'Right script, right theater' coming together
Tulsa World (Final Home Edition)
By KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
01/06/2006
Lane Riosley's 'Hysterical Friction' took 12 years, but it won Heller's original play contest.
Lane Riosley knew she had a good script when she mailed her manuscript to Heller Theatre for the 2005 National Original Play Contest.
"But when it comes to playwriting, you just have to have the right script to meet the right theater," said the competition's winner from her home in Houston. "It's sort of like dating."
A lot like dating, Riosley was selective about where she sent the script she began more than 12 years ago.
"I know from experience that you don't want to just send your scripts out. It's annoying to the theaters, in other words, if you send out a script that's obviously not right," she said. "If somebody wants a small cast (and) a small set, you don't send them your three-act musical with a cast of thousands."
"Hysterical Friction" is far from anything the Broadway showman Billy Rose ever staged. Riosley's play lacks dancing girls in favor of two women collaborating on a romance novel in a garage.
Whitson Hanna, who will direct the comedy opening at Heller Theatre on Feb. 23, said he is very pleased with the choice.
"It has great writing and witty banter" along with all the complexity
that comes with an introspective look at any relationship, he said.
"It's about two women. That's very complicated," he said.
Riosley, a fifth-generation Houston resident, started writing in 1984, primarily for children's theater. In 1991, her writing for "grown-ups," earned her a Roger L. Stevens Award for playwriting from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays for "Cracked Ice."
Shortly after her initial drafts of "Hysterical Friction," Riosley was badly injured in a car accident that left her with months of physical therapy, severe memory loss and a wall of doubt.
She said looking at her work after the accident was like examining the writing of a stranger. She didn't even look at "Hysterical Friction" again until last year, when she rediscovered the motivation to pursue a career in playwriting.
"I don't know if you've ever had anything that happened in your life that made you have to completely reinvent yourself. When it happens, you just try to go on," she said. "You've got to pay bills. You've got to move forward. I had just left an entire career behind."
Riosley said she plans to continue writing for children's theater, but not exclusively. As long as there is a solid outlet for her work, she plans to keep it up.
"I was looking for a theater that did a lot of comedy, that had a good, strong reputation, that had a good strong staff and company and was looking for a script that would fit those needs. Heller Theatre's got an excellent reputation for comedy," she said.
Riosley said she will attend the play's opening in Tulsa next month.
Heller Theatre is located at 5328 S. Wheeling Ave. For more, call 746-5065 or go to www.hellertheatre.com.
And Then There's Next Year
Heller Theatre is now accepting submissions for its 2006 original play contest. The winning script will be produced during the 2006-07 season.
Submissions must be received by March 15, sent to Heller Theatre, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave., Tulsa, OK 74105.
Plays must be original and unproduced work by the contestant. Plays also should be suitable for staging in a small black box space and limited to no more than eight characters.
Include a return envelope and postage to have manuscripts returned. There is no fee to enter.
For more, call 746-5065.
This site sponsored by Heller Theatre Council.
To contact the webmaster e-mail alb74066@aol.com or Heller Theatre at Parktheater@ci.tulsa.ok.us
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