sequence '21-22

playwrights are hot and cool!

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR JUDE - FROM ANNA

I am also also so sorry for my lateness on this post!!!

Jude! I am always so excited to read your play pages. I constantly admire your dedication to centering queer characters and queer history throughout time. I can't wait to see where this play goes in the future!!! Bringing romance to the stage is not often done in theatre, and so to break that boundary with queer romance, no less, is so exciting and courageous! There is so much to explore with time travel, and you are proving that gay sci-fi fantasy is not just for the screen!

When I think of your writing, I think of how you can create the mood of a situation so elegantly, while also not giving away all of the information we are curious to know at once. Your playwriting work in this class and at Northwestern in general has filled this community with so much talent and passion, and I am so excited for what you will accomplish next year as a senior and beyond! You are the definition of gay confidence at Northwestern! Lol, no one else could ever enter into a writing circle like you do.

<3 Anna

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR CONNOR - FROM CASEY <3

I am also so sorry for forgetting this blog post (since testing positive, dates have lost all meaning for me), but you need the most encouragement when you're closest to the finish line, right?

Connor, I admire how you're not afraid to make big changes in your play. The original Belt came with a creation myth and religious overtones, and then it became secular (mostly, at least until Screw shows up!) and focused on capitalism. You changed all your characters' names, then you changed their names again. It's scary to make those kinds of changes for fear that they could mess up the whole play, but all year, you've allowed yourself to make big swings to if you liked the new thing better. That takes a lot of bravery.

You're also so good about making us care about your characters. At the start of you play, even though we have no idea what's going on, I know that I like this Lever person because of how much he cares about his birthday presentation for Gear. And the relationship between Crank and Piston? When they're talking about giving up on the Belt because they want to spend more time with each other?? They are so sweet and cute!! I only want the best for them! Even though as those scenes are playing out, I have a creeping sense that everything will not be alright.

Speaking of, you're great at ratcheting up the tension in a scene. I remember the first time Gear has to reach for the ore - I wanted him to pick it up so he wouldn't be in danger of his meter filling up, but I also didn't want him to reach for it and buy into the oppressive system he had entered. No matter which he picked, I was leaning forward to see which he would choose. And don't even get me STARTED on when the Belt sends Screw a knife!!!!

You write about big questions. In this play, it's about why we work and what is life for. In a TBD play about putting a smiley face in an obscure library book, it's about being remembered and being forgotten. After reading or seeing one of your plays, I come away feeling smarter, thinking about something that wasn't on my mind before. It's been a pleasure reading your work all year, and you're going to have an amazing draft.

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR CASEY - FROM GABRIELA

OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS SORRY IT DOES NOT MEAN I’M NOT CASEY’S BIGGEST FAN (SPOILER: I AM). I WILL WRITE A LOT TO MAKE UP FOR THIS WOO!

HI CASEY!!! It is no secret that you are one of the most committed, generous, and caring writer-leader-mentor-s on this campus. Your prowess and particular, innovative, hopeful voice comes through in every genre you master. I am so, so sorry you’re sick with covid and am sending hugs from afar - I am likely echoing the sentiments of our cohort in saying “HERE FOR YOU”! If you need coffee, food, emergen-c, tea, covid test, anything, let me know - I can totally drop stuff off (THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO DEVONY<3<3). I’m rooting not only for you Casey, but also for your characters, who I CARE ABOUT SO MUCH (despite being male *I am relatively unforgiving/un-grace-ful when it comes to traditionally-masculine-men*). This is a play that uniquely speaks to an audience that might not always be on board for theatre/feeling free to feel feelings. This is a play that reimagines a coming-of-age story or odyssey into something that’s not chronological, that is gloriously messy, that feels expansive, and that I trust can move and transform audiences already. You have it all down - all this weekend is about is playing a little and seeing what matters most to you for now. You’ll soon travel and maybe uncover the meaning of life while you’re at it… which I imagine could bring more clarity to every project ever lol. Good things coming, my friend. Stay strong through the ‘vid and through this non-final draft.

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ANNA!!!!!! <3

Literally since the first workshop, I have been obsessed with the stakes, tension, humor, relatability, and poignancy of your play. I am always SO excited to see the new directions this world goes in and the journeys of these characters in figuring out who they are and what they want and need from those around them. The game being back and now with even more intense, heightened rules/consequences is already SO filled with exciting things and I truly will watch these characters compete and constantly shift in status for any length of time on any day!! I ALWAYS want to know what will happen next and am thrilled to read your pages whenever I get to :D Everything you write feels so true and resonates so deeply with our age group and I am so invested in these characters in both their good and bad moments, which is a testament to how compelling and nuanced they all are. YOU CAN DO THIS YOU ARE AMAZING AND I AM BEYOND EXCITED TO SEE WHERE THIS PLAY GOES!!!!!!!! (also if something goes wrong, play the popcorn song…ik it’s not your title anymore but it felt important to say)

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR GABRIELA FURTADO COUTINHO

YOU WILL NEVER STOP SHINING!

Your voice is larger than life and comes through clearly in everything you write. When I inevitably read one of your *very famous* plays in a few years, I will not need to look at the author to know it's yours. There's a kind of buoyancy and hope in it that could sustain an entire play by itself. Combining that with the deeply human characters (and otherworldly forces?!) that you seem to have an endless supply of, I am confident you will find the tools you're looking for to organize the watercolor maelstrom in your head. (And if you don't find them, you'll make new ones).

The metaphors you create are crystal clear even amidst the galactic chaos of your worlds - we will not get lost in them. Your heart has always been your guide when you write, and as such it guides us through those sobering real-world tragedies. Keep following it! We will all care because we can feel how much you do.

You freakin' got this, Gabby!

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR NATHAN!!!

YOU GOT THIS BRO!

Through all the iterations of this play, all of the characters have been SO compelling and nuanced and emotionally grounded, so all you gotta do is keep that going! Your sense of humor is also top notch, especially in the various uses of video games, which are always exciting! Now with the video game dreams, you have whole new structure and style to play (lol) and have fun with! The more you have fun, the more the audience will have fun, and it's already been SO fun. Your level of care for the sensitive subject matter of this play is also SO admirable, and you've already done a lot of the research work, so now you just gotta put it all together! Yay! Can't wait to see where this play goes!

YOU GOT THIS BRO!!!!!!!!!!

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ADAM!

Adam — your play has captivated me from the very first pitch when we heard the names of the characters. It's weird as hell and that's why we love it!! You are so skilled at both realism and absurdity, and both talents are on full display in this script. I hope as you revise, you keep pushing the limits of what this play can become and keep taking risks with style! As we saw from Agnes Nixon, We Are The Hunters of Deer already slays. Everything from here on is just perfecting it, and I can’t wait to see the show’s future. (And you’ve already created a dangerously catchy song in the process, so really, you already won.)

[sequence2022]

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR NINA!!!!

Our sequence mom,

CMON LAST PUSH YOU GOT THIS!!!! This play is already pointed, and hilarious, and full of heartspace, so you've already figured out the most important part. I hope that whatever you add in these last few days sharpens your point of view, but you should feel proud of what you've already done this year because it's amazing. YOU! GOT! THIS!

[sequence2022]

Nina - Two Goals

Make every word of Stevie's monologues/phone conversations essential and necessary, and continue to clarify her character and life beyond her relationship with the interns.

Strengthen scenes 2 and 8 particularly in terms of the flow of dialogue balanced with delivery of information, as well as the naturalness of the statements that deliver information.

[sequence2022]

Nathan - 2 Goals

Define rules of the dreams so that each dream is thematically connected to the play (e.g. not just any game) and consistent with the psychology of the person dreaming.

Further research grief counseling and clinical psychology so that Elle's skill and Pi's behavior are realistically represented.

[sequence2022]

Gabriela - Two Goals

Start Beatrice and Manuel as far apart as possible. Track Beatrice’s drastic change in belief from Investing to Caring.

Clarify the rules of space travel and why they’re going between planets. Further specify the rules of each galaxy and planet. Tighten up that intergalactic journey so it’s active.

[sequence2022]

Anna - Two Goals

Create and keep a constant, quick pace to the game throughout the play.

Choose which memories are essential to include in the game for each character. These will be memories that show the audience who these characters are and why, while also being memories that illustrate the rules/reasoning behind the game.

[sequence2022]

Adam - Two Goals

Clarify Soon's arc throughout Part I as it pertains to hunting/his relationship with Farther

Bolster the presence and purpose of at least one of the not-on-stage characters (Soon and Daunter's mother, Farther's father, Flaunter's son)

[sequence2022]

Devony - Two Goals

Clarify and incorporate the original fairytale (first scene) throughout the play, including Beira's retelling of it.

Deepen and build up the family relationships between Verity and her parents in the culminating scene.

[sequence2022]

Jude - 2 Goals

Make Arthur and Reid’s impending deaths (yes they BOTH die mwahahahaha) feel present throughout the show.

Incorporate ripple effects from the past into the San Fran(cisco) arc.

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Casey - Two Goals

Finish writing the "scenes in green" from my outline.

Make it so each scene in each part has a character, word, or idea that appears in the following scene.

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Connor- Two Goals

Thread the stories getting passed down and how they affect characters

Add moments of levity via clowning-like scenes