Entries tagged with mrs. hawking

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #30 - “In Murder’s Path”

Well, for the first time ever, I didn’t manage to finish all thirty-one plays in the allotted month. That’s pretty disappointing, but the past two weeks were just brutal. I’m going to finish anyway, just to complete my list.

I also don’t really like this scene. It continues directly from #28 - Mr. Parkhill, but again it doesn’t really tell us anything new, and Clara’s presence doesn’t really capture the nuance I want her character arc to have. But maybe I can salvage something from it.

Damn, I’m mad at myself for not finishing in time. :-/

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #30 - “In Murder’s Path” )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #29 - “Not Prepared”

This needs a lot of refining, but I'm rushing to make the deadline. Was especially tricky because technically I've drafted a version of this scene before, a long time ago, but I basically threw all of it out because my conception of it shifted so much as I developed the story to this point. But at least it means it counts as a new scene under the rules of the challenge I've set for myself, as I did not refer back to the old draft.

Photo by Jacob La Rocca

( Day #29 - Not Prepared )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #28 - “Mr. Parkhill”

Hmm, not sure about this one. It’s from Hawking 8, taking place after #25 - “Tweenies” and #27 - “Lord Love a Duck”, but while it may have some character and structural benefits, it doesn’t establish anything we don’t already know at this point in the story. So I don’t know if it will end up in the final draft. But at this point, I just really need to draft to finish the damn challenge. I’ve only got a few more days to catch up.

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #28 - Mr. Parkhill )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #27 - “Lord Love a Duck”

Fighting to catch up because I’m so behind. But this is from Mrs. Hawking 8 again, some time after #25 - “Tweenies” when Beatrice is undercover. The logic as to how the scene fits into the larger structure is still a bit off, but again, good raw material. A little something to raise the stakes of the case.

( Day #27 - Lord Love a Duck )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #25 - “Tweenies”

Here’s more from the next Mrs. Hawking play, specifically the part where Beatrice goes in undercover as an in-between maid to gather some information for the case. I want to show her learning curve, as she balances her training with her own particular idiom for approaching undercover work. I also like the idea of seeding a character who will become important later as someone Beatrice connects with on this mission. This scene is currently kind of non-specific (as my first drafts always are) and definitely too rushed, but I think there’s a lot of good character here.

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #25 - Tweenies )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #24 - “Got the Morbs”

Argh, I've fallen behind again. Bernie and I went home this past weekend to help my dad around the house, packing up stuff, moving furniture, since he's planning on eventually downsizing. We ended up moving the beautiful library shelves and books up to our place yesterday, which while welcome, was not initially part of the plan! I'm happy since I wanted them for ages, but it meant I didn't have time to write my daily scenes.

So here's my effort to catch back up. This scene immediately follows #22 - "Just Powder" and is an effort to include the idea that since Mrs. Hawking accepted the physical end of her detective career in In the Bones, she's fallen into a bit of a depression. She's not been doing much work, and spends a lot of time hiding feeling sorry for herself. The events of this play will make her confront that and decide how she wants to move forward. I may need to change the specifics of the previous part of the scene to make that totally compatible with this, but I really like exploring this direction.

Also, I get to use the fabulous Victorian phrase "got the morbs".

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #24 - “Got the Morbs” )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #22 - “Just Powder”

Okay, this turned out kind of cute. Another bit from Mrs. Hawking part 8 that still needs work, but has a decent idea at the core of it. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it when I forced myself to dig into it today— late in a valiant struggle to get caught up —but bits of it kind of came together. I think I will have to adjust some of the details for logic reasons, but the dynamics are pretty good. Just goes to show, sometimes when you make yourself just write something, you can surprise yourself with what comes out of you. 😆

I noticed I haven’t written much with Hawking herself yet for this challenge. Her scenes are taking more time to come together, I guess.

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #22 - Just Powder )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #18 - "One Mother to Another"

Blargh, I'm a little behind. But I should be able to catch up today. Anyway, this is an early scene of Mrs. Hawking 8, where Clara approaches Mary upon her return to London, asking her to take on a case for a family she knows. I'm also trying to use the early part of the scene to subtly establish some things on Clara's mind early on, but no so obviously that it tips my hand as to where her story is going. Right now I'm not sure if I achieved that, so this scene is a little weak. Not to mention the fact that we still need to figure out a lot of the details of the case, which is always one of the hardest parts of writing a Hawking play.

This also kind of runs into the problem of Tory being about fives years old at this point. Wrangling a child onstage, particularly one so small, is no small order. But maybe this scene could work because we could make a little lump in the bed to believably represent a little girl.

Photo by Mazz Mazzacano

( Day #18 - One Mother to Another )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #17 - “Let Me Tell You”

So this could turn into something fun, but right now it doesn’t have enough direction. It would be fun to do another Justin Hawking story in the vein of Gentlemen Never Tell, but right now I only have bits and pieces of ideas. I like the idea that each time we tell a Justin story, it comes in the form of a semi-tall tale Justin is recounting to a loved one, so today’s scene is noodling around with a frame for such a story. In this case, I chose Reggie, Nathaniel and Clara’s son and Justin’s nephew, who like his sister Beatrice is finally old enough to be depicted onstage. This scene doesn’t really know what it’s doing yet— what the story is about, what it’s trying to say, what the set up is— but I like the idea of Justin as Fun But Maybe a Bad Influence Uncle in Reggie’s life.

( Day #17 - Let Me Tell You )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #15 - “Meddling”

I’m not sure this scene as it is currently constructed will make it into the final version of Hawking part 8. The ideas in it are useful and good, but structurally I’m still working out some issues. But as I’ve mentioned, like in #3 - No Secrets, I’m working on including a thread of Clara struggling with some stuff across the narrative of this one, and this is an early scene in that progress. It’s supposed to give the audience a hint that something is going on without totally giving away the game yet. Again, it might have to be fit into the plot differently, but the ideas are sound.

Photo by Mazz Mazzacano

( Day #15 - Meddling )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #13 - “A Fair Word”

This continues directly where yesterday's #12 - “Scrubbing” left off. I feel like there is something to this interaction, but this version is too cursory and moves too quickly over the ideas. But I’m confident that with some editing, this could be a really meaningful moment.

I really like the idea that Mary is graduating into the mentor position after the whole big journey she's been on.

Photos by Jacob LaRocca

( Day #13 - A Fair Word )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #12 - “Scrubbing”

I am looking forward to interactions between Mary and Beatrice in Mrs. Hawking part 8. There’s a lot of material in the idea that Mary used to be Mrs. Hawking’s apprentice, and Beatrice’s interest in moving into that role. Mary can be a mentor as well, and her ambivalence about what it means to learn from and work with Mrs. Hawking adds some interesting tension. What would she say to another bright young girl who seems to be on the verge on her life moving in the same direction as Mary’s, with all the good and the bad that implies? With the added complication of the class differences, which can never be ignored in this story.

This scene piece uses the word “scrub” too much, but I like it and all its connotations. I feel like you hear the hard work baked right into it in a way that “clean” or “wash” doesn’t necessarily. That vibe is very necessary to this moment.

Photos by Jacob LaRocca

( Day #12 - Scrubbing )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #8 - “Hall Girl”

Okay, this is pretty bare bones, but there’s a germ of a good idea in here. In Hawking 8, Nathaniel and Clara’s daughter Beatrice’s involvement in Mrs. Hawking’s work is going to be further explored. I like the idea of looking into what her integration into the team looks like, and how that affects Mrs. Hawking and Mary dealing with one another again after their four-year separation. It will also add a lot of grist to Clara’s story, as she navigates her feelings about Beatrice’s path.

This will need a lot of refining and expansion. I still don’t know the details of the case or how it will work. But there’s something I can work with banged out here.

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #8 - Hall Girl )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #3 - “No Secrets”

For Hawking part 8, we’re planning on continuing a thread we began with Clara in part 7: In the Bones. You can tell in that play that as Beatrice has gotten older and more independent, she and Clara have had more and more trouble getting along. We do not pay that off in that story, but it lays the groundwork for what we’re hoping to do in this upcoming one.

Right now we’re thinking the case at the center of part 8 is brought to them by Clara, who has a friend in some trouble and pulls in both Mary and Mrs. Hawking to work on it. She leads with the idea that she just wants to make sure her friend gets the help she needs, and maybe bring our heroes back together in the process, but she actually has an ulterior motive. It’s also fun to see a little vulnerability from Clara, who is usually so in control and strong.

This is very intentionally designed to mirror scene 2.2 in Base Instruments, where Clara calls out Nathaniel for trying to hide things from her.

Photo by Mark Edwards

( Day #3 - No Secrets )

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31 Plays in 31 Days, #1 - “Welcome Home”

And we’re off! Starting things off with some noodling on an early scene for Mrs. Hawking part 8. As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t have that show as fully outlined as I usually like when I start drafting, but we have a fair number of elements we’re trying to piece together. I want to use 31P31D ‘24 to make actual progress, so I’m using the drafting process to figure some of this stuff out. The below is a bit bare bones, but getting the bones is my primary goal at this stage.

We do know that in this show, Mary and Arthur are drawn back to London for his job; right now I’m setting it in 1892, meaning they spent four years away. That means a major part will be Mary and Mrs. Hawking confronting where they left their relationship, what they’re going to do about it, and if there’s any possibility of rebuilding it. That will be the major thread, though there are a number of other things to negotiate, such as a case for them to work on… and what to do about the fact that they’ve got like a three year old by now.

Will figure that out later. But full credit to Christian Krenek for the last bit in here.

Photo by Jacob LaRocca

( Day #1 - Welcome Home )

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Ragdoll now has hair

Ragdolly for the new Mrs. Hawking play now has hair. I cut lengths of this thick acrylic yarn, folded them in half, and sewed them in rows down the back of her head. Then I took a handful of yarns and draped them across the top of her forehead to create a hairline. I sewed those down with a slightly off center stitch to look like a left hand "part". I considered styling it in some way, but I kinda like it the way it is.

All that remains is to embroider on a little smiling mouth. Probably going to do it in pink, which hopefully will keep it from looking too Jokerish. With the button eyes there is definite creepy potential to end up looking like the Other Mother from Coraline.

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Making a ragdoll prop

We need a ragdoll as a prop for the new Mrs. Hawking play, In the Bones, and I was having trouble finding one in a thrift store. I bought one that I thought might work, but it was actually a mostly porcelain ball-jointed doll that was too fragile for my purposes. So I took the doll's dress and bloomers and decided to make the body myself.

I sewed her a little tube torso from scraps, then stuffed the bloomers and stitched them onto the torso at the waist. I stuck this inside the dress, pulling just the top edge of it through the neck hole. Then I gathered more of the white scrap into a ball and sewed it onto that top edge pf the body to form the head. I stuffed more scrap into the sleeves and attached them at the cuffs to make hands.

For the face, I'm planning on button eyes, an embroidered mouth, and big thick yarn for hair. Getting the eyes on was as far as I got tonight, so I'll do the rest tomorrow. I'm liking how she's turning out.

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Mrs. Hawking Spills the Tea - Episode 14 - Secrets from the Stage

MRS. HAWKING SPILLS THE TEA! A collection of behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the Mrs. Hawking shows, in the lead up to our live and filmed performances at Arisia 2024.

Previous episodes:
1. Intro
2. Costumes
3. GRWM with Arthur Swann
4. TV Tropes
5. Giveaway
6. Heroes
7. GRWM with Clara Hawking
8. Historical Fiction
9. Scone Recipe
10. Heroes
11. GRWM with Cedric Brockton
12. Stage Combat
13. GRWM with Mrs. Hawking

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What does Naomi think about right before a scene? What are the ensemble *really* saying? And why are there plastic babydolls everywhere?!? Join the cast as we share some secrets from the set of Mrs. Hawking!

Did any of these secrets surprise you? Let us know in the comments!

In advance of Mrs Hawking's live show FALLEN WOMEN at 5pm on Saturday 1/13 at Arisia, 2024. “London, 1888— Mrs. Hawking’s great rival may have been vanquished, but the struggle has left rifts in the once-close bond between our heroes. They find themselves alienated and in pain even as they must swing into action to take on the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper. Where once they were always there for one another, a new life path opening up for Mary, Nathaniel’s lingering trauma, and Mrs. Hawking’s pulling away from her chosen family threaten to shatter the team forever. CN: gunshots, mention of spousal violence, violence against sex workers.”

#MrsHawkingSpillsTheTea #MrsHawking #setlife #backstage #actor #makingof #film #actorlife #theater #arisia #victorian #technicaltheater #superhero #superheros #femalesuperhero #newplay #arisia2024 #behindthescenes

Video by Cari Keebaugh.

Mrs. Hawking Part 6: FALLEN WOMEN will be performed at Arisia 2024 at 5pm on Saturday, January 13th at the Boston Westin Seaport. Register for the con to see our show: Arisia.org.

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Mrs. Hawking Spills the Tea - Episode 13 - GRWM with Mrs. Hawking

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Getting ready to take on London’s criminal element is a multi-stage process. Join actor Cari Keebaugh (Mrs. Hawking) as she prepares for a day of stalking evil in the night, including getting into makeup, hair, and costume!

If you could ask Mrs. Hawking a question, what would it be? Let us know in the comments!

In advance of Mrs Hawking's live show FALLEN WOMEN at 5pm on Saturday 1/13 at Arisia, 2024. “London, 1888— Mrs. Hawking’s great rival may have been vanquished, but the struggle has left rifts in the once-close bond between our heroes. They find themselves alienated and in pain even as they must swing into action to take on the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper. Where once they were always there for one another, a new life path opening up for Mary, Nathaniel’s lingering trauma, and Mrs. Hawking’s pulling away from her chosen family threaten to shatter the team forever. CN: gunshots, mention of spousal violence, violence against sex workers.”

#MrsHawkingSpillsTheTea #MrsHawking #setlife #backstage #actor #makingof #film #actorlife #theater #arisia #victorian #technicaltheater #superhero #superheros #femalesuperhero #newplay #arisia2024 #behindthescenes #grwm #wigs #lacewigs #makeuptutorial

Video by Cari Keebaugh.

Mrs. Hawking Part 6: FALLEN WOMEN will be performed at Arisia 2024 at 5pm on Saturday, January 13th at the Boston Westin Seaport. Register for the con to see our show: Arisia.org.

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Mrs. Hawking Spills the Tea - Episode 12 - Stage Combat

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Pow! Biff! Slash! In this episode of Mrs. Hawking Spills the Tea, fight choreographer Dan Prior gives us an inside look at punches, stabs, and kicks in the Mrs. Hawking shows! You’ll even catch a sneak peak of our fight with Jack the Ripper…then, watch Fallen Women at Arisia and see if you can catch the choreography you saw here!

Do you enjoy watching (or performing) stage combat? Let us know in the comments!

In advance of Mrs Hawking's live show FALLEN WOMEN at 5pm on Saturday 1/13 at Arisia, 2024. “London, 1888— Mrs. Hawking’s great rival may have been vanquished, but the struggle has left rifts in the once-close bond between our heroes. They find themselves alienated and in pain even as they must swing into action to take on the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper. Where once they were always there for one another, a new life path opening up for Mary, Nathaniel’s lingering trauma, and Mrs. Hawking’s pulling away from her chosen family threaten to shatter the team forever. CN: gunshots, mention of spousal violence, violence against sex workers.”

#MrsHawkingSpillsTheTea #MrsHawking #setlife #backstage #actor #makingof #film #actorlife #theater #arisia #victorian #technicaltheater #superhero #femalesuperhero #newplay #arisia2024 #behindthescenes #stagecombat #choreographedviolence #fightscene #actorsafety #stuntwork #actortraining #combativeartsforstageandscreen #jacktheripper

Video by Cari Keebaugh. Featuring Melissa Bergstrom, Naomi Ibasitas, Cari Keebaugh, Christian Krenek, Dan Prior, and Andrew Prentice.

Mrs. Hawking Part 6: FALLEN WOMEN will be performed at Arisia 2024 at 5pm on Saturday, January 13th at the Boston Westin Seaport. Register for the con to see our show: Arisia.org.