This is far more pretentious than I would usually aspire to be, but alas. I'm in a mood to share with GAF, so share I shall.
I'll start out with a tiny bit of backstory though. First off, playwriting has been a goal of mine ever since I decided, arbritrarily in Grade 9, that I was good at. I wrote the crappiest play in the history of crappy plays for Fine Arts class that year. It was called "The Caper at Willow Hall" and was about a team of superheroes, who are nephews and nieces of royalty, fighting off bumbling villains at the grand ball.
Now, if I had millions of dollars and talented people, I think I could have directed a half decent farcical comedy...as it was, I lost all control of casting, sets and pretty well everything involved with the production. The teachers began picking people for casting by random selection, the sets were atrocious, and the thing very simply fell apart. In the end, I think we performed it for Grade 5 students during their lunch break. It was disturbingly terrifying, but I still had far too much faith in my abilities and throughout high school continued to bug my Drama teacher about it (Can't act for shit, though.)
After sitting through two and a half years of really, really crappy plays, I decided enough is enough and basically forced my way into a writing and directing position of one of the plays in our final show of the year. That play was "Introducing...The Worst Singer on Broadway!" and was basically a complete and total farce on broadway. We had a real blast with it, and even took it to a provincial Drama Festival.
Let's fast forward to earlier this fall, where I learned of a student-written and threatre student produced festival to take place in February. And, for the occasion, I wrote the play that I will be getting to in a second. It was selected to be performed and then...well, it was. And, being a director as much as a writer, and having no control over the production, I bitched about it for hours. It was awesome.
On that note, here's an exciting link to "Damn You, Dr. Phil!", as well as a nice, brief synopsis to see if you're interested in giving it a look. For anyone who happens to attend the University of Toronto, a friend of mine at UofT is planning on a performance of the play around the end of March, so be sure to keep on the lookout for that. I'll warn you right now though...it gets a little bit preachy at the end, but I think it works still. Just my two cents. Any criticisms are more than welcome; there were some lingering issues regarding the mix of comedy and drama in the play, and whether or not they were actually resolved is still up in the air.
Damn You, Dr. Phil!
Dr. Eli Wesley is an established Psychiatrist with his own practice in a bustling metropolis. However, he lives in an age where he feels his profession being attacked by a man more terrible than Satan. The threat of Dr. Phil McGraw on the values that he holds dear is great, and he hopes to fight his influence. He, however, seems to be the only one fighting the good fight. His rival psychiatrist, Dr. Bentley, is taking advantage of this phenomenon, and Dr. Wesley is none too pleased (And yes, psychiatrists have rivalries; just ask McGregor and McAngus in Glasgow. McGregor lost an eye. Tragic.) And, to top it all off, Dr. Wesleys secretary Stacey lives her life according to the wisdom of Oprah Winfrey, bringer of Dr. Phil. Surrounded by these demonic viewpoints, Dr. Wesley is forced to confront the influence of Dr. Phil head on. A gripping and hilarious combination of satire and social commentary, Damn You, Dr. Phil! is about one man, fighting to save the world from a man who will damage it for eternity.
Damn You, Dr. Phil!
Save it, read it, print it off and burn it, I don't really care. While I would personally appreciate nobody passing it off as their own, I am well aware I cannot control such a thing. Either way, do enjoy.
Memles
I'll start out with a tiny bit of backstory though. First off, playwriting has been a goal of mine ever since I decided, arbritrarily in Grade 9, that I was good at. I wrote the crappiest play in the history of crappy plays for Fine Arts class that year. It was called "The Caper at Willow Hall" and was about a team of superheroes, who are nephews and nieces of royalty, fighting off bumbling villains at the grand ball.
Now, if I had millions of dollars and talented people, I think I could have directed a half decent farcical comedy...as it was, I lost all control of casting, sets and pretty well everything involved with the production. The teachers began picking people for casting by random selection, the sets were atrocious, and the thing very simply fell apart. In the end, I think we performed it for Grade 5 students during their lunch break. It was disturbingly terrifying, but I still had far too much faith in my abilities and throughout high school continued to bug my Drama teacher about it (Can't act for shit, though.)
After sitting through two and a half years of really, really crappy plays, I decided enough is enough and basically forced my way into a writing and directing position of one of the plays in our final show of the year. That play was "Introducing...The Worst Singer on Broadway!" and was basically a complete and total farce on broadway. We had a real blast with it, and even took it to a provincial Drama Festival.
Let's fast forward to earlier this fall, where I learned of a student-written and threatre student produced festival to take place in February. And, for the occasion, I wrote the play that I will be getting to in a second. It was selected to be performed and then...well, it was. And, being a director as much as a writer, and having no control over the production, I bitched about it for hours. It was awesome.
On that note, here's an exciting link to "Damn You, Dr. Phil!", as well as a nice, brief synopsis to see if you're interested in giving it a look. For anyone who happens to attend the University of Toronto, a friend of mine at UofT is planning on a performance of the play around the end of March, so be sure to keep on the lookout for that. I'll warn you right now though...it gets a little bit preachy at the end, but I think it works still. Just my two cents. Any criticisms are more than welcome; there were some lingering issues regarding the mix of comedy and drama in the play, and whether or not they were actually resolved is still up in the air.
Damn You, Dr. Phil!
Dr. Eli Wesley is an established Psychiatrist with his own practice in a bustling metropolis. However, he lives in an age where he feels his profession being attacked by a man more terrible than Satan. The threat of Dr. Phil McGraw on the values that he holds dear is great, and he hopes to fight his influence. He, however, seems to be the only one fighting the good fight. His rival psychiatrist, Dr. Bentley, is taking advantage of this phenomenon, and Dr. Wesley is none too pleased (And yes, psychiatrists have rivalries; just ask McGregor and McAngus in Glasgow. McGregor lost an eye. Tragic.) And, to top it all off, Dr. Wesleys secretary Stacey lives her life according to the wisdom of Oprah Winfrey, bringer of Dr. Phil. Surrounded by these demonic viewpoints, Dr. Wesley is forced to confront the influence of Dr. Phil head on. A gripping and hilarious combination of satire and social commentary, Damn You, Dr. Phil! is about one man, fighting to save the world from a man who will damage it for eternity.
Damn You, Dr. Phil!
Save it, read it, print it off and burn it, I don't really care. While I would personally appreciate nobody passing it off as their own, I am well aware I cannot control such a thing. Either way, do enjoy.
Memles