a week gone by

it could have been a year, but has only been a little over a week. the show has closed and last night I sat down with my notes, the prompt book and the feedback of our stellar actors/crew from post-mortem... it was a great revision session. i thought I would write whole new scenes, people had mentioned they wanted more... it is a one-act. what more could I give? it such a short play so much is revealed and so much is explored. I believe the length is perfect. tightening the story, the lines, the characters were key.

we evolved the script in such a short time... beginning back in October 2006. our first read-thru. the course of events unfolded over the next couple months and in February 2007 we presented a fine piece of art. "A/other Lover". beyond my wildest dreams. it could not have happened without everyone involved.

it's funny, though because I put down my script early on in rehearsals so that I could inhabit the role of director. a play I had written, but a show we must all put on. I remember giving notes on the script, small notes, towards the end. as I look back the notes were mute points. the actor's had a new play in their minds. new words to be exact. if I had them all, I would be a frustrated man.

I look forward to sending this play off, publishing dreams, maybe another company will pick it up and perform. that would be spectacular.

a play about plagiarism, I am registering "A/other Lover" under a collected work titled ALL YOU NEED (4 one-acts on love) with "txt luv", "Love on Planet Telex" and "The Bout".

i'm anxious to start a new project. SYAS is almost complete. LOCKE is being revised.

"what is next?" I say to the muse.

from the Director of Wrath of Khan

"As a writer, you have control of the words you put on the page. But once that manuscript leaves your hand, you give control to the reader. As a director, you are limited by everything: weather, budget, and egos." – Nicholas Meyer

Moments in Time

Sometimes, in my everyday life, I get flashes of genius. Moments. Slow motion synapse jumps. If you are not to write, then vanished. Poof, like magic. Like batman. Out of existence. Never to be seen by those who were never meant to hear it. This is one of those moments. Taken away from menial mind-play. This illusion of time. This waste. Sitting in front of these same misshapen pixels with these same veins and nerves, with the grand possibilities of either donating to this disaster relief or cause or the constantly forced notion of everybody wanting to enlarge their penis. Moments. Genius. Everyday. Forced to write in broken grammar in dire fear of losing this one. This great and monumental one. Every time the same. Days later scratching my head in wonder of what could have been. If I had written it down. If I had thought it through. If I had tried. If I had dared to dream. If I could encourage these happenings and deny the bad. The underdeveloped ones. The ones most wanting to be rescued and brought to shore. Here I find myself leading the string to that life boat. The way out. Like those who cannot trust themselves. I am one of those people.

Benjamin D. Bain
September 6, 2005

process

it has been one of evolution which is always my goal. i wrote the first draft of this play sometime in late winter/early spring while running the sound board at Writers' Theatre. after reading an article by Malcolm Gladwell titled "Something Borrowed" which reported on the accusation of plagiarism surrounding Byrony Lavery's play "Frozen". What struck me was the victim's work plagiarized was second to the characterization of her life that seemed to inhabit Lavery's play. I began penning a new drama that started with the line, "I stole a play."

since that first draft, I have been involved with multiple theatre and film projects, which do I like working on better has been the age old question. my current answer is both and neither at the same time. i prefer to think of each being a medium for art just as I consider myself a writer rather than a playwright or screenwriter. A/OTHER LOVER has become an ensemble piece of art.

The play surround the complications which arise when a man passes off his ex-girlfriends screenplay as his own and it becomes a successful film. Ian, the man, our "vilan" is being played by Christopher Dennis. Much in the mind this actor is and much for is mind did we give him. in his eyes we now see the stages of his journey unfold climaxing with thievery then spiraling to his ultimate demise. at the hand of Gina, the ex-girlfriend, our "heroin•", played by Deborah Proud, is a solution to her problem. She has been beaten down by this foolish affair and now must taken action against her oppressor. Deborah, like her character, has a hidden strength which blossoms more than unfolds and it is beautiful to watch her work. Her husband, Glenn Proud, playing Joe, Gina's husband, our "confedense" is like a rock on a roll. It has been a pleasure melding minds with him and using little to make one hell of a role. Joe is cleaning up the mess made by his wife. A murder and an affair. His love is unconditional and he waits to tell the truth until it hurts too much. Someone will listen. Cherry, our "witnes", Ian's current lover, played by Erin Barlow, will listen. She'll take it all in. She'll believe you. She'll believe in you. Erin Barlow has believed in me for quite a while now and I owe much of where I am today as a writer to her. Cherry has just as much passion behind her and her quest for fame will be unrelenting. Whoever's script this is, it is her film and it's gold...

A/OTHER LOVER has become an ensemble piece. Christopher Dennis, Deborah Proud, Glenn Proud and Erin Barlow has inhabited these roles, these characters and will deliver a message about our world to anyone who cares to see.

The talk of ensemble and art is incomplete without the names Rebekah Johnson, David Allen Stoughton, Aleks Zarnitsyn and Sebastian Aguirre. I asked Rebekah long ago if she would take on the role of Stage Manager for this show. After working with her on NIGHT OF INNOCENT GAMES, I knew she had what I needed to keep the show in tact. She agreed and I immediately asked the follow-up questions, will she also assume the role of Assistant Director. She accepted and a giant weight was lifted off my shoulder. As the writer/director, it is imperitive to have someone in a role that can let you know when your focus is on the words and not the stage. Rebekah has kept me on track throughout and I thank her. Dave and I got our MFAs from the University of Arkansas. During drunken whiskey grad school nights we always talked about theatre, but never got to work in a great capacity due to the blasted University system. the seeds of those talks are budding as we work together on shows like these where our collaboration takes center stage. our vision and the vision of those who see with us illuminate brighter than any of the fernels in the air. to talk of just this show and Dave would not do justice, but he does justice to this show above and beyond my wildest expectations. Aleks is a skeptic and brilliant sound composer. We have been working on music recordings for over a year now and without even knowing each other we've been able to create some amazing soundscapes. for A/OTHER LOVER, his "Types of Silence" have added a layer of intensity to the production and sets the mood with honest precision. if he wasn't so skeptical we would probably be lost somewhere listening to Coldplay and wondering why on earth any of us exist. And then there is Sebastian who has taken still images from this moving performance piece and made them dance across the city. If you haven't seen the images, visit our website. Sebastian inhabits the true attitude of artistry which is uninhibited, raw and rare.

A/OTHER LOVER has become an ensemble...

the only member missing is you. we have done this for you and hope you will attened. dates, times and more information are available online at www.livewirechicago.com.

#13

the body ready to shut down. in the minds of the actors these characters lie. low key. needs life. needs the performance space. to come alive.

we were down one and had a replacement reader. everyone worked well under the conditions, but bodies need to be warm and it's fucking cold outside. will probably leave today and come back on Monday ready for action.

it's gonna be one fuck of a show. be there.

www.livewirechicago.com

rehearsal#12

it is amazing what you can accomplish with mind and body even when one is out of commission. i've been ill these past few days, allergies, congestion, etc. still trucking away and last night we made some great headway with individual characters. i felt we were hitting one note and i believe theatre is about hitting more than one. the audience deserves more than one and these actors can play more than one. so, we've evolved now. it goes like. can't wait for tech week! there are windows lying on my floor waiting as well.

peace,
jaw

more info at www.livewirechicago.com