As February rolls into view, I have those three little words on my mind. Twenty-nine Plays Later.
The good people at The Literal Challenge have been running this marathon write-in for ten years, and they have decided that ten years is enough. Once more, and then no more. Initially, they said they were keeping it low-key, invitations only to those who had taken part in previous years. They may have changed their minds, or possibly not; I’ve seen an email spreading the word to anyone who feels like joining in.
No matter to me whether there’s ten or two hundred others taking part. It isn’t a competition, and recently they have dropped the requirement to write each play within 36 hours of receiving the brief, so the only person pushing me on with this is me.
It’s the perfect time to stop this play per day challenge. I get the chance to take part in a leap year challenge and see what kind of extra craziness the organiser has in store for that spare day brief. It’s tough, but I am going to miss it. Two of the plays I wrote last year have been edited and adapted for minor competitions, and I’m fond enough of three of the plays from last year that they will be going further. Results will be out in March, by which time I hope I will have another 29 hastily written plays to draw on in future years.
I am going to miss the people I have met over the last three years of Literal Challenges. They were fun, supportive and some of them were very talented without being precious about it. Others were like me – in it for the laughs. I’m hoping they do one last all-day Zoomthrough of the plays in April, where everyone votes on the best play for each brief and performs it over Zoom.
First brief lands at eight o’clock tonight. This time tomorrow, I’ll be head down in a play. Wish me luck.
Julia Chalkley 