"The Beast of Venice Pier"

"The Beast of Venice Pier" is a piece written by WriteOn Joliet charter member Duanne Walton for WriteOn Joliet's first radio theater-style performance at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park and Theatre in Joliet in 2023.

The piece is an alternate piece based off "The Foghorn" by Ray Bradbury, which Duanne explains on his YouTube channel.

Duanne and I read "The Beast of Venice Pier" at WriteOn Joliet's open mic night last week at Critical Grind Board GAme Cafe in Shorewood.

We read this quite spontaneously and had not read it since our last performance in 2023.

What made it so much fun is that we quite naturally slipped into our roles as if we'd just performed it an hour ago. Each syllable, each inflection, was exactly the same.

Duanne, .Holly Coop, and Diana Estell, also read my piece from that same performance ("A Little Wine For Your Stomach"), which is an excerpt from the BryonySeries novel "The Phoenix," which they also executed flawlessly

Diana had previously said she'd love to perform that piece again. So they did, quite spontaneously, at the open mic - which led Duanne to want to read "The Beast of Venice Pier."

The point of all this (other than the fact I'm super proud of all of us) is the value of doing your homework (so to speak) before showing up.

I'm not just talking theatrics here. I'm talking about any project you tackle. All the hours and unseen work in the background will pay off during that short time in the foreground.

So be encouraged today that your hard work is not in vain.

You can watch the original performances starting at the 1:50 mark here: An Evening With WriteOn Joliet: Readings to Entertain and Inspire You. Act 2 and also at 38:10.

Happy Thursday! :)