Well, actually Normal is a town in Illinois state, USA; where the Heartlands Theatre Company is based. And each year the company holds an international playwriting competition with a theme. This year it was Parcel, Package or Present.
I originally entered my piece back in November when it ran to eleven pages in length. They are very fierce on the pieces not running more than ten minutes. I got a note in December saying that they liked the piece but thought it was three pages too long. That's cutting nearly a quarter of the play. After a lot of angst and authorial anguish I got the piece down to nine pages and offered that saying that it was a comedy and need to be played at a fast rate (my excuse for it seeming to be so long on the page!) They seemed to accept this and then in the middle of March I got a message to say that I had been shortlisted and now this week an email to say I'm one of the eight pieces which will be performed in Normal at the Heartlands Theatre in June - so all the time and trouble was worth it in that I managed to produce a piece that they liked - well within the time scale and that Normal is where it's at in June!
The play is called MINCED SPIES, what one might call a Le Carre farce.
I won't be going, but they're sending me a DVD of the evening; so I shall be able to celebrate my success later in the year.
Oh, by the way if you want further info about the competition or thinking about entering for next year -www.heartlandstheatre.org for further details.
But on 20th April - I'm off to Neath to see another of my plays "WHAT'LL THEY THINK OF US IN THE MORNING?" being performed at the Neath Little Theatre in South Wales. This is one of the PLAYrooms plays that I've been compiling for the last two years. One of the others was mentioned in a previous blog. CLOSURE.
And all the while I am moving closer to finishing off my opus which has been proviosionally entitled THE LARKHALL POISONER. But more of that anon.
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