Re: RAT Re: obscurity

["chris mac" <cmacdona@adobe.com>]

Karen:

I agree with John S. He said it all. He's wise, funny, and smart. Print out
his reply and tape it to the fridge. Let me say this last thing, just for
the hell of it:

It sounds as if you have had a rough time getting this play done, and that
many people have tried to add on their improvements like ill advised
additions to a house. I'm sure it was all done out of good will, but perhaps
the result is that you've got a five story building with an escalator, when
what you designed was a underground bomb shelter with a ladder. Well you
should be strong enough, and perceptive enough to discard ideas when they
don't serve your work.

If you feel the script for Scavengers has enough integrity on its own, then
leave it alone, and write something else. At the end of the day it is your
play, and your language. Keep the integrity of your writing.

You certainly must have had some bad experiences because comparing post play
discussions with actors to advice given by theater professionals about your
writing seems like a long stretch at best. If certain theaters have treated
you like a child then don't work with them again. Heck. You've got theater
friends who seem to know something about your writing, why not work with
them.

I think you should open all the windows in your house, let the storm in, and
write the first thing that comes into your head.

...C






----------
>From: "Karen Cronacher" <kcron@ix.netcom.com>
>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>Subject: Re: RAT Re: obscurity
>Date: Tue, Feb 23, 1999, 4:02 PM
>

>
> I agree that writers need feedback--when we write a first draft we don't get
> any immediate feedback like an actress does on a first reading, or a
> director does when they see a first blocking using actors.
>
> when i talk with other playwrights we always agree that the staged reading
> thing is a sham, it's becuz the theatre doesn't have the dough to back you
> but they're interested, sort of, so they won't have to pay you and they save
> money by having a reading.  who does the reading serve?? it does not serve
> me as a playwright, it serves the theatre.  The theatre world treats the
> playwright as a child who can't get it right the first time.
>
> I've been writing scavengers since 1989--ten years, and every director
> wants to make their own changes, and they all want different changes, and
> the script has no integrity on its own.  When i tell my theatre friends i'm
> making changes, they always laugh and ask why?  it's fine as it is.  it
> works.  in other words, i'm making changes to soothe someone else's ego.
>
> I don't want to give the impression that i don't readily make the changes--i
> do...but the script needs to have an objective integrity, before its
> published, so everyone isn't putting their two cents in...everyone alway
> thinks it's in the interest of the play....but is it?
>
> can you imagine asking each actor to step forward after a play has been
> presented, and having the audience discuss her performance in relation to
> the art of acting????  What does the audience know of the actual craft of
> acting?  or of playwriting?  why assume they know more than the writer?
>
> i can't go garden now it's stormy out, but i actually was heading out to the
> nursery...
>
> --Karen
> ----------
>>From: "chris mac" <cmacdona@Adobe.COM>
>>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>>Subject: Re: RAT Re: obscurity
>>Date: Tue, Feb 23, 1999, 12:36 PM
>>
>
>>Hi Karen:
>>
>>I've been watching these comments fly by and I just wanted to say that your
>>last posting seems to be the most honest: you have unencumbered yourself of
>>all the perceived trappings of being a writer. You have loosened up. But I
>>disagree with you when you say that theater writers work alone.
>>
>>I think we are all at our best when we collaborate together. I mean what
>>play comes out fully and perfectly formed? You learn from a staged reading,
>>you make changes, you learn from first productions, you make changes again.
>>I guess I'm advocating for the Carol Churchill/ Joint Stock process, where
>>plays are written and rewritten based on feedback from everyone involved.
>>(This line doesn't communicate what I wanted theatrically; how do I make it
>>better?)
>>
>>So don't feel so all alone. Find a local group to do your stuff. If you
>>can't find a local group, create one. The best way to improve your writing
>>for the theater is to get involved with the production of your plays. So do
>>what you need to do to make that happen. Maybe get off the net for a while,
>>go do some gardening, clear your head, and figure where and how you can get
>>your stuff in front of people.
>>
>>I'll shut up now.
>>
>>...C
>>----------
>>>From: "Karen Cronacher" <kcron@ix.netcom.com>
>>>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>>>Subject: Re: RAT Re: obscurity
>>>Date: Tue, Feb 23, 1999, 1:15 PM
>>>
>>
>>> oh no no no.  i'm an actress too.  i just mean, i don't have to wait to get
>>> cast or wait to get a rehearsal space to write...i can do it by myself,
>>> anywhere.  i practice my acting only when i'm working on a solo piece..and
>>> then i need my director around to edit my choices.  i don't know that actors
>>> and directors have to do their craft everyday...but writers and musicians
>>> have to...maybe i'm wrong...if so then i stand corrected.  the writer is the
>>> only craftsperson in theatre who works alone, everyone else is doing
>>> communal work.  i don't mean to be disrespectful to the arts of acting or
>>> directing, or privilege writing.
>>>
>>> --Karen
>>> ----------
>>>>From: thadd@cstone.net (Thadd McQuade)
>>>>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>>>>Subject: Re: RAT Re: obscurity
>>>>Date: Mon, Feb 22, 1999, 7:47 PM
>>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Karen Cronacher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> number three:  just as i have a wild and cluttered busy inner life as a
>>>>> writer, i happen to have an external life that does not allow time for
>>>>> "hanging out".  please, i am a woman!  i mean no offense here, just
>>>>> explanation.  like other artists, my whole life is art, and full of
>>>>> meaningful projects,im in my 30s, etc.i am renovating a house, gardening,
>>>>> and i have two dogs, a talking parrot, and a cat.  i put all my spare time
>>>>> into writing, two hours a day if i can get it!  And writers (not actors or
>>>>> directors) have to do that.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I'm sorry, perhaps I'm just dazzled by the brilliance of your writing.  Are
>>you
>>>>meaning to suggest that writers need to work on their craft everyday, but
>>actors
>>>>and directors need not?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Thadd McQuade
>>>>Foolery
>>>>Charlottesville, VA.
>>>>thadd@foolery.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The auality of the script, as it reflects the mind of the playwright, is
>>>>> everything.
>>>>>
>>>>> --Karen
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>