books
-
“Disruption”
I’m undoubtedly repeating myself when I say I have never been able to make my way through Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing. In an early chapter, he advises the writer to start with the premise of a play. The one quoted in his entry in Wikipedia entry (I’m writing in a diner and… Continue reading
-
Review: “Edward” by Ed Schmidt
When I teach playwriting, I talk a lot about objects. (There’s a chapter on it in my book, The Dramatist’s Toolkit.) One of the things I discuss is how, for example, two people negotiating over an object in a scene may reveal an enormous amount of what is going on between them under the surface.… Continue reading
-
ULYSSES by the Elevator Repair Service
I tried to read James Joyce’s Ulysses three times without success. Then I switched to the Audible recording of the book, read by Jim Norton, with Marcelle Riordan as Molly. Before plunging into each chapter, I listened to a lecture on what was to come to help me focus on what I should be following.… Continue reading