All Eyes on Me

Well, here concludes one of the most unusual 31 Plays in 31 Days in my entire fourteen year history of the challenge. I was never late, in fact staying a few entires ahead until the very last day, and worked on a project I was absolutely not expecting to work on— in sequence, no less. So, here is the next scene of The Wicker Man adaptation, which I will definitely be finishing even though the month is over.

( Day #31 - A Wild Hare )

I really did not expect this 31P31D to be taken over by this Wicker Man project. But it’s coming shockingly smoothly. Of course that doesn’t mean it won’t need editing, but honestly it’s still a very nice creative feeling, so I’m just going with it. This is scene eleven, and like all the others I’ve posted immediately follows the previous.

( Day #29 - The Cemetery )

Scene nine of The Wicker Man remake! I almost didn’t adapt this scene, as I struggled how to translate the consequences of it to the particular idiom and logic I’m using here. But once I figured it out, I decided it was too iconic to cut.

( Day #27 - The Schoolhouse )

Continuing on strong with The Wicker Man remake! I still can’t believe the momentum I’ve got on this. So here is scene seven, another fairly original scene. I’m reasonably happy with it, but I think it needs a little refining to manifest my chosen themes.

( Day #25 - Dogs in the Night )

More Wicker Man! With this, scene five, I build directly from the last scene I posted. I have done an unusually good job this time around writing this script in sequence, which is something I can’t often do. Maybe because I’ve already got a structural template from the original script. But I feel like I am doing a half-decent job capturing the significant stuff from the original while inflecting it in the thematic direction I want.

( Day #23 - Night Dance )

Scene four of my Wicker Man remake idea. This scene is the first one I think that truly adds something rather than just iterating on the original. I’m not sure it has all the layers and nuances I want— it’s kind of in that place where I can’t tell if I’m being too obvious or not clear enough. But I’m overall pretty happy with how it came out.

I always loved the name Rowan.

( Day #21 - Rowan )

I’m surprised to report how inspired I’ve felt on the idea of writing a Wicker Man remake, and have done a fair bit of work on it already. I like the idea of working in the idea that (minor spoilers for The Wicker Man) the Summerisle cult is basically an excuse to instrumentalize and consume women, which I am going to endeavor to weave throughout my adaptation.

This scene immediately follows the opening I posted yesterday, #18 - “Summerisle”. Its main purpose is to lay a lot of groundwork in as natural conversation as possible. Exposition is never easy to work in, and often boring, but I’m also trying do a little planting that will payoff later.

( Day #19 - Morrison )

Another little piece of The Show, my MCU fanfic in the Forever Captain series about Steve Rogers's life post his retirement to the midcentury in Endgame. The thing I try to do with a lot of these stories is explore the impact being a time-traveling super-soldier has on Steve psychologically and emotionally. Like, what is it like to have lived out of time in the future and the past? What is it like to not know if your foreknowledge means your actions have no ability to affect the course of the timeline, or way too much? What is it like to age more slowly than everyone you love? How much does it separate you from others when they cannot possibly know what you've been through? What was it like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Those questions are ripe for drama, and I do my best even in this story, which is primarily supposed to be comedic, to make them feel present in my exploration of the character. I'm afraid that, like the last scene I did for this story in this year's challenge, #9 - Singing and Dancing, this is a bit insubstantial. But I think you can see me gesturing to the impact it's had on Steve to have lived such a singular life.

( Day #17 - Intermission )

Another possible scene for a sequel to Gentlemen Never Tell. An element I like from this story is balancing the rivalry and romantic connection between Justin and Rosaline, for tension, humor, and a little spicy frisson. This scene is too cursory and not witty enough, but it’s meant to set up the nature of their conflict in this installment, plus the idea that they’re going to go to crazy lengths to one up each other.



( Day #15 - All’s Fair )

Ugh, another lame, awkward scene. This is some drafting for an idea for another Justin Hawking story, which we have a half-decent idea developing. But this scene is really awkward and poorly realized. I’m sure it could be saved with editing, but with a scene to bang out every day for a month, editing is not something I can afford to spend time on right now. So… right now it’s pretty bad.



( Day #13 - Two or Three Birds )