Author Archives: dgsweet

About dgsweet

I write for and about theater. I spent a number of years as a resident playwright of a theater in Chicago which put up 14 of my plays, and I still think of Chicago as my primary theatrical home, though I actually live in New York. I serve on the Council of the Dramatists Guild. Between plays, I write books, most notably SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY (about Second City), THE O'NEILL (about the O'Neill Center) and THE DRAMATIST'S TOOLKIT (a text on playwriting craft). I also occasionally perform a solo show called YOU ONLY SHOOT THE ONES YOU LOVE. I enjoy visiting theaters outside of New York. I can be reached at dgsweet@aol.com.

Both Your Houses

Posted on November 6, 2020 by dgsweet

I was determined to witness the moment when Joe Biden overtook the Orange Thug in Pennsylvania. I plopped down on the sofa in the living room under the illusion that this might happen at 2AM (which is about the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, drama, film adaptation, playwriting, Pulitzer Prize, theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Election Day Distraction

Posted on November 3, 2020 by dgsweet

Don’t know if it’s true for anybody else, but I’m just trying to get this day out of the way. Latest avoidance tactic, an hour or so at the City Diner with my dog at my feet, reading some chapters … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, drama, film adaptation, Pulitzer Prize, television, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Contrasting Plays

Posted on October 17, 2020 by dgsweet

I continue my casual tromp through plays of the past, alternating reading from an anthology of early Pulitzer Prize-winners and an anthology of postwar African-American plays. The two most recent plays I’ve encountered, by coincidence, are about flawed Black authority … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, drama, off-Broadway, playwriting, Pulitzer Prize, theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

TROUBLE IN MIND — Alice Childress

Posted on September 19, 2020 by dgsweet

I continue to read plays from the past I’ve never gotten to see. Mostly, as I’ve said before, I’m alternating between an anthology of plays that won the Pulitzer Prize early on and an anthology of post-war plays by Black … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, drama, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Another obscure Pulitzer Prize-winning play

Posted on September 3, 2020 by dgsweet

Continuing my lackadaisical progress through Pulitzer Prize-winners of the past, hit Hell-bent Fer Heaven by Hatcher Hughes. As the “fer” in the title suggests, this is a play written in dialect about hill people in the South (reportedly based on … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, drama, New York, playwriting, Pulitzer Prize, theater | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING — today

Posted on July 7, 2020 by dgsweet

Watched the British postwar classic, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, written by Alan Sillitoe and directed by Karel Reisz, starring Albert Finney, Rachel Roberts and Sally Anne Field. The central character is Alan Seaton, who works as a machinist in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Terrence McNally

Posted on March 25, 2020 by dgsweet

I had the pleasure of knowing Terrence McNally from his off-off-Broadway period. Because I worked free in those days, I played keyboard for the 1973 production of his play WHISKEY at St. Clement’s on West 46th Street. Kevin O’Connor directed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN

Posted on March 22, 2020 by dgsweet

Watched a documentary, THE BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN (available through Amazon for $3.99). It’s about a real estate developer named Bruce Ratner who uses all of his influence and connections to get the powers-that-be in New York to use eminent domain … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Maps of Different Orders

Posted on September 13, 2019 by dgsweet

I’ve been listening to Jamie Bernstein read her book, Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein. Much of it is set in the Park Avenue apartment where she lived with her father, Leonard Bernstein. When she mentioned the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Joan Littlewood and “Sparrows Can’t Sing”

Posted on August 27, 2019 by dgsweet

The British Film Institute is offering a streaming channel called BFI Players Classics through Roku for $5.99 a month. Mostly on offer are things like Ealing comedies, Hammer horror films, costume dramas, etc. There are a few oddball discoveries though. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment