Letters to an Unborn Child: What would you tell the future if you could?

Deadline September 25th.
Shows in Los Angeles, CA
Dates: November 13-23

Dear Alumni Letters Contributors and Contributing Hopefuls:

So. We've got a new show gurgling on the burners here. As many of you know, I'm pregnant and expecting later this winter. One of the things that I was struck by when I first found out I was pregnant--along with the initial shock--was, what kind of a world am I bringing this child into? How can I possibly take care of this child when I don't own anything--house, property etc--and my husband and I are in huge debt and are struggling financially and there seems to be no safety net? How do we bring a child into a world that seems diplomatically and environmentally doomed and totally toxic? I mentioned this to a few WHTC folks and a few of us tossed around the election and Letters to Obama and Letters to McCain etc...but nothing seemed to resonate quite like "looking through a glass darkly" into the future.

This topic should give us politics, heart felt ideas, humor...we can have pieces about anything from people who choose not to have a child--or miss that boat--to people contemplating abortion. People who have had a child to fulfill an emptiness inside themselves, or replace something they've lost. People who don' t have children for political reasons--think China, or McCain in office. What about terrorists? What if an unborn baby's Dad went on a suicide mission? What would Marianne Pearl say if she were writing a monologue?
What about our pets as our babies--I truly feel my dog Hopper was sprung from my own loins--so maybe someone could write a letter to their dog or cat?
What about the environment--the toxic waste, toxic products in our homes, water, hygiene products and, really, the toxicity issue everywhere...?
Adoption? Waiting for a baby? Waiting for a baby you know is out there and YOURS.
What would we want to say to our next president...or what would our unborn baby want to say--from the mouths of babes, right??? What about our medical care? Did you know it costs about $20,000 to have a baby in America?

HERE'S THE SCOOP:
This Letters show will join our highly successful "Letters to Ohio" which had two wonderful runs in Portland, Maine in the spring of 2005; Then, "Letters to Katrina" was voted by The Maine Sunday Telegram to be one of the 10 top art events in the state of Maine in 2005 and "Letters to Baghdad" opened in June 2006 in Portland to packed houses and got national buzz. Also, a section of "Letters to Katrina" opened in the fall of 2006 in NYC as part of the Impact Festival. Then, "Letters to the NRA" opened in June 2007 in Portland, also to much national acclaim. Now, we're taking our next Letters show across the country! Check out www.winterharbortheatre.org for more info on WHTC.

I encourage you to submit. I only have you on this list if I believe you might be able to contribute something wonderful and innovative or if I think you know someone who could produce something wonderful and innovative.

Food for thought: If you are going to think about writing about the war, please only do so tangentially--as in the culture of violence we live in right now and how that affects our future, the future of our unborn children, real or metaphoric.

As always I will be reading and curating your submissions with the help the WHTC's advisors. We will be forming a show that attempts to tackle this particular topic from many angles. I suggest you think in terms of satyrical, funny/sad, dramatic, comedic, monologues, songs, scenes, short plays...and everything in between and above and beyond. BUT PLEASE THINK IN TERMS OF THEATRE--THIS IS NOT A READING OF LETTERS AND POEMS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS. THIS WILL BE A FULL SCALE THEATRICAL SHOW WITH MOVEMENTS AND A BEGINNING MIDDLE AND END.

We're looking at a Gala Opening Night IN LA ON NOVEMBER 13TH. TWO WEEKS OF WEEKEND SHOWS.

ALL CONTRIBUTORS WILL BE PAID AN HONORARIUM.

AGAIN, I need monologues, scenes, ideas and stories THAT WILL WORK ON STAGE, original songs or covers to songs that you'll do in interesting or new ways, music ideas, actors to submit headshots, art works for the walls, help, love and commitment, and, most of all a belief that with art, we might just do some good in the world!!

Please submit your ideas & scripts by Sept. 25th (AT LATEST). BUT feel free to submit early as I'll be forming the show around the early birds. Please do not hesitate to bounce ideas off me. Submit by email to this address: winterharbortheatre@gmail.com with a PDF or word document OR by mail to the below PO Box.

I want this will be a balls to the wall show--please pull no punches. Let's really make a strong, heartbreaking and at times ironically funny show about the future of America.

For inspiration I suggest you take a look at some recent This American Life shows and take a trawl through the Times archives of the last year. Check out NPR.org and read anything and everything about children. Read some columns by James Carroll from the Boston Globe. Check out commondreams.org. Read the NY Post and People or US Weekly. Read about everyone's baby bump and extreme excess in a world gone to hell in a hand basket. It's all terrific fodder. And consider this will open in Los Angeles.

PLEASE CONSIDER THE INSIDER VS.OUTSIDER EXPERIENCE. Write about a moment when a character 's life turned on a dime and will never be the same. What does it mean to grow up or be born American? Or think about a moment you talked to a homeless person and they said something ...so ....perfect? Or a republican who really made you think (it's been reported to have happened to some of us...)?

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS!

Onward. I can't wait to hear from you soon. Best, Caitlin