It's the Intermission
A Creative Coffee Break

Friday the 13th is just a day on my calendar. Much like a lot of other days. My mother would refuse to leave the  house on these Fridays. I confess I tend to do the opposite of what my mother did.

My buddy Dr. Deb, however, has me thinking about what superstitions I employ as a playwright. I don’t really have any. Really.

Except that, when a play is being performed for the first time, don’t tell me “it’s going to be great.” What kind of comfort is that? You wanna jinx everything? Jeez, step ten feet away from me, now!

Rituals are another matter. Like, again, on the aforementioned “first time,” please don’t talk to me. Or expect me to talk back. I’m trying not to puke, and it takes a lot of concentration.

One time, as a member of a deeply troubled group, I instigated a secret cleansing of our theatre space, when She Who Sucked The Life Out Of Us went to Edinborough to suck the life out of the Scots. We burned sage, and uh, danced in a circle or something. Fully clothed. Uh huh. Yeah, something like that. Pushed out all the Negativity in the theatre, so that the next production would have a fighting chance. It was cool. We bonded.

I don’t have the superstition that insists, “I do not talk about what I’m writing about.” If I don’t talk about it, it’s because I just don’t like to, more often than not. I want all my creative thought focused on writing, not on talking about writing. Sometimes you can talk your story to death and bore even yourself. Once I have a story frame, and the play is set in my own mind, I talk about it to MBH, of course. Also when I’m workshopping the work, weekly. How can you not?

Sometimes I wish I had a ritual like Paul Shelden did. He’d light a cigar and drink champagne at the end of completing his novel. I’m more likely to see an afternoon matinee, or eat a double chunk chocolate cookie.

I might have private “creation” rituals when I start a new project. I just might. Yes, indeed. Rituals, however, unlike superstitions don’t require implementation. Nothing bad happens to me if I don’t perform them. A superstition requires attention or else you invite disaster. Like, or example purposes only, if you don’t kiss your script and sprinkle it with glitter, before handing it over the Postal Service, you can kiss that particular opportunity good-bye for sure.

Some theatre superstitions are outlined here:

• Steppenwolf’s Archive
• Superstitions and Saints