It begins!

Hello all!
This blog is my place to chronicle my progress and feelings this summer as I complete the first draft of my first full-length play through Hamline University's Collaborative-Research program.

So. How to begin. The play is about a young bearded woman who makes the choice to shave her beard and reenter society as a "normal" person. She finds herself moving from one cage to another, from the literal cage where she was looked on as an oddity to a metaphorical cage where she's looked upon under society's conceptions and expectations of gender and beauty.

I've been doing a heck of a lot of research, which is both exciting and boring. Exciting when I find something worthwhile (Jane Barnell is my hero, I'll write about her later), boring when it seems to do NOTHING for me and I spent valuable time reading.

I currently have a GIANT sheet of paper on my wall to write on and stick ideas to as I create the plot of the play.

Lots o' post-its

It's rather large

Right now it's a matter of mapping things out, making sure I have the characters and their voices before I throw them into the world I've created.

I'm also trying to decide how much I want to base this play in reality. Yes, the research has been a great deal of help, but the world of the sideshow is so... otherworldly, that it feels like part of it should delve into the surreal and fantastical. I want to draw upon real things, but find where they break apart.

I'm also struggling with how serious I want this play to be. I've always explained the idea as "dark comedy," but I'm having a bit trouble finding the comedy. Which I suppose will come with time.

Overall, I'm excited and ready for what's ahead!