On Friday, The Gift Theatre held its 25th Anniversary Gala at the gorgeous Copernicus Center on N. Milwaukee here in Chicago. I joined two other writers, playwright Jennifer Ramberger and multi-genre author Maggie Andersen to write impromptu 5 Minute Postcard Plays to raise funds for the coming season.
We had a blast, and the people who ordered postcards got to witness the messiness and playfulness of making art on demand. I’m not sure they got their $25 dollars worth, but hey, it went to a great cause.
SOME OBSERVATIONS
1) If you’re feeling too precious about your work, give yourself five to 10 minutes, and a 4 X 5 piece of paper. Ask a friend to give you a setting, a name, and an object. Then without overthinking it, sketch a micro-play, a story, or a poem. Add a doodle or a drawing to really loosen things up.
2) Small spaces force you to compress.
3) Small spaces back you into corners you have to resolve quickly.
4) Making art for a happy occasion + keeping it short and quick can lead to funny, absurd scenarios.
5) People love to use animals as objects. Some of the prompts: 1) A ski lodge, Axel Stoner, and a panda. 2) Magic show, Frank, rabbit. Animals invite play.
6) I have a new appreciation for comedians. Jokes are hard. One, two, turn is a natural rhythm, but it’s incredibly difficult to stick a landing.
7) These tiny plays exposed a problem I’ve been working on in my screenwriting. I lean too heavily on dialogue, asking language to do work that belongs to action—or silence. (Thank you, playwrights.)
8) Collaboration invites new energy and ideas. I have spent long years and hours working alone, protecting myself from distraction. While this is often necessary, some of the most meaningful growth I’ve made has been alongside other artists.
On Friday I watched Jennifer and Maggie approach their plays in different ways. Jennifer Ramberger wrote like a happy machine, unworried about how her pieces turned out. She told me this was because of endless table reads as a playwright and constant iteration. And Maggie Andersen managed to sit down after a full week of teaching and knock out several plays… even channeling her thoughts on the state of higher education for one. (Check out Maggie’s new memoir, No Stars in Jefferson Park, inspired in part by her experiences with the founding of The Gift Theatre.)
When the commissions suddenly multiplied and we were all working together in a frenzy, I was forced to write faster—and more freely—than I do alone.
I snapped a photo of the postcard I commissioned from J.R. and two very cheesy ones I wrote (see below). My pen was moving too fast to get an image of one of Maggie’s or any of the many others we wrote.
8) Note to self: Imperfect and fast making + sharing helps to keep the work flowing. Perfection and the fear of looking ridiculous is a killer.
This experience left me wanting to find more opportunities to make art on the fly in the company of other artists—though it may be a while before I try stand-up.
5 Min. Postcard Play, Side 1: “Four’s a Crowd” (R. Swearingen)
5 Min. Postcard Play, Side 2: “Four’s a Crowd” (R. Swearingen)
5 Min. Postcard Play, Side 1: “Massage Parlor” ( J. Rumberger)
5 Min. PostCard Play, Side 2: “Massage Parlor” (J. Rumberger)
5 Min. Postcard Play, Side 1: “Frank from Texas” (R. Swearingen)
5 Min. Postcard Play, Side 2: “Frank from Texas” (R. Swearingen)