The request came from my worship leader in December to write a scene that would be interwoven in with a song. Come January we talk details and I write a 10 minute scene about waiting for God's answer. There is an actors workshop at church that Sunday so I bring in the script (with two characters) for a reading. I was open to anyone doing the scene...ugh!...big mistake. The characters are edgy, and one of the actors who read is sweet-natured (in personailty and voice) so the whole piece comes across poorly. My bad (twice). I should have had a re-read but didn't because I thought it was my ego stepping ahead of me and I thought, "Maybe it's not as good as I thought." Looking back, it wasn't the script (at least not fully) to blame. Casting the right people to act out a scene is important. Anyway, criticism galore that afternoon. And not constructive criticism, it was "jump on the bandwagon" criticism, where everyone agrees with everyone else but aren't giving specifics. OK, so, what needs to be worked on? I'm deflated.
I can't figure out how to recontsruct the scene to fit some of the broad suggestions that were voiced. So I call my worship leader and leave a message saying it might be better if I skipped this one. I wasn't feeling inspired in anyway. She calls me back and tells me that she feels terrible about that Sunday afternoon and felt that there should have been a re-read too. We were on the same page about it all. However, she was focused and had the wonderful and insightful suggestion of cutting it down to one character and focusing the performance piece on that. Light bulb! I agreed with her. I'm soon back on the computer typing my little fingers away. It works. I send her the scene and she green-lights it for the scheduled Sunday.
I had an actress in mind to play the part and to my delight everyone else was on the same page. We contact Amber and she happily accepts.
Amber and I meet for a rehearsal to talk about the material. She is receptive to my ideas on how I feel the monologue and the character should be played out. She's one of those actors that a director loves working with. She goes with the flow. I love that because occasionally I've gotten a doozy of an actor (in the past) who doesn't want to listen and goes down their own path, and my name is on a performance in which the essence and the message didn't come across the way it should. It's about team spirit, people!
(Actors, listen to the writer and director. It's OK to add your special touch, but only within the boundaries of what the producing team wants. It is in your acting that you will shine. So, don't change words or blocking to suit you. Any intentions should be in your acting.)
Anyway, Amber is working hard and wants to make all of this work. Yay, Amber! She's nervous but is a brave spirit.
I turn the final rehearsal over to my friend, Valorie, who is a wonderful character actress herself and works alot in Hollywood. You've probably seen her face on the screen at one time or another. She and Amber work it out. Val leaves a message about the tweaks and changes she's made due to time and energy. I'm happy that she keeps me up-to-date.
Sunday (in February) comes and the monologue is performed. Amber did a phenomenal job. She was covered in prayer, and she channeled the nervous energy that was overwhelming her into the character. Heavynn (a singer) sang and interwove a passionate song about waiting for God's answer that she and Blake (musician and our sound guy) had written. Pure delight. I love the way God allows us to be creative in this whole process called life.
Afterwards, people came up to me with kind remarks. I just received an email from my pastor about how lives had been touched in our congregation.
Thank you, God, for another opportunity in pouring my passion for writing into a project that I hope glorifies your Name. And, thank you for good people!
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