Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Theatrical Haikus
Mother Courage:
Wartime travelling
selling stuff off a wagon
too bad your kids died
Phaedra's Love:
You're all related
Stop having sex together
I'm going to throw up
Monday, December 28, 2009
Suddenly Last Summer
I didn't even think that Sebastian might be gay, which is unusual for me, because I find a way to create subtext where there is none. I thought he just used people to get what he wanted and in the end that didn't work out for him. Karma's a bitch. And the exaggeration and the fantastic imagery mirrored the fantastic life he had created for himself. The plants were wild, untamed, beautiful, and dangerous.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Suddenly!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Execution of Justice
Her ability to weave narratives from myriad sources and create original "documentary" drama is astounding. Piecing together documentary footage, courtroom transcripts, interviews, news clips and making a piece of art that isn't too confusing or overwhelming is quite a feat. Somehow, Emily Mann manages to do do that.
She also makes very sociologically interesting dramas. Which, of course, piques my interest.
Is Execution of Justice one-sided? Perhaps. Artistically irresponsible? Perhaps. Did I enjoy it because I'm a left-wing lesbian? Perhaps. But I still loved it.
The Long Christmas Ride Home
Friday, December 25, 2009
August Osage County
It was as much about getting old as it was about a crazy family. I found all of the men having affairs with younger women and powerlessness of the women quite disturbing. It wasn't just that Violet had lost control of her family, but that she tried to compensate for her lack of control over her relationship by taking control of her children. As Barbara loses her husband to a younger woman, she tries to do the same.
In the end, I was also quite disappointed that Ivy didn't turn out to be a lesbian. Perhaps her life wouldn't have been ruined by growing old with some man that would just end up leaving her. Maybe that's the real message here.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Drunk Enough to Say I Love You
Drunk Enough To Say I Love You
I had to read a lot of these scenes a second time. Or a third. Which was fine because the play was so short. I know plays are supposed to be performed and not read silently, but I still kept wishing that I was seeing it or even hearing it instead of trying to make sense of it in my head.
Otherwise, I liked it. It's a little too black and white/"America is evil" for my taste, but the idea of depicting America as this totally aggressive, dominating person in a sadistic relationship is quite fascinating and original.
Overall: Not a great read, but certainly an original, challenging play that I'd love to see or work on.
December: Thurston County
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
August Osage County
Ruined
I was reminded by the conversation that Lena and I (kind of) had, albeit briefly, with Suzan Lori Parks when Lena asked about writing for a particular cause. It seem from having read the introduction that Lynn Nottage had a "cause" in mind when she first set to work on this play. She travelled to Uganda and collected women's stories. And yet, the characters in the play are fantastic. She did not "lose" the play to the cause, she made the cause real by developing the characters.
I loved Mama Nadi. So much. She reminds me of the countless women I've spoken to in the United States who are brave in the face of danger, who protect their children at all costs, who struggle daily to survive, and yet they keep heading forward. As Lena said, perhaps we are removed from this situation, how much can we really understand? But the point of making these stories accessible is to make them relatable to us - We can see some of ourselves in these characters.
I just thought it was really, really great.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Ruined
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Ghost Sonata
I'll Sonata Your Ghost.
Everyone was very confused about what was happening and when we were going to get into Philly. After waiting half an hour, we finally got on a train. Two stops later, the train lost power, and we all had to get out and wait again.
At this point, the people who had been waiting to get on a train since 8 AM were on their own, personal train to crazytown. One woman was on the phone yelling to somebody, "I can't take this. I'm just going to go home!" and dramatically ran down the stairs of the platform. I'm not exactly sure where she was heading since we were at a different stop.
I was about an hour late for work. Needless to say, I read the entire play for today while waiting, so it wasn't a complete loss.
Which brings we to my next point: Stridberg was probably on his own personal train to crazytown when he wrote Ghost Sonata. A death screen? Really? "Bring in the death screen!" I challenge you to say those words aloud and not laugh.
There were some good parts of the play. I appreciated his attention to the visual elements of the play. He really fleshed out how he wanted it to look so you were better able to see it as you read it. There are terrifying images right from the beginning with the dark lady standing at the staircase, motionless.
Strindberg and Christmas
Philadelphia just had an epic snow storm of epicness, around 2 feet. My whole body is sore from shoveling out the driveway.
The snow has cleared enough for me to make it into work. Which is good, because I need some extra money for Christmas, but bad, because I'd like to continue my pattern of sitting on the couch all day reading plays and watching TV.
Although, this blog is kind of like Christmas everyday. Lena and I are on opposite coasts. By the time she posts as night I'm already asleep, so I wake up in the morning to see what she wrote. And when I post in the morning, she has to wait until she gest up to see what I wrote!
In that spirit, here's a little Stridberg gift for you, kiddo:
http://www.strindbergandhelium.com/home.html
Now I'm off to work!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Reaching for Venus
Venus
Ugh.
What a sick, sick piece of history!
I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to stomach the play, knowing about Sarah Baartman. I was interested to see what Suzan Lori Parks would do with Sarah, because despite the literature written about her, there is little known about the person that she was. Parks neglected to give much character to Sarah. Although the play is named for her, it is titled Venus, not Sarah. Much of who she is or was is left to the director's and actor's imaginations.
The prevalence of the autopsy reports were quite gruesome - yet effective. Parks completely captured the scientific/sexualized phenomenon surrounding her, and the reports allowed her to fuse the two together in a very disturbing manner.
I don't even know what else to say so I'll leave it at that. I could go for a happy play tomorrow. Too bad we're doing Strindberg!
Six Degrees of Separation
What was most engaging for me about this play, and perhaps it's my sociological background, was the importance of credentials. I know that I should be thinking about how strangers wander in and out of our lives and how someone we passed on the street yesterday could be a part of our lives three years later.
It's challenging you to think about what is real and what matters. Ouisa, at least for a moment, realizes how intelligent Paul must be to pull off all these cons. But what is the difference between "artificial" knowledge and actual cultural capital, actually growing up in an apartment outside of Central Park and growing up wherever Paul did? He was able to slip into a world he did not grow up in and fit in - how is that knowledge and skill so different from not growing up there? It makes those credentials we see as being so important, the Harvard degree, the famous father, seem so arbitrary. And yet, they are everything.
It's also challenging us to examine why those credentials are important. Why does Paul have such a drive to want to fit into these peoples' lives? Where does he come from? Why does he want to erase his given name or his original speech pattern? Does he not value himself and where he comes from?
I guess my point is that the play is as much social commentary as it is about Six Degrees of Separation between each person. Yes, we may be connected to everyone we run into, but we're also very isolated. We may pass someone on the street who we can connect to somehow, through strings of acquaintances, but that doesn't mean that we can suddenly fall in with any crowd, that social stigma and credentials don't put up barriers between each person that we meet.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Six Degrees of Separation
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Play List
Dec 19 – Six Degrees of Separation - John Guare
Dec 20 – Venus - Suzan Lori Parks
Dec 21 – Miss Julie - August Strindberg
Dec 22 – Ruined - Lynn Nottage
Dec 23 – August Osage County - Tracy Letts
Dec 24 – Drunk Enough to Say I Love You - Caryl Churchill
Dec 25 – The Long Christmas Ride Home - Paula Vogel
Dec 26 – Execution of Justice - Emily Mann
Dec 27 – Suddenly Last Summer - Tennessee Williams
Dec 28 – Mother Courage - Bertolt Brecht
Dec 29 – The Wedding Dress - Nelson Rodrigues
Dec 30 – Phaedra’s Love - Sarah Kane
Dec 31 – Flu Season - Will Eno
Jan 1 - Buried Child - Sam Shepard
Jan 2 - Curse of the Starving Class - Sam Shepard
Jan 3 - Tooth of Crime - Sam Shepard
Jan 4 - LA Turista - Sam Shepard
Jan 5 – God of Carnage - Yazmina Reza
Jan 6 – Melancholy Play - Sarah Ruhl
Jan 7 – Body Awareness - Annie Baker
Jan 8 - Tongues - Sam Shepard
Jan 9 - Savage Love - Sam Shepard
Jan 10 - True West - Sam Shepard
Jan 11 – Blue Window - Craig Lucas
Jan 12 – Fences - August Wilson
Jan 13 – The Syringa Tree - Pamela Gien
Jan 14 – This is Our Youth - Kenneth Lonergan
Jan 15 – The Mistakes Madeline Made - Elizabeth Meriwether
Jan 16 – [sic] - Melissa James Gibson
Jan 17 – Woyzeck - Georg Buchner
Jan 18 – The Killing Game - Eugene Ionesco