Figuring Out (Funding for) Will
In a world full of emotional pitfalls, one geeky teen will join forces with his two best friends to face his insecurities and escape the friend zone by realizing it never even existed in the first place. Comedy. Drama. Doritos. Get ready to figure out Will.
Hello! My name is Alec Kerr, and I am the film and theater critic for the Conway Daily Sun, a newspaper in North Conway, New Hampshire. My one-act play, Figuring Out Will, was recently accepted into the NYSummerfest Theater Festival at the Hudson Guild Theater in Manhattan. It will be performed on-stage three nights Aug. 23, 24 and 26.
About the play
Figuring Out Will is a coming-of-age story about an awkward film geek who, through the help of his friends, is able to finally work through his hang-ups about his love-life (or lack thereof). Sound familiar?
This story is autobiographical. I drafted the original script back in 2002 at age 19, as I, myself, was “stuck in the friend-zone.” I recently rediscovered this script and found the characters’ emotion and some of the concepts held up, but that the dialogue needed to be drastically re-written. My past-self was trying waaaay too hard to be Kevin Smith. I wanted, in essence, to speak to my younger self and let him know that the “friend-zone” was more in his head than in reality, and hopefully pass that message on to similarly hung-up geeky types.
About the festival
In its seventh year, NYSummerfest Theater Festival is a competition that showcases over 100 plays, one-acts, full-lengths, musicals and shorts. There are opportunities to win cash prizes for best play or musical, actor, director, and other categories. I am excited to be making my debut as a playwright in New York!
For more information about the festival, visit http://newyorktheaterfestival.com/summerfest-festivals/.
Meet the cast/crew
Figuring Out Will is lucky to have the talents students of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (ADMA) as its cast and crew.
Bradley Sewell as Will
Tobias Arizio as Clay
Danika St. Denis as Gwen
Emilie Jensen, director/casting director
For more information about these incredible people, visit Figuring Out Will’s Facebook page .
Where your help comes in
To bring this production to life for the festival, there are some expense, including hotel and travel, festival fee, programs and posters for promotion, and compensation for my cast and crew. (This is broken down into further details below.) It is my hope to raise $3,000 to help cover these finances without depleting my savings account.
Your financial assistance would help get me to New York, where my cast and crew is based, and would allow me to pay my actors (gasp!).
Costs
Director - $500
Stage Manager - $250
Actors - $450
Posters/Playbills - $200
Festival Fee and Production Fees - $400
Flight/Hotel - $1,200
About me
I received my bachelor's in film studies from Keene State College and my master's in journalism from the University of Westminster. I have written three plays: "Public Domain: The Musical," "Public Domain 2: Domain Harder," and "Figuring Out Will." My first musical was produced in 2014 at M&D Playhouse in North Conway, New Hampshire; Figuring Out Will will be produced in New York in August, 2018.
