Monday, January 1, 2018
Important Christmas Videos to watch every year
My family and I watch these comedy videos every year around Christmas, and I thought I should organize them all in one place. I may add more as I remember them throughout the year.
Coco Goes to Walgreens - The Search for Panettone
Miss Coco Peru tries to get her Christmas Shopping Done, searching for Panettones for her neighbors.
The Christmas Tree
If you like Linda Belcher, you'll probably love this video about the life cycle of a Christmas Tree, from the point of view of one mother.
Captain Picard sings "Let it Snow!"
Fantastic mashup of Next Gen clips to sing Let it Snow.
Deck the Hall & Oates
Two guys adapt Hall and Oates songs for Christmas.
Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly
Will and John recreate the Bing Crosby / David Bowie duet.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Script Changes
So there was a lot of uproar over the weekend about two productions of plays that changed major elements without permission of the authors.
One was a Houston production of the musical Hands on a Hardbody, in which the order of songs was switched around, which necessitated (since the show is about a competition where characters drop out one-by-one) certain characters leaving the stage earlier than planned, as well as some editing of which characters sang specific vocal lines. Some songs were cut. In this case, the director, Bruce Lumpkin, invited the creators to see the production, specifically Amanda Green, who attended; Lumpkin apparently expected the creators would be pleased with the unauthorized changes. The show was shut down.
The other was a production of David Mamet’s classic play about political correctness in the 90s, Oleanna. In this case, one of the characters in the two-person play was played by a male actor instead of a female actor, as Carol is traditionally played. The casting decision was kept secret until the play opened, and as soon as the reviews were registered and the unauthorized changes were known, the theater got served with a cease-and-desist order and the production was shut down after the one performance.
Let me be very clear that it doesn’t matter if the new changes were brilliant or not. They were not authorized by the contract that was signed. A playwright has the right to expect that a play will honor the intent of her or his play.
Stephen Sondheim halted a production of Company in the 80s which substituted a gay couple for one of the set of Bobby’s married friends; it was an unauthorized change. In 2002, he granted permission to a college production directed by Billy Porter where they ASKED if they could experiment and change Marta into Marty, making Bobby more openly bisexual (then having two girlfriends and a boyfriend)- I think that choice possibly strengthens the play by eliminating the pesky and trite “Bobby’s secretly a closet-case, that’s why he can’t commit” argument. And then of course there was a recent reading of the show at Roundabout with Sondheim’s blessing which featured Alan Cumming as Joanne.
In 2011, BoxCar Theatre in San Francisco did a production of the stage musical Little Shop of Horrors which edited the script they’d contracted to include elements of the original movie upon which it was based and the musical movie that was eventually made of the musical, as well as interpolating songs from entirely unrelated property The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was, unsurprisingly, shut down.
But again, regardless of how interesting making alterations to the script is, doing it without permission after having signed a contract is wrong.
I personally think that the bit of Oleanna casting is kind of brilliant; Carol as written in the text is a proto-lesbian who is manipulated by her offstage feminist group into hitting political buzzwords that will get the straight white male to not only check his privilege, but to in fact lose his job and regret that he ever set foot in academia. The play is not about sexual harassment per se, it’s right-wing propaganda about The Dangers of Political Correctness.
In this new production, they didn’t change any of the text, but had a male performer playing “Carol”. What no one seems to have mentioned is that Carol in this production was clearly intended to be a transgender character. All of the reviews and stories have focused on the play now being about Two Guys, when it appears that the intent was to bring the play into this century and present a more modern antagonist as a transgender woman. Yes, if the play is two men, the script is nonsense. If the play is a privileged man vs. a marginalized woman who gains power, there’s the drama.
Now, it’s difficult to write or talk about transgender people, as so few people understand the vocabulary and aren’t given the basic tools to understand the lifestyle (I’m not even sure if I’m being entirely sensitive here), so it’s not unsurprising that this would be overlooked and/or misunderstood by critics and those writing on the piece.
It’s possible it wasn’t even the original intent of the director, as in an article about it Erica Case and Aaron Kopec, owners of Alchemist Theatre, said: "We excitedly brought this story to the stage because even though it was written years ago, the unfortunate story that it tells is still relevant today. We auditioned for this show looking for the best talent, not looking for a gender. When Ben Parman auditioned we saw the reality that this relationship, which is more about power, is not gender-specific but gender-neutral.” That’s bullshit. If they didn’t intend to cast the show this way in the first place, I don’t know why a young man would even be auditioning for this show. If true, it speaks to poor auditioning practices.
Regardless, the changes were unauthorized, kept secret, and now the show is shut down. But I suspect if they had asked for permission to do something interesting with the show, and made their case for the updated casting, possibly Mamet would have said yes, and then they would have been able to promote the show as a Daring New Take on a Classic, instead of looking like privileged and unprofessional assholes. A missed opportunity.
One was a Houston production of the musical Hands on a Hardbody, in which the order of songs was switched around, which necessitated (since the show is about a competition where characters drop out one-by-one) certain characters leaving the stage earlier than planned, as well as some editing of which characters sang specific vocal lines. Some songs were cut. In this case, the director, Bruce Lumpkin, invited the creators to see the production, specifically Amanda Green, who attended; Lumpkin apparently expected the creators would be pleased with the unauthorized changes. The show was shut down.
The other was a production of David Mamet’s classic play about political correctness in the 90s, Oleanna. In this case, one of the characters in the two-person play was played by a male actor instead of a female actor, as Carol is traditionally played. The casting decision was kept secret until the play opened, and as soon as the reviews were registered and the unauthorized changes were known, the theater got served with a cease-and-desist order and the production was shut down after the one performance.
Let me be very clear that it doesn’t matter if the new changes were brilliant or not. They were not authorized by the contract that was signed. A playwright has the right to expect that a play will honor the intent of her or his play.
Stephen Sondheim halted a production of Company in the 80s which substituted a gay couple for one of the set of Bobby’s married friends; it was an unauthorized change. In 2002, he granted permission to a college production directed by Billy Porter where they ASKED if they could experiment and change Marta into Marty, making Bobby more openly bisexual (then having two girlfriends and a boyfriend)- I think that choice possibly strengthens the play by eliminating the pesky and trite “Bobby’s secretly a closet-case, that’s why he can’t commit” argument. And then of course there was a recent reading of the show at Roundabout with Sondheim’s blessing which featured Alan Cumming as Joanne.
In 2011, BoxCar Theatre in San Francisco did a production of the stage musical Little Shop of Horrors which edited the script they’d contracted to include elements of the original movie upon which it was based and the musical movie that was eventually made of the musical, as well as interpolating songs from entirely unrelated property The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was, unsurprisingly, shut down.
But again, regardless of how interesting making alterations to the script is, doing it without permission after having signed a contract is wrong.
I personally think that the bit of Oleanna casting is kind of brilliant; Carol as written in the text is a proto-lesbian who is manipulated by her offstage feminist group into hitting political buzzwords that will get the straight white male to not only check his privilege, but to in fact lose his job and regret that he ever set foot in academia. The play is not about sexual harassment per se, it’s right-wing propaganda about The Dangers of Political Correctness.
In this new production, they didn’t change any of the text, but had a male performer playing “Carol”. What no one seems to have mentioned is that Carol in this production was clearly intended to be a transgender character. All of the reviews and stories have focused on the play now being about Two Guys, when it appears that the intent was to bring the play into this century and present a more modern antagonist as a transgender woman. Yes, if the play is two men, the script is nonsense. If the play is a privileged man vs. a marginalized woman who gains power, there’s the drama.
Now, it’s difficult to write or talk about transgender people, as so few people understand the vocabulary and aren’t given the basic tools to understand the lifestyle (I’m not even sure if I’m being entirely sensitive here), so it’s not unsurprising that this would be overlooked and/or misunderstood by critics and those writing on the piece.
It’s possible it wasn’t even the original intent of the director, as in an article about it Erica Case and Aaron Kopec, owners of Alchemist Theatre, said: "We excitedly brought this story to the stage because even though it was written years ago, the unfortunate story that it tells is still relevant today. We auditioned for this show looking for the best talent, not looking for a gender. When Ben Parman auditioned we saw the reality that this relationship, which is more about power, is not gender-specific but gender-neutral.” That’s bullshit. If they didn’t intend to cast the show this way in the first place, I don’t know why a young man would even be auditioning for this show. If true, it speaks to poor auditioning practices.
Regardless, the changes were unauthorized, kept secret, and now the show is shut down. But I suspect if they had asked for permission to do something interesting with the show, and made their case for the updated casting, possibly Mamet would have said yes, and then they would have been able to promote the show as a Daring New Take on a Classic, instead of looking like privileged and unprofessional assholes. A missed opportunity.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Ken Davenport Doesn't Care About Playwrights
So Ken Davenport’s Davenport Theatrical Productions is hosting their third annual Ten-Minute Play Contest.
There is a $10 fee to apply, and IF selected, the playwright must produce her or his own work and present it in the contest. Asking for a fee to submit a play to a theater is a practice that is frowned upon and discouraged by The Dramatists Guild, and has been for several years.
Contests are a grey area, to be sure, as there is a possible benefit, in that it’s possible to actually win something substantial. Though asking for playwrights to put in money in order to put in more production money for the slim possibility to win that elusive $500 seems to be taking advantage of playwrights. In their favor, Davenport Theatricals does have an open submission policy for full-length plays, if you want to get on their slush pile.
Or they have a “Script Coverage” option, where you can pay them money to actually read it and give feedback.
I will say that I did apply to the Ten-Minute Play Contest the previous two years, considering that the possible plusses outweighed the minuses, as Davenport is a legitimate producer who has been involved in shows that have been to Broadway. The judges of the finalists were prestigious (and in previous years the 10 finalists received $50 each, even if they weren’t the $500 winner).
But this year, in his blog post about the contest (linked above), Davenport goes on to be frankly offensive to playwrights. He says:
And then later:
It is frankly appalling that someone in his position a) has so little respect for the craft of playwriting, and b) is apparently using this contest to lure gullible people into giving him another $10 each for something they can just “sneeze out”. In his previous blog posts on his contests, he doesn’t reveal exactly how many people actually applied, but in the 2012 contest, they were “overwhelmed with so many submissions”, “of the hundreds submitted”… So even assuming it was only (the lowest possible) 200 submissions, 200 x $10 is $2,000 from the playwrights, which should tidily cover the $500 prize plus a little left over.
It seems this contest is merely a way to bilk money out of playwrights (who I assure you work hard to create GOOD ten-minute plays), and naive wannabes with stars in their eyes.
I’m planning to avoid it this year.
Addendum: I commented directly on the original post on his blog, questioning the fees, a couple of days ago, as did another poster. Both our comments were deleted.
There is a $10 fee to apply, and IF selected, the playwright must produce her or his own work and present it in the contest. Asking for a fee to submit a play to a theater is a practice that is frowned upon and discouraged by The Dramatists Guild, and has been for several years.
Contests are a grey area, to be sure, as there is a possible benefit, in that it’s possible to actually win something substantial. Though asking for playwrights to put in money in order to put in more production money for the slim possibility to win that elusive $500 seems to be taking advantage of playwrights. In their favor, Davenport Theatricals does have an open submission policy for full-length plays, if you want to get on their slush pile.
Or they have a “Script Coverage” option, where you can pay them money to actually read it and give feedback.
I will say that I did apply to the Ten-Minute Play Contest the previous two years, considering that the possible plusses outweighed the minuses, as Davenport is a legitimate producer who has been involved in shows that have been to Broadway. The judges of the finalists were prestigious (and in previous years the 10 finalists received $50 each, even if they weren’t the $500 winner).
But this year, in his blog post about the contest (linked above), Davenport goes on to be frankly offensive to playwrights. He says:
What’s great about a 10 minute play is that anyone can write one. Doesn’t matter if you’re an actor, a producer or a veterinarian who specializes in tropical hamster diseases . . . you can write a 10 minute play (huh – you know what’s funny – a hamster vet’s office is a pretty interesting place to set a 10 minute play).
And then later:
And then get writing. No excuses. Including if you’re not a writer. I promise you, you can sneeze out a 10 minute play. And then, poof, you’re a writer.
It is frankly appalling that someone in his position a) has so little respect for the craft of playwriting, and b) is apparently using this contest to lure gullible people into giving him another $10 each for something they can just “sneeze out”. In his previous blog posts on his contests, he doesn’t reveal exactly how many people actually applied, but in the 2012 contest, they were “overwhelmed with so many submissions”, “of the hundreds submitted”… So even assuming it was only (the lowest possible) 200 submissions, 200 x $10 is $2,000 from the playwrights, which should tidily cover the $500 prize plus a little left over.
It seems this contest is merely a way to bilk money out of playwrights (who I assure you work hard to create GOOD ten-minute plays), and naive wannabes with stars in their eyes.
I’m planning to avoid it this year.
Addendum: I commented directly on the original post on his blog, questioning the fees, a couple of days ago, as did another poster. Both our comments were deleted.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Dangerous Liaisons
The latest in the "How did they adapt THAT?!" files: "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". I of course LOVE the 1988 "Dangerous Liaisons" movie, which I saw in theaters. I'm only now (finally!) reading the book- it's entirely epistolary, the Marquise and Valmont hardly ever even meet in person, it seems. Hampton did an AMAZING job adapting it to the stage (and that script is what the movie "Dangerous Liaisons" is based on), I have no idea how I would have gone about it. Very odd that it's been adapted so many times (Opera, Films, Musicals, stage (I've even seen an onstage all-male adaptation)) "Cruel Intentions" is so obviously based on the movie and not the novel. Also explains why Jean-Claude Carrière's script for "Valmont", which came out in 1989, is so different from Hampton's. (that movie, btw, is worth a look - Annette Bening is incredible as Merteuil. Colin Firth is a bit too adorable as Valmont. Fairuza Balk(!) as Cecile, and the kid from E.T. as Danceny- they're BABIES.)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Real Theatregoers of New York
A comment on the brilliant Time Out New York review of Wonderland...
Now, I assume this person ("Anonymous - Unverified" - if that is their real name), means Broadway theatregoers, in which case, probably correct- most of them are tourists who've come for "culture" and expect to be as bored by theatre as they would be by a museum. The guy texting next to me at Wonderland clearly didn't speak English, there were people crackling bags of whatever food they brought in... The families who are desperate for something they can bring their children to, something they won't have to explain or talk to them about. People who can afford Broadway prices, but don't really care about the shows they see beyond the spectacle all that money can provide. These are the real theatregoers.
Charles Ludlam said in the 1980s:
I've personally abandoned any hope or dream that a play of mine will actually be on Broadway one day. The "real theatregoers" can keep it.
The real theatergoers of New York will prove you Communist homosexual perverts who hate wholesome family entertainment wrong--AGAIN!
Now, I assume this person ("Anonymous - Unverified" - if that is their real name), means Broadway theatregoers, in which case, probably correct- most of them are tourists who've come for "culture" and expect to be as bored by theatre as they would be by a museum. The guy texting next to me at Wonderland clearly didn't speak English, there were people crackling bags of whatever food they brought in... The families who are desperate for something they can bring their children to, something they won't have to explain or talk to them about. People who can afford Broadway prices, but don't really care about the shows they see beyond the spectacle all that money can provide. These are the real theatregoers.
Charles Ludlam said in the 1980s:
What's wrong is that Broadway is not the pinnacle of achievement that it should be. It should be something that you long for, that you should want to be on. We all should want this, because it represents achievement and accomplishment and is a fair measure of our talents. Unfortunately, it is not that.
But there should be a wonderful place where you're crowned with laurels if you achieve something in art. That's not good enough in the commercial theatre. It has to be an idea you're sure you can sell, and sell a lot.
I've personally abandoned any hope or dream that a play of mine will actually be on Broadway one day. The "real theatregoers" can keep it.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Adaptation
Made myself a personal course of study: to watch movies where I'd read the book and said to myself: "How the HELL could they adapt THAT BOOK into a movie?!"
SO watched The Fountainhead last night. Movie's not bad. The adaptation (also by Ayn Rand) is rather impressive, contracting that long-ass book into 2 hours. A lot of stuff gets relegated to backstory, and Katie disappears entirely. Story focuses on the love drama between Dominique and Roark (and Dominique doesn't marry Peter in the book, she goes right to Gail). Since Dominique is the only character who really changes in the book, very smart to keep the emphasis on her (much like Dolly in Hello, Dolly; the original original text was called The Merchant of Yonkers, referring to the Vandergelder character*); though it's interesting that although the four sections of the book of The Fountainhead are named after the 4 main male characters, Dominique is in all of them.
Storytelling brisk and interesting till it drops dead for Roark's big speech.
Gary Cooper a bit boring as Roark, Patricia Neal is fantastic as Dominique.
Then decided to get out of the way my other personal assignment: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Though the book is quite cerebral and philosophical, the actual plot events are interesting enough to warrant dropping the fascinating philosophy. Makes the movie a bit more sentimental than the book, in some ways. Acting is great; Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin are fantastic. Baby Daniel-Day Lewis is weirdly un-sexy (to me), though his Informed Sexiness is of course a given in the world of the movie.
Didn't really miss the philosophical stuff (which includes the meaning of the title), because enough of it was dramatized to still be interesting; and some of the philosophy is actually enclosed within the plot, though in the movie it's more "these things happened, draw your own conclusions".
Prague is gorgeous. Cinematography perfect. Mirrors everywhere in the film, commented on and interacted with, or sometimes just there, though of course nothing can be "just there" in a film, working with a mirror you have to be very careful not to get the camera reflected in the shot.
One whole section is dramatically shot with extra grain and switching from color to black and white to integrate new scenes with actual footage of the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia; fascinating.
Didn't realize till I was about an hour in (because I was riveted) that the movie is nearly 3 hours long. After about an hour stopped being riveted, but was still entertained.
As good as the book, but in a different way.
* I was just reading that in previews Vandergelder ended Act I of Hello Dolly! with a song called "Penny in My Pocket", but audiences were loving Dolly so much that the focus shifted, so "Before the Parade Passes By" was written for Dolly (apparently in a couple of hours).
SO watched The Fountainhead last night. Movie's not bad. The adaptation (also by Ayn Rand) is rather impressive, contracting that long-ass book into 2 hours. A lot of stuff gets relegated to backstory, and Katie disappears entirely. Story focuses on the love drama between Dominique and Roark (and Dominique doesn't marry Peter in the book, she goes right to Gail). Since Dominique is the only character who really changes in the book, very smart to keep the emphasis on her (much like Dolly in Hello, Dolly; the original original text was called The Merchant of Yonkers, referring to the Vandergelder character*); though it's interesting that although the four sections of the book of The Fountainhead are named after the 4 main male characters, Dominique is in all of them.
Storytelling brisk and interesting till it drops dead for Roark's big speech.
Gary Cooper a bit boring as Roark, Patricia Neal is fantastic as Dominique.
Then decided to get out of the way my other personal assignment: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Though the book is quite cerebral and philosophical, the actual plot events are interesting enough to warrant dropping the fascinating philosophy. Makes the movie a bit more sentimental than the book, in some ways. Acting is great; Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin are fantastic. Baby Daniel-Day Lewis is weirdly un-sexy (to me), though his Informed Sexiness is of course a given in the world of the movie.
Didn't really miss the philosophical stuff (which includes the meaning of the title), because enough of it was dramatized to still be interesting; and some of the philosophy is actually enclosed within the plot, though in the movie it's more "these things happened, draw your own conclusions".
Prague is gorgeous. Cinematography perfect. Mirrors everywhere in the film, commented on and interacted with, or sometimes just there, though of course nothing can be "just there" in a film, working with a mirror you have to be very careful not to get the camera reflected in the shot.
One whole section is dramatically shot with extra grain and switching from color to black and white to integrate new scenes with actual footage of the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia; fascinating.
Didn't realize till I was about an hour in (because I was riveted) that the movie is nearly 3 hours long. After about an hour stopped being riveted, but was still entertained.
As good as the book, but in a different way.
* I was just reading that in previews Vandergelder ended Act I of Hello Dolly! with a song called "Penny in My Pocket", but audiences were loving Dolly so much that the focus shifted, so "Before the Parade Passes By" was written for Dolly (apparently in a couple of hours).
Monday, February 28, 2011
Writing for the Screen
I was recently commissioned to write my first screenplay. I was given a synopsis and certain characters and asked to write around it. Just finished the first draft and sent it in. Quite pleased with it. I was worried for a bit, but once I got past the halfway mark, the story began to take over and really flow. It's funny how the words just come when you know where you're going.
I've written for the theatre all my life, and it's quite freeing in some ways to be able to essentially follow someone when they leave the stage. I've always said the versatility of theatre is great, because you can have someone stand in a blackbox and say "I'm on the moon", and so they are. But actually writing that someone goes to the moon is another thing entirely when it comes to film, because then someone will have to build a moon set and probably a space suit; probably I'm quite lucky that my first assignment was for an animated feature, it takes some of the onus off me to make things affordable.
I've written for the theatre all my life, and it's quite freeing in some ways to be able to essentially follow someone when they leave the stage. I've always said the versatility of theatre is great, because you can have someone stand in a blackbox and say "I'm on the moon", and so they are. But actually writing that someone goes to the moon is another thing entirely when it comes to film, because then someone will have to build a moon set and probably a space suit; probably I'm quite lucky that my first assignment was for an animated feature, it takes some of the onus off me to make things affordable.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
It's plain to see some kind of harmony is on the rise.
Downloaded and have been listening to the soundtrack to Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog. I recently, in conversation, cited Chicago as a great movie musical because they used the movie effect of placing all the songs as Roxy's fantasy version of events.
DHSaLB, on the other hand, and which is a pretty perfect movie musical, doesn't do that- aside from the Bad Horse epistles, all the songs are rooted in the "reality" of the story; BUT, I never noticed till listening to the songs divorced from the story, almost none of the songs actually END. All except "My Eyes" (or, as I thought it was titled, "On the Rise") are interrupted by a plot event, and ALL the songs move the story forward in some way. Which makes sense, since DHSaLB was actually written FOR film, there is no live audience to applaud, there's no need for a button at the end of songs, and so we can just proceed with the plot.
Ties in to something I noticed about In The Heights (a pretty fantastic stage musical)- despite the "radio edits", there is very little from the show that's actually excerptable, because so much of it is plot-based. Even Vanessa's I Want Song gets interrupted by Usnavi and Sonny and I need some packing tape coño!
Things to bear in mind while writing the musical I'm working on now.
DHSaLB, on the other hand, and which is a pretty perfect movie musical, doesn't do that- aside from the Bad Horse epistles, all the songs are rooted in the "reality" of the story; BUT, I never noticed till listening to the songs divorced from the story, almost none of the songs actually END. All except "My Eyes" (or, as I thought it was titled, "On the Rise") are interrupted by a plot event, and ALL the songs move the story forward in some way. Which makes sense, since DHSaLB was actually written FOR film, there is no live audience to applaud, there's no need for a button at the end of songs, and so we can just proceed with the plot.
Ties in to something I noticed about In The Heights (a pretty fantastic stage musical)- despite the "radio edits", there is very little from the show that's actually excerptable, because so much of it is plot-based. Even Vanessa's I Want Song gets interrupted by Usnavi and Sonny and I need some packing tape coño!
Things to bear in mind while writing the musical I'm working on now.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tradition
Such [insistence on traditional interpretation of Gilbert and Sullivan] would have mattered little had not the D'Oyly Carte enjoyed exclusivity within Britain. After all, "historical" productions of Shakespeare contribute to our appreciation of his plays, as "original instruments" performances of Bach do for his works - but in large part because other performance traditions exist side by side.
This is something people have often questioned me on, as a playwright. I consider it ideal for original plays to be performed as the writer intended, without a radically different interpretation by a director. I always think of that episode of Dream On, where Martin's play, a romantic two-hander about his ex-wife, gets made into an experimental musical without his knowledge (with a greek chorus wearing boxing gloves: ♫ This Marriage is Doomed! It's Dead in the Water! This Marriage is Doooomed! Stick around for the Slaughter! ♫).
But I DO enjoy and entertain new interpretations of Shakespeare or Chekhov because everyone knows (or should know) the original text/story that's being riffed on. Some other writers have achieved such notoriety that I think their work could safely be re-interpreted without damaging the reputation of the artists, though their estates won't allow it- notably Samuel Beckett and Tennessee Williams. The Beckett estate is notorious for only allowing strict interpretations, and the Williams estate recently challenged a production called Blanche Survives Katrina in a FEMA Trailer named Desire, claiming that the one-man show which used Blanche DuBois as a character devalued their property.
Stephen Sondheim in the 80s vetoed a production of Company in which one of the couples was made into a male/male couple without permission, but then in the late 90s granted permission to a college that wanted to cast Marta as a male (so Bobby would have two girlfriends and one boyfriend).
It's a controversial topic; I have frequently directed the original productions of my own plays, just so that I'd be sure of getting my own undiluted vision across to audiences. I can only hope one day I'll be famous enough that people will want to give new interpretations of my plays.
If you want to see your plays performed the way you wrote them, become President.- Václav Havel - Address to the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London quoted in The Independent, London (24 March 1990)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Perspective
Every twenty years or so, America remembers it has a theater. There's a surge of interest and youthful talent to the form, like a rush of blood to the head. Then there's a battle royal: The new talents struggle to overthrow the old conventions, and old figureheads, that have made the theater boring; the old ways fight back. (...) What this cyclical pattern means, essentially, is that the American theater, as an institution, never grows up, never evolves a native tradition, never accrues the sense of perspective that comes with maturity.
- Michael Feingold, from the introduction to Grove New American Theater
An interesting idea. It seems to be true that a lot of my contemporaries don't have much perspective on theatrical history. I've been working lately on synthesizing modern writing with more old-fashioned techniques (writing 5-act plays in verse, or 4-act plays), and I'm met with amazed bewilderment. There's a reason old plays work, they have the mechanism to do so, it's just a matter of blowing the dust off, and discarding what is no longer relevant.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thyme and Thyme again
We're almost through with the production of The Thyme of the Season. It has been a long hard road getting to what has turned out to be a really fantastic production. I cast it months before we opened, only to lose three actors to slipped discs, poverty, and being hit by cars. We battled with very few people coming to our benefit (which meant a lot less money to work with), bouts of sickness and pink eye, mis-scheduling, electricity issues, and still my awesome cast is kicking ass. Thank goodness this show is as low-tech as it is, and the cast is as great as they are.
One final show on Wednesday, and I'm pretty sure we're going to sell out. I'm glad we have 8 performances in this festival; my cast is only now fully settling into their roles.
One final show on Wednesday, and I'm pretty sure we're going to sell out. I'm glad we have 8 performances in this festival; my cast is only now fully settling into their roles.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Gender Parity in theatre
Got this invite on Facebook.
I'm amused how no one's mentioning the possibility that these unprecedented numbers of shows by women were maybe not good enough to have been nominated; that it's assumed they were not nominated entirely because they were penned by women.
And the main conclusion of Emily Sand's study was that it is women themselves as playreaders and decision makers who are essentially holding back other women's work.
And among those nominated this season were Sherie Rene Scott, who co-wrote Everyday Rapture (For the Tony, and Lucille Lortel).
Anna Devere Smith and Lynn Redgrave were both nominated for Lucille Lortel Awards for solo shows they wrote and performed, and Smith was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle, as was Carrie Fisher for Wishful Drinking.
Enron, by Lucy Prebble, was nominated for the Drama League Award (Lucy's also nominated for the Tony for lyrics for Enron, which she also wrote).
Aftermath, co-written by by Jessica Blank, also nominated for the Drama League Award.
Annie Baker's The Aliens and Circle Mirror Transformation shared the Obie award for best new American play. Actually fucking won, for TWO plays. CMT also got a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Play and Baker got a Drama Critics Circle Emerging Artist Special Citation.
Theatre World Awards are only presented to performers, not writers.
So, fuck them, then?
Gender parity in the theatre has recently gained public momentum as an extremely important issue of theatre in the 21st century; some might argue that it is the single, largest issue to present itself in the last fifty years. Through Emily Sand’s well publicized study, Opening the Curtain on Playwright Gender: An Integrated Economic Analysis of Discrimination in the American Theatre, and Julia Jordan’s public presentations of that study, we know through indepth research and statistics that there is an alarming, troublesome disparity between the total number of plays written by men produced in our theatres and the number of plays written by women.
Simply put, but not so simply understood, female playwrights can’t seem to get traction of any kind in our community. With all the major theatre awards having now been announced in New York (The Tony Awards, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortell, Theatre World, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, etc.), one outrageous fact emerged: in all the awards combined, only one woman writer was nominated (Sarah Ruhl) in a season that showcased 51 new plays written by women.
To acknowledge the extraordinary work by women in this year’s season (and by doing so, educate the community on many levels), a group of passionate artists and producers (myself, Marsha Norman, Theresa Rebeck, Julia Jordan, Tina Howe, Julie Crosby, John Eisner, G Tim
Sanford and Susan Rose) quickly assembled to create an evening of celebration. Equal parts party and awards ceremony, the event will be held at Playwrights Horizons and the West Bank Café, emceed by Christopher Durang, with an invocation by Gloria Stein, entertainment by Kristin Chenoweth and a host of awards to women in the theatre.
Each year, this event will grow and become inclusive to writers all over the country. Because the event will – by its nature – highlight the issues of gender parity in the theatre, as well educate playwrights and the theater community at large, we’re hoping to generate support and buzz anywhere we can. Voice your support at the FB page:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120719377959577
Be strong, write well.
Gary (Garrison)
Executive Director, Dramatists Guild
I'm amused how no one's mentioning the possibility that these unprecedented numbers of shows by women were maybe not good enough to have been nominated; that it's assumed they were not nominated entirely because they were penned by women.
And the main conclusion of Emily Sand's study was that it is women themselves as playreaders and decision makers who are essentially holding back other women's work.
And among those nominated this season were Sherie Rene Scott, who co-wrote Everyday Rapture (For the Tony, and Lucille Lortel).
Anna Devere Smith and Lynn Redgrave were both nominated for Lucille Lortel Awards for solo shows they wrote and performed, and Smith was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle, as was Carrie Fisher for Wishful Drinking.
Enron, by Lucy Prebble, was nominated for the Drama League Award (Lucy's also nominated for the Tony for lyrics for Enron, which she also wrote).
Aftermath, co-written by by Jessica Blank, also nominated for the Drama League Award.
Annie Baker's The Aliens and Circle Mirror Transformation shared the Obie award for best new American play. Actually fucking won, for TWO plays. CMT also got a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Play and Baker got a Drama Critics Circle Emerging Artist Special Citation.
Theatre World Awards are only presented to performers, not writers.
So, fuck them, then?
Friday, May 7, 2010
Everything's Coming Up Duncan!
I hate it when other bloggers don't post for a while and then bemoan their lack of posting. And now I'm doing it. I feel my blogger shame.
So much exciting stuff coming up:
First off, my short play Pocket Universe will be in the Fresh Fruit Playhouse Short Play Competition on May 25th, starring Jeff Martin, Joe Sevier, and Shaun B. Wilson!
Then in June, the long-awaited full production of my play The Thyme of the Season, as part of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity
(Which is up for a Pepsi Refresh Grant... For the next 5 days, every time you vote for Planet Connections Theatre Festivity on the Pepsi Refresh website, "Share" the fact that you voted to Twitter or Facebook along with the hashtag #PCTFGrant. You must include the hashtag in order to win an All-Festivity Pass, as that is how we will be tracking the entrants.)
And the Midtown International Theatre Festival shows have been announced, and I'm mentioned in the headline of the first article about it!
My play The Starship Astrov, will be produced in the festival by Oberon Theatre Ensemble. Tickets are already available.
So much exciting stuff coming up:
First off, my short play Pocket Universe will be in the Fresh Fruit Playhouse Short Play Competition on May 25th, starring Jeff Martin, Joe Sevier, and Shaun B. Wilson!
Then in June, the long-awaited full production of my play The Thyme of the Season, as part of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity
(Which is up for a Pepsi Refresh Grant... For the next 5 days, every time you vote for Planet Connections Theatre Festivity on the Pepsi Refresh website, "Share" the fact that you voted to Twitter or Facebook along with the hashtag #PCTFGrant. You must include the hashtag in order to win an All-Festivity Pass, as that is how we will be tracking the entrants.)
And the Midtown International Theatre Festival shows have been announced, and I'm mentioned in the headline of the first article about it!
My play The Starship Astrov, will be produced in the festival by Oberon Theatre Ensemble. Tickets are already available.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Readings
So I had three readings of pieces/plays of mine this weekend. It's so incredibly helpful to hear a play out loud- I know there's things I miss when it's only on the page. And feedback is always great, whether it's positive or negative- if negative, I try to see what caused that effect and change that- most often, I've found, it's not what the audience thinks should be changed.
My favorite is feedback from the actors who read it. There's something wonderful about the perspective from inside the piece, sometimes you can get an entirely different take on things from the characters' points of view, which is especially valuable.
My favorite is feedback from the actors who read it. There's something wonderful about the perspective from inside the piece, sometimes you can get an entirely different take on things from the characters' points of view, which is especially valuable.
"Good actors force me to write as honestly as I can. I say 'force' because if you have fudged the truth in a script (and sometimes I want to take a short-cut to the end of a scene or act, a short-cut that the action of the play doesn't justify) a good actor's honesty will shine a very bright light on that moment of chicanery and you will have to fix it or go down in flames. Good actors are merciless that way. They can't help it. It's one of the reasons they're good actors. Mediocre actors let playwrights get away with murder."
- Terrence McNally, preface, 15 Short Plays
Monday, March 8, 2010
Work in Progress
So Oracle Theatre, Inc. will be doing a reading of the first scene of my play-in-progress Roman à Clay this Friday. It's a piece I've been working on for a couple of years- I wrote it and put it away and then brought it out again and re-wrote and then put it away... recently brought it out again for a whole new rewrite... I still don't have much aside from the opening scene.
One of the actors doing the reading said he was riveted to find out what happens next, and was disappointed to find out that I don't exactly know yet. :)
One of the actors doing the reading said he was riveted to find out what happens next, and was disappointed to find out that I don't exactly know yet. :)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Gay Theatre
It's a sad thing to say that a lot of theatre about homosexual experience is pretty bad. The thing is, it doesn't need to be good. Queers are so starved for entertainment that reflects our lives, we'll buy tickets to any piece of trash that has gay characters in it. Especially if there's a hot guy on the poster and it's implied that he'll get naked.
I once was handing out postcards for a Gay play of mine, and a guy asked if there was nudity- I shook my head, and he handed the card back.
Which is not to say that there isn't good Gay theatre out there, it's just hard to know when the plays are good or just well-marketed.
I once was handing out postcards for a Gay play of mine, and a guy asked if there was nudity- I shook my head, and he handed the card back.
Which is not to say that there isn't good Gay theatre out there, it's just hard to know when the plays are good or just well-marketed.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Support: A Manifesto
After a post some time ago on Isaac Butler's blog, I've been thinking a lot about "support" and how that word is used in NYC Theatre circles- we're always saying "Come support our show" or "thanks for your support". I don't want people to come to my shows just to support me- I want them to come in the expectation of a good show. I'm doing fantastic work, and people should want to come see it. And many people do.
And I understand when people can't. I really, honestly do. Most of my friends are doing the same thing I'm doing- creating theatre. Most of it happens at the same times, which makes scheduling difficult. Most of us have 9-5 jobs on top of doing theatre in the evenings, and we get busy.
Most of my friends who are doing theatre are as broke as I am, all of our money going to our true vocation: theatre.
So I know that people are sometimes busy or choose to spend their money on food instead of theatre. The same thing happens to me.
People say, "I'm sorry I missed your show", and I agree with them. I'm sorry they missed it too, because it was awesome.
And I understand when people can't. I really, honestly do. Most of my friends are doing the same thing I'm doing- creating theatre. Most of it happens at the same times, which makes scheduling difficult. Most of us have 9-5 jobs on top of doing theatre in the evenings, and we get busy.
Most of my friends who are doing theatre are as broke as I am, all of our money going to our true vocation: theatre.
So I know that people are sometimes busy or choose to spend their money on food instead of theatre. The same thing happens to me.
People say, "I'm sorry I missed your show", and I agree with them. I'm sorry they missed it too, because it was awesome.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Playwrights of Color, check it out!
I got this e-mail through my website:
Sounds fascinating- if I were a Playwright of Color (and not the honkiest honky who ever honked), I would certainly apply to be a part of it.
I found your site through the theatre blogosphere (Flux Ensemble Theatre and Tarhearted). I'm working on a project you might find interesting. This is it: http://rvcbard.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-im-doing-now-forming-playwrights.html. The vision of the group is nearly identical to 13P (http://www.13p.org/), but with the emphasis on producing works by new writers of color. The idea is to use our shared passion for theater and our status as Othered to empower us when it comes to gathering resources and reaching out to potential audiences and creative partners. We're committed to giving people theatre by and about us that challenges what people assume we stand for and/or are interested in. This will not be just another reading group. We want performances of our work. Rather than sitting around submitting our plays to all these places and waiting for other people to decide our work is worth doing, we're going to do it ourselves. We will definitely read each other's work. However, our feedback process is geared less towards reviewing our pieces and more towards uncovering the performance possibilities of the scripts and giving the writers a better understanding of how their works . . . work. In other words, instead of trying to rewrite the plays, the group is there to help writers figure out what their plays are capable of and finding the way to make sure that happens. I'm taking a lot of inspiration from the Liz Lerman method of critical response: http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2003/10/toward_a_proces.php. Since we're geared toward development and production, we really can't do the typical writers' group thing of reading a snippet of a play out loud during a meeting then giving 15 to 30 minutes of instant feedback. Rushing through reading and feedback is a disservice to the writer. If that works for a particular writer, fine. But I want to make it clear that we're going to put our stuff on stage. It's up to the group to decide when and how that's going to happen, but I'm firm about setting up performances of our work. I'm leaning toward deciding on an activity (for example: a night of 10-minute plays and/or selections from larger works), picking a date, and going for it. Without that commitment, it's just an idea. So far there are about 5 writers (with scripts!) and a director interested. Right now we are reaching out to venues, organizations, and individuals who would be interested in being a part of our project. If you know of directors, actors, designers, producers, or even marketing/PR people who would be interested in micro-productions of new works by new playwrights of color, please feel free to send them our way. We'd love to work with them! Thanks for taking the time to learn more about us.
Sounds fascinating- if I were a Playwright of Color (and not the honkiest honky who ever honked), I would certainly apply to be a part of it.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Classic Txts
Last night I went to go see a play and the man in the audience in front of me was texting on his brightly lit Blackberry periodically during the show. I've seen that a lot recently- apparently these idiots don't realize that they're incredibly distracting to audience members behind them (or possibly they just don't care).
Last night after the 4th or 5th time of him doing it, I leaned forward in my seat so I could read, as well (he didn't even notice me hovering behind him), and then I realized that he wasn't just texting during the show, he was sexting during the show. Awkward.
Last night after the 4th or 5th time of him doing it, I leaned forward in my seat so I could read, as well (he didn't even notice me hovering behind him), and then I realized that he wasn't just texting during the show, he was sexting during the show. Awkward.
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