Dr. Quinn
A short, dark comedy by Devin Hansen
Thu-Sun, Jan 19-Feb 5.
7:30pm Thu-Sat
2:00 Sun
Tix are $18.
Village Theater in the Village of East Davenport.
Across the street from the 11th Street Precinct Pub & Grill.
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In November 2011, I wrote “Dr. Quinn” for the Sudden Theater project at New Ground Theater in Davenport, Iowa.
I was given three parameters, or criteria, at 7pm on a Friday, and had to write a play by 7am the next day to be performed that Saturday night!
It was one of the hardest writing projects I’d ever done. I wrote one play — a horror story — but was unhappy with it. So, at 3am I deleted it and started this new one, “Dr. Quinn.”
It was the first time in my 36 years that I stayed up all night. I love my sleep. I NEED my sleep. At 6am with an hour to go, I was so physically ill I vomited and had to swallow five Advil to numb my temples.
Needless to say, when I delivered the script at 7am to the theater, I was extremely nervous. I thought it was crap. The other writers were there drinking coffee and looking quite refreshed. Their scripts were 30 pages long. Mine was 15.
We cast the play with the hodgepodge of actors that showed up, drew the name of a director from a hat, and then watched as they produced our play. Actually, I went right home after the casting and slept.
That night I had a few friends show up, which made me even more scared. Most of my writing takes months or years to finish. I believe in patience. And this was definitely not written with patience. Nor was it the typical theater-fodder. It was about a vasectomy.
But the crowd loved it. They were laughing in all the right places…and not polite laughs. They were genuine. It was one of the best feelings I’ve had. Usually, writers never get to see their audience’s reaction. This was immediate, instant gratification.
Most of it was due to the wonderful actors though. Especially the lead actress, Kylie Jansen. She played the part perfectly.
Now, the New Ground Theater is going to bring it back for a three-week run, as part of their Bad Habits night of short plays. Returning to the lead role is Kylie, and they’ve turned it into a multi-media experience. I live 5 hours away so I won’t be able to be there, but I hope you will support the show.
Thanks.