That Motherly Feeling

I got the most astonishing email Friday...a play of mine will be produced -- live and on stage for all to see!  I thought at first it was a hoax, but the name of one of my plays was there and as I read the email I did recall entering the contest.  Amazing.  My play Teething Pains is a winner in the Spectrum 2010 short plays contest and will be produced, along with the other seven winners, at each of six performances strung out over two weekends in October during the Spectrum 2010 Short Plays Festival.

On reading the initial email I found myself on the lovely pink cloud, feeling very odd indeed.  I probably floated about for two or three hours until housework and my cats brought me back to earth.  Funny how Life affects other aspects of life, isn't it?

Teething Pains is a one-act 15-minute farce about a man having a dental check-up and the bizarre world in which he finds himself: wacky patients, staff and dentist.  The play is filled with puns and is visually funny, as well.

All plays run from 10 to 20 minutes' performance length and if you're interested in attending, the info is given on my personal website. 

I feel as I expect a mother might feel on seeing her oldest child go off on her first day of school.  Yes, I've had books published and sent into the world, but this play thing is completely different.   A play is a living, breathing entity, strutting about on stage for people to see.  The response is immediate and shared in the intimacy of the theater.  I've put my soul, heart and mind on the stage, hoping people think the play is funny.  The audience response is very personal in such a small space and could wound me if my writing isn't viewed as I hope it will be.  (Maybe I should bring a box of Band Aids along when I go to the theater.)

Teething Pains was written as a class assignment when I took a play writing class at Webster University.  The play was read aloud in class, students taking the parts.  The teacher laughed aloud during the reading and said that he would love to see it performed.  Who knew he'd get the chance a decade later??!!

Well, that's it, I guess.  Who knew I'd be able to see the play on stage one day.  Maybe I'll dust off a few other plays I've written and see if some production company out there wants them.  I'd love to see if this is a fluke or not....