We follow Bob, the Director, through a maze of students, hallways, paths, across streets. Students are everywhere and I come down from my post-lecture giddiness to feel a bit old. College was a long, long time ago.
We have lunch with the cast and, once again, I forget to record the conversation. People keep showing up throughout the meal and Bob introduces them to me: “This is Telemachus, this is the Merchant, this is…” It’s hard to reconcile the faces, the street clothes, with the characters I’ve been carrying around in my head for almost five years.
We eat, they ask questions — some very pointed ones, actually — and I realize that they’re the ones who have had to do all the heavy lifting on this project. It all comes back to me from my college theatre days, how In The Dark you are when you sit down with a script for the first time, trying to find a character in there.
I didn’t give them much help, I’m afraid. The script was written in a near-vacuum with Bob breathing some fresh air into it every once in a while. I wrote it for his eyes. It never occurred to me that actors might be looking at it.
I eat lunch, I answer their questions as best I can, I tell stories, I hope I’m not repeating myself too much.
“I have a question.”
“Yes. Okay.”
“Have you seen the costumes? The masks and the set?”
“I have. Bob gave me a sneak peek backstage.”
“What do you think?”
“I think they look great. They’re wonderful.”
“Do they look like what you pictured in your head?”
It’s a good question, one that I’m going to have to answer four or five times before I leave.
I realize, answering it, that they don’t in fact look like what I had in my head. But that’s because I didn’t have a play in my head while I was writing. I didn’t see a stage and actors and mask . . . I saw Hermes arguing with Calypso in her cave two steps ahead and half a day late . . . I saw Athena — pale and owl-like, almost luminous — nagging her father, Zeus, sculpted from living marble — I saw Poseidon, streaming green rage, riding on the clouds, pursuing Odysseus…
I didn’t see any of them and I feel a little embarrassed about that. They’re there, obviously. They’ve done the work. They’re the ones who deserve the applause (and they will get applause) and I didn’t write one line thinking about them.
It occurs to me that I never have. When I write plays, I don’t see a set. I don’t see actors. I see the characters and the place itself — am I the only one who does this?
At any rate, we finish lunch. I manage to hide my ignorance (I hope) and they manage to hide their disappointment.
They must be disappointed. I’m not nearly a real capital-W Writer at all. Just a guy willing to dare to wear black in Northwestern Iowa.
Back through the maze of buildings and hallways after lunch. The most excellent Jonathan tracks me down and hands me a sheaf of papers explaining how to connect to the wireless network in the theatre building. For a PC, it takes sixteen pages to explain. It takes two sentences for a Mac. Case closed.
Bob heads off to grade papers and, I assume, get some relief from my delighted babbling. I check e-mail, relieved to be able to do so but also annoyed that none of my e-mail is worth reading. I fire off a few of my own to coworkers and clients and even one to my attorney (it’s almost like being a grown up, folks) and I’m grinding my teeth over a late-night drunken rant that someone sent me the night before when the Director walks by with an envelope and says “Oh, hey, I’ve been carrying this around all day and almost forgot to give you your royalty check.”
Oh. Um. Yes. Thank you.
I’m so shocked to be paid that I forget to even open the envelope — something I’ll forget to do until after I’ve been home for three days, so it’s not like we do it for the money or anything.
But still . . . to be paid to tell stories?
It’s a good job, if you can find it.
I abandon the e-mail and go wandering through the building, worrying over the next class I’ll be teaching — well, facillitating. It’s not a class, more of a workshop really. A writing workshop that either four people or forty will show up for.
I start wishing I’d brought some hand puppets with me.
Keeley and I prowl through the lobby, looking over the lobby display. There are costume and make-up renderings, a model of the set, and this article that appeared a week earlier in the student newspaper…
Vaughnahue’s Top Ten Reasons to see “The Odyssey”
by Vaughn Donahue
Homer’s “Odyssey†is a classic. I’m going to bet that most of you read it in high school. I know that this ancient script might not be among the best of your memories, but I aim to convince you to give it another shot. In honor of Northwestern’s department of theatre and speech, I give you the Top Ten Reasons to see “The Odyssey!â€
10. Enough livestock to make an Iowan blush – If the Greek gods and goddesses had a favorite punishment, it would be transforming their disloyal subjects into pigs, goats, cows—you name it. It makes you think about what (or who) that hamburger you ate at dinner might be made of.
9. Penelope, the slap-wench – When you’ve been waiting for years for your husband to return, and all you do all day is weave, weep and stay wary of the men seeking to take his place, you tend to become less than amiable. Penelope, played by junior Nicky Dutt, is not a happy camper. She slaps her way through the production, thus earning her character the title “slap-wench.â€
8. The most convincing cow ever – Have you ever seen a darn good cow impression ? Senior Gavin Baker has the petulant “moo†down to a pat.
7. Solomon Davis topless – Doesn’t do much for me, but take it for what it’s worth.
6. Hermes with a Cockney accent – You’ve heard of Hermes, the god with the wings on his boots. In case you hadn’t caught on, this means he’s fast. In this production, he’s also a hilarious character hailing from the not-so-posh parts of London. He will take your breath away—literally.
5. Learn the best way to defeat a cyclops without saying a single word – Be prepared for this lesson, and learn these cyclops-killing techniques from the men who did it themselves! You might want to take notes.
4. Richard Moore on a power trip – Junior Richard Moore lives in West Hall, and I find him a pretty humble guy. But call him Zeus, give him a lighting bolt and humility goes right out the window. Life doesn’t get much better when you can spit out one-liners like, “I can do whatever I please, girl. I am Zeus.â€
3. Seduction and lust – Oh how naughty those Greek goddesses are! They make seduction their business, and lust their tool. Boys, these probably are not the type of girls you’d marry because they remind you of your mom. No, I’m sure your reasons would be immensely different.
2. Rated PG-13 – You might be thinking, “seduction and lust at NW? No! Surely not!†Well, you’re wrong; this production may be just a tad too hot for NW to handle.
1. A brand new adaptation – Homer’s epic in its original form is not an easy read. While this might be a major reason for being wary of the play, have no fear! The script has been adapted by playwright T.M. Camp into a hilarious and pleasing modern masterpiece.
So despite what you remember from high school English class, this play is actually about love, murder, sex, revenge and redemption. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!
Ahem.
You gotta love a preview that’s got a Your Mom joke in it.
The director walks by and hands me a copy of the latest edition of the student newspaper, which has a yet another preview of the show.
It’s opening night. I have a writing workshop to give. I collapse onto a small, um, divan in the lobby and talk to Keeley and wish I were taking a nap.
I have a writing workshop to give in a half-hour. I assume that my subconscious mind is working on how to take the two or three things I know about writing and extend them into a meaningful hour or so of workshoppy things.
After a while I go and buy two cans of Mountain Dew and go in to get ready for class. This mainly consists of playing Tom Waits on my laptop and shotgunning the two cans of Mountain Dew while Keeley assures me it will all work out.
Then student start to come in, some of them I recognize from the morning class. And from lunch. My repertoire is suddenly very limited.
Bob, the Director, introduces me and then leaves me in charge of thirty-plus students (and a few faculty members).
I am John’s spastic colon.
We muddle our way through. I do a few exercises which, it becomes painfully apparent, they already know inside and out — at least most of them — and I read a few somethings from one of my own exercises which, even more painfully, sound flat and stale.
When all else fails, change the rules.
We split up into groups, writing together, one line back and forth.
A few minutes go by and it suddenly feels like there’s something happening. Keeley and I slide a pad of paper back and forth, the sheets dripping with my own fear and flop sweat.
Eventually I call time and a few groups read what they came up with. Some of it is very good and, yet again, I miss that Writer’s Group I used to meet with.
I end off by reading “The Face Game” and asking for a response.
Everyone confirms what I have know since college: You can hide a lot behind a good performance.
The truth is, I love reading my work out loud.
All in all, not too bad a way to spend an afternoon in Iowa.
Afterwards, I realize that I completely forgot to record the afternoon session, too.
Then it’s off to the hotel to primp and get ready for a department potluck followed by (!) Opening Night.