Just throwing out a little teaser here. I get to be on stage again this summer. We’re going to be doing a dramatic reading of David Csontos’s “I Am My Imaginary Friend.” “Imaginary Friend” was the first of his plays that I got to do two years ago. You can read about that experience in a previous posting to this site.
I’m looking forward to reuniting with most of the cast. Last I heard we had gotten confirmation from all but one cast member about doing the reading. As this will be a reading things will be a lot different. Easier in many ways, more difficult in other. What makes it easier also makes it difficult. There will be no set, no staging, no blocking. Just the four of us sitting with stands in front of us with the script. Yes, we get to read straight from the script! If David permits, I am going to rewrite/ad lib some of my parts. Bringing them a bit closer to what I did on stage two years ago.
Full length recording. We never did get that third dinner table scene quite right. Perhaps we can with the reading.
We’ll be doing or reading of the play at the Historic Ferguson House near the Capital Building in the Near South neighborhood of Lincoln, NE. It is being sponsored by KZUM community radio and the Platte River Sampler, a program on that station. David has had small parts of other productions aired on the show, including the Mommy/Baby scene from “The God Show” followed by the original song “I Was a Teenage Girl Group”, also written by David. I was not involved in that broadcast, though I did appear on stage in the expanded version of that play last Spring at by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus and St. Mark’s on the Campus.
At about the 7 minute mark I get to play my most challenging role of the show, Meryl Streep.
Phil Schupbach, one of the hosts of Platte River Sampler, has been so kind to work with David and the cast to make this special reading possible. Cast members Sharon and Jayme are on board for sure. We’re waiting to hear if Damon will be available for the summer reading. He’s plotting a move to the East Coast sometime this year and may not be here the end of June when we go on with the show. David is going to talk with local slam poet Cei Loofe about helping as stage manager. Though the set, blocking, and such are nonexistent for this production we are still planning to use the Power Point Damon put together for the stage production. We’ll Cei or someone to take care of that for us.
If this goes as other special performances with Platte River Sampler, it is part of a workshop with Q&A. Of course this would be a workshop on writing and producing a play. That is where David comes in. But we’ll have to wait to see what happens between now and then. And until then, feel free to browse through the related videos on YouTube to get more of a feel for David’s work and what he has tortured..er..what he has done with his various casts!
Check back with this blog or follow me on Facebook for updates on this special performance of “I Am My Imaginary Friend.”
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