Head Above Water

So I've been in this awful creative funk lately where I haven't been able to make up anything. I needed to harness something I already knew and some emotions I've already felt to inspire a new personal creative growth. As an actor, I found this within my craft.

I was in a one-act play in my senior year of high school called "At The Bottom of Lake Missoula" by Ed Monk. I had the privilege of playing Pam Roebucker, the lead. This role was certainly a journey for me, as I had to pull from very deeply-rooted fears and feelings within myself in order to give an authentic performance that did the script justice. During the rehearsal process, I found myself keeping a character journal where I would record entries and moments in Pam's perspective that occurred outside of the confines of the written story, of my own invention and inference.

In the last few weeks of my high school experience, I realize that this role had so much more creative potential, and I firmly believe that Pam, at least my iteration of her, has more to her story than what Monk has written. So I'm going to use this as a space to record some character journal material I wrote during my time playing the part, and getting my writing juices flowing again by using Pam as a canvas to create a little more.

I will go ahead and link a free version of the "At The Bottom of Lake Missoula" script, so if you're reading this and you aren't a member of my high school's drama club, you'll have some context. Also, if your theatre needs a short one-act dramatic play for teens/young adults, I highly recommend this one.

https://www.playscripts.com/play/1143

(Also, Ed Monk, if you're reading this, please don't sue me.)