so. as kelly twittered earlier today, the week began with some staggering news. my play, population: 8, was accepted into the new york international fringe festival! i found out tuesday morning, and upon hearing so, spent the remainder of the day stupefied. i’m embarrassed to say that my knowledge on the fringe is relatively little, and so details as of now, can only be few. i do know that the festival itself occurs between august 14th-30th, and so i hope our SGP street team representing the manhattan and adjacent boroughs will mark those dates on their calendars. actual show times could be noons, could be midnights. i can also say that the fringe is a really remarkable platform on which i am floored to have the opportunity to showcase my work.
in february, just as our blog was a sprite newborn, i found myself in NYC for a staged reading of population: 8. i had spent the end of the 2008 submitting the play for varying opportunities of the like around the country, and this one, with the process group, was the first that i had received word on. and i was in the humbling company of some other new works by theater wunderkinds like david bar katz and liz duffy adams. the reading itself was a heavy happening that i still carry proudly with me in one or another compartments of my mind. it was the first time that i had heard the play read aloud, and as is the primary purpose of readings, i learned an immense deal about the piece. i also learned a thing or two about being stunned, stunned that the actors that had literally read the play once or twice were able to connect so quickly, thoroughly, and quite marvelously to this work that i had written, stunned that the process group’s producer jennifer makholm had wanted so much to take this little weirdo play and swaddle it so close to her heart, and stunned that the director marc stuart weitz too took on such a keen adoptive interest.
when producer and director asked me if i had any want in pursuing the fringe under their umbrella, i knew that there was only one response to be had. these two were reminiscent of another familiar two that were brightly becoming my friends and mentors, hilarie and kelly. people who, more important than anything else, understand and nurture what it is i want to say. until it happens, it is rare to recognize that that particular factor trumps all else.
briefly. population: 8 is a kind-of-curious, kind-of-lovely drama about the remaining eight residents that roam the land of a small town in north dakota. pepper, ugly, cree, man, ruth, mccoy, frankie, sylvie. you know how i feel about names. i welcome you to use your imagination with regard to their world. i certainly did.
so that’s the good news.
the bad news is that after we finish shooting the webisode on tuesday you might find me on hiatus for a while. this guy’s got some rewriting to do…
details as they come.
susan miller on astrologyzone.com has been promising me for at least three years that the stars have been aligning in my favor. i guess this year she wasn’t just joshin’.
yours.
n.gray
Southern Gothic Productions 