Miller says: ” I gravitate toward people who are aspiring even wrongly to some spiritual engagement and are being held down to the earth by the situation or by part of their nature.”

My main character, Harry, finds a kind of transcendent experience in his music that he has never found in any other aspect of his life, and those fleeting moments where he is one with his music are becoming further and further apart and harder to achieve. His relationship to his music has preventing him from having any other relationships and he is terribly alone now with fewer and fewer options. Yet, he is more stubbornly committed than ever to reigniting his fading career while at the same time, closed to the possibility that his future is not rooted in his past. Ironically, meeting his daughter presents him with the opportunity to go forward with music by not going backward. Yet, to do so, he has to change–something he’s scoffed at and resisted for 40 years.

“There are two ways a central character’s dominant need is frustrated or thwarted, thereby creating the play’s conflict/dilemma. First, the character is often his or her own worst enemy, and is, in a very real sense, at war with himself. He chases after the wrong things; he thingks he has all the answers; his pride blinds him to the truth; his ambition leads him into troubles; his inferiority complex leaves him helpless, and so on. The second way to set up obstacles is through introducing other characters who, in one way or another, block your central character from fulfilling his need” (p. 25).

My central character is a gifted  guitar player who peaked in 1969–the summer of love. He’s egocentric, charming, lacking in some social graces while having a cultivated taste for the finer things. He is very opinionated about music, his and others and finds it difficult to be in any band unless he’s totally in charge both musically and artistically. He chases rainbows and doesn’t make practical decisions about how he must make a living. Instead, he seeks out those who might have enough money to send him on the never materializing “European Tour.” He’s stuck playing at retro tie dye events–forever looking backward at the halcyon days when he and his band were on top. Doing anything other than his music is selling out–and he refuses to do so–nearly becoming homeless in the process.

Clearly I’m not as disciplined as Julie Powell or my job is simply swallowing me up these past few days. I’ve got Michael Wright’s book Playwriting in Process, and I’m working on his exercises or “etudes.” The first one I did was very helpful in showing me how dialogue can say much more than just the words on the paper. My 6-line improv was of an older couple playing chess in a contemporary home, filled with artwork and eclectic furnishings:

***

She makes a final decisive move and seems satisfied that she has won–yet again.

He: (tired and not at all angry) I hate this game. (Beat) I don’t know why I let you talk me into playing again.
…
She: (good-naturedly) Of course, you hate it, you always lose. But, it’s good for the memory… like visits…from Harry (she trails off).

He: I promise he won’t stay very long this time (Beat) (She rolls her eyes) Really… he sounded so desperate when he called–his apartment flooded, his sister’s traveling, his brother won’t take his calls. He’s got just enough gas in the trashmobile to get over here. He’s storing his guitar collection in the car–if you can imagine! At least he doesn’t have a dog.

She: If I know Harry, he’ll show up with a bottle of…

He: (interrupting her and laughing) a lovely bottle of Sticks Yarra Valley Pinot Noir..

She: And a new tin of Earl Grey tea.( She shakes her head.) Don’t forget to tell him I’m fatally allergic to his favorite incense. I sneezed for two weeks after he left the last time.

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Tonight my inspiration for studying Arthur Miller is on TV. The main character is more disciplined than I am. Buckle down.

I completed my first 6 line exercise today!

While traveling to New York and Adrian, Michigan, it occured to me that I could create a three-dimensional model of the process of writing a play. Besides this blog, I could shoot photographs that would serve as a storyboard for the scenes in the play. I just have to figure out the perfect platform that would house the script draft, the photos and a link to the music and this blog, too.

Happened to sit at the same table as Kerry Graves who teaches play writing at Siena. She brought two books for me !