Before this play was even produced, "Lighten Up!" had lived many incarnations. The play started as a one-man showcase, a culmination of material tested only in a stand-up routine. (frightening!) Brief monolgues that characterized certain areas in my life. Although somewhat satisfying in monologue form, I always loved working with other people. For me, the chemistry between two people on stage is a vibrant, magical energy that can't compare with anything. I asked my friend Heather if I could bounce ideas off her. Before long, inspiration knocked on the door.
We were sitting in her Hell's Kitchen apartment, sharing our short-lived New York experiences, noticing how many people here just take certain things too seriously. Not that it is any different in the world, but it just seemed scenarios were heightened to the nth degree in this city that holds millions of people every day. We weren't sitting in judgement, but rather figuring out why and how we were being sucked into the frantic, fast-paced energy so quickly. How could so much fear, love, hate, envy, lust, gluttony, acceptance, rejection live together in acceptance? And are they really? The person who yells at you for stepping on their shoe on the staircase down to the subway is the same one who will hold the subway car door for you so you can get to work on time. The same boss at your "temp" job who calls you an idiot for not picking up the job fast enough is the same person who asks you back for another week of work. The same person who thinks you should lose weight because you are too fat is the same person who asks you to join them at McDonald's for their lunch hour, and then even offers you the food they can't finish! What a fantastic world this is. And what a treasure trove of characters that surrond us in this metropolis.
Initially, I started writing "Lighten Up!" to showcase different characters I would like to portray. In an industry where you are judged first on look, it is difficult to plead talent to a enterprise who files me under "couch potato." Is that what two college degrees and years of training gets you? "Just sit there, and make sure we see the chewed Cheeto in your mouth for this shot." "Could you lower your boxer shorts so we can see more of your stomach." "No! You're big and you should really be depressed because of it." This is the legacy I want to leave on this earth? No, I don't buy it. As in all areas of my life, I knew I had to work at what I wanted people to see from me. That meant creating an image, a world that I could play in. Someplace that would make the world look differently at someone who fits in one genre but is really in a completly different one. That is how "Lighten Up!" was born. I took my somewhat narrow visioned environment and wrote about it. Created those one-dimensioned visioneers and forced them to look at life from a somewhat skewed standpoint. After discussing these situations, "Lighten Up! was the perfect title. Lighten up spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally. That is the common thread in this piece. And in the end, to look back and see if you lived the life you wanted with no regrets. Our lives are consumed with our ambitions; those goals we must accomplish by a certain age to know that we had a vision and accomplished it in the allotted time. We live in a world of labels and categories; left or right; good or evil; Republican or Democrat; man or woman; heaven or hell. God forbid if we discuss that gray area, and say that there is a third category. Impossible! Because that would mean we would have to restructure, and we don't have time for that. Not if we are going to accomplish our vision by the deadline. And if I told you that you would never finish everything you want to accomplish, and that there could never be any such thing as a deadline, not even death itself, because we are and always will be a work in progress, from this plane to the next heavenly plane, what would you think of me? If I told you I believed that there was no "hell" and everyone gets into "heaven" no matter what, would you believe me? Impossible! There are rules, and we are governed by them, from parental, to local, to government, to the Almighty rules called commandments. We are commanded to follow the rules, and if we stray, there will be "hell" to pay. Is that why the people remembered and revered throughout history are the rulebreakers, the outcasts. Does anyone talk about the one who lives a quiet life, living life peacefully and contently in harmony. Should they? Absolutely! But we don't, because it just doesn't seem important enough. So we tack on the ambitions, the heroics, the legacy to the people who "did" something on Earth. And we idolize them. Strive to be like them. Strive to look like them. When what we should be striving for is to be the ultimate individual. To force ourselves to look deep, very deep into ourselves, to see what we want from this world.
The characters in this play are all based on real people. I know all of them. I have had relationships with all of them, some brief, some on-going, all life-altering. They have all played a part in my life, and now I get to play them on stage. I guess I am trying to create the world that they live in and rock it. Throw in a situation and see how they handle it. Or really, how I would love to see them handle it. I must also state that this is my first foray into playwriting. The minute I told people I wrote a play, I heard, "Alright, so you have to draft it, then do several rewrites, and then, of course, you'll have to do a staged reading for more rewrites, and then..." Oh, yeah. The rule thing again. So, when I tell people I wrote this scene in ten minutes, and that is it, they look perplexed. "He's a stubborn one." I'm tired of the rules. They bore me. I learned the rules just so I can break them, and make up new ones. Ones that fit me. And I ask you to watch the play with no rules as well. Love it. Hate it. Laugh. Cry. Leave. Stay. I would be happy if you did any of those things, as long as I know that this piece affected you in some way. Any way. See if any of these scenarios pertain to you, and wonder how you would handle being in them. I welcome all of you. And be forewarned, you might just be the one on stage that I wrote about.