How many times have you watched a show and felt sad when the villain wasn’t onstage? That’s because a good villain is not only watchable, they’re somewhat relatable. Think Aaron Burr. Stanley Kowalski. Goneril and Regan. When writing a villain, make them the hero of their own story and they’ll shine. More than anything, audiences want characters (virtuous and not) …
I’ve been meaning to blog. I have had every good intention to blog. And yet. I have said before that too many things have happened this year that are unprecedented; that I have not experienced before. The pandemic, obviously. The California fires that hid the sun for a day. A person losing the presidential election insisting he has won it, …
I am constantly reminded that endings are hard. Just the other day, as I was walking, I thought of the ending of a play I’ve been kicking around in my head for a few years (yes, years). This makes me very happy. I feel like I can actually start writing the play now. Endings are hard because they must be …
“When you’re asking what is the role of a poet in a society, in a culture, in a country, in a community, it is to respond in a way that only poetry can.” ~ Jane Hirshfield Which brings me to one of my favorite poets, June Jordan. Her poems have inspired me to write plays, to be active in politics. …
Every morning, I walk in my neighborhood for about four or five miles. This month I’m greeted by skeletons rising up out of front lawns, bony dogs and owls on neighbors’ stoops, headstones dotting suburban yards. It’s never been my favorite holiday. Enjoy All Hallows’ Eve, a poem by Dorothea Tanning. Be perfect, make it otherwise.Yesterday is torn in shreds.Lightning’s …
Coincidences in plays can be problematic. Audiences will only tolerate so much. Once when discussing coincidences in “Oedipus Rex,” an instructor said what I think is a nifty, concise rule: “There should be only one coincidence per play, and it should happen offstage, and in the past.” Scott Myers makes the distinction between Fate coincidences and Writer coincidences. (Fate coincidences …
The Bay Area Reporter calls “The Law of Attraction” a “zingy comedy” and “an ideal tonic for yet another night at home during this long pandemic haul.” Here’s the full review: Through November 18The Law of Attraction, produced by the New Conservatory Theatre Company, audio on demand; pay-what-you-wish.Developed as a world premiere stage production for NCTC’s 2020-21 season, playwright Patricia …
Enjoy this poem, Divine, by Kim Addonizio. Oh hell, here’s that dark wood again.You thought you’d gotten through it –middle of your life, the ogre turned into a mousemonsters hammered downinto their caves, werewolves outrun.You’d come out of all that, into a field.There was one man standing in it.He held out his arms.Ping went your iHeartso you took off all …
I was discussing the use of time in playwriting with my friend Madeline, when I remembered the book How Plays Work by David Edgar. Edgar’s chapter on structure covers the different uses of time and how they affect a play’s theme and meaning. Real time is a favorite structure of mine. I used it in Bystanders, and I’m using it …
How I love this poem, “Theatre Impressions, by Wisława Szymborska! For me the tragedy’s most important act is the sixth:the raising of the dead from the stage’s battlegroundsthe straightening of wigs and fancy gownsremoving knives from stricken breasts,taking nooses from lifeless necks,lining up among the livingto face the audience. The bows, both solo and ensemble –the pale hand on the …