tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post5052747192011548182..comments2024-03-29T07:15:33.972-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Jungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-12983687045004902472012-06-07T20:56:30.657-04:002012-06-07T20:56:30.657-04:00Lisa.... aahhhhahahahaaahaha. Sam Shepard was deep...Lisa.... aahhhhahahahaaahaha. Sam Shepard was deep, but he didn't talk much. Maybe that's why I thought he was deep. Haven't seen him since, except in the movies.Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13440922709650278622012-06-07T20:13:08.781-04:002012-06-07T20:13:08.781-04:00Hi Reine. Funny you should mention that because I ...Hi Reine. Funny you should mention that because I remember his one-acts from my high school drama days. As I recall, I didn't get Icarus' Mother either. I remember assuming that since I didn't get it, the play must be really deep and intellectual indeed. :-)Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-81576960416864918482012-06-07T18:47:46.974-04:002012-06-07T18:47:46.974-04:00Lisa... Sam Shepard, yes of course... what did you...Lisa... Sam Shepard, yes of course... what did you think of Icarus' Mother? I was too young when I worked on it... staged reading, I think... Theatre Company of Boston at the old Hotel Touraine... long time ago. Whew. I had no idea what it was about, but I was still a teenager.Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-64139833408567911932012-06-07T18:32:27.104-04:002012-06-07T18:32:27.104-04:00THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - great dialoging play... And t...THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - great dialoging play... And there's something about the presence of theatre that lifts the words to more than thoughts... yup. Harold Pinter. Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Jean-Claude van Itallie. Yup. Words alive.Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-46790263808095057512012-06-07T16:33:09.736-04:002012-06-07T16:33:09.736-04:00Lisa: Peter Shaffer wrote "Equus . . . ."...Lisa: Peter Shaffer wrote "Equus . . . ."<br />Some productions that were particularly thought-provoking or just plain really good theatre: Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," Peter Nichols's "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg," "Jimmy Shine," and "The Fantastiks."Joan Emersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-28241076462522563272012-06-07T13:48:33.550-04:002012-06-07T13:48:33.550-04:00Sam Shepard's got some good plays, too. And, w...Sam Shepard's got some good plays, too. And, who wrote "Equus"? That play: wow.<br /><br />This blog post gets me thinking that I need to watch more classic movies! Maybe that should be one of my summer goals. :-)Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-72893365961684463572012-06-07T12:27:16.093-04:002012-06-07T12:27:16.093-04:00Thank you for all the insightful comments! I now ...Thank you for all the insightful comments! I now have Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard on my summer reading list. The process of writing a play is tedious and takes years. I have a co-author for the play Under Oath, Avram Ludwig. In fact, his dad was in the original Inherit the Wind in 1955 at the Lyceum Theater in NYC. We work together on Skype to make changes and then see it performed at the Actors Studio where we get critiqued. We've had approximately 6 performed readings. We're also in a play writing group every Monday afternoon at the studio and we workshop various scenes with our cast. It's so much fun to work with the actors.Margaret McLeanhttp://www.margaretmclean.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-10184592158024158282012-06-07T12:05:37.546-04:002012-06-07T12:05:37.546-04:00Hi Margaret--I haven't seen the movie since I ...Hi Margaret--I haven't seen the movie since I was a child--didn't remember that Gene Kelly was in it! Going on my list, though, and I love the idea of reading plays. I get a lot of inspiration from watching good British television for the same reasons. Such wonderful, clever language, used so economically.<br /><br />I've never read Pinter, Jack, or Stoppard. But I will.<br /><br />Good luck with Under Fire, Margaret! That's going on my list, too!Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11519514786198185277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-33868782940805353572012-06-07T11:35:21.494-04:002012-06-07T11:35:21.494-04:00I love that movie too. And I think it helps most f...I love that movie too. And I think it helps most fiction writers to think of their books as a series of visual scenes, imagining their characters interacting on stage--where they stand and how they stand in relationship to each other.<br />I started life writing radio and TV plays and this has definitely helped me.Rhys Bowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06663634889908752121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-20602226665448437322012-06-07T11:24:08.917-04:002012-06-07T11:24:08.917-04:00Love that movie! Brilliantly written, directed, an...Love that movie! Brilliantly written, directed, and cast. <br /><br />And a summer of playreading -- how excellent. Anyone who can write a play -- or a screenplay -- clearly has superpowers.Leslie Budewitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11942314846112875042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-82690611756568695472012-06-07T11:20:10.237-04:002012-06-07T11:20:10.237-04:00Oh, how wonderful! My favorite play--let's see...Oh, how wonderful! My favorite play--let's see.Besides Shakespeare..I'd say Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.<br /><br />Brilliant dialogue, brilliant story, brilliant theme. I cried for WEEKS. And I bet I still think about it every week.<br /><br />Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead , also a Stoppard, is fantastically clever. He's amazing.<br /><br />I do love Inherit the Wind.. too. How bout Witness for the Prosecution? Or--Compulsion! (Was that a play before it was a movie?)Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-75814338685586492842012-06-07T10:37:05.778-04:002012-06-07T10:37:05.778-04:00Welcome, Margaret! I'm putting UNDER FIRE on m...Welcome, Margaret! I'm putting UNDER FIRE on my TBR list. I love good courtroom drama and legal thrillers. (Probably from my years as an administrator at a law school.)<br /><br />I, too, love to read good plays to learn from them. When I wrote my play, it was one of the hardest and most exhilarating things to do, and when it was produced, working with the actors and director was great fun--and sometimes frustrating. When we write books, we keep control, but plays and films are communal businesses. You have to make room for other people's interpretations, even if they differ from what you intended.<br /><br />I think the only thing better to read to learn concision is poetry, but plays also are fantastic for learning the bones of dramatic scenes and conflict.<br /><br />What I want to know is how Margaret works in New York and hosts radio shows in LA? Special powers? I'd like some of those, please.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-72591974803681006682012-06-07T09:37:25.023-04:002012-06-07T09:37:25.023-04:00Jack,
I'm going to check out Harold Pinter!
...Jack,<br />I'm going to check out Harold Pinter! <br /><br />The thing about plays, I think, is they consolidate the drama into relationship conflict - and at a real peak moment.<br /><br />I love going to community theatre productions of plays (not musicals) in the summer - where can get a seat up close and just get lost in the material. <br /><br />~janJungle Red Writershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-17694762674506494922012-06-07T08:31:05.065-04:002012-06-07T08:31:05.065-04:00I love reading plays, too -- and of course they ar...I love reading plays, too -- and of course they are great lessons in dialogue. <br /><br />But write one? I am in awe. It seems like the HARDEST of all the formats. You've got no setting or viewpoint to prop up your story; that dialogue is just naked on the page.<br /><br />Hope the Under Fire catches fire for you...Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-44459945101865864192012-06-07T07:56:05.383-04:002012-06-07T07:56:05.383-04:00Margaret, so many things I learned about you today...Margaret, so many things I learned about you today! You never told us about writing plays and hosting radio shows--fascinating.<br /><br />We did INHERIT THE WIND in high school--not our usual light musical and not quite Spencer tracy either:). Would love to hear more about the process of writing a play--and your new book!Lucy Burdettehttp://www.lucyburdette.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-47443142387483000992012-06-07T06:30:30.741-04:002012-06-07T06:30:30.741-04:00Hi Margaret,
Great to have you here (and happy bir...Hi Margaret,<br />Great to have you here (and happy birthday, again!)Inherit the Wind is one of my all-time favorite movies and the Spencer Tracy/Frederic March version is the best. The language is incredible. Not a wasted word and as you point out even the secondary characters come to life with just a few sentences. ("My wife works on the religion, I just work at the feed store.") It's so good to be reminded of that when we sometimes feel the need to give every physical detail of a character in order to describe him.Rosemary Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08033747422699443024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-23883800076305819132012-06-07T06:30:11.178-04:002012-06-07T06:30:11.178-04:00I, too, love to read and study plays. If you haven...I, too, love to read and study plays. If you haven't tried him yet, may I recommend Harold Pinter. He writes emotional plays with stunning dialogue.Jack Getzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09516237388744739669noreply@blogger.com