...what story would you tell? An agent asked me that question once, hoping it would help focus me toward the one project that would make a difference. Now here's a question: why is it that the story that came to mind in an instant (and it moved me to just think of its completion) is not a story that's anywhere on my list of current projects?
Some day...
But for now, Arthur: The Hunt is about undergo a dramatic and frenetic transformation. As it stands, both versions of the story as I've written them are predicated on a distortion of almost every telling of the Arthur and his half-sister Morgan/Morgause myth I've come across. (I guess I just thought my way was cool...) That distortion is that in Arthur: The Hunt they meet by chance and fall in love, producing the child that will eventually bring down the kingdom, and the tragedy is that they discover the blood relationship too late. But that approach ignores some of the deeper aspects of human nature that Morgan's eventual enmity with Arthur entails. Sure, it makes for a romantic story, and I'll keep lots of romance, but I've come to the conviction that Morgan must know who Arthur is from the beginning, which of course, changes everything. The trick is to dive deeply into the family triangle that is Emrys (Merlin), Morgan, and Arthur, exploring how seeds are planted in their early decisions concerning each other for the eventual unraveling of Britain.
I'll be performing Leaving Ruin at Pacific Theatre in Vancouver, BC this week--Ron Reed's place. It's a small intimate house, and from what I hear, they've done some great work in creating a world for Cyrus Manning. An extended run should be tons of fun, especially since over the last two weeks, Karen Lund has helped me spiff up the show. For those of you who've seen it, we're taking out the epilogue in a way that finally makes sense to me. We'll see...
And in the midst of that, a character by the name of Layne Sorenson Friar Wright is collaring me, demanding a hearing. She's the protagonist in my film treatment, due in less than a week at the Act One: Writing for Hollywood headquarters.
Okay, okay...somebody tell Layne I'll get her story told...
10:02:56 PM 
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