Favorite emotionally moving play?

#1

Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 3:58pm

(edit number 3)I need some ideas for our Contest Play (any play)...I'd like to do something with a lot of heart...something poignant...uplifting. Right now we are looking at The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, but I still want to bring something else to the table.

suggestions?

P.S. Due to environment and situation, I definately won't be doing anything that deals very straightforwardly with homosexuality and AIDS

Updated On: 12/12/04 at 03:58 PM

#2

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 4:12pm

My favourite emotionally-moving play is The Normal Heart, but it isn't one-act.

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BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."

#3

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 4:15pm

Oh, it doesn't have to be one act. We cut it to be one act. Since I've been it school we have done Three Musketeers, Look Homeward, Angel, and Hamlet

#4

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 4:19pm

Bang Bang, You're Dead

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"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

#5

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 4:44pm

It's not a one-act, but Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" is, in my opinion, THE most moving play ever written. I was practically sobbing, and it is *not* easy to make me cry.

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#6

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:03pm

I second Bang Bang you're dead.
my school did that play the year after I graduated. I went to see it and was in tears. Its a very difficult play to do but as long as you have actors that are very good at drama and a good director.

#7

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:05pm

'night Mother almost killed me... very upsetting.

QM

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#8

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:11pm

The best most moving play in the entire world will always be
ANGELS IN AMERICA but that is not quite a show you can cut to one act. AT ALL.

Perhaps something from Craig Lucas. He did some great shows.
Blue Window. Prelude to a Kiss. Reckless.

#9

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:15pm

cturtle SHUDDERS at the idea of cutting ANY full-length play to a one-act :-o

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#10

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:18pm

Prelude isn't a One-Act. Our college is doing that this year.

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"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

#11

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:19pm

I'm with you cturtle

#12

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:21pm

But high school's do it. We cut Our Town to two acts. I don't know why. What about The Diviners? That's emotionally moving, right?

#13

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:22pm

The Normal Heart, but it's not one act.

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A work of art is an invitation to love.

#14

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:37pm

As far as one acts:

The Lottery

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If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#15

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:43pm

Gotham, is THE LOTTERY based on the short story by Shirley Jackson?

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"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

#16

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:46pm

THE BOYS NEXT DOOR is very moving, but I'm not quite sure about the amount of acts.

#17

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 5:47pm

Laramie Project, but thats pretty long

#18

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 6:31pm

Yeah, I'm really disturbed by the idea of editing a play into one act. Who does it? How do you know it's still what the playwright intended?

Personally, I think it's very hard to pull off an intensely emotional experience in just one act -- there just isn't enough time to develop those relationships and the dramatic inertia to have that emotional climax. There are a few exceptions, like 'Night Mother, but there aren't many others out there.

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BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."

#19

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:17pm

Stick, yes it is a dramatic adaptation of Shirley Jackson's short story.

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If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#20

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:24pm

you could do West Side Story. but, it's just a suggestion.

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~*DeFy GrAvItY*~

#21

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:25pm

Straight plays, IBF.

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A work of art is an invitation to love.

#22

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:26pm

The most emotionally moving play I've seen is "Wit". Probably wouldnt be able to do in high school but it is still worth looking at. The HBO movie version is also excellent.

#23

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:58pm

I was in the P.A. premiere of the one-act play "Sottopassagio", and it is extremely emotional. It deals with homelessness in Italy, and the sacrifices that the homeless must make.
I don't know how you could get the rights normally, but I know the author and could contact her if you want.

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David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel

#24

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 8:17pm

Equus, by peter shaffer, is incredible

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"I think it was the Korean tour or something. They were all frickin' asian!" -Zoran912

#25

re: Favorite emotionally moving play?

Posted: 12/12/04 at 8:28pm

Just to clear up again, by ONE ACT, I mean we would cut it to be 40 minutes long. In Texas, the UIL One Act Play Contest is the contest for high school plays all over the state where you can compete and advance, just like a football state championship. If you go over 40 minutes, you are disqualified. Many of the plays you've mentioned are done all the time, just cut to 40 minutes. Great suggestions though.