In my newly begun stage adaptation of "Rip Van Winkle," Knickerbocker enters an empty village looking for a story. A "dog" comes out and ignores her. (The dog later becomes a "player" in the Rip Van Winkle tale.) A female tavern keeper (work as many female roles in as possible!) appears suddenly, startling Knickerbocker. Just as suddenly, a host of villagers appear, ready and willing to act out the story of Rip Van Winkle's encounter with the 18th century equivalent of "The Twilight Zone." All of a sudden I knew that the play would end with Knickerbocker alone again in the deserted village, realizing that all the villagers had been spirits, and that the collector of legends had been invited to participate in her own ghost story! This theatrical device "bookends" the Rip Van Winkle story, and opens the door for all kinds of possibilities, while making the actual process of laying out the story much easier. Actors can double roles easily, females could have a bigger part to play in the action, scene changes can be narrated and accomplished in full view of the audience, the Hudson ghosts didn't have to be actual ghosts (or dwarves), etc. Eureka! I'd found the key to adapting the story into a unified, entertaining play. In one day, I wrote the "set-up" for the Rip Van Winkle story/play, and got the villagers onstage. I keep the short story open next to my computer, read and re-read paragraphs, picture how it might work onstage, and then let my inner voice start dictating the dialogue as I watch the play unfold in my imagination. I instinctively sense when a joke or piece of comical business is needed, and when a scene has gone on long enough. Each sequence has its own rhythm. As I write, I keep a running tally of how many lines each villager has. Pioneer wants a minimum of 10 lines per actor. So I started with five villagers, and I'll keep adding more once they've reached the quota. Named characters will emerge from the group, so a narrator may become Rip's daughter for a scene (and also have 10 lines), then go back to the ensemble. This means a director can add extras or double up parts, depending on the size of the available cast. This worked really well for "Blather, Blarney and Balderdash," which can have a cast of 15-60! So far I've written three pages of dialogue, which is a little less than six minutes. I've established the context of the show, and introduced the Rip Van Winkle character in relationship to the environment and the townspeople. In the next scene we'll meet his nagging wife, then it's off to the hills for his ghostly encounter with Hudson. I usually write 2-3 pages per day, and when I'm in the "groove," I write about 6-10 pages per week. "Rip Van Winkle" will be 30 pages or less (closer to 20), so after revision and editing, it'll be ready to workshop in about a month. But before I get into all that, I think it's time for a nap! |
