Hyperdrama

I woke up this morning in shock and disbelief: an idea for a new hyperdrama was rattling around in my head! I thought I had gone cold turkey on that particular drug and was "cured." Well, I spent considerable energy resisting this temptation, which would have led me into engrossing, complex, time-consuming work writing and timing simultaneous narratives, work for a far younger man than I, and I dove head first into student papers to divert my attention. It worked. I no longer have interest in a new hyperdrama. Whew.

I've said what I have to say about hyperdrama. It's all here, in the hyperdrama section of my literary archive at the University of North Carolina.

Last year, I almost fell off the wagon. I decided I wanted to direct my one-act hyperdrama The Last Song of Violeta Parra, which has been produced in Spanish in Chile and Spain but never in English. I could do it easily at PSU. However, I got absolutely no interest or offer of production help from our dear theater arts department, and I wasn't going to do everything myself -- so I came to my senses. Whew again.

If I end up cogent in a retirement center, I may convince some old farts there to do a piece in-house ... but that is the only remaining possibility I see for relapsing. Of course, the thing about relapses is they always surprise you.

But for now, today, one day at a time, I feel safe from the temptation of hyperdrama.