Workshop

From time to time I may do workshops of a new script. This space will contain information  about the project for those who wish to participate in it. There will also be a briefer background about myself and my works than is contained elsewhere in this blog.

FIddelity Workshop Scheduled

(Sept. 15, 2020) The call for participants for this workshop has been successful. The Workshop is now scheduled for three sessions to work on a number of options for incorporating the Voices scripts into the body of the existing play. 

(Background) Planned Workshop (Late September, or October 2020):

(Sept. 5, 2020) The play "Fiddelity" was written by me as an approximately one hour monologue. It is about a fiddle and the multiple generations of a family touched by it. I was ready to produce it this past spring before the Covid-19 restrictions were in place. When that seemed implausible for the foreseeable future, I decided to do an audio version of the play - a podcast. That was relatively successful. And to make it more interesting, I added some other voices speaking lines of other characters that the actor in a monologue otherwise would have quoted. Some say that worked. Some say it would have been better without introducing other voices. Part of the problem was the inadequacy of my primitive recording capability.

This past summer (2020) I continued to work on the script for production. Normally I produce one of the monologues I have worked on for a gathering of people near where our rustic summer cabin is situated before I produce in theatres or other public spaces. However, all venues there remained closed.

However, through the summer and into the fall, I was hearing the voices of some of the characters inside my head. Some nights I was woken by them. They were crying to be heard. 

Thinking the play complete, I was hesitant to tinker with it. And, of course, it is much easier for me to produce a monologue than a multi-character play. I do this to raise money for different causes. I do not get paid. The expenses are often my own. But it is something I love doing.

However, these voices were persistent and I sat at the computer to let my fingers listen to them. The result is what I am hoping volunteer actors can assist me with: 

1. Do I incorporate it into the main body of the work? 
2. Does it become a second Act? 
3. Will it be a little of both? 
4. Should I incorporate it at all?

The actors I am looking for in this planned workshop do not have to be those I would cast if I were to produce the multi-actor version. 

If you are interested I am looking for two females and a male. The main character is Jake, played by me. This is his monologue. The other voices I am contemplating incorporating are those of his mother, his father and his sister. In one piece the sister is 29ish. In another she is 39ish. The mother is speaking when she is 75; the father when he is 65. That does not mean, for the purpose of this workshop, that you would have to be in the same age range as these characters.

These three characters are no Pollyannas. They are not for those who are easily offended. Their lives are not those of the Cleavers.

Familiarity with the main script is a prerequisite. (I can send the text to you by email or you can listen to the original podcast on you computer or other device: Fiddelity Podcast) You will not have to learn the lines. This will be a reading. But you should be very comfortable with the text by the time the workshops begin. Some stage experience is preferred but not absolutely necessary.

CONTACT: paul.rapsey@gmail.com