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Re: RAT The Sassies!!!!
Cara and Rats:
Chris Jeffries musicals are brilliant and (at least for me) were the cappers
of one of Annex's golden ages. I wish that lazy bum would write something
else for Annex.
Here's hoping.
..Inga Binga
----------
>From: Cara Rosson <cgr9456@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>
>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>Subject: RE: RAT The Sassies!!!!
>Date: Thu, Jan 13, 2000, 5:01 PM
>
> Expanding a bit,
>
> May I also throw into the nineties ring, yet more Chris Jeffries, I See
> London, I See France and The Glory Booty Club - both of which manage to
> take material from all over the millenium, and the past millenium to boot
> (no pun intended) and open a very current vein.
>
> (not so computer adept am I, maybe John will connect us to reviews of these
> other two stellar works.)
>
> Yeah, Shakespeare...
> Yeah, Willy Lowman...
> but I lay down across the trax for Chris Jeffries
>
> Cara Rosson
>
>>Going out on a limb (for the fun of it)
>>
>>
>>Of the Millennium
>>
>>Obviously Shakespeare is the most important playwright of the past 1000
>>years. I agree that Henry IV 1 and 2 are the best he wrote. Prince Hal's
>>dilemma is much more interesting than Hamlets to me. Everyone grows up but
>>doesn't want to. Hamlet's tragic flaw is procrastination. If Shakespeare
>>wasn't such a good poet that play would be unreadable and as it is it's damn
>>near unwatchable. The Henriad on the other hand is plain full throttle fun.
>>
>>Most important of the century.
>>
>>In terms of influence of the theater world and society in general its hard
>>to beat Godot. Especially when you have to wade through piles of weak
>>imitations even now. I would like to suggest a couple of radical options.
>>
>>A Chorus Line: Ensemble, serious, post modern musical. Expanded the idea of
>>what a broadway musical could be about. Created a new model of how a show
>>might get created and get to Broadway. Interesting structure. Great songs.
>>Unforgetable characters. Saw it when I was 13. "What I Did For Love" still
>>resonates. Still funny.
>>
>>True West: Tiny theater that started in a church basement brings a show to
>>broadway. Got my interest.
>>
>>Death of a Salesman: ...oh I don't know. Blah blah blah good play blah blah
>>blah critique of the American Dream blah blah blah
>>
>>Of the 90s
>>
>>The Fatty Arbuckle Spookhouse Revue (by Chris Jeffries) at Annex Theater in
>>1992 - at Sacred Fools 1997(very first production): 50 years from now this
>>will be seen as the most important play of the 20th Century.
>>
>>http://www.sacredfools.org/reviewsmain2.htm#fattyreview
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: DgSWEET@aol.com [SMTP:DgSWEET@aol.com]
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2000 11:01 AM
>>> To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>>> Subject: Re: RAT The Sassies!!!!
>>>
>>> In a message dated 01/13/2000 12:34:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>>> NOMADMONAD@aol.com writes:
>>>
>>> << The Cherry Orchard. 1904. Okay. Chekhov was at the cusp of the
>>> century,
>>> even though he's usually classified as a 19th century playwright. So
>>> what
>>> makes you believe Cherry Orchard is more important than Vanya or Sea Gull
>>> or
>>> Three Sisters? And if I had to vote for a 19th century playwright who in
>>>
>>> some seminal way led theater into and through the 20th, I would go with
>>> Ibsen
>>> or Strindberg. Ibsen's last work When We Dead Awaken is an excellent
>>> play
>>> on
>>> which to study that century to turn. The Dream Play by Strinberg
>>> connects
>>> with Freud and much more of the new century's obsessions.
>>>
>>> +++ You're welcome to go with Ibsen and Strindberg. I find attending them
>>>
>>> too often a duty. I find Chekhov a continual pleasure. And if you were
>>> to
>>> poll contemporary playwrights, I have little doubt that you would find
>>> that
>>> most would name Chekhov as a primary influence. (There was an article on
>>> this subject somewhere recently called, I believe, "And, Of Course,
>>> Chekhov,"
>>> in which a batch of very dissimilar playwrights all citec Chekhov as their
>>>
>>> inspiration.) Ibsen certainly was important in opening the stage to new
>>> subjects, but his stuff plays almost as dated as much of what he wrote to
>>> destroy -- including some of the worst and most heavy-handed exposition
>>> written by a major writer. Strindberg? OK, gang, how many of you have
>>> actually seen or read DANCE OF DEATH? Thank you. Now, how many of you
>>> have
>>> seen CHERRY ORCHARD. I thought so. My theory -- it's hard to be
>>> influenced
>>> by a work if you haven't read it or seen it.
>>>
>>> <<HENRY IV, pys 1&2. ??? What's here that no one else has seen?
>>>
>>> +++ No one else? You mean, like Orson Welles and Ralph Richardson?
>>> HAMLET
>>> may be the most profound investigation of an individual's psychology, but
>>> the
>>> HENRY IVs are not only psychologically profound, they are politically
>>> sophisticated and paint a portrait of the upper and nether levels in
>>> society
>>> and how they interact. To my mind, much more complex, richer stuff. And
>>> I
>>> would vote for Falstaff as the great Shakespearean character. Shakespeare
>>>
>>> seems to have been pretty fond of him: second only to Margaret, he appears
>>> in
>>> more plays by Shakespeare than any other character (HENRY IV, pts 1&2,
>>> MERRY
>>> WIVES) and is shadow hangs over a fourth (HENRY V).
>>>
>>> <<< Lear, Macbeth, Tempest all seem better contenders.
>>>
>>> +++ To you, to you. Frankly, I prefer RICHARD II, KING JOHN and WINTER'S
>>> TALE to these. My opinion.
>>>
>>> <<<< As for your 90's nomination "too soon to tell." Who wrote that
>>> and
>>> where
>>> was it produced? I never heard of it.
>>>
>>> +++ Oh, a joke. Yes, amusing.
>>>
>>> <<< You will need to elaborate on your nominations otherwise the Committee
>>>
>>> will
>>> sentence you and your opinions into the dustbin.
>>>
>>> ++++ Ouch, ouch. Though, ya know, I think I've done enough creditable
>>> work
>>> to be able to talk my way out of most dustbins.
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------
>>> Jeffrey Sweet
>>> Resident Playwright, Victory Gardens Theatre
>>> Faculty, Actors Studio at the New School
>>> Council, the Dramatists Guild of America
>>> http://members.aol.com/DgSWEET/index.html
>
>
>
>