Soo-Jin's Final Response to "Feel the Bend"

Affirmation:

Priscilla and Michael and Leslie. Wonderful, wonderful job. I can see you guys have worked so hard before and during the rehearsals. I am pleased to be a witness and part of your process today. Very good closure in class today.

(1) I noticed this time around more than any other time before how beautiful your language is, Priscilla. Phrases that stood out to me: "criteria that creates attraction," "when holding your hand made me wet," among others.

(2) Your scenes flowed naturally from one to the next. I told you I felt like your play was drifting on the ocean, going from one interesting space of discovery to the next. My favorite two scenes back to back was the monologue about Betty becoming a dolphin chasing Anna and the scene where we find out she has drowned ("It wasn't your fault."). Very intense and moving. You gave us two things to tie together. You let us fill in the blank in between, allowed us to sew together the logie. You get my point. Powerful.

(3) I love how you start scenes in the middle of the juicy part of conversations so I can slip in and participate in what's going on as a voyeur.

Questions:

(1) In the first act, I think this may be the second scene showing Betty and Anna together but I remember Ana being annoyed with Betty and I wasn't sure why. If you show me the script, I can point it out for you. Maybe it was in the acting but I think it was in the text, too. It seemed as if Anna was annoyed with Betty's stubbornness of staying home and not going to the beach...so Betty not being agreeable. My read on this scene may also be influenced because in previous drafts, Betty has always seemed agreeable and more well-adjusted than Anna. But then I may be filling in blanks...imagining Betty to be more out-going and friendly to folks than Anna, just cause we haven't seen scenes of Betty with other people. (Whoa, that was a long paragraph on one point...end of the semester delirium, pardon me. This one also rolled into strange opinion land.)

(2) What is Anna not getting from Betty?

Opinion:

I thought the hair system worked great in your current draft. One thing though for you to consider (throw this idea away if it doesn't float your boat) is that during the bed scene where Anna buries a hair in her book...I wanted that memory to come alive...for her to revisit and enter that memory...not necessarily in monologue form but happening on stage. I just felt that place just begged to be opened up. What is the first memory Anna would experience with her first hair? Going on with hair memories (I know you've been saying your play has a lot of scenes but I enjoy them so much...keep giving birth...hehe), I would love one of those memories to be when Anna fell for Betty. Another hair memory I'd love to see or be told about is when Anna felt the bend. When was the first time, last, etc. I just want to understand that concept better. Sounds cool but I'm not sure exactly what it means. And maybe I don't need to.

I hungered for the "hair" to be introduced earlier, not necessarily in a huge way where it deserves it own scene. But remember when Daniel picked up a hair from my t-shirt during our improv and started playing with it? I remember my own body and the other bodies in the room going "ahhhh." That was a magical moment and I give all the credit to Daniel. But something as simple as that. Perhaps when Carol and Anna are eating lunch and Anna gets fixated on Carol's hair or her own...doesn't have to verbalize anything. But just a simple motion can later be reflected as profound by the audience. On this hair notion, I would love to see somebody brushing Anna's hair. Just visually I see that being a rich moment.

The "black widow" confession feels abrupt to me and because it's placed near the end of the play, I feel it even more so. I am totally dipping into prescription land here so you can stop reading or read and completely disregard...but how about if the death of the football player or other people she fell in love with being scattered throughout the play...that it shows up earlier so when we get to the black widow speech, it's a nice payoff. Not sure if it's gonna work, but just a suggestion. I just wanna see that "black widow" aspect of the play build. It doesn't work as a surprise explanation for me or at least in this draft.

Like I told you already, I am very excited about your play. The characters, especially Jon and Carol have been fleshed out so much more. I love the discussion of the strap on between Ana and Betty. It's heartbreaking 'cause Betty is trying so hard to please and Ana is so over Betty sexually it seems.

Speaking of sex, I noticed today that Ana and Jon do not discuss the specifics of sex much. For instance, Betty mentions a strap on. Even Carol doesn't get much sex info. But that is just the lech in me wanting more...haha.

Beautiful work!

Soo-Jin