We had a very good sized house and all five shows were well received.

Mine, of course, made a total mess of the stage, and luckily went last.

A HALF DOZEN RAW EGGS AT THE AIRPORT

A comedy

Production Credits:

Playwright: Roy C. Booth
Producer: Greg Gasman
Director: Catie Belleveau
Stage Manager: Cheryl Winnett
Lighting: Abbie Swafford
Sound: Mark Anderson
Set Design: Alex Ward
Crew: Pam Austad, Karen Filardo, Lisa Knights, Diana Kuklinski, Jessie Ladig, and Mollie

MARTIN: Mike Hardin
CELESTE: Mary Anderson
SAFA: Kari Munson

Simple set, simple costuming, simple props.

Running Time: 15 minutes.

As with everything I do, I will be submitting this play for publication at a later date and it is presently available for readings and more “test run” productions.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in this great night of theatre — I really appreciated your contributions and efforts, and espeically the chance to just show up and watch the show as the playwright with no other responsibilities whatsoever…

And here’s a related news story on the “Out of the Hat” event:

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100011903/

BEANIE AND THE BAMBOOZLING BOOK MACHINE by May, Booth, and Tibbets.

www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/…/4494

will be produced for three performances by Monument Children’s Theatre (with support from the Western Nebraska Arts Council) in Scottsbluff, October 14 - 16.

I have also learned of (and confirmed) an earlier February 8 & 9 production of the play at the Hudson High School in Hudson, New York.

Phase One of “Out of the Hat” starts tonight at 7 PM at the Wild Hare Cafe and Bistro.

This Friday and Saturday I will be one of the five featured playwrights involved, and here is a breakdown as to what I will doing (tickets are $10, and the show starts at 8 PM, Saturday at the historic Chief Theatre here in Bemidji):

On Friday night, 7pm at the Wild Hare you will check in. After you check in you will be given 3 scraps of paper. On the first paper you will write out a location where one of the plays could take place at - (ex. in McDonalds or on a bus - whatever). On the second paper you will write down an object that could be used or talked about in one of the plays - (ex. a football or a dead rat - whatever). On the third paper you will write down the first line of one of the plays.

PLAYWRIGHTS: At 8pm you will pull one slip out of each of these above hats and announce them to the audience. You will also pull a slip out of the acting hat. Looking at the actors that we have available - you could pull a slip out that says 4 men and 1 woman or 2 women and 2 men. As you pull these things out of the hats we will be writing down the data you pull out. During the performances when I introduce each production I will be telling the audience the four hat draws that you pulled. Like I wrote in the above paragraph, the object can actually be used in your play (if it sounds like something we can get our hands on) or it can just be talked about in as little as one scene. ***Another thing to keep in mind, our actors come with quite a range of ages and the director will not be able to cast his own cast. For example, our male actors range from their mid-20’s to their mid-60’s. Our female actors range from their early-20’s to 40 (am I offending any of you?).

**** I did say in the advertising ‘Adult Funny’. So we should reach for adult situations but I’m not sure how far we should go with language. Let’s stay away from ‘f’ this and ‘f’ that type of funny. ****Let’s shoot for 15 minute comedies.
Playwrights will need to turn their scripts into me Saturday by 7:15am - so we’ll be able to make copies for all of the direectors and actors by 8am. Please have a title page and character list at the beginning of your plays. I assume most of you will be writing your plays on your computers - so you can email me your scripts. Please send your scripts to XXXXXXXX . If someone needs to physically hand me a paper copy - I will be available by 7am. You can call me anytime, day or night, at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
After you hand in your plays - let us trust in our directors. In other words, it would be better if you do not hang out during the rehearsal period. The directors will have enough on their plates - they probably will not have time to discuss your interpretation of your play.
Obviously you are all welcome back Saturday evening as our celebrity guests for the performances.
This is a lot of work but it should be loads of fun. I’m hoping it’s a great time - so we can do it again in the Spring.

***** Well, this is one way to get something new written that weekend, I suppose…

In Val Therese, Ontario, to be precise! The performance rights for the 10-Minute comedy (http://www.hitplays.com/default.aspx?pg=sd&st=GRANDPA+JIM+IS+DEAD) were picked up by their Valley Community Theatre earlier today.

Val Therese is, from what I can tell, a northern ‘burb (?) of Sudbury, where Beanie and the Bamboozling Book Machine was once produced waaay back in 1991.

That’s production no. 28 for that script and its second outing in Canada. The overall is now set at 621 known productions, 98 now of which have taken place outside of the United States.

My adaptation of D. H. Lawrence’s THE ROCKING-HORSE WINNER will be produced for two performances at the Dakota Prairie School in Petersburg, ND starting on 11/12/09.

https://www.hitplays.com/default.aspx?pg=sd&st=ROCKING-HORSE+WINNER

My poem “The Long Man Cometh” will be anthologized in Shroud Publishing’s upcoming dark poetry offering tentatively entitled The Terror of Miskatonic Falls, which is to be edited by Kevin Lucia.

More details to follow.

Oakland Community College will be performing BEANIE AND THE BAMBOOZLING BOOK MACHINE by May, Booth, and Tibbets at the Oak Ridge Theater in Bloomfield Hills, MI, October 29 (a 10:30 AM performance).

OCC is also performing the play October 28 - 31 (twice on the 31st) and on November 1 at the Smith Theater in Farmington Hills, MI.

Two things:

I will once again be a Guest at Arcana: A Convention of the Dark Fantastic (No. 39), October 16 - 18 in St. Paul, MN. This year’s Guest of Honor will be Kim Harrison (last year it was F. Paul Wilson). For more information, please go to www.arcanacon.com.

I will be speaking at the Pillager High School Gym as part of the high school’s centennial celebration as one of their “featured alumni” on September 11.

Found out today that the performance rights to GRANDPA JIM IS DEAD (w/. Michael Paslawski, https://www.hitplays.com/default.aspx?pg=sd&st=GRANDPA+JIM+IS+DEAD) have been picked up by the Miami Beach Teen Club of Miami Beach, Florida.

That’s the show’s first production in Florida and its 27th overall.