Lanford Wilson
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Talking to the Dead
One of my favorite sketches from the San Francisco improv-satire troupe, The Committee, is a scene between a man and a woman that is made up not of dialogue but of brief summaries of what the characters say. So, instead of saying something like, “You fill out that sweater well,” the guy says, “Suggestive remark.” Continue reading
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Review: “The Counter”
Much drama focuses on conflict. Two or more points-of-view building to the point where they bang away at each other. What we’ve come to expect from Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman, August Wilson, Tennessee Williams and Tony Kushner. I’m not saying I don’t love it when the adrenaline kicks in and the metaphoric swords start clanging. Continue reading
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Shakespeare as Springboard
“Shakespeare lied.When Juliet died,Romeo didn’t take poison just because he’d lost his bride.What did he do?He got over it.He went back to junior high, and he got over it.And so will you.You’ll get over it.” A lyric by Carolyn Leigh from the musical How Now Dow Jones (with music by Elmer Bernstein) suggesting a different Continue reading
AR Gurney, Bedlam Theater, Chimes at Midnight, Eric Tucker, Falstaff, Fat Ham, Hamlet, Henry IV, How Now Dow Jones, James Ijames, Jay O. Sanders, Keith Baxter, King Lear, Lanford Wilson, Love and Let Love, Margaret Thatcher, Merchant of Venice, Moira Buffini, Orson welles, Peter Ustinov, Queen Elizabeth II, Saint Flashlight, Shakespeare, The Will of the City, Theatre for a New Audience, Tom Stoppard, Twelfth Night, Your Own Thing -
Terrence McNally Documentary on AMERICAN MASTERS
Having been involved in NY theatre since 1967, watching Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life stirred up decades of memories. Some of them involve Terrence. I can’t claim to be a close friend, but he and his work have been a constant presence for decades. He probably doesn’t remember it, but I played organ for Continue reading
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Patterns
Maybe one of the differences between a blog entry and an essay is that an essay should be a shapely, elegant composition. With, you know, a structure, a build. The final sentence should give the reader a sense of arriving at a destination. A blog–as I see it–can be jottings of things that occur to Continue reading
Jeffrey Sweet--Making the Scene 