 That's weird Okay, this is watch we work. I'm Susan or parks I'm the master writer chair of the public theater and Because of that no not because of that but years ago 11 years ago I sat in the lobby with a Co-worker and a friend Jesse Alec and he said hey you want to do a new play for my festival and I said no But I will sit with audiences and get them to talk about their creative process and I'll call it watch me work So 11 years I started doing that in the lobby of the public theater The public theater has supported me generously in this endeavor for 11 years and recently howl round has come on to help us In our online format a couple years ago three years ago Maybe they came on and recently of course They're here supporting this endeavor as we bring it to you all over the world So thank you howl round and thank you the public theater This show is all about you guys you people and your work and the idea is that we work for 20 minutes together And then we talked to you about your work and your creative process. We have about 40 minutes to do that Every day every weekday and what we don't have time for unfortunately is we don't have time to Specifically address things about something you you're working on Writing or any other kind of work you're doing but we do have time plenty of time to talk to you about your creative process And how you're doing and things like that to cheer you on to be your squad Give you a kick in the butt sometimes things like that. Okay, so if you have a question about your work in your creative process Audrey's gonna tell you how to get in touch. I am also. I've never heard that story of how watch we work started and that is wonderful Oh my god, you know, it's it's okay. Well, you didn't know that Jesse Alec in the lobby. He's like write a new write a play for my festival No, he's like I want to sorry. I'm taking up time, but I want to have a festival and I'm inviting a lot of young playwrights And I said aha and he said and we want something from a more mature playwright. I was like kiss my ass But I said but my mouth kept moving I said but I will sit in the I will work with the audience for 20 minutes And then talk about their work for 40 minutes and I will call it watch me work Done. I think I'll do that. He said, okay, so Here we are That's amazing anyway, okay Sorry, so now you know everything on everything if you want to ask questions and you're inside of the zoom All you need to do is click on the raise your hand button in the participant tab Likely at the bottom of your screen on a laptop or the top if you're on an iPad or a tablet And if you're watching on howlround.tv you can actually ask us questions on social media You can tweet at us at at watch me work SLP with the hashtag howlround H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D and you can also reach out to us on the on the public's twitter and instagram at public theater and wine and that's it Fantastic, okay, so we're gonna start by working for 20 minutes, and then we will regroup And again, it's any kind of work. It doesn't have to be writing It can be any kind of work if you're a bricklayer if you're a seamstress sewing some masks If you're a you know an ER doctor, whatever work you do, we're here to support each other. Here we go 20 minutes It's time to come back Let's do it. Yeah, so Hope you got something done I got something done That little something done little something something like it. You know, I was doing my thing Um, okay. So, uh, any questions comments notions magic charms We can always sit in silence Silence is always an option I have a question. Oh Someone does have a question, but I want to ask my question. Yeah, you go. Yeah, I want you I want to hear your question. You never ask anything So I know it all you're the know it all I know everything I know everything. It's perfect um So my question is so I loved what you said yesterday in terms and just now too about like it doesn't always have to be writing It's about getting any kind of work done And I have been meaning to my boyfriend bought a saw to play many years ago And I was like I want to learn to play this saw and so I just picked it up just now And then I got very overwhelmed and I put it back down and I'm wondering if you have any advice Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, I I totally have advice because I have uh I have that I have this this beautiful thing which is the guitar which I just told my husband It's he just gave it to me for my birthday and it is now officially the only guitar that I want to play which is a big thing to say because I have many guitars, but um Yeah, little tiny steps. So if you know, you have a saw right and you want to play it How exciting that's So what you do, I mean you pick it up. I mean it goes, you know, oh my god and you know, it's dangerous to also, you know I would are there any do you know anybody who plays the saw? I know a few people you know somebody do you I don't I started to google it a little bit There you go Google is awesome. Go google saw playing I'm sure there's some instructional youtube thing how to get started playing the saw right And you can and you and I'm sure there's more than one and you can allow that very generous person who has put their instructions on youtube to be your guide You know and then and then grow your community from there. What a beautiful thing You know, it's always a good idea I think to Well, one start something new but to play an instrument. I think it's it's a great thing You know Thank you. I'll keep you posted. That is so exciting. We could we could jam We could we could jam I so far I picked it up. So I'll I'll keep you posted. It's like it's like a Yeah That's very beautiful. That's gonna be gorgeous. Oh, I'm so excited Thank you. Yeah, but that's the thing. That's what we do. We take so you take just small steps That's so key. I was talking to my husband earlier today and said I'm having trouble doing such and such and that and he was like Oh Sounds like you're impatient. I was like, oh Yeah Yeah, but that's that he nailed it, right? Because I wanted to happen yesterday. Guess what sounds like you're impatient Hmm. Yeah, suppose I am suppose. I am good to know, you know, and then you go, okay. Well, maybe this might take a little longer And what's enjoyable about it is the thing that's enjoyable Me having had already done it some people There are people who love to be writers and there are people who you've heard probably heard this before love to Have written You know Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, for those of us who love writing the process of it is is delicious And for those of us who love playing the saw, it's the playing of it or the guitar It's the it's the getting into it and the playing it that's very exciting and and sure things come out of its songs or Who knows what interesting notes But it's the doing of it that is the delicious thing not the product that maybe you know, we'll get on Broadway with You're right. I'm very impatient. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's get to recognize that like yeah, I wanted it to happen yesterday. Yeah. Yeah, totally Thank you All right, we got some questions Crystal hey, you are up Hi, how you doing? I'm good. I'm doing okay. I'm hanging in there. You hanging in there. How's how's your work? How your kids? How's your whole thing? um My kids are driving me crazy. They're fighting all the time now My my father passed away Sorry weeks ago. So it's been a little weird, but it's okay. It's so complicated. It's like Sorry So yeah, it's just been We're just hanging in there. We're doing good. We're doing we're blessed, you know, we're blessed Um, I actually had to put Um the the project that I was the writing play the play that I was having trouble with I had to put it down because I was invited to work on another project Um, it's about demagogues and um So we had to pick a demagogue And write a monologue and a scene for them, but write with hope and make them human I picked somebody who has a similar Well the similar faith as me, but like Kind of on the opposite end as far as rationale, I think Um, but I'm having trouble because I'm almost done Because I feel like it sounds preachy and stereotypical of like a far right wing conservative You know the homophobic person And I'm trying to make them sound Normal, but it's it's so I don't know. I feel like what I've read and researched about the person is so stringent and so strict and so Black and white that it's hard to find like the great to make them sound Not human. It's not like they're an animal but to make them sound Under understandable Does that make sense? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. You know the saying, um, maybe you don't know because I think I made it up or maybe I didn't there is no I mean, you've heard there is no eye and team. We've all heard that but there's but there's a me and enemy Oh, yeah, so that's the second part that I'd like to add on to that there is a me and enemy and Not to say this person is your enemy but What, you know, what what are the points of intersection between you and this person? You know, um, can you can you list those things? I mean, you don't have to talk about them now Of course, but but if you can start thinking about what is this person Aside from faith, you know, because you can say well I'm You know, I'm a christian and so is you know the guy who runs, you know, fallwell university You know what? I mean, you know, so there's that but you can You know go deep into the things that you guys have have in common and both hold dear Okay, that could help Um, because then you're not trying to humanize and you're just actually focusing on Things that you agree with you agree with you. There's probably a lot that this person says that you actually agree with That's a little scary But what but it's interesting that you said that's a little scary what you didn't say is that's not true So I'm guessing that it's probably true and that's scary Huh, are you going to reveal yourself to be more fill in the blank than you present yourself Which is okay, is it sure sure because I mean because no one will ever know You see, I mean like like Shakespeare, you know Shakespeare did Shakespeare agree with with the Scottish king, you know, maybe Maybe, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, he probably had some very strange ideas about fairness and all kinds of shit You know through character we can let Aspects of our personality through, you know Through Fiction we can let aspects of our personality out that might not be Appropriate to air, you know In Conversations with friends And it's like you've got some shit that you need to air go ahead You picked you chose this person. I think that you have more A lot in common with them Go ahead. No, no one will know except all of us, of course, but we'll never tell I see, you know what I mean? Yeah so So look for the common ground Sure Yeah And you can always say in your talk backs or whatever when you get interviewed by whatever you can always say One of two things one a popular thing to say these days is I was being sarcastic which seems to work for our Commander-in-chiefs you can always blow it off to be in sarcastic or you can say, you know as a writer I try to walk around in other people's shoes You don't have to admit to believing in what your character believes in unless you want to You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah Okay, okay Let your freak flag fly I got a freak flag Oh, I know you do that's why you hang out with me. You got a freak flag. So go on let it fly You've been keeping it wrapped up too long all folded neatly in the drawer, you know, let it go Yeah Yeah, thank you so much. You're welcome so much. Thank you crystal. Good to see you. Yeah Karima, you are next. Are you unmuted? Oh, hold on. Hey, you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Hi Yes, Karima. Hi. How are you? Hey, we're good. Um Hi, um, I, um, usually, um Write like Short little plays with just two people. Uh-huh But the piece that I'm working on now that I'm extremely excited about has four people in it And it's kicking my behind because I don't know if I should be Right like right now, I just have the dialogue moving Without like making without using too many directions Uh-huh But I'm finding some characters are speaking more than others But the other characters do need to be there So I'm like Yeah I'm I don't want to say stuck But I'm trying to figure out how to make it work because it's like it's in one setting So my goal is I wanted to make it like a one act So is it is it's not going to change settings and stuff Because they're like they're they're four women and it's like a uh at like a book club thing So I'm kind of getting stuck of how to You know, keep the characters alive. That's not speaking when the other characters are speaking Is that weird? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no, no. Um, that's great. That's really great. Um, you want to keep you have a four character play Right, they're all in the same setting for the entire thing Correct and you want to keep the other characters alive when the other characters are speaking Just, you know, it's I think you you probably already figured it out. It's just sometimes people listen Sometimes people talk Sometimes people are doing things, you know, I mean a not so great way. I've seen writers do it Which is they send your characters on little errands like I have to go to the bathroom I have to make a private phone call. You know, that's kind of cheesy. I think Um, but you can actually have characters Get really clear about what each of your characters wants Okay wants this she wants this she wants this she wants this right you have four characters and Then play that sometimes a character is she really wants to hear the story that the other character is telling Okay, or she's Maybe surfing her phone or it's a book club. Maybe she's looking up a reference in one of the books Or you know I mean think of what is my character doing right now? Do a pass maybe through your play for each of the characters separately? Maybe that helps too Well, I did I I'm do I I'm still working on it as I go because it's like fresh So I'm just like trying to let it run Uh, um, so I have done like a character analysis for each of all four of them Great, it's not completely all filled in for everything Because I'm trying to figure it out too as I go. Okay, but the issue is heated So I'm just that I think that's who's really throwing me because it's a it's a really um Sensitive issue. Uh-huh. So I'm just saying with I'm trying to say to myself would they Because they can't talk over each other. So why not? Huh? Why not? But you wouldn't okay, I mean, I mean, maybe they do I'm just saying you can open it up sometimes they can be quiet Sometimes they can listen sometimes they could talk over each other Okay, maybe, you know, you you can you can again you can open it up a little bit. You don't have to put that If it's a it's it's a heated issue. Maybe they are talking at the same time sometimes That's allowed Okay All right Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Good question. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you All right, Vita You're up next Okay Hey, how you doing? Hey, how are you? Good. Good. Good to see you. I think likewise. I think we all missed you quite a bit I know I did I got some work them some more work Excellent, you deserve it You're very you're giving too much So no, no, no, no actually I'm giving you know, I have like a it's it's Exactly the appropriate amount. Oh great excellent You're keeping some oh my god So I I decided I was going to do something similar and I'm going to tell the story Of how my work was stolen because I think it's very important for people to hear frankly I mean, I've told this story before so for me not so important But I have to be careful though how I tell it because if I'm too specific I think I really could get in trouble But I think it's very important for people to know because it was so strange That I never thought that this could happen And I certainly didn't think it could happen to me because I was just It was like the first play I had ever written I have a background as a fiction writer and then I was encouraged to Write one of my short stories after not writing for a while after several years of not writing There was a film producer who wanted me to she said well if you ever turn this into a screenplay, let me know So I thought oh, yeah, right because as you know, it's a totally different form And ultimately that project turned out to be really hilarious and a joke but What I decided to do I worked very hard to learn the form And I bought the books and I did all the stuff you recommended I took a couple of classes and I I really did not have any money and I was working very hard Which is you know, as you said part of life So, um the point of this is my I was so frustrated that with this other project I decided to write something. I really wanted to write and I wrote a short Play a one act. I had never written, you know, I'm learning this form I wrote a one act about a time in my early 20s when I went up on a roof On the side of a hotel. We climbed the emergency ladder in the snow in the It was it was really on 23rd street, you know, hi And we climbed this ladder and it was a shaky ladder like we shouldn't have been doing this at all And one of those SRO hotels and then I was hanging out with people who I thought were very very brilliant, but you know, had issues And probably I did too, but it was very very romantic and fascinating and I never forgot the experience So I said, okay, fuck all this. I'm just going to write this one act And I have fun with it and I was in a little group Where actors read my words back, which was great so I ended up there was a lot of stuff that happened in the middle which we don't have time for but I ended up Getting this one act up in one of the todo canada theaters That used to exist on on ledlow street on the lower east side And with the director that I didn't know And they were rehearsing my play and his play and then maybe a week before it was due to go up I got a phone call. So this was in the late 90s. I got a phone. I was working full time. I was just wiped out I got a phone call that There was this group of creative people who will be unidentified Who were sleeping in the rehearsal space? Which was in the basement of ledlow street and they by the way, I'm going to be writing this story So nobody else don't take this one because it's good. But anyway, they were Sitting in on rehearsals of my play And they wanted to get a copy of the script or one of them did in particular because he had aspirations He wanted to become an actor So they uh, he said to me my director on the phone on a sunday I still remember this. He said I I said, I think we really have to call her and make sure it's okay with her Maybe you should meet that meet her So they tried to set up a meeting and this got these people Um, this was like a couple a week later or so and I've never heard of these people These people were not on my radar at all. Um, they Were introduced to me and then instead of Sitting down and he looked very hurt somehow something was upsetting him I don't know what and then they all left and then uh fast foe and that was the end of it and then fast forward to 10 years later a And what I did though because I knew something weird was going on and I with the little bit of money I had I ran to the writer's guild and registered my script thinking that's going to help me somehow Which ultimately it did not then I got a phone call Like a month later, uh the the owner of this theater this group of theaters would like Uh to know if you have a full length of this and I said no And they said well, would you like to write one and I said okay and submit it? So I did which was ruling And then nothing came of it and I thought this is really weird, but we did a reading And I knew everyone at the reading except this one person who just somehow happened to be at the reading through someone else And that one person walked off with the full length which I only figured out 10 years later so There is much more to the story that happens 10 years later In in the bay area, but the bottom line is what I want to explain There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes in these situations that I could not even in my wildest dreams Imagine could be happening And I envisioned this play for the piano store, which was a little old honky tonk theater And I was so like, you know pissing myself excited that I got this play into the piano store And I didn't and what I didn't know Was it was actually Being developed for Broadway I had no idea nobody talked to me about this. I I didn't understand that and 10 years later Um, they came back for it And it's a long long story, but I really I mean some of it was I'm not I was Into other types of entertainment shall we say I wasn't into this particular brand? And so I didn't know I had no I didn't even know who these people were I was on a in a different area So, uh, the reason I'm telling this to people is I did have it copyrighted They can still take it from you Because if you have an expert adapter working on the script And a whole group of high powered theater professionals They can do whatever they want to do even they can take your script and take your idea And turn it into their version of it And it'll and they'll make a fortune off of it and they don't have to ask your permission As long as they don't actually lift The exact words of your play They can do whatever they want So I'm just sharing this because to all the people who think they can never write a play their first play Make it to Broadway. Yes, you can and people might actually want that and want your work But also be aware that Just getting the copyright doesn't mean that you're protected because lawyers told me You know clearly you're right. We all know this but there's nothing we can do Because they have so much money that they will just drag you through the mud and destroy your life And when you're done with it, you won't even care that they stole your play Because it'll ruin everything for you. So, um, I just wanted to explain that this sort of thing can happen The thing I did learn recently. I was thinking about this Today in a very odd way The person who was very behind this idea of taking my work and who fell in love with the play and by the way To that person. Thank you. Thank you for loving my work so much. I do appreciate it But the thing I want to say is we were very similar people Even though we came from very different walks of life We magnetized each other energetically. I mean, I'm very aware of this. I was angry. I had been hurt in my life I had You you described this in another session once about how you people carry a baggage You know, I had An axe to grind with the world But I was making it and I was happy with my work. I loved my play And he loved my play and he had an axe to grind to I think And we were sort of mirror images of each other in a very interesting way Although looking, you know, I didn't know that I didn't even know who this person was But I so, you know, all of that said if anyone wants to know more details I'm happy to share privately, but I would just say it's a fascinating situation But I I honestly can't believe this happened to me And I think people should know that there is the possibility that something you can't imagine can happen And just be aware um, you know, try to Be aware of who's around you and what's going on more thoroughly because You know, our brains have limited capacity Slowly you can't figure everything out all the time. It's impossible. So anyway, thank you. Thank you for letting me share I appreciate it. It's a great story Thanks, Rita. All right So we're gonna go on to Sahar Sahar are you with us? I and if someone could mute It's probably me. Okay. Hold on one second It's no worries. No Yes. Hi. Hi Susan. Um I I for a moment I forgot my question. Um, but my question is basically What next? Um, I It's Ramadan and I've been blogging every day. Um, and uh, like writing is not Writing is not a problem for me um And like you were saying like I love I mean, I love to like write and I'm just writing and writing and writing um And I'm also very aware of My job prospects After this semester And I don't really And I was just writing today like I can't really see beyond Today like if anybody asked me what do I envision? Happening in the next year like I can't I can't see like beyond today um, so I was wondering like How do you think about what next like? I write and I finish a thing And it's there living on my blog or living on my laptop and then I move on to the next thing um And uh, I don't really know like beyond today. What's next? Um with my writing and that's where I am today. It might not be tomorrow. That's where I am, but that's where I am today So that's my question. What next? Um, what would you like to happen if you could have anything happen? What would you like to happen? With your work Sahar um Well with the I mean I I would love for it to have a life Um beyond myself um but also I don't know what that looks like like Like is it a book? Do I publish it? And if I were to do that, how do I do that? Um, not the how just the what? Yeah. Yeah, I think I would I mean I I don't even know how many pages I've written this month like I've just written every single day um And I could I mean I I could imagine it being published. I could imagine it being illustrated Are you an illustrator? No, I'm not I have a coloring book No, but I mean imagine it being published. You could imagine it being illustrated A lot of times. I mean it's not that we have to know what's next But if you're asking what's next, how do I figure out what's next on this show? Then we want to talk about it. You know what I'm saying? So, um Usually I think to answer the question. What's next is what do I want? What do I want to do? I'm a character in a play, right Are you? So Right, so what's next comes the answer to what's next comes from what does the character want more than anything? Right, there's the desire of what she wants And then there's the allowing Will she allow herself to go for it? You know, so I want to I want to write a song. So I sit here with my guitar I also want to finish up some writing projects that I have to finish so I sit and work on those You know It's just what do I want and if you If you're okay with not knowing what's next that's fine But if you want to develop that conversation with yourself, then you have to ask yourself What do I want and it's okay to want what you want And it's then you have to allow yourself to go for what you want You know not get so tangled up in the how I'm going to make manifest it But just what would I like to do? I'd like to have I'd like my my blog. I'd like it to be published as a book Oh, I'd like it to be illustrated that'd be cool Those are cool things or maybe I just like to write something other than this in addition to this I'd like to write something else Maybe You know, maybe you'd like to learn in this skill. Audrey's learning how to play the saw Maybe you'd like to learn an instrument. You know what I mean? Maybe it's maybe you'd like to learn I don't know what I have a friend in Chicago who played She's got two kids. She played the cello as a as a child. She's getting back into cello playing another friend who's Played the saxophone in high school You know getting back into that, you know what I mean? Maybe it's something that you'd like to pick up that you Put down years ago You know Or something that you've always wanted to do, you know, I have a friend who just took up knitting Because she always wanted to learn how to knit It doesn't have to be a grand thing or something you published or you know, something grand It can be something relatively modest. I have a friend a great writer who's who's starting a garden She has a backyard. She's starting a garden You know So the what next you just have to talk to yourself a little bit and say what would I like If if if the sky's the limit What would I like to do? You know, and maybe there are 10 things or five things. It doesn't have to be just one so hard, you know You know, I think the blog sounds really fascinating and beautiful keep writing that In addition to that Ask yourself What would you like does that make sense? Yeah Yeah, it makes a lot of like Like some days I ask, okay. Well, what I'd really like is a job You had one aren't you writing a blog every day? I am I am Okay, yeah Um, I mean, I I know how to keep myself. Um Like how to make myself happy day to day Um Yeah Just go toward Go towards your heart's desire. Now's the time, you know, crystal is going to let a freak flag fly You can move toward Learning how to play the saw on a come on people now's the time these are these are these are difficult very difficult times and kind of very nerve-wracking times But they're also times of opportunity if we can only see that in these times Yeah, the times of opportunity So let's go toward, you know, let's recognize the difficulty and the fear and the scariness and all those things But let's also recognize that there are moments of opportunity in these times You know Thank you. So the horror Well, Audrey kind of one more minute. We got anna scott go for anna Hey, anna. How you doing today? Are you writing that choreograph? Yeah, you are remember Yes, I am and I am in the third part And I just had a freak out moment While I was writing in my little moment where it felt so big and like it was so stuff and so amazing happening. So, um We kind of felt like well that's good that it's scary to me, but um, I didn't have a question about proliferation Um Your voice was kind of wavering. So I heard you say you're working on your piece Correct me if I'm wrong. You had a freak out moment. Did you say that? Yes, okay, and you had a question about proliferation And then your voice kind of got quavering and I couldn't understand exactly what you said after that Okay, go ahead better Meaning um So many so many objects arriving on the stage Maybe Need for lots of bodies See moving the objects in and out Uh, I was just having this moment where it felt almost impossible But it felt really necessary I'm wondering about the process of Going big without cluttered That's very yeah, that's that's very interesting. Um, and uh, because I as you were talking I was going to ask you your physical space so Is your physical space cluttered In my own kind of note But on the page In my head Starting to get the Okay, so The secretly a garden on the inside there's a chopping block that's secretly an altar The character's ending in dirt, but the audience of it. No until she starts to get out of it It's and there's sugar everywhere Right make sure that each thing Each character on stage Each object on stage Is being utilized Okay Okay, just like if you're if your physical space was cluttered, right if you're Living room dining room. I'm sitting in my living room dining room, right if there was stuff all over the place, right? It's hard to know what's going on with everything all clutter your desk is piled up the stuff all over the place, right? So you want to be able to go okay? My phone is here for a reason my timer. I know what that's for look at this pin I have a pin, you know, so you want to Try to or begin to organize the various elements that are on your stage Okay, so if there's sugar everywhere How is that being employed by your characters? You know what I mean? It is just all over the place, you know because once it is actually employed and utilized by your characters then It'll seem necessary more necessary than it might feel now You know the character who's in you said dirt and she's coming out of dirt. Is that what you said? Okay, okay. Yeah, make that a real thing really get into that make it really really employ those elements those theatrical elements Okay, don't just kind of hit it and quit it and go on to the next thing Don't be scattershot about it. Oh look this. Oh look this. Oh look this. Oh look this, you know Really go deep and thorough with each theatrical element each character each moment. Okay All right, really get have a deep relationship with each thing that you bring on stage Every single thing even if there's only one thing that you bring on stage okay Each and we talked about the other day about um I think it was carol wilson who was talking about objects. We were talking about objects carol the other day Yeah, she was talking about objects how a handkerchief, you know We were talking about how every object can resonate with meaning you just have to put your attention on it Right, so you have sugar you have dirt you have something else you have a lot of characters are Really allow yourself to focus on these characters. Maybe slow down a little bit With the activities and the action, okay Thank you It's six so far six so far the time where does it go? Well Every day three p.m. You can sign up by three p.m. Eastern time on the public theater website Uh, and I'll send a link between three p.m. And four thirty p.m. Eastern and we'll see you tomorrow. All right We love you guys. See you tomorrow. We love you. Bye. Thank you s lp. Bye. Thank you. Thank you, Audrey