"You Have To Start At The Right Moment."

Sophia offered some scenes to improvise from Mia's story. A scene in which Mia's mother (played by Maria) comes in to tell her liberal father (David) about the good news (a revolution has started in Santiago) and then he hushes her because he doesn't want his wife (Sara) to hear (who is fiercely conservative). At first, Sara came out looking shocked and upset.

"She is not scared like my sister...We have to find how this actor could be scared in a beautiful way."

"Don't underline what the text says with your face."

Philippe then played some tango music and got Sara to come out and dance to the music, and speak in a happy mocking tone about how she's so happy the country is now going to be ruled by lazy people.

"It's possible for an actor to be happy to say horrible things."

"The show works if the actress playing the grandmother is fantastic."


At one point Philippe asked Sara to get into a nice dress, and it took her ages to find one, because the pile of costumes that have accumulated over the year have recently all been thrown out. I asked why the school chooses to throw them all out and Philippe said it's better for students to go to the market and buy a €3 coat. This way we see their taste. Their choice. Them. And also, Philippe would see the same damn clothes for 10 years if they didn't chuck them away.

~


I got up and presented my writing so far for the opening scene of Steph: The Musical (100% Pure Steph). It starts with Steph at the airport in Canada saying goodbye to her mother before going to New Zealand. And then it turns into an epic fun rock'n'roll song all about Steph breaking free and finding herself in New Zealand. I read and sang all the parts myself, giving a bit of context here and there. It was really good to test. The audience were bursting with laughter. I didn't expect that! And the little scenes I'd written in between choruses worked well too. But when I got to my last chorus where Steph sings "Goodbye New Zealand" Philippe stopped me and said she can't go home yet. "We need a story in New Zealand. A big story." He said we need to see her grow up, and suggested that I do this through a love story. "With one person, we see her grow up." What I wrote gave the feeling of being free in New Zealand, and the text talks about how she's free, but we want to see her free. We want to see her grow up. To change. So I'm going to go back and write that in.

I got some feedback from Andre and Tim too. They said we can stay in the 'in between chorus scenes' for longer. We can have big scenes there. And the music can be slightly different to reflect the mood of each little story. The NZ trip can be much bigger than I'm currently making it in my story. It can be one whole act. So I'm thinking of telling the story in three acts now. Act 1 = NZ / Act 2 = Father / Act 3 = Mother.

Afterwards Philippe asked me if have any siblings to which I answered yes - one younger sister called Gina. I asked why he asked and he said that he'd been talking to a friend discussing whether the oldest child in a family was always serious and boring. I said yes - my sister is more fun and wild then I am...I'm the 'responsible' one. But Philippe said I'm a lot of fun. And that felt good. I am a lot fun. I've really felt the fun in me (and the ability to share it - to sell it) grow over the past 9 months. And I share my fun well in writing. In making. And I enjoy it! This is what I want to do in my life. Write! Make! Perform! Sell my fun.


~

"I don't have to know the past to understand what happens." Audiences are smart. You don't have to explain everything.

"You have to start at the right moment." Where the story starts (and how it starts) is a really important delicate thing.

"It's good to know how people understand your writing." When you pass your work on to a director you can see it another way. A potential pitfall of directing your own writing perhaps.

Philippe doesn't like flashbacks. They're "low...vulgar...easy...a trick." He also hates blackouts. "After a ten minute scene then black - I go 'boom'" ('boom' = sleep).

~

"To change the scene is the job of the writer." i.e. To get from one scene to another. The job of the director is to see how each scene goes beside each other.

"The writer - he doesn't say maybe. The writer - he writes."

~

Akron got up and shared a story from his childhood about his pet dog 'Blizzard' and the dramas that arose with his neighbours at the time. The story was very personal to Akron - he was quite emotional in telling it - and very extreme. It was sad, horrifying, and hilarious. He told the story very very well too. Lot's of details, and with time for us to dream.

 It would make a great film in the vain of Polanski, Lars von Trier, and the Coen Bros. 

So good that I might have a go at writing it as well as my other projects...