Barbara Else, whose hilarious first novel, Warrior Queen, the story of a wronged wife's complicated wreaking of revenge on her philandering husband, reaped rave reviews, tells me that the third (and final) draft of the screen play is almost finished.
The story of the screen play is almost a novel in itself. Back in 1998 Else was contacted by producer Maggie Taylor, who adored the book and thought it would make a great film. Over the next few years Taylor somehow found the money to keep the option up to date, while she talked the author into writing the screen play herself. And why not? Barbara Else is a playwright in her own right (pun intended).
Finally, Else agreed, and now says she is enjoying it immensely, contrary to expectations.
For a while, a few weeks back, she realized it was getting close to completion, and that she shouldn't do any more until she'd heard it aloud, with the variety of voices, to check what the pace was like. Was the dialogue convincing, were the characters lively and consistent?
So she asked a collection of friends to her house for an amateur, unrehearsed reading. The cast was: 4 writers, one geological scientist, 2 opera singers, one ex-All Black and one nephew. She said her own reactions, plus comments from the interested "actors," inspired some rewriting, which has gone so well she is delighted with her experiment.
So she asked a collection of friends to her house for an amateur, unrehearsed reading. The cast was: 4 writers, one geological scientist, 2 opera singers, one ex-All Black and one nephew. She said her own reactions, plus comments from the interested "actors," inspired some rewriting, which has gone so well she is delighted with her experiment.
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