I wanted to start a discussion of plays theatre majors should read. I'm more of a musical person, but that is no excuse for me to be ignorant. I want to start seeing/reading more drama.
I'm reading Extremities right now, and gonna read The Woolgatherer and Betrayal next. What are some plays you've seen/read over the years that just absolutely stand out in your mind?
Yeah, I'm sure I should be taking a class that opens this kind of discussion, but my school's theatre programme isn't the greatest.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
"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
Everyman Oedipus Hamlet Othello -- (pretty much anything by Shakespeare) The Seagull A Doll's House Hedda Gabler A Streetcar Named Desire Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Orpheus Descending Sweet Bird of Youth -- (pretty much anything by Williams) Long Day's Journey Into Night Death of a Salesman Endgame Waiting for Godot The American Dream Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Pillowman
...I'll think of more
"You've gotta have a swine to show you where the truffles are."
Long Day's Journey Into Night The Iceman Cometh The Crucible Death of a Salesmean A Streetcar Named Desire The Glass Menagerie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Angels in America You Can't Take it With You
Apart from the classics (Oedipus, Shakespear etc.) The shape of things The Goat (or who is Sylvia)-or anything by Albee Tartuffe Spring Awakening
Not a play but you should also read Poetics if you have any interest in theatre.
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
I worked on my high school's production of "Harvey" about 4 years ago and I throughly enjoyed it. I went out and bought the play for my collection. It's adorable!
What good is a life,
With no one to share,
The light of the moon,
The honor of a swear?
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
"We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in it's flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung, the dance when it's been danced? It's only we humans who want to own the future too."
- Tom Stoppard, Shipwreck
At my college they give out a list of the 100 plays that should be read before you graduate. If anyone is interested I can email it to you.
(Martha Graham from a letter to Agnes de Mille) "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium And be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, Nor how valuable it is, Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, To keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware Directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, A blessed unrest that keeps us marching And makes us more alive than others."
Night of the Iguana and anything else by tennessee williams!
...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...
Im doing the play now and I love it. Mary is fun :)
And I would be very interested if you could PM me the list of the top 100 plays, TheatreBoi
"I wouldn't let Esparza's Bobby take my kids to the zoo...I'd be afraid he'd steal their ice cream and laugh."- YankeeFan
"People who like Sondheim enjoy cruelty."-LuvtheEmcee
A good reference list of plays worth reading is the contents of THE BEST PLASY... series of books. Each season from 1919-1920 until 1994-95 the editors chose the 10 best plays and musicals each season. They included all the major award winners but also some more obscure plays that maybe only had limited runs or off-off-Broadway stagings.
It was through the BEST PLAYS series I first read STICKS AND BONES, THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE, THE GREAT WHITE HOPE and many more. Of course if you enjoy their abridged versions you can search out the complete text.
A shame they have done away with running a detailed synopsis of each play in favour of essays about the chosen shows. Still for the statistical data (Cast changes, awards, performances) the entire series is a must for any theatre fan. I have the complete set including three volumes covering the early years (1884-1919) that were added to the series in the 1950s, and I await each new release eagerly.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com