Jack Canfora Continues to Learn as a Playwright, Even From His Critics

Writing is by its very nature, a solitary practice. Whether with pen and paper or in front of a computer screen, it is generally time spent alone, creating a world of characters and stories. Acting, on the other hand is generally a collaborative and shared effort in bringing those characters and stories to life. Psychologist Marti Olsen Laney says that writing and speaking use different pathways in the brain. Extroverts tend to speak more easily in front of others, while the writing pathways simply seem to flow more fluently and easily for introverts. So it is always a unique combination when a playwright becomes an actor or vice versa. Jack began his theater career as an actor, but now primarily writes plays like Jericho and Poetic License, both critically-praised works for their dialogue. In our conversation, we talk about these two plays as well as some of the hard lessons he’s learned in producing plays in general. We also discuss the parallels between acting and writing, and how each one has helped improve the other. But like any creative endeavor, it’s a back-and-forth process of elimination, that includes being able to take feedback and comments. So with this episode I’m going to start sharing comments I get from listeners like you. Because whether its podcasting or playwriting, it’s important to highlight and expand upon what works and either improve or outright eliminate what doesn’t. STORY #1 - Learning from a harsh but accurate NY Times review STORY #2 - A high-profile play reading that didn't go as Jack had hoped & the collaborative nature of playwriting STORY #3 - Jack makes a major mistake as an actor...in his own play EXTRAS - Working with directors as a playwright (and actor) SUBSCRIBE TO WINMI Get access to Audition Stories, the Final Five questions, and other bonus content by becoming a monthly or yearly subscriber to Why I’ll Never Make It. Producing this podcast is rewarding in its own way, but I’m essentially a one-man operation. So it is both costly and time-intensive to put together each episode. By subscribing you’ll be supporting these podcasting efforts, and have access to extended conversations and other bonus content. Your financial support of this podcast is greatly appreciated! Subscribe to get access to bonus episodes and extra content   Make a one-time Donation to support transcripts and podcast production If you’d like to support WINMI but have limited funds to do so, then contact me directly for reduced-price or even free access to the bonus content. Follow WINMI: Website | Instagram | YouTube ———- Why I’ll Never Make It is an award-winning, Top Theater Podcast hosted by actor and singer Patrick Oliver Jones and is a production of WINMI Media. Background music is by John Bartmann and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices