The Continuing Saga of "Coyote Hunts the Sun"

My friend Becky Goldberg has started a playwrighting workshop at SBU where folks who have written stuff get together and hear their work out loud. We've had two sessions, and I've gotten to hear "CHTS" read both times, and the feedback has been tremendously helpful. After our first session, I knew that the several episodes weren't congealing for the listeners. In response, I added back the Storyteller character from earlier drafts, but gave her a definite character. The key scenes for my proto-audiences seem to be the ones with dueling storytelling, and the key theme that of Native people reasserting an autonomous voice. As such, the Storyteller became a clear antagonist in the role of an academic, well-intentioned but speaking out of turn. This second reading made it clear that, as of now, she's troublingly one-sided. What I plan on doing is rewriting her speeches, or "lessons", as lecture notes or lesson plans, as opposed to scripted dialogue. It is also becoming increasingly clear that my play is heavy on visuals, especially towards the top. To really be sure if it works or not, I'm going to have to see it.