Good plays to read?

#1

Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 4:34pm

What texts to shows would you recommend one to read without seeing a version of it performed previously?

Is FROZEN a good read? WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

#2

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 4:41pm

i would recommend DOUBT and I AM MY OWN WIFE

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#3

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:47pm

I'd probably wait and see Virginia Woolf (they are doing a semi tour at the moment and it's a great production). I'd probably tell you to read Pillowman. It's not as good as seeing the show but still a great read.

#4

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:49pm

i saw a play recently called The Last Sunday In June that was written by the same guy who wrote Twilight of the Golds that i adored. i loved it so much i ran out and got the book and the book is even more amazing...

#5

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:50pm

I know I'm going to get slapped in the face for this, but I thoroughly enjoyed both the script and play for THE SHAPE OF THINGS, by LaBute.

Also, (I wont get slapped for this) PROOF is an excellent read.

Last but not least, if you like monologues, try out TAKE ME OUT.

And Folksy, you remind me of an ex boyfriend.

Updated On: 5/31/06 at 05:50 PM

#6

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:52pm

Wit is a fabulous play to read if you haven't seen it. There is also an HBO produced film which you can buy...I would reccomend reading the play and then watching the movie.

Updated On: 5/31/06 at 05:52 PM

#7

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:55pm

haha i dunno if that' a compliment?

#8

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:56pm

Angels in America.

#9

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 5:57pm

Proof is also a great read...there is also a movie to watch along with that one as well starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gwenyth Paltrow.

#10

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:02pm

Angels in America
The Pillowman
Doubt
Who's Afraid of virginia Woolf?
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
I Am My Own Wife
Waiting for Godot
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Folkyboy, you kind of remind me of Marc Kudisch. Kinda.

#11

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:04pm

haha well at least it's not something fugly :P

*i'm only fugly on the inside, i promise*

#12

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:09pm

The Pillowman
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
Take Me Out
The Shape of Things
Angels in America! (Best. Play. Ever.)
Laramie Project

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"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck

#13

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:15pm

No, you're not fugly.

And PROOF the movie sucked. You can't deliver an act line as brilliant as the play can in a movie. It just can't happen.

The only casting I agreed with in that movie was Anthony Hopkins. I semi love Gwen, adore Jake, but together on the same screen just wasn't good.

Now Jake and Jennifer, that's a good combo. I'd see more of that.

#14

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:16pm

The History Boys

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"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed

#15

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:18pm

i bet The History Boys would be awesome to read. i think some of the French might be hard for me though. as long as they had a lot of direction it might not be....

#16

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:20pm

I did see this $40 dollar hardcover copy of Waiting for Godot, in both English and French.

But I didn't buy it. At the time, I couldn't afford it. I wish I bought it anyway.

#17

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:28pm

Oh yes, any Neil Simon play is great! My favs:

Laughter on the 23rd Floor
The Odd Couple
25 Seconds from Broadway
Rumors

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"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck

#18

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:53pm

OLEANNA

When I read it, my fingers were singed by the heat of the text!!!

Read the three main Kaufman and Hart plays:

ONCE IN A LIFETIME
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER.

Classic American playwriting!!!

#19

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:56pm

The Boys Next Door
The Night Thoreau Speant in Jail
Streetcar Names Desire

www.dramatists.com ---- just browse.

#20

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:58pm

"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead "

Agreed.

As far as amazing plays to read...are we talkin' Shakespeare too?
Because basically anything is...you know...amazing.

#21

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 6:59pm

"The Man Who Came To Dinner" by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

A brilliant comedy.

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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

#22

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 7:01pm

Anything by August Wilson.
Anything by Neil LaBute.
Faith Healer by Brian Friel.

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"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"

#23

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 7:03pm

Frozen is a good read but only if you're ok with the monologue-structure which some people find tedious. And Angels in America is a must, I also enjoyed reading:
The Glass Menagerie
Anna In The Tropics
On The Town
Doubt

#24

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 7:03pm

I agree Angels in America = best play ever!

The Pillowman is an AMAZING script.

Three Days of Rain is great

Frozen is awesome.

Inherit the wind is good if you like court room stuff.

Glengarry Glen Ross is good.

Crimes of the Heart

The Lion in Winter

Doubt is also very good.

#25

re: Good plays to read?

Posted: 5/31/06 at 7:05pm

Proof wasn't great but in my opinion it did the play justice.