Monday, June 22, 2009

Whatever Lola Wants

Last night, my one-act play, Don't Play Games With Me, opened as part of the San Diego New Perspectives Festival.

We were up first, followed by seven other playlets, some comic, some serious in nature:

Program Three: Sunday, June 21 at 7pm and Friday, June 26 at 8pm
DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME by Matt Thompson; directed by Hannah Ryan
THE EARNEST IMPORTANCE OF BEING by Gary Seger; directed by Josh Hyatt
TEACHER TEACHER by Paola Hornbuckle; directed by David Paye
THE FLING THING by Peter Mitsopoulos; directed by Miriam Cuperman
INTERMISSION
CUE TO EXIT by Michael Thomas Tower; directed by Michael Thomas Tower
LOVE UNREQUITED: EVENING (EUROPEAN GALLERY) by Kevin Six; directed by Christopher Renda
FINE CAN BE FINE by Lizzie Silverman; directed by Kevin Six
HE'S NOT HIM by Craig Abernethy; directed by Walter Cameron

In a funny coincidence, the director of He's Not Him, Walter Cameron, is a friend of ours--he's appeared in several of our 48 Hours short films. We hadn't seen him in a while, so it was cool that we ended up in the same program and could see each other's work.

It was a wonderful night, because not only did we get to perform to an almost-full house in a great little theater in my old neighborhood, but we got to dash around and become part of the audience for the rest of the show. I was especially engaged by Cue to Exit, which is a conversation between two men who have spent many years in the theater together, on the occasion of the younger one having to fire the older one as director of a hinterlands production that has gone awry.

Afterward, we went out for Mexican food at a little neighborhood place I used to frequent, with Eva, Lisa and Calvin. Eva and I are on our third show in a row together, but Lisa and Calvin showed up out of the goodness of their hearts, just to be supportive theater friends, and that was awesome. It was fun to do the play-by-play of the evening's offerings over hot, greasy, cheesy goodness--we were all starving by then, having missed the dinner hour by a lot.

Readers, I may never make peace entirely with my paltry role this time around, but the reception from last night's audience went a long way towards shoring up my fragile ego. I don't have many lines in this show, but no one can say I phoned it in for even one second--I was gesturing and ad-libbing up a storm. For much of the piece, I'm supposed to be listening intently to another cast member tell the story of her "naughty" evening playing Monopoly with a man other than her husband (we're all addicted to board games in this scenario) and I just went for it, practically doing a Meg Ryan in my chair. It was fun, and I think there were a bunch of laughs--I know for sure there were some. At our usual theater, the acoustics are such that it's really hard to tell if anyone is laughing unless they are ROARING, and that's not to case here. So I was getting super-buzzed off their reactions, which is what actors do. There is no high in the world like the one you have when you've just taken your curtain call--I defy anyone to find a drug that makes you feel better. And that feedback goes a long way toward turning my frowns upside down. Dare I say I'm looking forward to Friday?

Two more shows, for anyone who is local: this Friday, June 26 at Swedenborg Hall, and next Friday, July 3, at Point Loma Assembly. Both shows at 8:00 p.m.

6 comments:

Stephanie said...

sounds like you had a GREAT night!
I am really impressed! I would NEVER have the guts to get on stage! Little Johnny Applesee was the last play I was in, in the 5th grade! :)

Myrnie said...

Sounds fabulous- I am in awe of your talents and moxy! :)

erin said...

Oh, I would totally love to see it, but being on the other side of the country and whatnot makes it nearly impossible! ;)

Jen said...

Ah, wish I could be there to see you shine!

Miss J

Anonymous said...

Wish I could be there! xx Lix

Mary said...

Looking forward to seeing it!!!!

What restaurant? We used to go to one over there, when we lived there!

oxoxoxo

Mary