Can you say intimidating? He seems rather nice. He is Derek Wolcott http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Walcott http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1992/walcott-bio.html, a poet and playwright from the Caribbean. I googled him (I wonder if it tickled). I wonder if we will live up to his expectations. There is a mix of students, some are 3rd year, some 4th year, some have degrees and are doing this extra to a degree (like me) while some are in Master's Programs. Not everyone has ever written a play. Some have but have never had a play produced. Some have written plays and have had multiple plays produced. A strange mix.
Our first assignment is to carefully and thoroughly read The Seagull (Chekhov - trans: Frayne) and write a 12 page personal essay about it. The direction of the topic is up to us. I am more worried about the lack of a focused topic than the fact that it is 12 pages long. I am glad to have both boys off to school next week. I will need the time to read and write. I think we will spend more time in the first half of the course with Mr. Wolcott reading than we will writing, but I am optimistic and I can tell he has a tremendous depth of knowledge.
We are also reading our plays as a group. I was one of the few who had a completed script with them so I am up next week. I am not terribly happy about the state my play is in now. I did very little editing from when I first wrote it at the 24 Hour Playwriting competition, but this is to make it better, right? Let's hope so.
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