playwriting
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“The Emporium” at CSC
In my experience, plays that start with a theme the playwright wants to explore rarely work. The impulse to explore a theme is more naturally the province of the essay, and indeed plays that are theme-based tend to feature extended essay-like passages in which the writer toys with ideas rather than deal with choices characters… Continue reading
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Ramblings about “The Sea Gull” (or “The Seagull”)
I finally got around to seeing Michael Mayer’s film adaptation of The Seagull. The best reason to catch it is for Annette Bening’s performance as Arkadina. Arkadina is an actress who can’t stop performing when she’s offstage, and Bening nails this aspect with a wit I’ve rarely seen in a performance of this part. (“What… Continue reading
Jeffrey Sweet--Making the Scene 