"Last Shot" to be produced in Hovey Summer Shorts!

One of my pieces was accepted for performance as part of Hovey Summer Shorts! It's a festival of new ten-minute plays held in a little theater right here in Waltham by a theater group called the Hovey Players. I saw this festival last year and was kicking myself that I'd never known it was there as a possibility to submit to, so I'm really glad to have jumped on the chance this time around. The piece of mine they picked is called Last Shot, and it is a blending of two scenes written during 31 Plays in 31 Days, this one also called Last Shot and this one called Don't Tell Anyone. Both of them were written with the intention of helping me get a leg up on scriptwriting for the Lame Swans graphic novel, and feature the two lead female characters Lise and Marina.

I kind of like the idea that the story is able to cross media like this. It's even crossed my mind that Lame Swans could possibly be adapted into a full-length play or screenplay or something. It would probably be a difficult play to produce, as it would require actors who were also trained ballet dancers. But I think it would call for some interesting representational theatricality to distinguish the transitions between Lise's present at the lake, and the flashbacks to the pieces of the story that happen in the past. And dance is so visually rich I think it would make for a very engaging show to experience.

Well, this summer at Hovey I'll get the first glimpse of what it would look like onstage! Hopefully it will work as well as I imagine.

My handmade kimono robe

I recently took a class at the Boston Vintage Factory where I made a kimono robe.

I picked this gold fabric with a silky side and a striated side to get experience working with slippery fabrics. It was a lot of work, but the studio's owner and teacher Kristen walked me through it, and I picked up some really great skills. It's all finished with French seams, which look neat and professional, and I even set in sleeves for the first time.

In places I did a very neat job, such as the topstitching in here on the collar.

Other places, like on the back of the neck here, didn't come out so perfectly. But I am pleased with how I managed to get the collar to lay against the fabric of the back. It can be difficult to get a curve like the collar piece to lay smoothly, but I attached it with minimal puckering.

Here's the inside of the sleeve. It's hard to see, but I managed to set it in such that the seams all meet in more or less the same place under the arm. Still, the fabric of the sleeve is a little pinched up right there, rather than entirely smooth. You can also see the French seams and the inner tie.

It's not perfect, but I'm pretty proud of myself, I'm so excited that my skills are building. And I can't recommend Kristen's classes enough. You should totally go to the BVF website and sign up for one. :-)