$old!er by Joshua Aaron Weinstein
a new play is evolving. from the depths of Arkansas to the winds of Chicago. the play is called $old!er. you may think, hmmm...what a shitty title?!? well, when the play is read to be consumed by audiences and you come to check it out, you will remember your remark and return, what a great title!?! actually, the title may change, but the fact remains that we read this play last night and it was a resounding success. funny, poignant and exhilirating.
i began this play while working at the student union at the U of A. It was an assistantship paying for my MFA. I was Marketing Coordinator! my boss came in one day with a poster he wanted me to duplicate. another exciting task. the poster was a remake of the new Star Wars posters, but instead of the fictional characters, the Bush Administration heads were shewn. my boss was indeed thrilled by the presidential elections and our new war in Iraqi. I was attending the U of A when the US of A was attacked. proceeding the attack, we of course, went ballistic.
So, I started writing this play where a slew of new recruiting were signing up for the Army. it was war time, we needed fresh blood. the final recruit to come into the office was a 12 year old girl. the recruiting officer mistook the girl for a boy and believed her when she said she was seventeen. still young, but we need good men. she was also coming to the office after playing a video game, a violent war game. after she had beaten the game, a message appeared on the screen telling her to sign up.
i revised this play some while in Arkansas and presented it as a 10 minute play in a new play festival I produced down there. it was funny, but needed more. I went to work...
passing the script around to friends, they all came back with one thing to say, "this play needs to be done soon." it is timely, my friends were saying. I continued to work on it. no one ever came back with, "this is solid." idea and timeliness are one thing. a good play is another. so, I continued to work. I remembered one day that while producing my first full length at the U of A, I had been given some advice from a fellow playwright that the kid in my play, a young hellion, was the most interesting. he plays a video game in his father's presence and his father encourages very irrational behavior while displaying his own towards the NCAA tournament. my fellow says to me, "you should write a play about that kid. about the effect of violent video games on our youth." well, well, well... it seemed that this little soldier play I was working on fit that bill... I continued work...
LiveWire Chicago Theatre, the theatre company where I currently reside was looking for a new play to produced for their next season. Well, I say, "i've got a play." (I actually have a lot of plays.) this one in particular needs to be done. let's read it and see what we think. I set up the read, assembled actor friends and invited designers, etc. before the read, I said, why don't I give it a once over, I have worked on it a bunch, but it probably needs a bit of tweaking. well, tweaking became a grand revision. a new evolution. sharper and more pointed. deadly funny and serious at the same time. we recruit these individuals and send them off to the desert to fight a war so that we may colonize, claim new territory. we, the people, know what is so ridiculous about our situation, but are motionless to do anything about it. it's a season of change, my friends. come check the play out, then do something...anything. and if you don't think there is anything for you to do, ask a playwright. he or she will tell you.
peace. at all costs.
i began this play while working at the student union at the U of A. It was an assistantship paying for my MFA. I was Marketing Coordinator! my boss came in one day with a poster he wanted me to duplicate. another exciting task. the poster was a remake of the new Star Wars posters, but instead of the fictional characters, the Bush Administration heads were shewn. my boss was indeed thrilled by the presidential elections and our new war in Iraqi. I was attending the U of A when the US of A was attacked. proceeding the attack, we of course, went ballistic.
So, I started writing this play where a slew of new recruiting were signing up for the Army. it was war time, we needed fresh blood. the final recruit to come into the office was a 12 year old girl. the recruiting officer mistook the girl for a boy and believed her when she said she was seventeen. still young, but we need good men. she was also coming to the office after playing a video game, a violent war game. after she had beaten the game, a message appeared on the screen telling her to sign up.
i revised this play some while in Arkansas and presented it as a 10 minute play in a new play festival I produced down there. it was funny, but needed more. I went to work...
passing the script around to friends, they all came back with one thing to say, "this play needs to be done soon." it is timely, my friends were saying. I continued to work on it. no one ever came back with, "this is solid." idea and timeliness are one thing. a good play is another. so, I continued to work. I remembered one day that while producing my first full length at the U of A, I had been given some advice from a fellow playwright that the kid in my play, a young hellion, was the most interesting. he plays a video game in his father's presence and his father encourages very irrational behavior while displaying his own towards the NCAA tournament. my fellow says to me, "you should write a play about that kid. about the effect of violent video games on our youth." well, well, well... it seemed that this little soldier play I was working on fit that bill... I continued work...
LiveWire Chicago Theatre, the theatre company where I currently reside was looking for a new play to produced for their next season. Well, I say, "i've got a play." (I actually have a lot of plays.) this one in particular needs to be done. let's read it and see what we think. I set up the read, assembled actor friends and invited designers, etc. before the read, I said, why don't I give it a once over, I have worked on it a bunch, but it probably needs a bit of tweaking. well, tweaking became a grand revision. a new evolution. sharper and more pointed. deadly funny and serious at the same time. we recruit these individuals and send them off to the desert to fight a war so that we may colonize, claim new territory. we, the people, know what is so ridiculous about our situation, but are motionless to do anything about it. it's a season of change, my friends. come check the play out, then do something...anything. and if you don't think there is anything for you to do, ask a playwright. he or she will tell you.
peace. at all costs.
posted by Joshua Aaron Weinstein at 1:44 PM
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