Monday, September 24, 2012

Writer's Block

Wendell Burton stands in as a "blushing bride"
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked" writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers. (Wikipedia) In this week's meeting the Lakewood Players discovered a cure: find your muse. By muse we mean actors good at improvisation. After a wild warm up courtesy of  Mariel Yera-Smithwick a few pieces were practiced for upcoming performances for the Married Life Ministry at Lakewood Church . Then we moved on to the piece currently in the works thanks to this improvisation.

Improvisation requires all the skills of acting with the notable exception of remembering what comes next. In improv actors don't have to stress over remembering lines or cues which if your scribe has writer's block doesn't matter! There’s always the risk of it being bad, but there’s an equal chance of it being brilliant. Look for this and other plays on a stage near you.