EXTRA CRITICUM

The Alchemy of Directing

Of all the arts and crafts associated with the theatre biz the one I find most confounding is directing. One reason is that the director’s practical work is largely invisible, occurring in private rehearsal spaces with the actors and other creative team members before public performances begin. Another reason is that it seems there are as many approaches to directing as there are directors.

Last week for me a curtain was pulled back, casting some light on this alchemist-like profession. The occasion was a one-hour interview with Bart Sher at the Dramatists Guild in New York. (Interview was recorded and posted on the Internet.)

Drafting John McPhee's Help

Today I wrote what may be the three most satisfying words a dramatist writes: END OF PLAY. They went on the bottom of page 103 in Scene 12 of a new full-length comedy. (One only hopes there will eventually be audiences and if they appear, that they will laugh.) This play’s working title is Callgirl, which I’m not satisfied with and will exchange for something better as soon as I come up with that something better.

What is Success ?

I am grateful for being able to post on Extra Criticum and am sorry I haven't in a long while.  I could use the excuse that I now do a weekly internet radio show, work a day job and play poker on the weekends so who the hell has time for a single thing more but that would not be coming from a very grateful place now would it? 

So here I am posting, partly in response to Roland's last post and partly because I have been discussing and debating the topic of what artistic success is on my show, The Unknown Zone Talk Show, fairly regularly.

Why I Started Extra Criticum and What I’ve Learned by Doing So

For at least two years before the birth of Extra Criticum, it seems that my old pal Robert Sullivan had been prodding me to start blogging. “You need a blog. Every writer should have a blog. Have you thought about starting a blog yet? I really think you ought to consider it.” I don’t know why I resisted. Well, actually, I do. I resisted the idea of starting my own blog because it struck me then as somewhat narcissistic. A journal of my thoughts, feelings and opinions—not to mention mundane actions—posted online for all the world to see? Why bother? What a bore!

So I told Robert the only way I would consider blogging was if it was a group undertaking. I didn’t want to create a space where all the musings of one Roland Tec would be posted ad nauseum. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if I could do so in the company of good friends and colleagues.

Happy Fifth Anniversary! Or How Extra Criticum Changed My Life

Extra Criticum was born on May 24th, 2008 and on June 2nd of that year my first post appeared, a review of the film Reprise. Before I wrote that post I was shy, withdrawn, and weighed 498 lbs. Since then I lost 350 lbs and gained the confidence I was lacking. Now I’m famous, rich, beautiful, and get so much action I’m giving some of it away to the action-less.

Poetry and Pathos in Between the Laughs

If we can agree that most playwrights are mediocre, I sort of feel like they fall into two giant pools at opposite ends of a continuum. At one end there are those with great ears for the music of dialogue, for how we sound when we speak but without much of any depth fueling their desire to write. At the other end of the spectrum are the theme builders who load their plays with big issues but maybe lack some of the finesse in terms of crafting dialogue. And then in the middle, between these two extremes are the really great playwrights, the ones who have a subtle ear for dialogue but also have something devastating to say about the human condition

Two such writers have plays up in 99-seat houses right now. And I was lucky enough to enjoy them both virtually back to back.