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Thursday, May 27, 2004

Two weeks after 'Be Worth It' was rejected by both the Royal Court and the Soho Theatre, in what can only be described as an outrageous administrative error (probably), I've finally picked myself up and read through the play for the first time in four months, with a view to highlighting the sections needing a rewrite. And the result..?

I don't want to change a single word. In fact, I have no idea how I wrote that thing in the first place, so the thought of improving on what's already there seems kinda stoopid. In fact it scares the hell out of me. That play is the best damn thing I've ever written, which for someone with low self esteem is quite a statement, and I'm not at all sure I can write anything like that again. At least not without significantly increasing my bagel consumption, having no life, and driving myself to the brink of insanity for three months, which is how I managed it last time. That darn play nearly killed me.

So I'm pig-headedly refusing to take out my chisel and chip away at any slight imperfections. The whole thing would just crack and dissolve into a million pieces.

Instead, it's going straight back out there. It's off to join the new improved 'Internet Cafe' at the Warehouse Theatre's International Playwriting Festival, and on top of that, is heading for the Sussex Playwrights 2004 full-length play competition. Which, seeing as I was born in Hastings, and I now know Brighton like the back of my hand (well, I can find the police station with no more than two or three wrong turns), I should have no problem winning.

So being an obsessive who can't leave anything til the morning, I was naturally up til 3:30am last night sorting out these entries. And simultaneously making myself poor. I fitted a new printer cartridge immediately before printing 'Internet Cafe' three weeks ago, and as of this morning, that's virtually empty. So let's consider the cost of sending out these three plays...

Inkjet Paper (1 copy of 'Internet Cafe', 2 of 'Be Worth It', 340 pages) = £3.40

Envelopes (for sending of plays, return of plays, acknowledgement of plays, sealed contact details) = £4

Printer Cartridge (about 90% of one cartridge) = £20

Postage (for sending of plays and return postage of plays & acknowledgements) = £20

Contest Entry Fee = £5

GRAND TOTAL = £52.40

And that doesn't include paper fasteners, electricity, blood, sweat, or indeed tears.

It's no wonder I'm living in poverty.

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