Category: Living my Life

This week it was my turn to teach the Sunday School class I attend.  We have been studying the wisdom literature this quarter and the reading for the day was Ecclesiastes 12:1-7.  Not exactly uplifting scripture for someone facing another birthday in a few days.

This section begins with the familiar, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth…”  Most of us have heard that read. Usually the speaker pauses at that point to admonish teenagers to get serious about their spiritual lives.

Speakers stop there because the rest of the passage is a downer. “…before the days of trouble come … when you say ‘I have no pleasure in them.’  … (when) strong men are bent … when one is afraid of heights and terrors in the road … the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails…”  And on and on.  The writer of Ecclesiastes (Solomon maybe) did not view old age as the golden  years.

This literature (Adult Bible Studies, Cokesbury, The United Methodist Publishing House) is written for all adult classes past college and one of the questions suggested for discussion was, “How do you view old age?” I had to answer for myself and the other women in the room, “Up close.”

My advice to myself  — and to anyone else who has reached their biblical allotment of three score and ten — is to take the counsel the curmudgeonly writer of Ecclesiastes gives to the young and use it for  yourself.

To paraphrase from chapter 11:9-10, “Rejoice, senior, that you have attained the age of wisdom, and let your heart cheer you in these days of reflection. Follow the inclination of your heart, pursue those ambitions put on the back burner. Banish anxiety from your minds; don’t worry about being old. Youth is rather over-rated anyway.”

A play is not complete until it’s been performed on stage. It takes actors, director, sets and props to make the script come to life. Having the opportunity to watch this process (with my very own play!) was an amazing experience.

The play, R.I.P. Emma Lou Briggs, is about Emma Lou Briggs’ three daughters who come together the day after their mother’s funeral to decide what to do with her things.  They have different ideas about what needs to happen and the results are family dynamics that often come to the fore at such times.

Our director, Lana Hallmark, chose the cast carefully, finding three women who not only looked like they could be sisters, but also had some ‘sister-like’ chemistry. Diane, full of sentiment about her mother’s belongings was played by Carolyn McNamee. Shelly White played Karen, the socialite in a hurry to get things taken care of and Suzanne Guyman was cast as JoEllen, the youngest sister whose biggest concern is that everyone should agree … and be agreeable.  They were ably supported by Madison Kuebler as Nikki, Diane’s daughter and J.R. Thomas as Hal, Karen’s husband.

The cast gathered early in June for the initial read-through.  Then they talked about the plot, often in the light of their own similar experiences.  This happened more than once either before or following a rehearsal as they explored their characters and how they might feel and react.

I had written Hal, the brother-in-law,  as a rather bland person, I think. I needed an antagonist that wasn’t a sister and I put him in to heckle a little. It was fun to watch Lana, the director, and J.R., the actor, define Hal’s character.

As sets took shape and we began to gather props, Lana decided the sets and props should be only those necessary (or mentioned) in the dialog. I had described Emma Lou’s living room as a house where someone had lived alone for several years: too much furniture, knick-knacks everywhere, full bookcases, old hi-fi, etc.  Lana felt the setting should be simple because the play was character-driven. I didn’t argue a bit, complimented that she saw my characters as strong enough to carry the show.

This was just one instance of the script being better than I imagined when I wrote it, due to the director and actors.  The ‘nurturing nudges’ to help the cast get inside the characters came from excellent direction. Then the actors just went onstage and became Emma Lou Briggs’ family.

I watched every single performance, hardly believing what I saw.  It was awesome

I’ve been away from the blog for a few weeks while attending to an exciting time in my life. For the past two weekends my play, RIP Emma Lou Briggs has been presented onstage at the Performing Arts Center on the Square in Searcy, Arkansas. This was an amazing event for me and the biggest thing that has ever happened to me as a writer.

Each summer the Center hosts a Dessert Theater featuring a smaller work than during the regular Dinner Theater season – a musical revue, magic show or, in this case, a one-act play. When the discussion of a summer show began several months ago, I offered my play for consideration. Rather timidly, I’ll admit. The play had won a first place at the Arkansas Writers Conference, but I had no idea what it would look like on stage.

The theater directors seemed pleased and eager to showcase the work of a local writer, but since it was only one act, it needed a companion piece. I was asked if I would like to read from my books. (My response was something like, “Are you kidding?”) A studio reading was suggested and then an interview/ Q&A time.  And so the program took shape: Presentation of the play RIP, Emma Lou Briggs, followed by a dessert buffet, followed by reading from my novel, The Last to Know. Then four teen actors gave a studio reading of a chapter from the latest novel To Find a Home. The evening ended with an author’s  interview and questions from the audience.

Cool, huh? Such an honor to be spotlighted and have my work heard and appreciated.  I am still pretty gushy about it all – hardly finding words to describe the experience. So I’ll leave it at this for now. Next time, I’ll tell you more about the process of seeing my words on paper become a play.