"Super!" News

The New Hampshire premiere of "Super!" is coming up this week. The public show is going to be on Sunday, January 24th, at 2:00 at Exeter High School. If you are in town, you should definitely check it out.

To publicize the production, an article is going to show up in the Portsmouth Herald sometime this week. I was e-mailed to answer some questions about my work on the play, and it provided me with a chance to reflect on the process we went through with "Super!" from its first inkling of an idea, to the full production that was seen at Georgetown and the one that will be seen this week in Exeter.

I figured I'd post the questions and answers from the article here. A sort-of extended edition of my piece of the story, for those who care. And also a way of defending what I actually said in the event that I am misquoted. Though when my words were typed and sent directly to the reporter, I can't imagine a misquote to be very likely...

The Play:

What inspired your story?/Why did you want to write it?

I've been a part of a Children's Theatre group at Georgetown since my freshman year, and, while I've always enjoyed the shows we did, I've also always lamented what I see has a sort-of lack of quality in a lot of plays written for kids. Especially ones that worked for our company, as we travel from school to school with a relatively small cast. So I got an idea in my head to write a show that would address that... something that wouldn't talk down to the kids watching, but would respect them as an audience. Also, something that the adults, who would inevitably be in the audience, could also enjoy.

So I knew I wanted to write, but I didn't know what to write. After one of our (the Georgetown Players') shows at a DC elementary school, I started asking the kids what they would like to see if we were to come back. The overwhelming response was superheroes. I immediately agreed. I, too, had grown sick of fairy tales.

I set to work on research right away. I was never big on comic books as a kid - I much preferred comic strips (Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, & The Far Side in particular). So I spent a lot of time reading variations on origin stories, superpowers, etc.

I looked back at "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, hoping to bring some of that into the play, letting the audience decide how things work out in certain situations. That's where I came up with including a reference to reality TV shows -- the play opens with the final episode of "American Hero," where the audience is voting to decide the new sidekick for a superhero. Early on I had decided I wanted to examine the relationship between superhero and side-kick, as well as look at how a super-villain becomes a super-villain, and decided to have both situations rise out of the game show.

I also met with Steve Gagnon's 3rd grade class at Stratham Memorial School. They had been working on their own super-hero stories, so I went and pitched them some of my own ideas to get some responses. A lot of their ideas, including the name of the main hero, the Red Ruby, found their way into the final version of the script. It was important to me that the script be created in dialogue with its target audience.

Why did you initially contact Dawson regarding it?

Beyond a story, I had very little idea of what I was doing. I needed some sort of guidance. Most of the theater experience I had throughout high school was under Mrs. Dawson's direction, so she was the natural contact. Also, I knew she shared my thoughts on how difficult it is to come across a really great script for children.

How is it she came to be a part of writing it?

I went to meet with her, initially just to ask for advice. I had my story outline, and shared my ideas, and she suggested that we co-write it. I agreed right away.

How did that change the STORY line for you?

When we began working on a scene-by-scene outline for the script, pieces that I had initially seen as just small bits, a sort-of crime-fighting on-stage montage, rose to become a major part of the body of the story. We created these three extremely fun villains, whose scenes now make up a majority of the play. At first, I was hesitant to have such a shift in the story, but as we got to elaborating on how these scenes could be staged, I saw so much great potential for them, I became more than willing to step away from my initial outline.

How did the process of co-writing work?

We started with outlining the story scene-by-scene, creating a rough structure for how the story would run. We spent a long time talking about our characters. What were their superpowers, their villainous plans... This was tricky, we kept having to remind ourselves to keep these restricted to things that we could recreate on stage. Once the outline and the characters were in place, we divided up the show by scene, each writing different scenes. We came back together a few weeks later to compile what we each had, give feedback, help each other with trouble spots as far as dialogue was concerned, and generally make sure everything was consistent throughout the show, especially the ways the characters spoke and interacted.

What was the best and most difficult thing about that process?

The most difficult part was stepping away from my original outline. I had become quite attached to a few ideas that ultimately had to be scrapped, and that was hard for me. The best part was working together on creating the characters. Especially the villains. I've always enjoyed how absurdly complicated villainous plans for world domination are, so it was fun to create one myself.

Did you workshop it?
Yes. A handfull of students who participate in theater at Exeter High School took a few hours one summer afternoon to read through a few of the scenes we had written. It was extremely helpful. They pointed out a few places where we hadn't established things clearly enough, where characters didn't seem to be acting in-character, lines that just didn't sound right, stuff like that. They also improvised at points where we had some 'holes' in the script, and some of those ideas, even a few that were just presented as jokes, have made it into the show.

Will you be able to see the play completed/performed?

I won't be able to see the show performed at EHS, no, since I'm in London. However, I was able to direct a production of "Super!" at Georgetown. It was very well received down there, by the kids we performed for, their parents, and even the college students who saw it. We had a lot of fun working on it, and Mrs. Dawson did get to fly down to DC and see it for the world premiere!

I did see a rehearsal for the show at EHS, which was fantastic. It was great to see the changes that have been made to the show here. Characters have been added, along with some music. And the set was incredible. At Georgetown, we had to travel with our props, but at Exeter they have to fill the whole (huge!) stage. They (I'm pretty sure these were students in Mrs. Dawson's Stagecraft class, though you'd have to check with her about that) designed these brilliantly creative contraptions for the villains, and everything is so bright... It really will look like a comic book on stage, I think.

What's next for you?

Right now I'm just enjoying London. Then next year, I'm back at Georgetown for my senior year.

Writing wise?
I have an essay due in a couple of weeks. Hahaha. Yeah, I have some ideas for a few more children's plays. I'd like to do one about pirates, though lately I've been wondering if the story I have in mind might work better as a young adult novel. That'd be something fun to try. And a few other plays for 'big people' that I've been thinking about.

It's never a problem of ideas for me... I've always got those. There are always stories to tell. Right now, it's just about finding the time. All I have time for at the moment is a travel blog to keep people at home up to date on my adventures abroad... and I barely even have time to update that!

But I do promise more updates to the blog will come soon. Expect some bullet points on my early adventures in London to show up later this week!