theater
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“Pre-Existing Condition,” “The Ford/Hill Project,” and “Obit”
They weren’t scheduled to be a trilogy, but seeing Pre-Existing Condition, The Ford/Hill Project and Obit in short order amounted to attending a series on the theme of women responding to abuse by men. Written by Marin Ireland (one of our most gifted actors), Pre-Existing Condition is, as she has acknowledged, substantially autobiographical. After being… Continue reading
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“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
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Shrinking Shakespeare and Dickens
Few would dispute that Shakespeare and Dickens represent the crowning glories of English writing for the stage and page. Shakespeare is constantly produced and Dickens has provided the material for the musical Oliver! (based on Oliver Twist), the RSC’s epic adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby and countless versions of A Christmas Carol. It is not a… Continue reading
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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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“Kyoto”
One of the things I value about Lincoln Center Theater is it has a history of putting up large-scale plays that no other management in town would attempt. Now, sometimes they’re from the UK. But then American writers have been discouraged by our managements from writing large-scale non-musical plays. (Among my least-produced plays is American… Continue reading
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“Punch” and “Caroline”
I’ve gotten tired of thuds. They are particularly obnoxious in the coming attractions for films in which every other cut is accompanied by a huge WHOMP! In combination with the images of explosions and fireballs, the effect can be numbing. The relentless noise suggests that the filmmakers don’t believe the subject matter might be sufficient… Continue reading
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AVA and Elizabeth McGovern
A couple of months back, Jodie Markell played actor-director Leni Riefenstahl in a piece called Leni’s Last Lament. I enjoyed Markell even as I had reservations about Gil Koffman’s script. Now we have Elizabeth McGovern playing actor Ava Gardner in Ava. Again, I enjoyed the performer while I had reservations about the script. The script… Continue reading
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George White and Finding the Way at the O’Neill
Lucy Rosenthal’s playwriting professor at Yale was critic and anthologist John Gassner. Her memories of him are not warm. “He advised me to transfer to the education school so I could be home at three o’clock to give the children milk and cookies. And then he said – if you want to know what the… Continue reading
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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
