Theatre Reset has produced one of my plays, Your Child, The Devil, and You, and in a month's time, the company will produce another play of mine, George of the Dead.
I was extremely happy with the quality Theatre Reset put into the former, and I can't wait to see what they do with the latter. I will continue writing plays, and I hope, when I submit them, Theatre Rest will produce them.
Today, April 30, is the deadline to submit plays for Theatre Reset's fourth short play festival, scheduled for later this year. I'd love to be able to submit something. I've been developing a couple of different ideas and stories that I think would be a good fit for the style of the festival. Unfortunately, they won't be ready before the deadline passes.
My life has been crazy the past few months. In January, I started grad school. I'm enrolled in Kent State University's Master of Library and Information Science program. It's entirely online, which allows me to continue working a full-time job.
My first semester is winding down. I'll be done after this week and have the summer off, but the past month has been one project after another, lots of papers, lots of writing, and bluntly, I'm worn out.
Since I returned to school, I caught COVID for the first time (despite working in an emergency department when that whole mess started!), got food poisoning, and had expensive repairs done on my car.
Worst of all, both my cats got sick at different times. Benny recovered quickly after treatment, but I had to take Mango to the vet ER. The past few weeks have been hell, working to get him on an appropriate care plan and worrying about the long-term ramifications (not to mention the costs).
I say this not to solicit sympathy but to explain I've not had the time I wanted to devote to finishing new plays for the next festival. Life interfered drastically, and I don't want to rush out a couple of half-developed stories I know can be better. I don't want to submit, for consideration to be produced and performed, any work I know is not as good as I can make it.
I've received many rejections for many of my writings. I won't deny it's disappointing; it is. However, I never submitted a story or script just to submit something. I'm proud of everything I've submitted, even the ones that weren't accepted (or as Garak might say, especially the ones that weren't accepted).
Maybe a story wasn't a good fit for a particular publication. Maybe the costs of producing a play were beyond what the theatre company is financially capable of doing at the moment. Often, a rejection does not reflect the quality of the submitted work. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
That's not to discount the importance of deadlines or feedback. Deadlines have helped me focus and to quit procrastinating. Outside feedback has improved many of my stories. Retooling a story to help it fit better with a publication is completely valid.
But there's a difference between all that and knowingly submitting subpar work. In this case, if I rush to churn out these two play ideas, I know they won't be up to the company's standard or to mine. Better to get through my current commitments, and then, with a refreshed and not so overwhelmed mind, return to them.
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