31 Plays in 31 Days, #1 - “Busy Days”

How is it August already? Well, that means it's time to do 31 Plays in 31 Days, for what is it-- the twelfth year? I hate to break my streak, so onward we go again!

Though I have a project I can use it to make progress with. I'm working very hard to get Hawking part 7 drafted, as I finally feel like I have a handle on it. It's a big shift in the status quo, with the team broken and split between London and New York. Also, on the wake of a huge shakeup like the Ripper story in part 6, I need to make sure we follow it up properly. This one is going to be less of an explosive plot-driven story and more of a character piece, where everybody is confronting the fallout of their actions and the split. If the story is going to turn on that, the character journeys need to be really compelling. A tall order, given that I feel like the bar gets higher every time! But nothing to do but try our best.

Here's a bit from early in part 7, showing us Mary and Arthur's new life in New York. I'm thinking we're in 1890 by now, and things are very different for the two of them now that they're out doing their own thing. Mary's got the freedom to run her life and work however she likes now, and I think Arthur's new job at the embassy has meant they've come up in the world a bit. I'm excited to explore the implications of those things. I'm particularly happy to get to give Mary a friend! The way we've written her up to this point, you'd think she never had one! But this introduces Kathleen Duncan, to demonstrate that Mary's life has gotten broader since she moved to New York and gained some independence.


Photo by Jacob LaRocca

( Day #1 - Busy Days )