tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post1120954273967365846..comments2023-09-20T22:36:40.620-07:00Comments on Pogue's Pages: SLEUTHING THE THEATRE STACKS (or READ ANY GOOD PLAYS LATELY)Charles Edward Poguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-39723275353208045892010-04-21T21:37:42.486-07:002010-04-21T21:37:42.486-07:00I had the privilege to act in two Vermont summer s...I had the privilege to act in two Vermont summer stock shows back in the 1970s with your wise and memorably voiced professor Charles Dickens. His dying saddened me, yet did not surprise, given his grief-stricken heart. I have always wondered whether his was the name his parents gave him. Do you happen to know?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02165018784535884968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-39096170146766924882009-04-19T06:59:00.000-07:002009-04-19T06:59:00.000-07:00Hey, Rick, I'm curious. I thought you were for ha...Hey, Rick, I'm curious. I thought you were for having a resident company of actors. In your post above, you seem to have backed off that position. Why?<br /><br />By the by, I'm enjoying the Royal Shakespeare Company book you lent me. Seems no matter what level you're at, there are always problems. "Why do we do it, Paul?"Charles Edward Poguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-12045197377653136802009-04-18T10:14:00.000-07:002009-04-18T10:14:00.000-07:00All those posts were great ... the blogging world ...All those posts were great ... the blogging world of writers is truly superb, a guy can get a graduate level education just by spending time on the internet ... remember in college when someone (like Maria Irene Fornes did for us) would come to your department and have a dialogue? We can do that every day, especially with screenwriters, all on the internet via blogs and forums. It's totally awesome, you know? <br /><br />I'm in New York, at least for now, though we're contemplating a move out west ... And I've been fortunate in that I got hired for at least one fairly known project (an adaptation for a book I truly loved) that a lot of folks like and I've had a couple other scripts optioned ... some of which I can't really get into on a public forum, but I have been lucky and I'm thankful for that. <br /><br />Interesting thing, after all that, I've gotten hired to write a script and people really like it, and optioned other stuff, but still haven't gotten an agent yet - lol!Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-53799494123137310842009-04-18T09:25:00.000-07:002009-04-18T09:25:00.000-07:00Yep, you gotta write what comes out...I always say...Yep, you gotta write what comes out...I always say, I "write to the passion". If I had taken every job I had been offered in Hollywood, I'd be a lot richer, but probably miserable. I could never take the money, if the project didn't speak to me in some way.<br /><br />As some playwright once said, "You can make a killing in the theatre, but not a living." The trade-off between film writing and the theatre writing has always been money and power. You get more money in film and no power; a playwright is supreme in the the theatre and has the power because he has not surrendered his copyright as in film, but unless he's got a hit, it's very tough to make the big dough.<br /><br />I hope my Hall of Fame posts in the Wordplay archives were of some help to you, there are hundreds if not thousands more in the archives. As I said in another of my blogs, it got quite addictive for awhile.<br /><br />Hope you're having some luck as a screenwriter. Are you based in LA or New York?Charles Edward Poguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-29066386910723383572009-04-18T09:07:00.000-07:002009-04-18T09:07:00.000-07:00I saw many a post by you in the HOF at Wordplay, I...I saw many a post by you in the HOF at Wordplay, I went through and read all of 'em in the HOF. <br /><br />I wouldn't mind coming back to playwrighting, it's the most fun a person can have with their pants on, I truly enjoy it, but you can't really make a living at it (Shepard's words before mine) and now that I've got a kid, I really gotta think about that. I'm lucky in that I've had more than a few plays produced, but if folks know how little money a person gets from it, eek ... the nice thing about screenwriting is you do sometimes get paid well. <br /><br />It's a bit of an outrage, what playwright do or don't get paid, I think. But most of us started doing it, playwrighting, because it was fun and cool, not unlike starting a band in the garage, and not because of the money. <br /><br />I wrote a novel for the same reason, just because I love books, and now it's being sent around ... tough time to sell fiction, but sometimes you gotta write what comes out, no matter what, right?Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-89543994085650464822009-04-18T06:07:00.000-07:002009-04-18T06:07:00.000-07:00An autographed copy for five bucks. Such book fin...An autographed copy for five bucks. Such book finds always sets my collector's heart aflutter. <br /><br />I don't know how long you've been on WORDPLAY, but my heavy years of participation were the late nineties and early 2000's, when I was on the board of the WGA and really in the thick of the business. I don't go there that much anymore because I think I pretty much shared all the worthy insights I have about screenwriting and found that I was repeating myself. All my musings there can be found in the archives. But I still recommend it as the best screenwriting site around.<br /><br />Unlike you, I'm being drawn more toward playwriting these days. I refer to myself as a struggling playwright/novelist whose day job is screenwriting.<br /><br />I'll keep an eye out for Ms. Wallace's work and maybe Rick will come here and let us know if he's familiar with her work at all.Charles Edward Poguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-9944392696308639992009-04-17T21:37:00.000-07:002009-04-17T21:37:00.000-07:00I forgot to add, I picked up a book of essays by M...I forgot to add, I picked up a book of essays by Mamet, I think called THE CABIN (I think, I'd have to look again), it was just about his early life, growing up and breaking in as a playwright back when New York was funky and cool and folks could live there cheap ... just essays on his life, basicaly, I found it at a used book story (autographed, too) and bought it for five bucks. <br /><br />Read it many a time since.Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-24721098706687807122009-04-17T21:35:00.000-07:002009-04-17T21:35:00.000-07:00Cool man, check out Naomi's work ... she's a true ...Cool man, check out Naomi's work ... she's a true artist (in my opinion, she'd blush if she knew I said that) ... I also like her play THE TRESTLE AT POPE LICK CRICK as well ... and THE WAR BOYS. <br /><br />You'd dig her work, I think. Plus she's a great person, to boot. <br /><br />And I believe I know you (internet-wise) through the Wordplay boards, right? <br /><br />I'm a playwright as well, though I do less of that these days and more of other types o' writing.Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-89490605400437897352009-04-17T19:05:00.000-07:002009-04-17T19:05:00.000-07:00Joshua, Welcome! Naomi Wallace sounds very famili...Joshua, Welcome! Naomi Wallace sounds very familiar to me, but I am not familiar with her work. Louisville I don't know as well as I should, being based in Central Kentucky where I went to school and having grown up in Northern Ky. near Cincinnati. <br /><br />But I suspect my colleague, Rick St. Peter, Artistic Director of Actors Guild, who is more up-to-date, on current playwrights than I, knows or has heard of her.(See Rick's comments above)<br /><br />I have both the Mamet books and particularly like the no nonsense of TRUE OR FALSE (I have to revisit USES OF A KNIFE). I think it is a great book for actors and writers...and I love that both books piss a lot of theatre folk off.<br /><br />I have one of Simon's bios but haven't read it.Charles Edward Poguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-78745093768656174132009-04-17T18:18:00.000-07:002009-04-17T18:18:00.000-07:00Are you familiar with Naomi Wallace's work? She's...Are you familiar with Naomi Wallace's work? She's a playwright friend of mine and originally from Louisville, Kentucky ... I think her work is simply awesome ... she got the MacCarthy Genius Grant in 99 ... I love a lot of her work, but in particular I'd point someone to ONE FLEA SPARE or IN THE HEART OF AMERICA ... <br /><br />In terms of books about theatre, it's been awhile, I remember liking Mamet's USES OF A KNIFE and TRUE OR FALSE, but I know both those books piss some of my theatre friends off ... I also have a fond place in my heart for AUDITION ... I read Neil Simon's two book autobiography and liked them a lot, much more than some of his plays.Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-17800454561983074912009-04-17T16:17:00.000-07:002009-04-17T16:17:00.000-07:00I have read THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE and agree it is...I have read THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE and agree it is quite timely. I saw an impeccable production of Granville-Barker's WASTE a few years back, directed by our fav, Peter Hall, with Michael Pennington and Fecility Kendall, so I'm a firm Granville-Barker groupie. I now must read MADRAS HOUSE. <br /><br />I love what I have read or seen of Hare which is SKYLIGHT & AMY'S VIEW and his collaboration with Howard Brenton, PRAVADA. The Stafford-Clark book sounds fascinating. I enjoy rehearsal diaries a lot.<br /><br />Well, I certainly agree with Sir Peter regarding subsidized theatre and I think I lean toward a permanent company of actors, though with some ebb and flow to it. I think every once and awhile the faces and personalities have to change, go away-come back, or just revolve to a new core every so often (just like a baseball team) so things don't stagnate too much or the company doesn't become too inward or self-absorbed. <br /><br />But there is much to be said for a company of actors working together over a period of time, learning each other's strengths and weaknesses, habits and peculiarities, developing a short-hand, and seeing strong actors in smaller roles one week and then playing a lead the next. I like returning to companies to see familiar faces doing different roles. Very comforting in a way. I mourned Michael Byrant's loss along with the National when he died. He was a pillar of the National, in big roles and small. I had seen him play Heronimo in THE SPANISH TRAGEDY in 1982 and his last role as Firs in The Cherry Orchard in 2000 and several roles in between. It was a disappointment if I went over to England and he wasn't in something. Sometimes even companies who may not have the strongest line-up of actors use them well and the company can run like a well-oiled machine.<br /><br />As for Mr. Shakespeare...the conjecture on who he was, where he was from, and what he wrote runs rampant. You be surprised at the famous Shakespearean actors who are skeptics about the man from Stratford. My opinion: doesn't really matter who he was, we have his plays.Charles Edward Poguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-16152516272939041442009-04-17T15:19:00.000-07:002009-04-17T15:19:00.000-07:00Chuck-
Have you happened to read THE VOYSEY INHER...Chuck-<br /><br />Have you happened to read THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE by Granville-Barker yet? I hear it is a great and timely play!!<br /><br />I got obsessed with Peter Hall's Diaries and Richard Eyre's Diaries...I also am very fond of both of their autobiographies: Hall's Making an Exhibition of Myself (published in 1993, fills in a lot of blanks from the Diaries) and Eyre's Utopia and Other Places, which is actually more about his childhood (he alludes to a very complicated relationship with his parents in his Diaries) and they both should be required reading for director's, artistic director's or anyone with an interest in how a theatre is run.<br /><br />I am currently reading:<br /><br />ACTING UP by David Hare...his journal of making his professional acting debut at the age of 51 in the solo play Via Dolorosa at the Royal Court and its subsequent transfer to Broadway.<br /><br />OBEDIENCE, STRUGGLE AND REVOLT by David Hare...I love to read everything I can about a playwright before I direct one of their plays so I am currently in a David Hare phase as I begin prep for directing THE VERTICAL HOUR at AGL next season. OS&R is a collection of lectures on theatre and politics and Hare's conviction that they go hand and hand. He is a provocative writer, one of the things I like best about THE VERTICAL HOUR is its unabashed point of view...Hopefully Lexington will dig it as well.<br /><br />LETTERS TO GEORGE by Max Stafford-Clark...when Stafford-Clark determined to direct Farquhar's THE RECRUITING OFFICER, he also decided to keep a rehearsal diary in the form of "Letters to George" (ie Farquhar, the long dead playwright). The production (1988) featured the wonderful Jim Broadbent and also served as the inspiration for Timberlake Wertenbaker's GREAT play OUR COUNTRY IS GOOD...Nice behind the scenes glance of a great director at the top of his game working at one of the great theatre's in the world, The Royal Court.<br /><br />THE NECESSARY THEATRE by Peter Hall...I love the Dramatic Context series, which are basically either lectures or position papers reprinted. I have several different works in the series and the latest is Hall's distillation of his current thinking on the state of theatre...Published in 1999, it undoubtedly could be updated. His two main arguments are 1) Theatre throughout the ages has always required public subsidy to thrive. (On a side note, I recently ran across an article that said per capita arts spending per citizen in the United States is less than $.50, while in Canada, it is approximately $4.50 per citizen and in Great Britain, it is approximately $24.50 per person...and Hall complains about a lack of subsidy in England!). His second argument centers around the need to have a permanent company of actors and technicians working in their own building for the best theatre to occur. As much as I like Sir Peter, I don't believe he is correct regarding the need for a resident company of actors. I am sort of torn about that in my own current thinking.<br /><br />Final current book is SHAKESPEARE: THE WORLD AS STAGE by Bill Bryson...very funny book that basically says we don't know shit about Shakespeare but we DO know more shit about Shakespeare relative to his contemporaries with the exception of Ben Jonson. Very entertaining book...<br /><br />I think that is enough for now!!<br /><br />Peace<br />Rick St. PeterSweetBrier Scrapshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04315971745082332191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-24662488092994951722009-04-16T12:05:00.000-07:002009-04-16T12:05:00.000-07:00A Lot of good choices. I LOVE Chekhov. I think I...A Lot of good choices. I LOVE Chekhov. I think I've seen all his major plays in some form or another. Check out the BBC Boxed set of Chekhov...with two different productions of The Cherry Orchard with Judi Dench in both (different roles, of course). McDonagh's a great playwright. Noises off a brilliant farce. Not plebian taste at all.Charles Edward Poguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028748279789443472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2329900726636750013.post-28425923108513637312009-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:002009-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:00Oo. I'd be interested in seeing a production of "T...Oo. I'd be interested in seeing a production of "Tyrant".<br /><br />I must admit to somewhat plebian tastes. I'm a fan of "Noises Off" and Charles Marowitz's "The Last Case of Sherlock Holmes" which features the most ludicrous word association sequence i have ever seen committed to page.<br /><br />I like me some Eric Bogosian. and I'd love to do "Talk Radio" someday before I die.<br /><br />And i've had the great good luck to have done 2 of Martin Mcdonagh's plays. (I hope i spelled that right.) His language is a real treat to work with.<br /><br />I also love Tennessee Williams. surest way to get me to come out for an audition is throw some Williams into the mix. I also dig on Chekhov, but he doesn't get done round these parts as much as he should. I happened to see a production of "The Seagull" at ATL featuring John Peilmeier as Trigorin and it was hilarious. I'd been studying Chekhov for a semester at the time and decided that he wasn't at all funny.<br /> Sometimes, it's good to be wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com