Wednesday, March 5, 2008

First meeting with dramaturg

I had my first proper meeting with my dramaturg today. Peter Matheson is lovely. Surprising really as the first time I met him - at the awards announcement, when I was on a high and being congratulated by all and sundry - he came up to me, introduced himself, and said 'You've got a lot of work to do'. And that was it. He turned around and vanished back into the crowd! Hardly a reassuring start. But the gruffness must have been all bluster.

So ... today. My head is exploding with ideas. That's the way I think it should be after you've spent time with a dramaturg. He wants me to extend the fairy tale imagery and beef up the symbols. Stop running away from them.

Right now I have a wet man crawling from a pool of water, half drowned, and the letters. Piles of letters. Flying letters. And, of course, the axe. There's a house falling down as a boy learns to stand. And he wants me to find some more symbols for Martha (the mother in this story).

He's given me the challenge of writing two new scenes tomorrow. I can't wait. But first there's 'puberty night' at school. Yup, I have a child in Grade 6 and kids and parents are invited to attend puberty night together at the school. I imagine there'll be a lot of snickering and blushing. And that's just the parents!

Tomorrow (Friday) is my first Friday off. I've gone from a full-time position to four-days a week, so that I can have a dedicated writing day and get this play through it's next three drafts. I can't wait to start. I just have to make sure that the laundry and washing up don't lure me away from my laptop.

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