NaPlWriMo: Off the Pipes October 31, 2009
Posted by William Spear in >> News, >> Playwriting, >> Radio Drama, audio theatre, radio play, spoken word.Tags: >> Two Plus Plus Productions LLC, Industrial Football League, NaPlWriMo, national playwriting month, William E. Spear
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Our entry in the 2009 National Playwriting Month (NaPlWriMo) is Off the Pipes. Summary follows:
Off the Pipes (tentative) is about Frank Curts, a quarterback in the Industrial Football League (IFL). Curts is an accomplished quarterback but has never won the league championship. The closest he got was early in his career but a last second field goal bounced off the goal posts – the pipes, as they are called – and was missed because the kicker was high on crack. Curts will remember this forever.
Many years later, Curts’ career is ending when he’s injured during a pre-season game. The team assumes he will retire and it immediately signs a young player to replace him. Curts announces he intends to rehabilitate his injury and rejoin the team during the season.
The new quarterback rallies the team with a style of football that taps into the strengths and skills of every player. It is no longer Frank Curts and 25 other teammates. Unexpectedly, the new quarterback leads the team into the championship game. Curts watches the season from the sidelines. Privately, he tells friends he could still win any game at any time.
During the championship, with the team losing, the new quarterback is hurt. Curts has one last chance to win the championship which has eluded him. He puts the team in a position to win and in comes the same field goal kicker who, in a crack induced stupor, missed years earlier. Despite Curts’ protests and claims of contiuned drug use, the kicker swears he gave up drugs long ago.
But this is Curts’ last chance to win a championship and he does not want lose again. Does he think the kicker is clean enough to win the game? Will Frank Curts actually believe his teammate is Off the Pipes?
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Pleased to Announce: The Stories of Mayonnaise in My Cake and Other Holiday Delights are Published October 2, 2009
Posted by William Spear in >> News, >> Playwriting, >> Radio Drama, >> Sounds of Selling, >> Two Plus Plus Productions LLC, audio theatre, radio play.Tags: audio drama, mayonnaise in my cake, mayonnaise in my cake and other holiday delights, William E. Spear
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Early in the morning of Thursday 1 October, Two Plus Plus Productions LLC published the short story titled MAYONNAISE IN MY CAKE. It is about an unnamed character who is an academically trained and professionally experienced chef but is invisible around his fiancee’s family, the Clarksons. On Thanksgiving Day he is going with his fiancee to her family for a large meal. Standing on the porch of her parent’s house he realized the following:
The Clarksons, like most families, were a universe unto themselves. Unfathomable, but comically hostile, planets dominated the landscape.”
He seemed destined to remain invisible until he created a memorable impression when he insisted on not putting any mayonnaise in his cake. The ending is enjoyable and one I’d like to try in real life.
However, and in a larger sense, 1 October 2009 was the publication of our anthology MAYONNAISE IN MY CAKE AND OTHER HOLIDAY DELIGHTS. When we announced on 1 January 2009 our intent to publish the anthology, 1 October seemed like an impossibly short amount of time to accomplish the task.
But we had been inspired by dear friends who gave us a one-word mantra: “Believe.” We expanded it into “Believe, Simply Believe” and that became our rallying cry. No matter how late the hour or miserable the conditions of a piece, we kept coming back to “Believe, Simply Believe.” The plays and stories ultimately evolved into representative offerings of their genre.
The original goal of publishing a book was sidetracked due to technology issues – read, crashed hard drive – but we opted for publishing the individual stories. So the content is present even if it must be read in eight separate files.
Work is not done. We will continue our fundraising efforts and building a single book from the eight stories. There are new stories to be written. But along the way, we will continue to “Believe, Simply Believe.”
Details
Mayonnaise in My Cake
http://www.scribd.com/doc/20355424/Mayonnaise-in-My-Cake
Two Plus Plus Productions LLC
(on Scribd)
http://www.scribd.com/two%20plus%20plus%20productions%20llc
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POW/MIA Recognition Day: Friday 18 September 2009 September 19, 2009
Posted by William Spear in >> Playwriting, >> Radio Drama.Tags: Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, mia, national pow/mia recognition day, pow, the table, two plus plus productions
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In remembrance of Prisoners of War, Missing in Action, their families, friends, and comrades:
“A Pentagon ceremony for National POW/MIA Recognition Day will be held on Friday, Sept.18, 2009. This ceremony will feature troops from each of the military services. The President is expected to issue a proclamation commemorating the observances and reminding the nation of those Americans who have sacrificed so much for their country.
“Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans’ facilities. This observance is one of six days throughout the year that Congress has mandated the flying of the National League of Families’ POW/MIA flag. The others are Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day. The flag is to be flown at major military installations, national cemeteries, all post offices, VA medical facilities, the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the official offices of the secretaries of state, defense and veterans affairs, the director of the selective service system and the White House.”
(Source: Defense Pridoner of War / Missing Personnel Office; http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/)
In honor of same, Two Plus Plus Productions LLC offers THE TABLE for reflection:
A simple table with settings for six awaits its guests. But who are the guests and will they come? More importantly, can they come?
Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18496826/The-Table
Godspeed.
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Fifth fundraising effort: We are live! September 13, 2009
Posted by William Spear in >> News, >> Playwriting, >> Radio Drama, >> Sounds of Selling, >> Two Plus Plus Productions LLC.Tags: mayonnaise in my cake and other holiday delights, two plus plus productions, William E. Spear
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Two Plus Plus Productions LLC is pleased to announce the launch of Mayonnaise in My Cake and Other Holiday Delights. On January 1, 2009, we announced our intent to publish on October 1 and this is another step toward meeting that goal.
About this project
Mayonnaise in My Cake and Other Holiday Delights is an anthology of original radio scripts, short stories, and spoken word presented through the genres of literary adaptations, contemporary drama, history, and sports.
The decision to publish in October is an acknowledgement that the warmth of summer is behind us and the days and nights are increasingly colder. There are dramatic topics contained in the book – death, loss of a parent, and recalling to mind the plights of soldiers whose whereabouts are unknown.
But there are also moments that shed Winter’s cold and produce sparkling warmth – a Christmas song whose chorus is sung by hundreds of guests at a holiday open house, an aging film actor grasping for one more shot at stardom, and the raucous, rolling energy of professional football.
However, rather than reading about Mayonnaise in My Cake and Other Holiday Delights, consider reading the selections that will be in the book:
It Suits Her
Summary – The future of a young woman, trapped inside a job she despises but needs, and the comeback of an aging movie star, bankrupt after years of drinking, collide in a tailoring shop.
Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18082545/It-Suits-Her
Splendor in Midland – Episode One
Summary – Georgie Amberson Minafer is viewed with contempt by the residents of Midland. Since his antics as a spoiled youth, they have longed to see him get knocked down a notch or two. But no one could have imagined the pounding he would go through.
Inspired by Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Magnificent Ambersons,” SPLENDOR IN MIDLAND tells the story of Georgie and his families, the Ambersons and Minafers, as well as the Morgans, as they all face financial and personal upheavals.
Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19413372/Splendor-in-Midland-Episode-One
Swing for the Fences – Episode One
Summary – Jake Alston’s entire world is playing baseball with his father. But when his dad is killed in World War One, Jake’s world is destroyed.
Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15952114/Swing-for-the-Fences-Episode-One
The Past is Present
Summary – THE PAST IS PRESENT is a celebration of the 75th anniversay of the Industrial Football League (IFL) of Roberts County. It is also the last work of legendary sports announcer, Johnny Parks.
Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18662661/The-Past-is-Present
The Table
Summary – A simple table with settings for six awaits its guests. But who are the guests and will they come? More importantly, can they come?
Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18496826/The-Table
Also in the book are the following:
Celebrating Johnny Parks
Summary and link are forthcoming.
Mayonnaise in My Cake
The title selection for the book. Summary and link are forthcoming.
An excerpt from a novel in progress
Title, summary, and link are forthcoming.
Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air
We are also reprinting our first book, “Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air.” Published in 2006, all the plays in Lit Between the Ears have been produced or workshopped.
Summary – The plays range from a self-imposed 15-year prison sentence in “The Wager,” a countdown to death in “When the Last Leaf Falls,” a singing debut and attempted murder in “You Didn’t Have To Go” and three families’ diverging fortunes in “The Splendor in Midland.” Geraldine Downes, Jonesy, Donna Herb, Georgie Amberson Minafer and other characters tell their stories set in a banker’s mansion, art studio, nightclub and Midwest America.
Of particular note is the evolution of “Splendor in Midland.” Its 2006 debut was a strict adaptation of Tarkington’s nove, “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Three years later, it is “inspired by Tarkington’s novel” and fully contemporized.
Link
http://Volume-One.TwoPlusPlus.com/
Going Forward
Throughout our project, we will be posting updates on our blog, Lit Between the Ears. We will also be updating our home at Scribd. We also have a few performance dates in the near future as well.
Thanks for your attention; we look forward to seeing you at a book signing or having you in an audience.
All the best,
William E. Spear
Two Plus Plus Productions LLC
Lit Between the Ears
http://Lit.TwoPlusPlus.com/
Catalog at Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/Two%20Plus%20Plus%20Productions%20LLC
Progress towards our goal may be tracked on Kickstarter at the following:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1397540895/publish-mayonnaise-in-my-cake-and-other-holiday-d
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