So often we talk about the DREAMS we have… the GOALS we want to achieve… SUCCESSES we want to realize… MANIFESTATION… PERSONAL LEGENDS… PERSERVERANCE… LUCK… FOLLOWING THROUGH…
December 25th, 2009 I dropped my daughter off at Port Authority and spent Christmas by myself… I went to one of my favorite writing places in all of New York City and wrote… I had been back from Cuba a few weeks so I wanted to write about that… completed the Artist Way… I spent time working on my novel… and the idea for my one woman show…
Then called: WE WERE BORN… THEY WERE BORN… SHE WAS BORN… the story was born… I started sketching each character… developing the idea around all of my travel throughout Latin America….
As inspiration I used a poem I wrote – Quien Eres Tu to decide who of ALL the womyn I have met in Latin America truly impacted my life. They were all special and significant but I knew I had to pick SEVEN stories…
I WAS BORN—was born on Christmas Day… In February of 2010 I had the first draft of my play WE WERE BORN… and shared it with an executive I know… he didn’t get past the first page… he thought it was terrible… made no sense… my ideas were all over the place (that’s kinda how I write… and I like it…) he said it wasn’t even a script… he offered very STRONG yet honest feedback… and I was back to the drawing board…
At first I thought it was shit… maybe I didn’t have what it takes… Every once in a while I added things here and there until April 2010. In April, my dear friend Seary invited me to a writing class she was taking… not just any class it was a playwriting class. My eyes opened WIDE… what’s that line in the alchemist: “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”
I could not believe it… she was sitting across from me (the alchemist herself) we were having dinner we hadn’t seen each other in months… and here she was inviting me to a playwriting class…it was a special event her class was having in May… I was so honored she thought of me (by the way she had NO idea I was even writing a play-I’m just sayin).
May 3, 2010 I met her at the event and I met the director of her program who invited me to the remaining weeks of class – I entered at the tail end of it.
Long ass beautiful story short… I attended the last like four classes and finished the script… or some version of it… at that point I meet my significant other… y’all know him… Mr. Rock WILK…. Who dared me… he dared me to finish it… to get it done. Rock encouraged me to simply attend to my work…
So I was in a race… I desperately wanted to get it to the point where I could be considered for the professor’s selection of workshop readings for that session…
And I did complete it… not only did I complete it but my play was selected for a theatre reading last July (thank you Meriam for being the first person to ever read my play).
So here I am… DRAFT 22 of I WAS BORN and still moving forward… heading for Broadway y’all…
Ask and you shall receive
Knock and the door will open
There are hundreds of quotes that mean the same thing…
Do the fucking work… and you will have all you desire… (yeah you can quote that)
I share that story to invite you writers who want to complete a play… to attend the FELT Theatre Lab… class is starting next week and BELIEVE ME its well worth it.
So I invite you… no I DARE YOU (Rock I love you)… to follow through… to truly take your life… your art seriously. I was invited by a dear friend to a playwriting class (thank you SEARY) and look at ALL I’ve achieved… I’m incredibly grateful to the Lab for being a space that supported and encouraged me.
Here are the details…
The Fantastic Latina Playwright's Lab will begin December 6, 2010 - 6:00 P.M.
The Fantastic Latina Playwright's Lab is a creative writing program based on script development skills with the objective of stimulating women’s participation in the playwriting industry. The writing sessions will be held on Mondays from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Open to all women between the ages of 18 and up. We are interested in serving as a channel for Latina and non Latina voices. Our lab classes will be taught by established playwright, Carmen Rivera and will include a class on the Feminist Discourse. This will be a -MASTER PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP -- Students will further develop ideas they are working on, with an emphasis on "re-writing." This class is for experienced writers, who have written at least one piece before. The Lab will take for eight weeks. This is an intensive workshop that will culminate in a Stage Readings of the best pieces mounted by professional directors and actors.
There is a non-refundable registration fee of $225.00. For more information and required registration: Contact: The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theaterat (212) 228-3705 or email us at thefelttheater@yahoo.com
And so it is~
