I'm not sure who is having more fun with this project, or who is getting the most bang for the buck, but this session really showed me what happens when a script gets read by new folks and the author asks for our responses.
Michael Trottier's script, "Rot," came out of a situation that happened on his college campus last year, and tackles the issue of violence in a college community. He introduces brotherly love, turmoil, suicide and wraps it all up with a story that is both compelling to read and one which brought the workshop to a flow of ideas and roads that could be pursued.
This was the first session that really brought out new ideas for story development and proposed new ways of weaving the characters together to focus on the critical themes of the script. Michael was open and ready for critique, even though his script is already developed into a strong story. He was the ultimate author, though, and listened as we talked about his characters getting tighter and more interwoven, and the themes of the plot distilled to the essential elements. I think this was one of the best workshops so far.
My thanks to Michael and Cate for a great session that allowed me to experience introducing new script ideas into sessions in an effective way as a facilitator.
You can listen to the audio recording of the session.