Extra Criticum

Notes Or Thoughts

[cross-posted at www.JeremysGreenRoom.com]

Notes are often given to directors and writers. A lot of the time in these notes sessions I find myself saying “what is the problem we’re trying to solve”. This is because a lot of times notes are given as solutions and a lot of times, for whatever reason, the solution is flawed. But that doesn’t negate the underlying problem.

Notes are very useful because they offer multiple perspectives, and they keep you from that problem of not being able to see the forrest for the trees. But writers usually come up with the best solutions for their scripts, and directors usually come up with the best solutions for their productions. I think it is usually preferable to simply present the problem and let the person in charge of that department ask for help, or give them the space to figure out their own solution.

Is it a Play, a Movie, or a TV Show?

When you have an idea for a story, and you’re trying to figure out if it should be a play or a movie, the conventional wisdom is that if you see it in your mind unfolding like life, it’s a movie, but if it’s more “theatrical” it’s a play. I once read an interview with Doug Wright where he was talking about the difference between QUILLS the play, and QUILLS the movie. He was talking about how in the movie they could basically “go to” (or recreate) these elaborate locations from far away places from centuries past. In the theatre of course, you can’t do that; the audience must use its’ imagination. But, Doug said, what he loved about theatre was that, in a very Brechtian way, you could simply hold up a sign that said “Poland 1804” and the audience would instantly go there and not question it. 

Getting The Audience To Feel What The Characters Feel

I saw DISTRACTED by Lisa Loomer at Roundabout last night and I really enjoyed it. It’s essentially about a Mother dealing with the fact that her 9 year old son may have ADD. The play takes an intelligent, multi faceted, and balanced look at some of her choices in dealing with the issue. I loved that it didn’t preach to the audience. Instead, it said, “this is a tricky issue and different people will deal with it differently”. Oh, and it’s wildly theatrical and hilarious. 

Writing With A Partner

I’m a playwright. This means I spend many, many hours alone at my computer making  shit up about people who don’t exist. It’s oddly comforting to spend time with people solely spawned from your own imagination, but also a bit lonely. Often, when I’m writing, I long to be in the rehearsal room collaborating with actors though, in truth, often, when I’m directing and things get “tricky”, I long to be alone, at home, on my computer talking to made up people. I am a bit appalled that I just wrote a sentence with 8 commas. 

I recently decided to try and write something with Erin Quinn Purcell an actor/playwright whom I’ve directed many, many times and whose plays I have produced. But Erin is a writer who  often writes with other people. In fact, most of what she writes is with other people. So she’s used to this.

Quotables: George C. Wolfe

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors will post a quote from someone we admire, something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable.

The following from George C. Wolfe:

Developing New Musicals

We all know that getting a musical right is far more difficult than with a straight play. The medium of a play is very forgiving (if not encouraging) of experimentation. But with a musical, every piece of the puzzle needs to fall into place just so. Maybe that one song seems superfluous, and you want to cut it, but then you have two ballads in a row and the audience momentum gets hurt. Or maybe you want