HOW TO BUILD A TOOTH FAIRY TRAP

The first thing you need is bait. And by this, I mean a tooth. And you can’t just grab any tooth. We thought about getting a tooth from the skeleton that’s in our science class, but we figured it was better to go with the real thing. In our case, we got George’s tooth. I pulled it out by the classic tie a string to the tooth and then tie the other end of the string to the doorknob and slam the door.

There are other ways to do this, bite into an apple, wiggle it out with your tongue, or get hit in the face by something hard (like tripping on your shoelace and falling on the sidewalk).

Once you’ve got the bait, you tie a string to it, and link it to a net or a large clubbing device. This way, when the Tooth Fairy pulls the tooth out from under the pillow, she’ll either get hit on the head, or trapped underneath a net. Either way, you’ve got her.

Teeth Traditions!

"Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream."

- Mark Twain

The tooth fairy is a character in modern Western culture said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a gift) in exchange for a deciduous tooth when it comes out of a child's mouth. Not if you live in Botswana! In Botswana, children throw their teeth onto the roof. In Afghanistan they drop their teeth down mouse holes, and in Egypt they fling their teeth at the sun! Travel around the world and discover the surprising things children do when they lose a tooth.

The Idea

“Everyone thinks they can write a play; you just write down what happened to you. But the art of it is drawing from all the moments of your life.”

- Neil Simon

The idea for To Catch a Tooth came during a class at Loyola Marymount University. I was taking an introductary Playwrighting class. We all had to write a one act. I had written a few things at this point about kids Blackmailing Santa and getting lost in video game worlds. So, I guess it was only natural that I thought of another mythical/make-believe character for kids to mess around with.

A friend of mine, Pieter Miller, and I were talking about fairy tales and holiday figures. He said something along the lines of, "you know what always creeped me out was the Tooth Fairy!"

Dylan: "Why?"

Pieter: "Well, think about it. What kind of a fairy goes around the world buying bloody teeth off of kids?"

And that was the beginning. Right away you start thinking, okay... what would a kid do with that. And then I started thinking about how the Tooth Fairy must always carry a lot of cash because she has to give kids a buck for each tooth... and then the idea was born.

That was in the Spring of 2000... six years, and several re-writes later here we are...

To Catch a Tooth - has been caught!

Soon-to-be-award-winning play To Catch a Tooth will premiere on April 21st at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory theatre. It's a family comedy about a couple of kids who decide to rob the tooth fairy... with disasterous results.

I'll be documenting the development of the project from casting up until opening night. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

Dylan