Reading List for grad school?

[emg_sound]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 11:13pm

Howdy,

As I'm preparing to start on my MFA in sound design, I have a question to all of y'all in grad school... What was on your summer reading list for the summer before you began studies? Since I did my undergrad in Music, I realize that I have a lot to make up, so I'm trying to read a play or two a night (All the while boning up on my Brecht-ian theory!), so the more lists I can get my paws on, the more material I can acquire and consume!

Thanks in advance!

[AppleJacks2]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:29am

I would definitely do as much Tennessee Williams as you can get your hands on. Some other goodies might be All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, A Doll's House, Trifles, I Remember Mama, Our Town, The Rising of the Moon, Art, A Raisin in the Sun, A Streetcar Named Desire...

Hope this helps! :) I'm not in grad school yet but I'm getting my BA in acting so most of those were bigger plays that we read and I few a just threw in because I really like them. Where did you go to undergrad? Where are you going to grad school?

[thetheatrekook]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 12:55pm

I find a great jump-off point is an anthology. The big one we used in my undergrad was the Wadsworth Anthology of Drama - has a lot of the heavy hitters. It's got Shakespeare, Marlowe, Moliere, Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw, Brecht, Beckett, Pinter, etc etc...

[meggsison]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 3:40pm

A Raisin In The Sun. Definitly.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 5:01pm

I think it's a good idea to be familiar with playwrights and their styles. Therefore, just augment what you already know. Some have already been listed, but here are some more good playwrights to know:

- Arthur Miller
- Eugene O'Neill
- Neil Simon
- Edward Albee

[WOSQ]

Posted: 6/5/06 at 2:18pm

This sounds grand, I know, but read every theatre book that comes your way.

"Broadway" by Brooks Atkinson is a good start. It gives a good overview of American theatre because until about 1970, Broadway WAS American theatre.

A good biography or memoir is also a good history and sooner or later the biographical threads will start to mingle. Read them all; the good, the bad and the ugly.

Moss Hart's pearl of wisdom always applies, "No one learns anything from a hit." Read the plays that failed as well as the ones that succeeded. Why do you think they failed?

Read them all.