© Ken GreenParis Happenings!
Théâtre du Monde's
Film Script Showcase Series
Celebrating the written word with performance, image, and sound.
Readings Update:
On June1st, 2007, Théâtre du Monde launchedlits first Staged Filmscript Reading Series. Robbye Apperson’s His Letters headed the bill, followed by a lively discussion session and reception. Questions were provided to audience members prior to all performances in order that the post-show discussion would help the writer to assess his story, and its structure, and its audience appeal. Ms.. Apperson, who flew in from the United States to participate, received wonderfully in-depth and insightful feedback.
We all learned quite a bit from our first foray. It was particularly gratifying to know that audience members love the opportunity to share their impressions and thus participate in the creative process. Over glasses of wine and hors d’ouevres, audience members, actors and camerapersons stayed a long timeto chat and exchange ideas on writing, producing and performing.
Our deepest gratitude do WICE for co-hosting the performance and for providing us with such a wonderful venue for the production! Thanks too to Bob Enteen and Joanna Margueritte for their help with filming the event.
SECOND READING
The weather forecast predicted rainstorms for Friday night. What a great evening to spend in the playhouse, then! In a change of venue, we set the stage in another wonderful space - Studio Dance Théâtre et Musique – in Paris’ 11th arrondissement, for the dramatic reading of Susannah Farrow’s science fiction film script, Apocrypha. Like His Letters, this multimedia production was directed by Fawn Wilderson-Legros.
Susannah Farrow is a screenwriter from Australia. Her screenplay tells the story of an angel banished to Earth for committing a crime against the Almighty. The story is tense and suspenseful, with not a small touch of romance. Our cast of players was superb and we were fortunate to benefit from the technical expertise of Marc Charley and the assistance of Pedro de Alcantara on camera. All technical aspects went very smoothly. The lighting effects we were able to achieve, coupled with images on the walls behind the actors, truly gave the effect of a visual production; just what a screenwriter needs to get a sense of her or his script as a film. Afterwards we enjoyed an impassioned and thought-provoking audience discussion. This time, both the performance and discussion were videotaped, and DVDs will soon be distributed to actors and crew.
THIRD READING
On the night of June 29, 2007, Théâtre du Monde relit the stage at Studio Dance Théâtre et Musique for our third and final screenplay reading of our first Filmscript Series. Even more highly attended than the first two—and definitely as entertaining—the night was a success, putting a great finish on our first effort and establishing a promising future for Théâtre du Monde’s Paris Project.
The evening’s screenplay was Bad Feng Shui, written by Alexis Niki, and again directed by Ms. Wilderson-Legros. Thanks to everyone’s support, TDM was able to offer a night of entertainment, followed by top-notchaperitifs, and a night of creative contacts and consulting with our featured talent.
After the performance of Nikki’s project—complete with props and on-screen projections of set location, highlighted by some of the best Anglophone talent Paris has to offer—we broke into discussion mode, sharing feedback with the writer about her script. Over wine, murgeuz, spiced cheeses, biscuits and cake, we chatted like friends discussing our new favorite movie. Major thanks to the folks at Studio Dance Théâtre et Musique, and to cameramen Bob Enteen and Colin Ames.
Now, sadly, the Spring Series has come to an end. We look forward to our next series of readings, when the faithful at TDM will be back at work bringing creative, enriching, and networking experiences to the Parisian theatre/film scene.
Stay tuned for news about our Spring 2008 screenplay workshops !!