Last spring, I sat down with the acting class to table-read This Murder Was Staged . As Ms. Duggan wrote in her Directors’ Notes in the playbill last week, the moment we read it, we knew this was going to be our fall play. A lot of the time it can be hard to find a show that everybody likes and that fits our cast, but TMWS had everything: a large cast, a challenging number of lines, and a hilarious plot. There were lots of opportunities for a creative set, and I vividly remem

Chapter 31: Storm on the Water As Rienna built her boat, her mind slipped in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, she would look up at the crystal sky and see Xio peering down at her. Sometimes, she was in the middle of binding pieces together when she blacked out and would see a fuzzy image of crystal panes all around her. Her boat was made of fallen wood and giant leaves. She wasn't very sure that it would work, but hopefully, in the dream world, it would be okay. With Aya'

Our interaction with the universe is intrinsically based on what we can understand about it. Since a lot of time has passed—enough for us to document a few thousand years of it—the expectation of society provided by the records of science has built up a number of assumptions about the possibilities and limits of our world and of humans. This has created a habit of shortsightedness that David Hume and William James attempted to broaden in two very different ways. From the pers

In the last article, we talked about worldbuilding. Now that you have built your world, you have to figure out what you want to tell with it. What do you want to talk about, comment on, criticize, or make your reader think about? The plot is what lets you tell the story you want to tell. It is the events of your world and the ultimate effect on it. Your plot should be divided into points, events, or actions that move it subtly. An example of a plot point is your characters ne

Ever in the mood for calm, bluesy, or slowly expressive music? If so, the next time you browse your music streaming service, I urge you to look for a jazz playlist. Yes, although jazz music is often seen as old or only played in fancy restaurants, there are many ways jazz music can be entertaining in your daily life! The very first song I’d recommend to someone is, “ Tenderly” by Chet Baker. The song starts off slow, then progressively syncopates into a flowy rhythm. Then, t