'Loose Talk'
By Benjamin Benedict

Abe and his Coconuts

A couple of years ago, I was persuaded to write a stage script, based on a novel I wrote back in the early eighties. The story was called ‘&’.

Low and behold, ‘The Met’, a long established, Los Angeles, equity waiver (ninety-nine seat) Theatre got hold of it and now the show is being staged with opening night set for Friday, 30th October.

Early on, they had to change the title from ‘&’ to ‘Sight of Land’. ‘&’ just wouldn’t work, they said. Now, the marketing guys say ‘Sight of Land’ won’t work, either. What will work is ‘Abe and his Coconuts, welcome to paradise.’ So now, that’s the title. Only in LA can such wonderous things happen, be they the manifestation of the show itself or the creation of this insane title.

They say you either love LA or loathe it. Well, I love it and I even love this new title which in itself could only have come from such a place. So, this article is a prayer of thanks for the city, the show, the title and for all those who are a part of it. I am not there, but my heart is so much with them.

I left LA a long time ago, in fact directly after having written the story from which this show comes, back in late eighty three, but what a place LA is! I hear that they have picked a young cast, which I very much like; a bunch of moths to the flame, you could say, but only a few really get burnt. Most get their dreams singed a bit, but what dreams they will have! Who cares about a bit of singeing on the side?

LA is the city which makes these things happen, which gives these kids the chance to be what they think they can. I am told that there are over one hundred of these small venues scattered around the greater Los Angeles area, not many of the stature of The Met, but all dedicated to putting people on stage in one form or another. Now, how great is that! Other great cities have similar set-ups, but not the attitude, born from the golden days of film and television. Los Angeles lives media. The guy at the check-out counter in the supermarket can probably name the biggest grossing movie in the country, as well as the top three rated TV shows, as well as bend your ear about this hot script he has. Everyone talks about this or that show, about this or that actor, of camera techniques, of script formats, of who is working with whom, and so on and on.  The dream is in the blood of this place, and the wave is there to ride.

I am so very happy that this show is being premiered in LA, amongst all these great people. It is where I wrote the story and where knowing what the story is, it is best cast.

I have moved on and away from those LA lights which transfixed me for so many years, but it still has a part of my heart and I just love (as I think I have said a few times before) to think of this show happening there. Abe and his Coconuts! Bless all who sail this ship to who knows where. Thank you for being moths to the flame and heroes in this cause. I love you all, I really do!

       

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