I am reading lots of plays. I read three last week - True West, and Dead City, and The Female Terrorist Project which you can find here. I was greatly disappointed to find that I did not have this on my shelf as I was looking forward to reading this. Birthday is just around the corner, hmm?
I am writing no plays. The damn thesis: otherwise known as the most self-conscious, doubt-ridden work of my life. Making progress. Huzzah!
Really, I just wanted an excuse to write Huzzah!
Who are you reading?
Addendum: Just received my screenplay rejection email from a contest I entered (no surprises there). In a general note to all screenwriters, we were informed, FYI, that the judges of this particular contest are tired of scripts featuring Elvis. Got that? Too many Elvis scripts. We've got a glut of Elvis scripts. So, if you're hammering away on a script that revolves around the King, yours better be something pretty special. K?
6 comments:
I'm not reading any plays at the moment. (I've never gotten the knack of "reading" plays – perhaps my imagination fails me in this regard.)
I used to read 30 books a year. Now I'm lucky if I read a single novel in a year. My eyes are too tired after staring at computer screens for 10 hours a day. What a shame!
I did get a book for Christmas called "The Wooster Group – Workbook" – which looks pretty cool. Maybe I'll give that a go. Have you heard of it?
Ian
I have heard of the Wooster Book Workbook and have been wanting to get it, so I'd be interested to know what you think of it. 30 books? Any recommendations?
Can you explain what you mean by the "knack of reading plays?"
I would recommend anything by Douglas Coupland. If I had to recommend just one, it might be "Eleanor Rigby". Stay away from "All families are psychotic" – it's not his best work. Otherwise, J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace" is awesome, as is Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam". Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" is great, especially if you're interested in sub-continental history and politics. Have you read any of those ones?
As for the knack of reading plays. I guess I don't consider plays to be freestanding literary objects – in the sense that they require additional apparatus to extract their "true" vision. This may be hogwash, I'm sure lots of people consider play scripts to be perfectly cohesive "freestanding literary objects."
For me, it's a bit like reading a painter's notes about what he is going to paint. Not very entertaining. Though none of this is meant to underestimate the importance of a good script or devalue the work of playwrights – which, of course, is extremely valuable.
What do you think?
Ian
Thank you for the reading list. I've been reading about stand-up comedians lately, so this list will help me drag out the inevitable end of my Andy Kaufman rampage.
I don't consider plays "free-standing literary objects" either. I consider them a blueprint for performance. Much as I like to read architectural drawings and extrapolate the building, I look for the idea of theater imbedded in the text. I like to see how other writers wrestle with the ineffability of it. I like to see what type of ramps they construct, what jumping off points to performance they provide.
I read plays much differently than I read books. Usually I bounce between reading them to silently to myself and reading them out loud. Although I do read books outloud too. If they have a rhythm, some current that I need to hear.
I need to read plays to have some sort of measurement of myself as writer. So that I don't waste time re-inventing the wheel or get stuck thinking I'm hot shit for creating something "original." I think we build on each other's work. Not by stealing necessarily, but by knowing where the theater is this particular time in our existence. Here. In Europe, Asia, etc. Where are we?
And I forgot to mention, it's fun to read new plays.
Nice plug!
I'm often fascinated by how playwrights work . . . and I guess you're right, it's probably pretty essential to read other people who are working in your form.
P.S. OK. No Elvis scripts. Got it. Thanks for the tip! ;-)
Ian
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