It doesn't happen often but, every once in a while, something you have been looking forward to actually lives up to and even surpasses your expectations.
That's how I am feeling about my much anticipated meeting with Ryan Griffith, Artistic Producer with Next Folding Theatre, and screen writer Nancy Lynch that took place today in a coffee shop across from my place of work.
Did Ryan hug me and declare me the best playwright since Anton Chekhov or William Shakespeare? No.
Did he tell me my first draft of the stage version of A McAdam Station Christmas was a masterpiece on the order of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead? No.
Did he tell me he plans to produce my play as written and expects us all to become multimillionaires on the basis of ticket sales and movie rights? No.
Did he give me lots of great information and guidance on how to make my play better and make kind, supportive comments that implied I am not a complete hack who should hang up his keyboard?
Yes. Yes he certainly did.
And Nancy, who is my partner in crime on this little venture, was equally supportive and insightful. Ryan offered me a full year's worth of lessons on how to write a successful play. Nancy helped me to understand how to apply those lessons specifically to the Abigail story.
I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit stunned at the moment. Stunned that Nancy, an accomplished screenwriter and film creator, has taken such a supportive interest in this little project. So much so that she has agreed to take the lead on it and on our web series proposal.
And stunned that Ryan was willing to take time out of his busy (and clearly productive) schedule to read my novella and the draft play and then sit down with us for more than an hour to share his thoughts, insights and suggestions on how to make it better.
I have come away from this meeting inspired, excited and with a large pile of home work. Step one of the homework is to read Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, to get an idea of how a master handles both the medium and the structure of a three-act play. That should be no problem: we have a World's Classics collection of five plays by Chekhov on our bookshelf and I'm ready to start reading.
My second task is to re-imagine the basic themes of my original story in stage terms, to find ways to tell the same story but in a different, more theatre-oriented way.
Ryan proved to be an excellent, knowledgable teacher. He kindly said that he found enough in both the novella and my writing to suggest that I could write a successful play. He also kindly agreed to read the next draft that I produce, even if it doesn't make an appearance for several months.
I think most writers suffer from a lack of useful, honest, knowledgable criticism of their work but, thanks to Ryan and Nancy, I am glad to be able to say that my suffering has been abated. At least for now!
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