After writing and performing her first play, ‘Downward Dog,? at Clarkston Village Players last June, Wendy Hedstrom decided to enter it into a contest by the Community Theatre Association of Michigan (CTAM).
The Ortonville resident won first place.
‘I’m thrilled. It’s the first play I ever wrote and I’m really proud of it,” Hedstrom said. “I’d like to give a shout out to Clarkston Village Players for allowing me to put the show on, giving me a space to do it, and promoting it.”
The parameters of the contest were: it was open to any playwright living in Michigan and it had to be a full-length play, but no musicals or kid’s theatre.
‘CTAM is going to keep a copy available for anyone that wants something from Michigan playwrights,? she said. ‘They have a huge library that goes back over 50 years.?
As first place, her play will be made available to all community theatres that are apart of CTAM for a year and will be able to produce the show royalty free. She also won $500 in prize money, which she put towards her Macbook, which she purchased to write the play.
‘I might have bought a bottle of wine, too,? she said with a laugh.
While she was in Cadillac for the annual CTAM conference to receive the award and prize money, she was approached by four theatres that were interested and sounded enthused about reading the script of the play.
‘That’s the start of getting it out and getting some publicity with it,? Hedstrom said. ‘We’ll see if they can work it into their season.?
After Sept. 2011, the play will be available to every theatre and she will be able to receive any royalties from that point on. Once the year is over, Hedstrom said she’d like to see the play one more time.
‘Since I was in it the first time, I couldn’t see the whole show, but it seemed it went over real well,? she said. ‘But, I’d like to see it one more time, without me in it and see if there is anything else I need to change, then after that, send it out for publication.?
Hedstrom said she definitely wants to write more and actually started writing a new play after ‘Downward Dog,? but said she has a novel to finish that she began prior to becoming pregnant with her son. She plans to return to the play once the novel is finished.
‘The novel is about a woman psychologically trapped between Michigan and California. Some things happened while she was in Michigan, she tried to run away to California and can’t escape them, so she has to go back to deal with them,? she said. ‘It’s sort of a comedic horror.?
As far as future play ideas, Hedstrom will stick with comedies. She says it’s her ‘bent.? However, she has also found after writing ‘Downward Dog,? having a child, and currently doing a novel, her interests and attention are changing quite a bit and she would like to move toward things more appropriate for her age group, which is early 30’s.
?’Downward Dog? was about a couple and it was universally themed,? she said. ‘I see the age range for it about 20s to 50s.?
Hedstrom likes intertwining personal things with her creative works.
‘It seems like when I’ve written fiction before, which is all I used to ever do, it was all more atmospheric plot driven,? she said. ‘As a script will allow you to do, it’s more about the characters and the immediacy of their interaction. It’s really become very appealing to me.?
Hedstrom lives in Ortonville with her husband Todd, and her three-year-old son, Cole. Along with writing, she said she still plans on acting.
‘I still love acting. I like to imagine ‘I won’t just write shows I can be in,? but you can’t help it because you got to express that. This issue you have is what leads you to write the play, or at least in my case,? Hedstrom said. ‘I found it to be a good enough experience that I want to do it again.?