"Sideways" Play Cold Read - 08.19.'11
The Sideways play "cold read" was held two days ago, Friday, at the Ruskin Group Theater Co., where it will be presented probably sometime in December. We had an audience of around 10. And about that many actors to match. I was nervous. I'd never written a play before. I've written scripts, novels, short stories, magazine articles, even audio porn in my youth, but I'd never written a play. It was adapted from my novel, not the screenplay, for legal reasons, so, naturally, I was both eager, and anxious, to hear it read. By actors … and not eidolons in my head!
The Ruskin Group Theater is a small space. The stage is actually quite ample given that it only seats about 75. In my mind, it's a perfect venue to see if a stage adaptation will work. Also, one has to make allowances in a cold read for the fact that the actors have never done this before with the other actors, have not rehearsed or been directed, are obviously not "off book," don't have the benefit of props, or movement, etc. There's zero production design, no lighting, no music; ergo: the moniker: cold read: 8 actors sitting in chairs facing the audience. It can be an unnerving experience. I remember sitting through the cast read-through of Sideways, held two weeks before they started shooting. I don't want to go into the particulars, but everyone was really noticeably nervous. There was much hilarity throughout, a good feeling that they had something, but afterward they all realized there were things to work on.
The actors the other day included Peter Cilella as Miles, Amy Jacobson-Ruskin as Maya, Ashley Noel as Terra, and a terrific actor whose name I'm blanking on as Jack. Other actors, some playing multiple parts, included artistic director, Mike Myers, William T. Ensley, Edward Edwards, and Nicole Millar. As I wrote in an earlier blog I adapted the play from the novel relatively fast. I had to condense some things, and set certain scenes in different locations, as it were, but I wrote it very fast (3/4 weeks max). I never re-read it — something I've never done before. I did a spell check and just sent it off. I wanted to be fresh to the material when read (a) and (b) I knew that it was going to go through many changes in the coming weeks.
My biggest fear was that it would read too long and that I would have to go in and do major surgery. That fear was allayed somewhat when it clocked in around 2 hrs. and 15 mins. And that's with Mike reading the stage directions and some of the pacing a little slow due to the actors having to read from loose pages clutched in their hands. I'm still going to go in and cut it down, but my overall impression — and that of everyone there — was that it was funny as hell and quite poignant, and that it moved. Unlike in the movie, scenes have the opportunity to really stretch their wings; i.e., they don't have to be truncated as much as they do in a screenplay. And stretch their wings they did.
Sideways is a very dialogue-driven novel. That was the rap from the publishing world when they unanimously turned it down — over 100 rejection letters. They more or less complained that it was a glorified screenplay, that it wasn't literature, that it was unpublishable (I guess I had the last laugh). But it is true, in a sense: it's very screenplay- or play-like, and it was fun to see the scenes really play out. What surprised me the most was that the same dialogue, with some minor changes, that I wrote a dozen years ago seemed to stand the test of time, that the universal truths about male bonding, male anxiety over getting married, males out catting around looking for adventure, resonated as truthfully today as it did when I wrote it in 9 weeks of artistic and professional desperation and destitution. I can only felicitously imagine how it'll work when it's rehearsed, when the actors are all off book, when there's a whole production design with lights and music and rear-screen projection and … a full house! The laughter promises to be infectious.
As I wrote before, the reason I wanted to do this when Jason Matthews approached me about the possibility is because I really wanted to return to my indie filmmaking roots. This may be as close as I get to seeing something of mine realized in a live-action way. Novel, film, theater, they are three different animals, but I feel really confident it's going to work in all three mediums. Or, to put it differently: two down, one to go. And I thought Jason said something interesting after the read. He told me that most theater — I'm not really a theater-goer, so I wouldn't know — is very "feminine," that it's rare to see a play that's about guys and guy things. I hadn't really thought about that, or why that is, but I take his word for it.
Anyway, I came away, well, totally emotionally wiped. My friend Pamela said I was contorting in my seat throughout the entire read I was apparently so into it. Here I am after the read:
Just kidding. That's a picture I took of a guy passed out in Downtown L.A. But that's sort of how I felt. I'm really excited about the play. We're planning to start with wine tastings an hour before the play begins. Great wineries in my Sideways sequel Vertical, as well as from the movie — e.g., Foxen Winery, Au Bon Climat — will be represented. You'll imbibe fine Pinots, then you'll be treated to the theatrical version of the film that so many of you have personally told me you love so much. We have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks, but I want to congratulate, in advance of its hoped-for success, Jason Matthews, John Ruskin, Mike Myers, and the other Mike (production designer extraordinaire) for believing in this as a theatrical reality. I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and make this a reality.
Stay tuned!
