The play’s the thing

As I mentioned a few days ago, my play Candle in the Darkness premiered this past weekend. I recorded the first night with my digital camera and have uploaded the video to Google for your perusal.

But first a few things. The sound isn’t that great, and in a few places it’s rather hard to hear what they’re saying. But fear not! As I promised several weeks ago, I’ve uploaded the script, and you can read along: Candle in the Darkness. (PDF) N.B.: I thought about revising the script to match what the actors and director did with the play (everything above and beyond what’s in the script itself), but I figured that for the historical record and for “pedagogical purposes” it would be better to leave it as is, so you can see how much came from the original script and how much blossomed out of rehearsals. I was really pleased with what the cast did with the script, honestly. In fact, the play was much funnier (and the audience far more responsive) the second and third nights, but I didn’t record them. (My arms got all shaky from holding my camera up for eighteen minutes, and they were sore for a few hours after that. Thus the recording isn’t exactly smooth, but hopefully it gets the play across.)

Without further ado, then, I present to you Candle in the Darkness:

The mother is Katherine Gee; the son is Ryan Dahlquist; and the director (unseen) is Mattie Rydalch. And I’m the playwright.

I watched your play and read the script as it went. Great Job.

Brings lots of thoughts to mind.

I smiled when I saw your dating dialog, and saw the screen writer coming through. But, just like the people that freely share the Gospel, perhaps they know something or have something they value and want to share. Perhaps they really so care. Perhaps they are not misguided.

I tend to be more direct, when sharing the gospel. I have relatives that say nothing and wait for others to ask. I am a convert. I had friends through my childhood that invited me to church and primary, and I went. Several years passed, then as a senior in High School I called the missionaries. They did not come and I waited. I called back and they came. That month of lessons was the longest month in my life. I joined the church in Jan 1973. I feel the pushy people I knew kept the Gospel in front of me. I am so thankful for them.

Thanks, Donna. :) You know, when I first started writing this play, I thought it was going to be an answer: namely, pushiness is bad. But as you can tell from the finished product, it took on a life of its own and forged off in a new direction. Both Jefferson and his mother have valid points, for and against pushiness, and so the play doesn’t really answer the question — it just points out that both sides make sense. The one thing I wanted out of this play was to get people thinking. If I can do that, I’ve succeeded. (And a few laughs along the way don’t hurt. :))

I thought so.

Before I continue, I want you to know that I enjoyed your play and laughed, and pondered.

I think the problem comes in deciding something is pushiness, when in fact that person might, just be following through on a prompting.

I had a Stake President in Colorado share in stake conference that Heavenly Father often answers are prayers by those around us. He counseled us to listen to parents and spouses and seek the Spirit’s confirmation. We could be praying and then closing the door, or window.

My mother in law was reading the bible after WWII and got the idea in her head to pray to enter into the house hold of the faithful.
When the missionaries knocked at her door, she was busy and turned them away. She quickly was reminded in her heart that she had been praying. She called them back and joined the church.

I would say its pushiness if its our plan and agenda, not His.

What about the recipient? If they are closed to answers coming in any other way, than what they specify, are they not limiting the Lord? You know the old dialog…
“Lord why did you let me drown in the flood?”
I tried, I sent a log, then a row boat, a speed boat, and finally a helicopter.”

Mother-son relationships can be touchy. Especially if the son has been home from a mission for a while and does not seem to her to be moving forward. However, when the mother is a righteous daughter of God, as was Jefferson’s mom, why the disconnect? He was closed to her, until almost the end. He tried to dissuade her gospel sharing, and ridiculed her care about introducing him to young ladies. Jefferson showed a shallowness to spirituality, and a distractedness by life. He did start reflecting about his lack of commitment in sharing the gospel on his mission.

I have a friend who said her brother, older than you, sought numerous blessings to be reassured that he would find his eternal companion. As a dear sister, she prayed for him. She even put his name and his future wife’s ,____, on temple prayer rolls. Would she be pushy if a name came to her, to introduce him to someone?
After praying, would she not be under obligation to follow promptings? I think it is sad that so many young men have attitudes and ideas about how their future will come into their lives. They shut doors and opportunities. It is so limiting.

At the end of the play, Jefferson got a Book of Mormon to take across the street. He did not resolve his other issues though.

I say, never ignore a prompting to do good.

Ben,

I’m sorry that I missed your play. We were in Seattle. I just read the script and liked it very much. I’m curious. What inspired the characters?

Donna: I agree — always follow the promptings. (To play devil’s advocate, though, let’s not forget that there are more ways than one to follow a prompting, depending on how specific the prompting is.) As for Jefferson’s issues, the play’s only 19 minutes long, so it’d be kind of hard to resolve everything. :) With your friend, no, I think that she’d be fine introducing him to someone if a name came to her. Speaking as one who has people trying to set him up almost every day, I do appreciate people’s interest and care, and I don’t ridicule that. But it does get a little old, I’m afraid. It’s almost like a game, Marry the Bachelor Off or something. So I wouldn’t be too quick to come down on the single guys, either. Let’s be fair. :)

J: The deadline. I was in the shower and the idea — sharing the gospel — came to me, so when I got out, I sat down and wrote a six-page draft. Having a (somewhat) recently returned missionary seemed like a good fit, considering that those two years would still be a large presence in his memory. I thought about replacing the mother with a girlfriend or an old companion, but the mother-son dynamic felt like it was what the play needed. And that’s how we got Jefferson and his mom. And neither of them is gay. (Grrr to J.K. Rowling.)

I was excited to have an opportunity to direct this show and I felt like I had a wonderful time. The best part was seeing it performed onstage. The actors did well in my opinion and I was happy to be able to work with them and with the playwright.

It really did turn out well — good job, Mattie. :)

[…] 13, 2007 A Powerful little Play Posted by Shirley under Uncategorized   Last night we went to see Ben’s play,“Candle in the Darkness.” I totally enjoyed the humor and the excellent acting. It was so funny and real. The son in the play tries to get his mom not to be so zealous as a missionary. I could relate to him so well! Then the mom tells her story. It’s painful. […]

[…] 3. I wrote a whole novel, Out of Time, in November. (Finally!) And while I didn’t write a full-length play, in August I did write a 20-minute play Candle in the Darkness, and it even got produced in October. […]

[…] Writing one play wasn’t enough. Two weeks ago I got a hankering to submit something to the New Play Project’s Eccentricities playfest (the deadline was the 11th), and so I wrote a play called Snowstorm (a comedy about five people stuck in a middle-of-nowhere motel during a blizzard) and sent it in before I left for Vegas. […]