Don’t you just love the spelling of the word “Playwright?” Why it’s not “Playwrite” or even “Playright” is beyond me, but nevertheless, the word immediately inspires images of opening night curtains and abundant audience applause. At least for me.

I attend live theater every chance I get, enjoying the way the whole thing comes together, from a written script to full-blown production. And for several decades I said “Someday, I’m going to see a play of mine performed…”

Yet a measly three years ago I had never written a single play. Not one. Along came a One-Act Playwriting contest sponsored by the Willapa Players, in Raymond. It was put-up or shut-up time! But where to start?

I decided to start with a list of “potentially interesting stories” that involved just one setting. I wrote seven possible “plot lines” in seven days. No kidding! I sat down every day for a week and whacked out a short scenario that sparked my writing interest. Some ideas were better than others, but I didn’t stop right then to judge.

Writing dialog has always been one of my favorite things to do, and I love writing a complete story without much exposition. I picked one of my seven ideas and began to create “a conversation” among the characters who appeared as I fleshed out the play.

The rest, as they say, is history. I submitted two plays in the fall, and they took first and second in the contest. Both were performed in March, 2009. My words, my tale, acted out on the stage for the very first time, and… I was hooked!

My play portfolio now includes eight one-acts, one 10-minute melodrama skit, and a full dinner theater mystery play. By December, all of them will have “seen the boards,” and I am totally tickled to my toes!

“Killer Clam Tide,” a comedy, is part of the One-Act Festival slated for late August. And “A Christmas Trilogy: Three Holiday One-Acts,” will be onstage, naturally, this next December.

Although I’ve been paid for my work in other venues across the United States (via my website, JanBonoBooks.com), “A Christmas Trilogy” is the first time I’ll be receiving royalties as a local playwright living on the peninsula. All other plays done in Pacific County have been “freebies,” but now, I’ve finally broken the glass ceiling!

Life is very, very, good, and I’m dancing on that aforementioned ceiling. Join me, won’t you? If not to dance, at least to attend the plays. Your local community theater, and I, appreciate your support!