Episode 16: Control  

There is a reason that Lindsay writes for her own company and has never had any desire to go to Hollywood and become a screenwriter. It's all about control.

Show Notes

Blog series on Preparing for Competition: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

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Episode Transcript

Welcome to TFP, The Theatrefolk Podcast. I am Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk.

Hello, I hope you're well. Thanks for listening.

Today, it’s all about control and I can’t be held responsible if I start singing some Janet Jackson which, you know, just betrayed exactly how very old I am. But first, let’s do some Theatrefolk News.

I am pretty happy with some blog posts I did last week. I recently adjudicated a one-act festival which had 44 plays in competition. Yes, that was right, four four. And while I didn’t have to judge 44 plays, I did have to sit through half, 22 in a row over two days. Yes, that is a lot of plays. But what was most interesting and most frustrating is that there were so many schools who competed and made the same mistakes, missteps, over and over and over again. So, I did a three-part blog series last week. Part one was on choosing a competition piece – for example: don’t turn a small-cast play into an ensemble extravaganza; solving performance problems in rehearsal, meaning get those problems out of the way even before you step on your stage, and part three was all about what to do and what not to do on performance day. For example, know the size of the door your set has to go through, especially when you only have two minutes to get your entire set in place.

And lastly, where, oh, where can you find this podcast? We post new episodes every Wednesday at theatrefolk.com and on our Facebook page and Twitter. You can find us on the Stitcher app and you can subscribe to TFP on iTunes. All you have to do is search on the word “Theatrefolk.” Episode Sixteen: Control

That was horrible. See, now that I've mentioned Janet Jackson, all I've got running through my head is the fact that her first name ain’t Baby. Oh, I’m such a dork. Okay, so before I sat down to do this, I had to look this up because all I’ve been doing is singing Janet Jackson and her album, Control, came out when they actually made albums, 1986. I have these very vivid memories of Janet Jackson and her videos and they all occurred 26 years ago. I have 26-year-old memories. Ugh!

So, okay, the podcast today – the topic of which is not Janet Jackson – surprise! But it is about being in control, and specifically being in control as an artist. And I think it's one of the most important things to have control over your art but it's also one of the most slippery-est things. Is that a word? Most slippery, something that can slip through your fingers with such ease. It's easy to lose control and it's easy to fear losing control so much that you can take your work, lock it in the basement, hide it in a cave so no light or air can get to your work and it becomes pale and anemic until someone has come to rescue your work – maybe Janet Jackson – and your work staggers into the light, blinking against the glare of the sun. See? This is what the topic of control can do to you. Turn you into a blathering idiot, Lindsay? Why, yes, yes, who said that? Why, I did! Are you talking to yourself? Why yes, yes, I am!

Okay. When it comes to my work, I’m actually both a control freak and the opposite of a control freak. I don’t know what that is, I am the anti-freak. Now I’m going to start singing Rick James. All right, no, I’ m not going to do that.

Yes, two things in one, ugh! Two things in one which is also like a commercial which I think is older than Janet Jackson. What is it? Two, two, two things in one! Two shampoos in one? Oh, oh, never mind. Okay, I am so old. Ugh!

First, control. There is a reason that I write for myself and I have my own company.