New workspace

Some of you may remember me talking about setting up a little additional workspace in my office, like getting a small table to put in the corner next to the door that would give me a little more surface area to work on than my somewhat crowded computer desk. I've been trawling Craigslist for the last couple weeks, and finally found something suitable in my price range that I could bring home. It's not set up to work at just yet, but here's how it looks right now:

It's made from what I would guess to be ash wood and measures about four feet wide by two and a half feet deep. It's at a height such that I can comfortably sit in at chair at it and my mini-fridge fits underneath it. I like how sturdy it is, and the neat little drawer in the front. I'm quite pleased with it, and actually was pleasantly surprised by how much workspace I could actually get to fit in this area.

I confess, I was not as meticulous as I should have been in regards to making sure it would fit the space before I bought it. I did take measurements for how much could fit into my desired area without interfering with the low closet or opening and closing the door, but didn't have them on me when the seller for this table responded to me. So when I said I wanted to come look at it I wasn't a hundred percent sure it was going to fit. Laying eyes on it in person for the first time, I was not optimistic; I was pretty sure it was too big. But the price was low and the seller was in Roslindale, which is a bit of a drive from Waltham, and I was more affected by the desire to not come home empty-handed than was totally wise, so despite my concerns I went for it anyway. I spent most of the drive home calling myself an idiot and brainstorming what the hell else I could do with the thing. But when I actually got it into the room I lucked out! In fact, it's about exactly as big as could possibly go there without getting the the way of the doors.

So I am pleased with how the whole enterprise turned out. This will be my sewing table, and my larp packing table, and the place I do any project that doesn't require a computer. I'm looking forward to having a designated space for that stuff so it doesn't take over my whole room.

Why can't we all write a Warhorse?

One thing that I found really frustrating during residency was the constant hammering of the notion of keeping your play as basic as possible because otherwise, nobody would want to produce it. Keep your cast tiny. Keep your sets minimal. Your milieu inexpensive. Your themes current. Make sure the audience understands it and blah blah blah. It was kind of maddening to me, as it seemed like unless you wanted to write some more fucking Beckett-style nonsense, nobody was ever going to be interested in your plays.

But today my mom told me about this new play on Broadway called Warhorse. She said that it's a meditation on wartime about a boy whose beloved horse is drafted into service in War World I, and he follows him through the war to take him home. She said that the show portrays horses with gorgeous, fully articulated puppets that move and behave so much like real horses that it's mesmerizing. She suggested I look them up on Youtube, and my God, I was amazed.

Look at this. This is magic. This is fabulous theater. I am in AWE of how much those puppet draws me in. They are huge and gorgeous and they move like real horses. They are so fucking beautiful and ingenious and perfect that I can't imagine how much more powerful my theater experience would be going to see this because of that touch.

And this play demands it. The heart of the story of Warhorse is about how the best in the human spirit is brought out through the love of horses. You don't FEEL that on a visceral level without the force and shape and awe-inspiring presence of a horse right there to drive it home to you. But how would you ever get a horse onstage? Does this story not belong onstage because that's an impractical thing to write into a show?

But the play was good enough that somebody made it happen, regardless of the difficulty. And this show is a smash hit. I think it just shows that if your play is good enough, people will make it happen the way it needs to happen. Yeah, we are certainly not all going to get lucky enough to get such a big budget, or even any attention at all. I just can't help but think why teach people to write a worse play just to handle concerns of ever getting off the ground?