Mrs. Hawking Bare Bones reading accomplished... and musing on next steps

I am pleased to report that my staged reading of Mrs. Hawking at Bare Bones went well. We filled the house and the presentation went off without a hitch. I was very happy with the actors, and the script is in fairly good shape. There's a few things I want to change since the reading but not too much, so I think it's in a pretty tight state.

The question here is next steps. The audience reacted really well to it, but many of them were like, this is begging for sequels, and it's action, while stageable, is somewhat cinematic-- certainly expensive, which may prevent it from ever being produced. That's something that has been on my mind. Unknown writers do not often get production with big budgets. I hate to think the play will never see any future because of that. And yet, I think some of its expensive bits-- the milieu expressed in set and costumes, the stunts --would be part of the story's appeal.

So I am pondering ways around this sort of thing. I chatted a bit with usernamenumber after the production (and during the lovely cast party reading star lilibet hosted) and he spitballed some interesting thoughts. He said it might have a possibility to become a "Kickstarter darling," appealing to people who like Victoriana, strong female characters, and the neat combination thereof into an action-adventure mystery caper. If I could get the word out to the right people, and a large enough group of them, I could see that. Also the medium is in question. Brad mentioned that it would be fun to pitch it to PBS as a "action Downton Abbey," which amuses me. I'm sure that's a little bit too ambitious for them to take me seriously right now, but with some capital, would it be possible to film on my own? I am, I think, capable of adapting it to screenplay. A feature-length already crossed my mind, but I thought maybe that might push the chances of ever seeing it come to production even further. But what if it were in more episodic form? Do each "adventure" as a multi-part "series" of episodes, along the lines of how Sherlock has "series" rather than "seasons"? I am not trained in film production myself, but might that form place it more within the reach of finding someone who could help me bring it to reality?

A lot of stuff to think about. I'm not sure what makes the most sense. But I would love to figure it out.

Thank Christ my brother's okay

My brother Casey works in a restaurant that was nearby to the explosion. He went to work today excited, thinking they'd be busy because of the marathon crowds. The glass windows out front blew in from the blast. Thank Jesus he wasn't hurt, but everyone sitting near them was all cut up from the shards. He had to help people who were bleeding all over the place. He was very shaken up, but he got home safely, and I'm just so glad he's okay. Saying a prayer for those poor people who weren't okay, for those killed, those injured, those who had arms and legs blown off.

We're going home for a few days tomorrow. The visit was planned, as we've been trying to get home every six weeks or so, but I think my parents will be especially glad to see him after this. I just hate this. Yet one more beautiful cultural institution, from people who want nothing more than to participate in a fun activity and make an athletic achievement, used to maximize the causing of pain. And now the fear that this is going to instill in people will just up the pain-in-the-ass security measures that are going to compromise liberty in return for no more than an illusion of safety. Thanks, bomber, you jackass. Thanks for wrecking the beautiful things in the world.

At least the outpouring of support, help, and generosity from people in response to those hurt has shown that most of us aren't monsters. Most of us make those things beautiful. Thank God that's what wins out in the end.