we can dress real neat from our hats to our feet, and surprise them with our victory cry
went and saw the Shadow Box last night, good show.some real solid acting overall, there were some moments that could have been more, but there always is.
all in all a successful play.
don't know if Kevin would agree, but i'm come to the conclusion that casting is a the big thing that can make or break a show. (script doesn't hurt either).
Sam Mcginnis who directed the play made good choices in casting, and it showed.
i've taken to reading plays again.
i get on these kicks, particularly when the ideas are swimming around in my head for dialogue.
reading helps me get focussed. organized.
i've only discovered a handful of playwrights, and most of them are older (yet solid) writers.
but i'm reading them, some over and over.
Sam Shepard's one such.
i read Fool for Love a couple of nights ago. hadn't read it, though i knew the plot. (also knew Joel was Eddy about two years ago in it), gotta say i was impressed. he really uses the abstract well in that show.
i've also read Suicide and Bb ,i really liked that one, though i could see it being tough to do with the bow and the arrow, and the 45 caliber pistol.
one i keep coming back to again and again by him is Geography of a Horse Dreamer.
i love that script, don't know why.
the dynamic between Santee, Cody and Beajo in the first act. just a great scene.
and the ending, i really like the ending. seems a bit deus ex machina, in a way. Cody's brothers bursting in like they do, but damn it's so unexpected.
i've also been reading Harold Pinter.
read the homecoming last night... verdicts still out on that one.
great dialogue (and some useable monologues in that one too), but i'm pretty mixed by the overall outcome of the play itself.
i'll re-read it a couple more times.
going to re-read American Buffaloe in the next couple of days.
then i think i'll see about picking up some newer playwrights.
who was the fellow that wrote "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" again Kevin?
think i'll pick up some of his stuff, from what i've seen, and what i've heard from hearsay, he's excellent.
posted by F.G. Shaw @ 3:23 PM
2 Comments:
Thrawn Trilogy -Timothy Zahn
Jedi Academy trilogy- ? Anderson
Hand of Thrawn (books) - Zahn
New Jedi Order series- 30 or so books different authors.
And all the graphice novels (Knights of the old Republic)(Clone Wars)
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Other plays...
Den Of Thieves
In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings
Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train
The Little Flower Of East Orange
Our Lady Of 121st Street
The Sissy Letters: Numbers 14, 29, and 47
Great writer, I would agree. Of the plays above, I'm only familiar with ISCARIOT and OUR LADY OF 121ST STREET.
Synopsis: The Ortiz Funeral Room is in big trouble: The body of beloved community activist and nun Sister Rose has been stolen from the viewing room, and waiting for her proper return are some of New York City's most emotionally charged, life-challenged neighborhood denizens, trying to find a place to put their grief, checkered pasts and their uncertain futures. Among the equally hilarious and tragic twelve characters, you'll meet Rooftop, a chronically unfaithful but otherwise popular Los Angeles DJ, looking to reconcile with the love of his life; Pinky and Edwin, two brothers tragically linked forever; and the outrageously angry Norca, who doesn't let the fact that she slept with her best friend's husband deter her from the full expectation of being immediately forgiven of her sin by her best friend, Inez, still in pain fifteen years later. The rest of the crowd in this dark, insightful and very funny comedy inevitably square off on each other, motivated by rage, pain and a scary desire to come clean.
As for SHADOW BOX. I would agree - strong casting, even with the young guy. It was interesting that the students in the department found it so fresh when I found it to be quite dated. The play is almost 30 years old and, to me, shows it. I thought the best written scenes were the ones between the family with the boy and with the old woman and her daughter. I thought the scenes with the gay man, his lover and his ex-wife to be trite and heavy-handed with messages that are, again, dated and a bit naive. Sam told me later that he learned in his research that the last scene just mentioned was the first scene he wrote and he later added the other scenes. Makes sense. He tried too hard with that first scene with the gay men and the ex-wife while he let himself explore the worlds of the people in the other two cabins. Much more interesting from my end.
good acting. I saw it at the 10:30 Monday night show (the first) and Amber Rolfe blew me away. I haven't seen acting that strong in the department in years. They worked a lot on her scenes, she and Sam, and so both deserve credit there.
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