I’m writing a play. It’s called Bolloxed and will–knock on wood, spin three times and throw the salt over your shoulder–premiere at the 2006 Victoria Fringe Festival , to be followed by a run at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. The folks at Theatre Tart will produce the show.
There is, of course, a weblog about writing and producing the play. It’s at www.thisplayisbolloxed.com. Here’s my spiel about it:
Jack is a Canadian software engineer living in Dublin, Ireland. One day, while jogging around Merrion Square, two odd things happen simultaneously–he feels a sharp pain in his testicles, and he spots Aoife (pronounced ‘ee-fah’) talking to a very peculiar person. Aoife’s Irish, and works near Merrion Square.
The play tells two stories. One is concerned with how Jack and Aoife meet and what happens afterwards. The other is about Jack’s balls, and what’s wrong with them.
And yes, this project makes me quite nervous:
I’m afraid my play won’t be funny or entertaining or insightful orcompelling or touching or any of the things that good plays are. I’malso afraid (don’t tell Theatre Tart) that it won’t get done, at leastnot to anywhere near my satisfaction.
Non-fiction writinghas always come naturally to me. Good or bad, it flows out of me likeyesterday’s taco. Writing drama, however, is hard work. I struggle withpretty much every sentence. I’m not trying to sound heroic–I’m justexplaining why I sound cowardly.
The Victoria Fringe is (I believe) in late August, followed immediately by the Vancouver Fringe. I’ll post important announcements here, but most of the action will be over at the play blog.
I’m lobbying the producers to get me some free tickets for local bloggers to come see the show. More on that as it materializes. In the meantime, if you’re inclined to send some linkage my way, I wouldn’t turn it down.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
I would love to come see your play.
count me in! i saw over 50 plays in London when I lived there! raring to see and blog yours (can I videoblog and podcast too?)
Roland: Cool, and good question. I’ll see if I can get permission from the actors, director and producers.
“Jack is a Canadian software engineer living in Dublin, Ireland.”
Semi-autobiographical?
I’d go to see it as well, but the taxi fare back to Dublin after the show would be a killer. Maybe when you bring it on tour… 🙂 Break a leg.
Count me in too.
Are there going to be autographed copies of the play available for purchase? Serious question, since I might make it a habit to have the text version of plays I attend.
Another question: if we wanted to videotape or record or take photos of plays, is it customary to ask the director and players as well as the copyright-holder of a play? Just curious, since I assume Darren, you’re the copyright-holder. It felt like I had to be sneaky in taking a photo of the Waiting for Godot set, since in the program it said I wasn’t allowed, and it would be refreshing to allow attendees to quietly and unobtrusively (i.e. camera with either no flash or flash only at the very beginning) document your play.
Richard: I can only speak to common practice, not the law on the subject. Photos and video are generally forbidden from the theatres, excepting a photo shoot and media session.
In the case of video, I would imagine that it’s rebroadcast where you get into copyright concerns. Also, the actors and directors are only getting paid for the x instances of the performance in one medium). If the video is for private use, it’s usually just courtesy to let the actors and director know. The actors may notice the camera in the audience, and get thrown off.
Of course, the most important step is to secure the permission of the stage manager, who runs the show once rehearsals are finished. She (it’s more often a she, in my experience) has the final word on this sort of thing.
If you like, I can provide you with an autographed script. Heck, I may Creative Commons the thing after the Fringe–I hadn’t thought about it.
I tried to comment on your play weblog, but I couldn’t.
Will and I would like to see your play, and we’d probably invite some friends along. As you say on the play website, even a few more people makes a difference for a Fringe show. Why not tap into your blogosphere fame?
Anyway, good for you for taking the plunge!
Thanks for that, and the tip on the comments. I believe I’ve fixed that problem, if you want to have another go.
Take it on the road — I’d rustle up the troops to fill the house in Saskatoon!
(Congrats on the playwrighting. I’ll be cheering you on from out East.)
Wow, that’s great. Your next play should be about blogging.
Darren: Can you post the script as your next blog entry?
Bobby: Er, that’d make for one long entry. Plus, I’m not certain I want to issue it forth into the public domain quite yet.