The Story of
Something Like Love
First, the academic nitty gritty:
SPOILERS! (Click to view)
I've never taken a writing class. I did, however, show this play to a professor.
College. Both my girlfriend (Shane) and my best friend (Emily) were taking Playwriting, a class I very much wanted to take but couldn't. I followed what they were doing as the class moved along, reading assignments they both had written. By the end of the term, I was quite involved with the class, as they were holding staged readings of their final plays of the term and I was directing two of them (not surprisingly, my best friend's and my girlfriend's). Sat in on several classes as production related questions were debated. I was definitely an unofficial classmate.
As if to make it official, after the term was over I handed the professor my play and asked him to read it. He gushed; apparently he had never known students to do this much work independently for no real profit. He thought it was a terrific first effort. He mentioned this play when presenting my award for Outstanding Contribution (the "Thank you for saving our asses and making us look good award") at the end of the following year.
By the time he read it, Emily, Shane, and Aaron (remember him?) had read it and recommended revisions, which I will explain later.
As for the subject matter:
SPOILERS! (Click to view)
This play was based on a "what if?"
The Breakdown:
Jane = Shane
Jeffrey = Dexter
Donna = Me
I loved that woman so much. To this day, I doubt I could see her without falling apart just a little. She was confident, stubborn, funny, smart, grounded, jealous, and crazy. She was surprisingly prudish, but still a great lover. There were many relationship issues that contributed to our eventual downfall, but they are not important to this explanation.
As our relationship developed (say, year 2 out of 4) she started to discover and come to terms with her gender disphoria. I t wasn't a consistent thing, but it was certainly there, and I encouraged her to explore this part of herself. Well, her/himself as I came to say.
Thing is, she only wanted me as a lesbian. At times when she identified more with a man, she still identified as gay, only being attracted to men. I teased and called her the gayest person I knew, and she appreciated that. I told her if the chance arose, and she wanted to, she was absolutely allowed and encouraged to seek out sex with gay men as a man. I really wanted her to. I knew it was a part of Shane that I couldn't satisfy. I didn't mind.
She never did. In truth, she told very few people about the way she felt. Some figured it out. I even know of two that would have slept with her the way she wanted (one who she didn't want as much, and the other whom she crushed on most seriously). For th rest, I'll never know.
I'm a strange duck when it comes to fidelity. If I'm secure emotionally, I don't care what you do physically (unless you consider indiscretions grievous and still do it, then we need to talk). I can get jealous for attention however.
Over the course of the time Shane was devoted to me, the fell for several other people. She always told me, and I loved talking about it with her. They were all men, they were all gay (except for one butch lesbian in the group) and she wanted them all terribly. There was Daniel, the Costume Designer, professor, and old queen. There was Troy, the laid-back bisexual Technical Director. There was Ciaran, the ultra-hot FTM transman and Poli-Sci major we all saw transition.
Then there was Dexter.
Dexter was a friend of ours. He was a fellow student: Filipino, a talented actor, a terrific dancer, sweeter than apple pie, popular, and utterly fabulous. I adored him, and always thought there was something a Zen about him. Dexter and Shane were incredibly close friends at this time. She loved him and wanted him, but he wasn't going to know that. I got the feeling he was attracted to her as well, maybe just a little.
So I was wondering, "What if?"
What if they ever acted on it?
It also became a statement. For all her other loves, Shane was not truly polyamorous. In fact, I don't think I'd even heard the term when I wrote this. For me, the end of the play was my dare. Think differently.
I don;t think she picked up on that.
The Jane and Jeffrey and Donna are not quite Shane and Dexter and me. I exaggerated certain traits and left out some others entirely. I did however make a very conscious choice to have the characters speak very differently. For example, Jeffrey only curses once in the whole play (a very significant and private moment), while they are a regular part of Jane's vocabulary. Donna talks and talks like I do (do you know what it is like trying to imitate and exaggerate your own speech patterns?).
NOTE: This play was written before I discovered anger. I never got angry. I got sad, I got depressed, not angry. Some people who read this thought Donna was not believable in her emotional reaction to what happened. I say those people simply didn't know me very well.
And the editing:
SPOILERS! (Click to view)
At first, the play was just the first scene. I got complaints that they were just fighting and fighting! Were they really best friends? So I added the section of reminiscing about high school. I can't imagine the scene without it now it was exactly what I needed.
As for the other advice, apparently people just wanted more. Aaron wanted to see the confrontation where Donna finds out. He seemed to think there was no drama in the play, you only see what comes after. And so, I tried to write that scene. It came out ok (if you want to see it, I'll show you! Once in a lifetime chance!) But I didn't want to rewrite the second scene.
Eventually, I learned that I loved it being about just what comes after.
Emily wanted more at the end. She wasn't satisfied by the ending at all. And so, I tried to write more. That turned out to be far more difficult. I wrote it all out though, and I got to dig into Donna, which was cool. But ultimately, I thought it was better open ended.
And that, my dears, is the story of Something Like Love
And now for a little something I wrote a few days ago. It's called "And So God Tested Us".
NOTE: I am not a Christian, nor have I ever been. I'm not even monotheistic. But if I was, I would believe this:
So God tested us.
Quite recently, in fact.
Unfortunately, most people understood that test incorrectly. You see, God wanted to see how well we figured out that whole "love your neighbor" business. He's tried it before, always using his favorites. But God could no longer use his Chosen People for this task, thank goodness, since most people seemed to understand that hating his Chosen People just wasn't cool anymore. "Good, they've learned! It only took thousands of years," thought God, "it's time for a harder test"
So God, considering the ways he's let the people grow and the many things they've learned, sought out a portion of the world's population to infect: one ignored at best, hated and feared at worst. He found the perfect choice. "Sorry boys," thought God, "I do love you, really. Don't worry; if they react the way they should, this should blow over fast."
And so there was the gay plague: beautiful young men dying horrible deaths, and no one could figure out how or way.
And some called it "God's punishment."
And the American president wouldn't even discuss it or say its name.
And thousands and thousands were dying.
God sighed. "You haven't learned, have you?"
And so, the plague spread.
Some cared. Some worked early, and gave it a name. They were not enough.
The rest were too late.
God said, "You have failed. Let it spread."
Now millions and millions are dead and dying.
But the test is not yet over. Even if we were late to start, we worked hard and as such were given the tools to treat the disease and make it less awful. In the most affluent parts of the world, we are cozy and pretend it's less of a problem. Now it lives most in dark skinned foreigners.
"You failed the gays. Now let's see about Africans. Go help them."
It will keep moving and changing until it finally comes back to us.
You've heard of the "superstrains," right?
I really don't think you need to add the scene where Donna finds out. We learn about her reaction in the waiting room, and anything else you want the audience to know about her can be added in that dialogue.