thereby aid in the process of achieving a better baseline of science education and critical thinking about science issues, in the general public. I won’t go into it again here. You can read ever so many posts I’ve written about it by looking in the archives (links e.g., here and here.)
I was not working on my own, but collaborating with my friend (and my USC colleague from the school of theatre) the Los Angeles-based playwright Oliver Mayer, who I’ve mentioned in earlier posts (here for example). Well, it was an excellent experience. We had only a few weeks to exchange several drafts back and forth (with the odd meeting in a cafe or two… and remember we have busy day jobs), as we were working to a deadline of the 8th December (I was going to go on Walkabout after that, and also, we were going to enter it into a competition with a deadline around that time….the latter was maybe a long shot, given the notice we had to put something together…. I’ve no idea what happened with that, but that’s not the point).
It was fun and instructive. To me the most important aspect of this was the collaboration itself. I got to learn a lot about how writers and actors work, and how they - and others from the Industry- see science and scientists. This is useful in the quest I mentioned. Oliver, and others (see below) got to learn a bit about science and scientists: the process, the hopes, fears, loves, passions, hates, etc. Things they know about in their usual line of work of course, but not things that are usually well-portrayed in the context of science and scientists (well, not in always representative proportion, anyway). This is also useful for the quest. Not neccessarily for this project, but just in general. The project itself will inform everyone involved in a useful way, in any future projects they undertake. How can it not be a good thing to do?
But when I talk about “my first time”, that’s not what I’m talking about. The writing, as I have said, was an enjoyable and instructive process. But I’ve written a lot of things for the public before, I spent an awful lot of my childhood and also later years playing with scenarios of various sorts involving imaginary characters (haven’t we all?), and I’ve collaborated in this mode (a little) before (e.g., on a screenplay for a TV pilot)…. so no, as wonderful as it was to work with a real professional in that process, for my “first time” I’m actually talking about something else.
I’m talking about bringing real actors in to read the play aloud! It completely tranforms everything! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to sit there and listen to the scenes you’ve imagined come to life thanks to the skills of people who do this for a living every day. They bring things to it that you did not imagine, and breathe such life into even the most clumsily written phrases (I’m sure those were all mine!). We did one reading about half way through the writing (less, actually, just the first act of three), with two of the characters read by actors (Gary Perez and Marlene Forte (see also here for a profile)) and the third read by yours truly, while Oliver read the stage directions. From then on, it was hard to separate the two characters from the actors who brought them to life. This was in fact very useful in my own writing processes later. Then we did a final reading two nights before I jumped on the plane to nobody-knew-where. For that we got a third actor, Geraint Wyn Davies, to play the last part, and it all came together, with all scenes in place. Wow!- it was such an amazing evening. At some point while Marlene was reading a piece of dialogue I wrote, I just remember it hitting me all of a sudden “Hey, she’s speaking my words….those are my words…I remember thinking those words… and she’s saying them just like I imagined in my head…..wow.”
So there you have it: December 7th 2005, there they are in the main photo near the top. Clockwise starting upper left: Actors: Geraint Wyn Davies, Gary Perez and Marlene Forte, Oliver Mayer.
Some breakout photos:
Gary and Marlene (as Pedro and Lucha), with Oliver listening and interjecting with stage directions:
Geraint in full flow (as Aaron):
Here’s the amusing extra twist to the tale. I was thinking about doing this post earlier, and was not sure of the full name of Geraint. Thought I would email Oliver to find out. Then I thought I’d have a look at the first couple of episodes of the new season of the TV show “24″, which have been sitting on my DVR for a while. I giggled to myself that it would be really funny if he showed up in that show, since in the last season of “24″ a year ago, one of the excellent actors that Oliver had for a public reading of a play of his a month or two before showed up -to my surprise- as the first sinister shadowy bad guy in the first few episodes.
Well, I started watching the show -which is again really excellent; I don’t know how they keep it up- and there was Geraint! He’s the sinister shadowy bad guy in the current season of 24. As almost everyone in the USA seems to be watching the show, you’ll have recognised him from the pictures already. (Wikipedia article on him here.)
-cvj
February 6th, 2006 at 3:51 am
That sounds fantastic, I’m jealous. Any plans to have it produced?
February 6th, 2006 at 8:38 am
Way to go, Clifford! Any chance that you might give us a hint about the plot or at least the subject?
February 6th, 2006 at 8:57 am
What can I say, I was inspired Clifford.
My own bumbling attempt?
February 6th, 2006 at 9:32 am
Wow!
ditto that.
By the way, what happened to the science meme?
–Q.
February 6th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Bravo!
February 6th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Sounds like a potentilal podcast to me, even bigger than Ricky Gervais’:) Good luck and well done Clifford, you are a true renaissance man!
February 6th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
[…] And scientists, and particularly science educators, there is nothing wrong with allowing the creative imagination into science. Science lore has become a new source for allusion and metaphor in our modern world. Poets and writers and dramatists (including scientists: see today’s Cosmic Variance) are appealing to our culture’s growing science literacy more and more. […]
February 6th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Clifford,
Congratulations. I just attended a live reading of a play with a feedback session with the playwright after a few weeks ago and I can see the enormous benefit to the creative process that this can provide.
Having done some writing myself, songs, poetry, and a screenplay, perhaps the hardest part is the feedback loop. (theory vs. experiment analogy here???) Getting to see/hear the work really highlights where it needs work to make it even better, as well as highlighting what works well. As we used to say down in Nashville when listening to other people’s songs. “Either the dog hunts or it don’t”
Keep us posted…
Elliot
February 6th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Clifford, that sounds fascinating, surely your series should be called tales from the industries, there are quite a few of those by now.
February 6th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
Moshe: - People (at least the ones I hang with) tend to refer to anything to do with the main business of the “entertainment capital” as part of “The Industry”. Theatre, Film, TV, Music, etc….
Sean, Quibbler:- Maybe. we’ll certainly do a more public reading. But I suspect that we might consider refining and extending it. Right now I think we’re more excited about the process itself than the output, to some extent… What we’d really like is more support (financial and otherwise) to do more of this. Also extending to get younger people who are learning the art to get involved. See one of my proposals in the post “Three Proposals Of Marriage”. Unfortunately, the one to do with Theatre got turned down…. but the quest goes on….
Belizean, Plato, Brad Hope, Elliot: - Thanks.
More later (I imagine) on the content.
Quibbler:- Been snowed. Totally forgot about it. I will try to get on it. soon. ish.
-cvj
February 6th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
Just keep going with the process and don’t worry too much about the output yet. I think a lot of uninspired work happens when people get worried about having to produce something before it’s ready. When the work really starts to jell in your workshops, when non-scientists really start to understand the scientific point of view that you’re communicating and are compelled by it, you’ll know you’ve got something. And then you’ll be ready for prime-time.
We need to put only really, really good stuff out there to get people interested. There’s a lot of barriers that people have built up from negative experiences in high school science class to overcome.
February 7th, 2006 at 10:09 am
I wrote a radio musical many years ago that won a prize in Europe and attracted the attention of Sondheim’s backers. The final verdict was that while the music was ‘gorgeous’, the story line was ‘too esoteric’ for the New York stage. After a few repeats on CBC the thing disappeared. It was once a source of pride; now I’m ashamed of its ultimate failure.
I understand well, though, how it feels to hear what existed only in your imagination being realized and endorsed by people who are very good at what they do.
Ever since I signed up on CV I’ve had a hunch that you’re destined to be a celebrity; within 2 yrs. you’ll be on Oprah. And you’ll handle it well.
Break a leg.
February 7th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
sisyphus said:
“I understand well, though, how it feels to hear what existed only in your imagination being realized and endorsed by people who are very good at what they do.”
cvj says:- Yes, it is rather nice. I don’t know about “endorsed” though. The actors are trained professionals. They do an excellent job of turning even poor material (I don’t mean this work, just in general) into something good-sounding, by breathing life into the characters, which is what they do….it’s not an endorsement, neccessarily…just a tribute to their skill. Real endorsement (or not) comes from the audience.
sisyphus also said:-
“Ever since I signed up on CV I’ve had a hunch that you’re destined to be a celebrity;”
cvj says:- Wait….there must be some mistake here…this post was written by clifford, not sean!
further:-
“within 2 yrs. you’ll be on Oprah. And you’ll handle it well.”
cvj says:- Two years?! But I’ve left my calendar open from March onwards…
Naw…won’t happen….I’m on too many commitees.
But sisyphus…thanks. Seriously, I’m under no illusions here. My interests are to start a process…… get others involved in the process…it will take a long time for it to get anywhere…for any material to be produced at a level that is hugely visible. And it will probably not be material coming from me. I know this town well enough to know that 99% of the stuff created here gets thrown in he garbage or put on a shelf forever (including some good stuff)…. So the probability of anything getting even as far as CBC is remote. I’m under no illusions about that.
My day (and night) job is still physics.
Cheers,
-cvj
February 7th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
#13 cvj: I know that a play is a one-in-a-million longshot. I was thinking more in terms of the cvj gestalt. Doing the play will bring some cvj on the back burner a little closer to the front. You’re a modest man so I’ll leave it at that.
But if a Carl Sagan, why not a Clifford Johnson?
February 7th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Only one per generation allowed by our media and our society….. and Brian’s already doing that job rather well.
Cheers,
-cvj
February 7th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Oh…and I can’t say “billions and billions” with a straight face.
-cvj
February 7th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
I believe it’s pronounced g’billions and g’billions.
regards,
MR
March 9th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
[…] Yesterday after returning from Dublin, I dumped off my luggage, freshened up and went out to the first public reading of the play I told you about in an earlier post (link here). The one I wrote with playwright Oliver Mayer, from the USC School of Theatre. The reading was at the Senior Common Room at Parkside, one of the splendid halls of residence on campus, and so we had a very interesting audience of students and faculty, from various disciplines in the Arts, Humanities and Sciences. In addition we had some theatre people, including some theatre directors, writers and actors…. Here’s a quick shot of the audience: […]
May 18th, 2006 at 2:36 am
[…] Recall also that I’ve been working with a playwright, Oliver Mayer, for all those reasons I keep blogging about concerning science and the public, science outreach, science education, science and the media, etc, etc. I’ve been telling you, for example, about the wonderful process of having real actors read your words, and how interesting and instructive the whole experience is. See posts here, and here. […]
June 28th, 2006 at 12:26 am
[…] Anyway, some students took on the challenge. They are required to seek out a real scientist, and get them to read the work and comment. Well, they found me. (I guess there were no real scientists willing to do this, so a string theorist will have to do. LOL!) Well, I did this with one student last year, and it turned into a really fun and informative series of conversations where we both learned a lot. Me about the process and contraints involved in writing for the entertainment industry, and the student about what science and scientists are like. I’ve also spoken about this sort of thing in the context of the (later) playwriting project I got involved in later last last year, about which I’ve blogged here and here, and will tell you more later. […]
July 24th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
[…] P.S. There’ll be two more public readings of that play (in progress) I’m writing with Oliver Mayer on Tuesday and Wednesday, in the greater Los Angeles area. If interested in going, please email me for more details. See here and here for earlier reading descriptions. We’ve got two new actors for two of the parts….. and yes -I can’t believe it either- once again, you’ll know them as having played shadowy evil characters from the show 24! I’m sure this is all a coincidence that it keeps happening. […]
August 7th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
[…] Lauren is a young playwright (and author of the occasionally-updated blog Deepen the Mystery) specializing in plays with scientific themes. She’s not the only one, of course; it’s become quite the cottage industry, these science plays. As Dennis Overbye put it at a conference in Santa Barbara, “Is anyone writing plays that aren’t about quantum mechanics any more?” […]
January 2nd, 2007 at 11:40 pm
[…] Yes, today is work-on-the-play day and it will be very interesting, since you’ve not looked at the thing for a long time due to other commitments. Certainly not since it was read by real actors with real people in the audience at the Pasadena Playhouse during the Summer, although you could not attend, due to being out of town. You wonder if it was as fun as the other public reading, and whether readings will ever be as magical to you as that first private one. […]
January 20th, 2007 at 1:15 am
[…] ___________________________________________________________________________________ aAs a parenthetical remark, I should also mention that since some of the actors playing the bad guys end up doing public readings of the play that Oliver Mayer and I are writing (see here), I find I’m getting clues as to who the cast of future readings will be by watching the show. […]