Finished!

Yes! "Solamente Una Vez" is finished! The first draft comes in at a whopping 68 pages. Shortest play I've written in awhile given that "Holy Schmidt!" was 114. Quite a difference. But I feel it's complete, no fat in there to be cut out. I did all the cutting as I was writing. Everything feels necessary. There were scenes that I had written that were given a new life. The ending particularly. I like the ending. Whether other people will enjoy it, who knows? There were three scenes leading up to the ending that were giving me trouble. I'll dub them the "Consequence" scenes. What happens when David finds out Becky has been cheating on him? What happens when Connie finds out her husband, Fred, has been cheating on her? And what happens when Harry, David's boss, acts on his impulses and finds a vulnerable David?

These three scenes began last night as wholly different entities. For example, David confronted Fred and shot him. Where'd he get the gun?! But more than that, where did he get the "balls?" David has no balls, why suddenly grow some? So that scene had to change.

Becky was beat up by Connie in a bar. How'd they get to the same bar at the same time? Where was Fred? How does this happen? This was actually a scene that I created last summer during writing exercises with my friend and colleague, Sarah Hammond. As I read through it, I realized how wrong it was for this play. I tried to cut some things out of it, but ended up cutting about 9 3/4 pages out of 10. There was nothing salvagable. I battled all day yesterday with this scene. I wanted Becky to get beat up by Connie to show where the power and passion rested, that was a main concern of the play: who has power? Who has passion? And what brings it out of people? So, the scene became only the aftermath. Connie and Fred discussing what happened. It turned out much stronger, more interesting to see Connie after she's done something horrible.

And the final scene. Becky and David having breakfast after basically a night of getting "fucked" in several senses of the word. Sparse dialogue, just like the beginnings of this play. The very end, the last line might have to be tweaked, but I think it lands well. Hard to tell without an audience. I want to go first next semester in workshop.

This play has turned out to be a different animal than I'm used to. These characters speak differently. There are no pop culture references. No big jokes that come out as "jokes." It's dark. Odd that this play came out of me. It has the prerequisites of a "Chris Leyva play" as outlined by Jessica Dart- "Sex and God." So, it is one of my own. What scares me is how confident I am with this play. Am I setting myself up for disappointment? Are my perceptions skewed?