It was thrilling-- besides being luxurious beyond a humble
writer's dreams.
It was also a big disappointment, in that
1) I had a last-minute substitute director who had no pre-lab
connection to the piece or plans to produce it. Most scripts
at Sundance come with an attached director and an at least tentatively
scheduled subsequent production.
2) I was assigned an all white cast for a play created by and
intended for a racially integrated ensemble. Sundance is in
a part of Utah that is Very White, and uses local talent to
fill in minor roles-- all those "cameos" in Under
Siege. There were two excellent black actresses at Sundance,
one drafted to direct my play and another in the cast of Schekkan's
"Kentucky Cycle", but none available for mine-- and
I needed at least 6! Only one of the characters is specifically
African-American, but the clinic is urban and the characters
a cross-section of urban women who go to a clinic rather than
their own private gyn for an abortion. I expected a rainbow.
and
3) 1990 was the summer that "The Kentucky Cycle"
and "Angels in America" were in residence at Sundance--
the rest of us were, understandably, mere afterthoughts. (4/20/05)
by 
