Theme selection

Guidelines for Writing Themes for 14/48

  or   "How I Gave up Bombing and Learned to Love Subject Matter"

One of the many attributes which make 14/48; the worlds quickest theater festival so exciting and immediate is that every person involved is given the opportunity to select the theme for Friday nights plays.    In fact, it's the second responsibility that you have to the process - your first being to accept the invitation.   Everyone involved is requested to reflect for a moment on what we should all be thinking about for the next 24 hours. You are asked to place an idea into a collection of ideas.   Your first task as a participant is to, perhaps, guide our whole endeavor.   This is radical!   And it is arguably more important than tuning your instrument or learning your lines or finding your light.

But it's not easy and none of us has ever had a class in theme selection.   Sure we've been asked to discern the themes of existing works of theater, but to pick a theme, never.     We've been doing 14/48 regularly for seven years and we've learned a thing or two (sometimes painfully) about what makes a good theme.   This is our attempt to pass on those lessons to virgins and veterans alike.

Lesson One: The theme is important to the success of our plays.  

One evening of 14/48 requires over 500 man-hours to accomplish.   That's us - actors, writers, directors, and musicians - working an average of 10 hours each.    That's just one evening.   500 man-hours adds up to six people working full time for two weeks.   Six people working full time for two weeks can build a pretty nice house.     When you're asked to select a theme you're being asked to tell us where to build our house. The writers are trying to create a good foundation for our work, and it helps them a lot when the site is good.   We all have to live in it and we're asking 150 people to pay to see it, so where it is in relation to the landscape of our culture, and our personal experience is vital.

Lesson Two: Don't try to make life hard for your fellow artists.

Sometimes it seems that the intention of the theme that is pulled from the hat is to mess up the artists - like you may do if you are asked by an improvisational comedy troupe for a theme.   While it may be funny to try and screw up five people for ten minutes, it is not your job as a 14/48 participant to make the work of 50 people for the next 24 hours more difficult than it already is.

Look at it this way, say we are going to play a game of basketball and you are being asked to supply the ball.   Although it may be funny to say, "Hey let's play basketball with this Rubik's Cube." and it may even be fun to play with it for few minutes, we are here to play serious ball .   If you show up with a whiffle ball, or a ball without air in it, then the game is not nearly as fun to play or to watch.

Here are some practical methods for coming up with a good theme.

Don't wait until the last minute for divine inspiration.

Divine inspiration may strike you, but just in case the muse is busy elsewhere, it's a good idea to have one or two ideas in hand when you show up on Thursday night.   Perhaps, keep a notebook and jot down   an idea for a theme when it strikes you, or just write it on a napkin and stuff it in your pocket.      Don't judge them yet, just collect them.

Steal.

Picasso said, "All Art is Theft".    Pick a three-word phrase out of a sentence by one your favorite authors, or the title of one of their works, or a lyric from one of their songs.   

Rely on the kindness of Strangers.

Go up to the most beautiful person in a bar and ask them to help you. "Hi, I've been invited to work on this weird theatre project and I was wondering if you could help me pick out a good theme for a night of theatre?   God, you really do have beautiful eyes.   Beautiful Eyes, huh, that may be a good theme, what do you think?"     And if this works, please let us know.

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Now that you've generated a good little stack of themes and are ready to pick one to throw in the hat, you're asking yourself,   "What makes a good theme? What makes it lively?   What gives it traction, torque, leverage, power, authority, presence, verve, life?"      Although it clearly states in The Declaration of 14/48 that, "We hold these truths to be self evident... that we have no idea what makes a good theme."   Here are some clues.

• A good theme not declamatory but evocative, not "I'm going to Paris for the weekend", but "Romantic Getaways.
• Abstract nouns trump concrete nouns.   Rebirth, Redemption and even Messengers or Angels are better food for thought than Spaghetti Dinner, Camels, or Guitars.
• A good theme has the possibility of arousing a number of different emotional responses - pleasure, anger, introspection and joy for example.    Therefore not "Date Rape" but "Against My Will".    You can see by this example that Date Rape is going to make for a very monotonous and tragic evening of theatre (even though Scot Auguston may write a play about an asteroid slamming into the moon).   Where as "Against My Will" could be the story of Christ, Noah, a draftee, a girl from Sigma Ki, or an orbiting celestial body.
• A good theme is not flip, sarcastic, or contemptuous.   Even though "Stupid Ex-Boyfriends" seemed to provide good fodder, as a rule it's better to steer clear of trying to be cute or clever.   "Wit can stand its ground against Truth only a little while."   -   Samuel Johnson.   Think it through to the next level.   Follow the impulse that generates a sarcastic theme down to its root and you may have a winner.     "I want to shoot my computer" yields "I hate the modern world" and on to "Tribulations of Modern Life".  
• A good gut check on a theme is to complete this sentence.   I want to see seven plays about _____________ .