EXTRA CRITICUM

Oh, For Those Good Old Days

Being an artist has never been a walk in the park.  Every generation is tempted (and often succumbs) to imagine some Arcadian past when things were simpler and easier.  “Oh, if only to have been a playwright in the 1590s, 1930s, or 1960s” – choose your decade.

I was recently reminded of this truth when I read the following in a book on plotting by the late novelist Patricia Highsmith, published almost 30 years ago:  “Economics are a problem, and writers are always preoccupied with it, but this is part of the game.  And the game has its rules: the majority of writers and artists must hold two jobs in their youth, a job to earn money and the job of doing their own work.  It is a bit worse than that.  The Authors League reports that 95% of writers in America must hold another job all their lives to make ends meet.”

New plays a-cookin in Philly (it's a bake-off!)

Plays & Players' homestage, on Delancey St. in Center City (left)

 What’s better than a 72-hour play? Well, a 24-hour play, but then I’m hardcore.

In fact, the “bake-off” (a term used for a writing exercise popularized by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel), in which dramatists are given several “ingredients” they must incorporate into a play that has to be written in 72 hours or less, has become a popular genre-within-the-genre of live theater.

Going to "Hell" and back...in Philly

Hell was sitting on Lane Savadove’s bookshelf for years.

Savadove, artistic director of Philadelphia’s EgoPo Classic Theatre, has adapted, with EgoPo actor Ross Beschler, the Henri Barbusse 1908 novel Hell. The play will have its world premier at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, opening April 27 at the German Society of Pennsylvania, 611 Spring Garden Street, running through May 15.  Tickets are $15-$30.

“Hell, the novel, was actually handed to me years ago by an associate, just a friend who thought it fit my interests,” Savadove said. “It sat on my bookshelf for close to 8 years.”

A Haiku Review

Hanna v The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo. The
freaky blonde kicks ass.

facebook: where some rules apply only to the little guy

If you try to add more than 4 new friends to your facebook profile you get a little self-righteous pop-up message that says something like: "It seems as though you may be trying to use facebook for commercial purposes, outsided its intended use. If this continues, your profile will be deleted." (Okay, I am paraphrasing, but you get the gist.)

That's all well and good, I suppose, but then, how do they explain this?

Some Thoughts on Marlon Brando

One of the perks of being married to my wife is that she loves old movies. At the end of a long day, knowing we don’t have enough concentration to work through the Netflix queue, she’ll often say “What’s on TCM?” Then we check out Turner Classics in hopes of finding something familiar that we can enjoy awhile before schlepping off to bed.

Let the haters hate....

With the speed of the cultural zeitgeist, being a couple of weeks late is a life time... but, I'm gonna give it a go.

Rebecca Black's Friday was unleashed upon us recently.  And like the monster it is, it quickly took a hold of our cultural imagination, quickly being called the worst song ever.  

Really?  Seriously?  Does anyone else remember Disco?  

The Value of Copying as Pedagogy

I'm currently reading (and loving) Elizabeth Hawes' book Fashion is Spinach about her life as a much-sought-after clothing designer in Paris and New York in the early part of the last century. In the book, Hawes describes her early years in Paris working as a "sketcher" for one of the many "copy houses" all over Paris. A word of explanation: "Copy houses," as they were called, were small under-the-radar operations that basically stole the designs of the major labels such as Chanel, Patou and Vionnet each season. How did they do this? By a most ingenious technique.

Hallman's "Raving Beauty" sings songs of playwright, poet, lover...

 
First the important question: does being an artist in residence at the Rosenbach Museum and Library  in Philadelphia (pictured at left) involve actually staying in the two 1865 townhouses where the collection resides? Because that would be very cool.

Off Book: a new opportunity for playwrights?

A friend forwarded me info recently on Off Book, another new website offering playwrights the opportunity to make their scripts available for download and licensing without the usual cut off the top to the middle man. (You may have heard of Bush Green, as one of the early examples) Frankly, I'm curious whether this model can work. So I went ahead and set up my own profile and placed two of my plays up on the site for kicks. I promise to report back in a month or two on whether I got any nibbles. In the meantime, those of you who are playwrights, feel free to join in the fun. To do so, click here.

An Assault on Freedom and Peace

Associated Press= JENIN, West Bank (AP) — A well-known Arab Israeli actor, director and political activist was gunned down Monday in the West Bank town where he ran a drama school and community theater, Palestinian police said.

Juliano Mer Khamis was shot five times by one or more militants, according to Jenin police chief Mohammed Tayyim. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. full story here.

Sometimes I wish I could just spoil all my favorite writers. Don't you?

Last night Resonance Ensemble's annual benefit featured a reading of Jonathan Tolins' wonderful new play, The Forgotten Woman. In his introductory remarks, the playwright joked that if his last play was any indication of the normal time btwn writing something and seeing it actually staged, we were all enjoying a sneak peek at a new play before its 2019 world premiere!

The play crackled. It was funny, charming, and actually about something. And, yet, it still hasn't been picked up for full production. And this is by no means unusual. This happens everywhere.

I saw some good theater in LA.... Woah.

It's true.  I saw some good theater.  In LA.

It was a recording of the Thrilling Adventure Hours, a live radio show in the style of the old time radio.  I've been listening to their podcasts through iTunes for a few weeks now.  They take older genre's and put a nice twist on them.  Western on Mars?  Check.  A Paranormal Nick and Nora Charles?  Check?  A superhero with laser beams? ...ok, there's no twist there, it's just fun.

Wanamaker's Pursuit: from Philadelphia to Paris

"Meet me at the Eagle" is a Philadelphia tradition.

When I was a little girl, my mother used to take me to John Wanamaker’s department store in downtown Philadelphia. It was a special treat to go down and see the great bronze eagle in the lobby, to eat at the Crystal Tearoom, and to stop by the founder’s office…left exactly as it was the day John Wanamaker died, behind a wall of glass, the day of his death outlined in red on the office calendar. To me, Wanamaker’s was one of the things that made Philadelphia a great city. A great city should have a fine department store, a world-class symphony orchestra, beautiful art museums, and a mediocre team in the National League.

Their First Posts

It's interesting to recall where we began, when we first arrived at this site. What obsession started us off as a contributing voice in this online community?

Here, in chronological order, are the first posts of the first eight Extra Criticum authors to join the site. What were they pondering when they first came on board? Enjoy!