Process

One of the ways we were taught to decipher or translate Shakespearean text for ourselves in my graduate program was very simple. The method was one I was very familiar with, having been raised by an Ivy League English major, my father's response to almost every question was, "look it up."


Well, our professors taught us to look up the word, but they also taught us that in terms of the acting, we shouldn't only use the definition that seemed most obvious. But, we should also choose the definition that was most interesting to us. By doing this, we unlocked magic keys to opening the text. If it was interesting to us, it would be interesting to the audience; that was the main point. 


One of my major question when I started writing this play, was will anybody really care? My life is interesting to me, because, well, its my life. 


I mean, who am I kidding, it makes good theater: young black girl (ooo DOUBLE minority, there's something there), has a parent who commits suicide and she saw it (yikes! the horror!), father remarries, drama ensues through teenage years with stepparent (we love to watch peoples turmoil), secrets (ooo what are those???) but wait, now she's an actor? (that's exotic and exciting, and hear they're kind of wild, don't they all go on drunken binges and crash eventually?) Oh, but wait, she's married AND has three kids? (WOW! that's a lot of kids!) I hate when they say that, its not. NINE is a lot of kids. etc etc etc...


As I pondered and continue to ponder why its interesting, or should be to anyone besides me and my immediate family, the conclusion I've come to is this: its not the life itself, the events, and such, but the process of getting there that's interesting to me. 
proc·ess

[pros-es; especially Brit. proh-ses]   

–noun

1.

a systematic series of actions directed to some end: 

2.

a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner: 

3.

Law .

a.

the summons, mandate, or writ by which a defendant or thing is brought before court for litigation.

b.

the whole course of the proceedings  in an action at law.

6.    the action of going forward or on.

7.

the condition of being carried on.

How I got here, at this in the journey, in one piece, with a sound mind, is amazing even to me. But what I do know, is there is some purpose to it, it is continuous, the whole course of it, I must move forward, even if I'm carried. 

And that notion, that this process MUST happen, is very interesting to me.