>>> Item number 39398 from WRITERS LOG9410D --- (298 records) ---- <<< Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 16:54:48 EDT Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: the man with the flashlight Subject: FAQ: Unmasked on Blacklight Stage (repeat!) Hello. May I see your ticket? Oh, yes, you've signed up for WRITERS. Well, if this is your first time with them, may I suggest you look at this? And your seat is just through these curtains... tink +=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=- Unmasked on Blacklight Stage (A One-Act Play With An All-Star Cast of Bit Players) Copyright 1993 Mike Barker [alone and a bit nervous, you push through the black felt curtains and feel your way to a seat in the darkness. you sit down quickly and peer into the darkness, wondering what will happen next. slowly your eyes adjust, and you get the impression there might be a stage somewhere in front of you. on one side, a spotlight flashes on an odd costumed figure...] Hey! Look at this! Some really weird stuff happens when I stand on my head in the shower. Water gets down my nose. [the light flicks off, and you shake your head. What does that have to do with... another spotlight flashes on the stage, hitting a white masked figure there.] When I was sixteen, there were fires in the street and ghosts walking. Not fun, my fellow freaks, but bone-chilling horror for people without skin. [the light fades again, and you are even more confused. Who are these... then many lights flash and fade, exposing and concealing various figures, faces, and costumes, all weaving a ballet of madness before your eyes...] Send me a postcard, please? It's that time of the month, and I WANTA SCREAM!!!! Hemingway, clearly, is THE author of our times. Still, Melville's prose and Whitman's poetry cannot be ignored. Neither should we turn our noses up at the rich heritage of literature. Instead, we need to mine that ore for as much richness and variety of techniques as we can find. Then we can write true romances of stature. Hey, has anyone heard from the Black Eye recently? Here is the story I have been engraving in stone for the last twenty years. Do you have any comments? [the verbose comments and the dancing lights continue, and you wonder what kind of asylum this is. they look like they're having fun, but it is so confusing and lonely sitting in the dark. Why don't they notice... YOU! ] Hey, writer, this stage is open and waiting for you to put on an act of your own. We can't see you until you post, but don't let that hold you back. Spend a little time thinking about it, then join in. Try starting with a little INTRO - let us know who is behind the words that will be coming. Then, you should join in wherever you have something to add. Stories and poetry are always appreciated. Critiques (comments about someone else's writing, the style, the feelings they brought) also are good ways to contribute. You can also join in any of the little exercises, various cooperative forms of writing, and other exchanges of wittiness. The "small" chatter, the talk of interests and memories and who we are, may not seem important, especially if you are used to classes or workshops where such discussion is frowned on as a "waste of time" or "off the subject." However, it is a good way to practice one style of writing and relax with the members of the list, gives everyone a little more feeling for the person behind the plays wherein to catch the conscience, and can provide critical sparks igniting the muses to a fiery dance. Besides, those small steps are sometimes easier to use to get up on the stage. Lastly, ask questions. Tell us about your discoveries, from the wonderful new trick for plotting New York Time's Bestsellers to the funny red bugs eating your peppermint plants. And keep posting - it takes time to become known, and the care and feeding of friendships may take even longer. So, join us in the 365 day a year masquerade ball. Your costume will be hand-crafted by you out of words and wonders that you post, and sometimes it helps to give us a peek behind the draperies (those fright masks and demon faces can be quite a shock!). But don't just sit in the cheap seats unless you want to, because while all the world's a stage, here you have an interested audience - your fellow writers. [the spotlight fades, but now you know the magic for calling it up again whenever you want. Post. You smile in the darkness, knowing that you too have a place in the fake sun on the blacklight stage called WRITERS. Your email box will rarely be empty again...] Don't wait for a gold-engraved invitation, the stage manager isn't that organized. This is an amateur, write-your-own-play effort, quite a bit off-Broadway, and we really need audience participation. Grab a mask, throw us a line, and help keep improvisational theatre off the streets and on the computers! This is the dawning of the Age of Escritier... +=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-