Thursday, March 27, 2014

A Pivotal Point in Time - Tracy Krauss

Who doesn’t love a good stage play? The immediacy and intimacy of a live performance beats a motion picture any day. Anything can happen – and often does. From an early age, I participated in school and church productions, and later, once I was in college and beyond, I started writing and directing as well. My ‘real job’ is teaching Drama at the secondary school level. You could say I lucked out when it comes to a career. I get to do something I love each and everyday I go to work. 

I credit my fascination with drama to a few key people. My high school drama teacher, Mrs. Rees, was an inspiration – albeit a taskmaster. Before that, though, I can pinpoint an exact moment in time when my love for the dramatic arts came into being. I wrote my first play when I was in Fourth Grade – a dramatized version of a book I’d read called Ghosts Don’t Eat Sausages by Marion Koenig. For some reason that now escapes me, I loved that book and decided to make it into a play. I then convinced several of my friends to act it out during recess time.

It’s a wonder the ‘actors’ could even figure out their cues, let alone read my writing. I corralled my chosen cast every recess - either outside or at the back of the classroom if our teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, would let us stay inside. I think I was a hard taskmaster as a director. I remember feeling frustrated on more than one occasion when people didn’t know their cues. No wonder - there was no such thing as photocopying at that time and I didn’t even bother with a typewriter. I just hand wrote the entire thing and then recopied individual parts and handed them out on scraps of paper.

Thankfully, the cast was patient, and there must have been something about the project that inspired them as well, since we persevered for weeks, perfecting and rehearsing a plot that was likely full of holes at its inception. When we started, I don’t think I knew exactly what the final objective would be – just that this was a good story and it needed to be told! Mrs. Sullivan must have seen something of merit, perhaps in my tenacity in doggedly whipping my actors into shape. It wasn’t long before she suggested that we perform the play for an actual audience – the entire school population, if we were up for it.

Say no more! That spurred us on to even greater efforts as we added costumes and props and continued to perfect the line delivery and action. Finally, the day of the show arrived, and an assembly was called. I don’t remember if we were the only item on the program or not. It really didn’t matter, since for me, this was like getting recognized at the academy awards. As I recall, the show went off well. We got a full page in that year’s yearbook and I was credited as the ‘writer and director’.


 All these years later I still look upon that seemingly insignificant experience as a pivotal point in my development as a writer. I've gone on to write and direct dozens of stage plays, some of which are published and have enjoyed a measure of success across stages in North America. If it wasn't for the encouragement I got from my Grade Four teacher, I wonder if I would have gone on to write another play. It's something to ponder. 

Tracy Krauss is a multi-published author and playwright. Visit her website at: http://www.tracykrauss.com 

6 comments:

Peter Black said...

Wow! Kudos on your long-term tenacity and congratulations on your success, Tracy! Thanks for sharing your journey, and may your hopes and dreams continue to unfold as they should. ~~+~~

Glynis said...

Isn't it amazing sometimes when we think back to the taskmasters in our life, who were probably more aptly those who taught with passion and saw potential. Obviously it was something ingrained in you and look where it has taken you. Nice post, Tracy. Well done.

Tracy Krauss said...

Mrs. Sullivan was less a taskmaster and more of an encourager. I needed both!

Tom Blubaugh, Night of the Cossack said...

Very cool story.

William Kendall said...

Thanks for sharing, Tracy!

Teachers like that do shape us.

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

Tracy,

Enjoyed learning about this first building block in your career as an author/playwright. What fun you must have all had!

And thank God for teachers like Mrs. Sullivan.

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