Hey Sandboxers!

Just posted my thoughts about Monday’s salon on my blog. You can click here to read.

Thanks to the playwrights, the actors, to Liza for helping me organize and think it through, to Annette for once again playing the gracious hostess and to everyone who came just to listen.

I welcome everyone’s thoughts on stuff we should try in the future.

Cheers!
Paul

Hey Sandboxers!

I just posted about the upcoming Spring Salon, the Ensemble Playground at my blog here.

We would love to see as many members as can make it next Monday night. The salon is primarily for us, the public second.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me: paul@paulmullin.org

See you there!

Paul

Just wanted everyone to know that I am having way more fun that even I expected writing my piece for Rik Deskin and Gin Hammond. Anita Montgomery gave me the 10 best and most inspiring words ever.  So this is turning into a really exciting process for me and I wanted to share that with everyone.

I encourage other playwrights and actors to share their experiences. Especially if, perhaps, you’re not having as much fun as me.

All my best!

Sincerely,

Paul Mullin

www.paulmullin.org

Sandboxers!

Thanks to all who could make it to the Actor’s Draw and Saturday Social at the Elysian yesterday. We had a blast! And the special surprise appearance of Scot Augustson made it all the more especially delightful.

Now here, without further ado, are the Ensemble Playground assignments:

Ki Gottberg

Tracy Hyland
Shawn Belyea
Renata Friedman

Paul Mullin

Rik Deskin
Gin Hammond

Anita Montgomery

Leslie Law
Peter Dylan O’Conner
Dave Natale

John Paulsen

Annette Toutonghi
Ben Gonio

Elizabeth Heffron

Mik Kuhlman
Seanjohn Walsh
Todd Jefferson Moore
Lori Larsen

It is up to the playwrights to decide how they want to get to know their actors a little bit better before beginning to write for them. A beer or a coffee seems like an obvious good start, but in some cases, a long distance solution like Skype or chat or email might have to suffice.

Remember: the chosen actors will be reading the 15-25 pages each playwright generates on Monday, May 10 at 7pm at the The Studio at 15 McGraw.

As always, contact me if you have any questions. And HAVE FUN!

Sincerely,

Paul Mullin

Sandboxers!

We’ll be meeting at the Elysian on Capitol Hill this Saturday at 5pm for the actors draw for the first ever Sandbox Ensemble Playground. (For more info on that you can go here: http://thesandboxartistscollective.com/?p=810 )

You are welcome even if you didn’t sign up as an actor or writer. The whole point is to get ensemble members to better know each other.   Here’s the amazing list of folks who’ll be playing:

Actors

Shawn Belyea

Rik Deskin

Renata Friedman

Ben Gonio

Tracy Hyland

Mik Kuhlman

Lori Larson

Leslie Law

Todd Jefferson Moore

Paul Mullin

Dave Natale

Peter Dylan O’Conner

Annette Toutonghi

Seanjohn Walsh

Writers

Ki Gottberg

Elizabeth Heffron

Anita Montgomery

Paul Mullin

John Paulsen

And if no one shows up, well, I’m well-versed in the art of drinking alone.   But do you really trust me not to cheat the draw if left to my own sodden devices?

Hope to see ya!

Love,

Paul

Sandboxers!

Due to a glorious response from member actors (we now have 14!), we really do need one or two more playwrights to join the first ever Ensemble Playground.  Since the whole point is for member writers to better get to know member actors, it is less than ideal if there is only three of us.  So please, please if you wright plays, or only occasionally dabble, or have always wanted to take a crack at it, or only occasionally hear voices in your head, do throw your hat in the ring. You’ll only need to come up with 10-20 pages. That’s hardly more than 14/48 type volume, and you’ll have a month to do it! (If Scot Augustson has taught us anything, it’s that 10 pages of dialogue can be drafted in the time it takes to drop a Quaalude and enjoy a bath.)

Kathy Hsieh, Reggie Jackson, Marya Sea Kaminski, Tim Hyland, Anita Montgomery: I’m looking at your beautiful punims on the membership page and thinking, those are some damned strong writers.  What say ye?!

Let me know ASAP if you’re interested.

Love,

Paul

Hey Sandboxers!

Just wanted to update you on progress of the Ensemble Playground. We currently have a solid, sober (virtually) roster of playwrights, including:

Ki Gottberg
Elizabeth Heffron
and myself.

We also have any incredibly strong and sexy passel of actors, including:

Rik Deskin
Lori Larson
Tracy Hyland
Leslie Law
Paul Mullin
Dave Natale
Peter Dylan O’Conner
Annette Toutonghi
Seanjohn Walsh

We can certainly proceed with this crew, but I wanted to encourage you to sign up if you haven’t already and are interested. After all, the essential point of this Salon is to do some more getting to know each other.

So if you want to play, email me right away at paul@paulmullin.org.

The actor draw will take place at 5pm on this Saturday, April 10 at the Elysian on Capitol Hill. Participants don’t HAVE to show up, but Ki Gottberg wanted to see your shining face, and do you really want to disappoint her? (By the way, even if you don’t want to play, or can’t, you can still come to the actor draw and hoist a few, right?)

Here are the essentials:

Three or four Sandbox playwrights (myself included) will draw names of 9 to 16 Sandbox actors (myself included).  Over the course of a month, the playwrights will personally and individually meet (coffee, beer, whatever) with each of the three or four actors we draw. We will then write 20 – 25 pages of brand new material specifically for our selected actors. These pages will be read publicly at the Spring Salon.

Feel like you need more details about what the hell this whole Ensemble Playground is all about? Go to the original posting here: http://thesandboxartistscollective.com/?p=810

Got questions? Give me a ping!

Love,

Paul

Announcing the Spring Sand Box Salon: An Ensemble Playground

Sign up and help create a brand new, ensemble-driven script

THE PROBLEM: Of all the excellent points made in recent discussions about how new work is suffering in American theatre, perhaps the one that hits hardest home for me is that playwrights have generally drifted away from writing for a specific ensemble. I know I have been guilty of this mistake; even knowing as I do that the scripts which I have written for specific actors in mind have been some of the most satisfying artistically, as well as successful in production.

A SOLUTION: Let’s back to the basics of writing with specific actors in mind. The Sandbox is the perfect crucible for such an experiment. Thus, the Spring Salon be dedicated to a “Sandbox Ensemble Play Ground”.

WHAT: Three or four Sandbox playwrights (myself included) will draw names of 9 to 16 Sandbox actors (myself included). Over the course of a month, the playwrights will personally and individually meet (coffee, beer, whatever) with each of the three or four actors we draw. We will then write 20 – 25 pages of brand new material specifically for our selected actors. These pages will be read publicly at the Spring Salon.

THE TWIST: Participating playwrights will draw each other’s names at random, and assign their fellow playwright 10 words to incorporate into their script.

WHO: Participation is limited to current Sandbox Members only.

WHERE: The final readings will be held at the THE STUDIO at 15 McGraw, Monday, May 10.

WHEN: The name draw will happen on Saturday, April 10 exactly one month before the salon.  The Salon of final readings will take place on May 10.

HOW: We are all so very busy that this project is designed to NOT be an added drag on our individual schedules. For the actors,  it is just two time commitments: the individual meeting with the playwright and the night of the reading itself. If you decide you want to rehearse a bit with your playwright, that is completely up to you.

For the playwrights, it will be a little bit more of a commitment. Three or four individual meetings and the time it takes to write 20 pages. But that’s it.

SIGN UP NOW!

If you are a Sandbox playwright and/or actor and want to play, email me at paul@paulmullin.org.

Our first Salon is fast approaching! Details below:
December 19th, 2009 at Freehold
Doors at 7:45…performance begins at 8:30pm (90 mins or less)
Beer, Wine, cocktails and snacks provided
Donations to The Sandbox Artist Collective gladly accepted

For members and guests…Observe local performance artists in action; poetry, dance, music, comedy, theatre…and more. Engage with performers and each other in dialogue inspired by the performers and the contextual questions posed by your intrepid hosts Seanjohn Walsh and Shawn Belyea. A private party designed to bring the members of the collective together in a fun, inspiring and engaging event. Come play…I dare you!

Complete performer list available soon.