It started, as
things often do these days, on Twitter.
A friend of mine
tweeted a half-joking wish list of what, in an ideal world, some enterprising
playwright might include in a play written for her. Remembering that, in addition to being her
friend, I was an enterprising playwright myself, I tweeted back to her, asking
what this hypothetical opus should contain.
We brainstormed, had a merry laugh, and then went on our digital way.
Except the more I
thought about the exchange, the more I realized that the idea we’d concocted
would actually make a good play.
Possibly even – excuse my hubris – a great one. I was otherwise occupied at the time, however
– preparing what would become my Fringe show, Dragon’s Breath – but I kept
thinking about the play, its ideas and characters and plot points. I would do what research I could in between
other projects, trying to keep the inspiration alive as life events conspired
to distract me. And because this all
originated in a Twitter conversation, I recently did an advanced search to look
at the original conversation, and remind myself when the inception of this idea
had taken place.
September 6,
2013. Two and a half years ago.
Ideas are organic
things; they are born, they grow, they can age and wither, and if not properly
cared for, they can die. So even though
there’s still more research and planning to do – and this particular play is
sufficiently complex that I could do preparatory research for a decade or more
– I realized that I could leave the idea untended no longer. Especially since the play in question is
meant for somebody else, who has their own life to lead quite apart from my own
dithering.
Page one of the
rough draft was written last night. Two
and a half years to the day after the idea for it first came to me.
With any luck, it
won’t take that long to get to the last page.
I’ll be sure to let you know.
(Sorry to be so
vague as to what the idea for this play actually is, but I need to keep
something secret for subsequent blog posts.
Not to mention for, y’know, the play itself.)