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RE: RAT Unsolicited Scripts . . .
Please note that I said originally that 95% of plays are bad. Not 95% of
writers. Good writers can write bad plays. I've seen it happen right in
front of my eyes. Look at Hamlet for example.
Oh yeah, thats my opinion that Hamlet is great poetry but not great theater.
And its an opinion that is shared by almost no one else. (What am I? Nuts?)
So its all about opinion. Writers have to get their play to the theater that
shares their vision. Of course certain people would say "But my stuff is
good, everyone wants to do good stuff". Well everyone thinks Hamlet is
good.....except me. Ya see?
So then yer gettin yer script out and you have to be aware that its in a
pile with 100 other scripts and, statistically speaking, 95 of those scripts
are awful. Now, please understand, as a reader of awful scripts I can say
that most of them are not written by anyone that would know about or be on
this listserver. That big pile of drek is written in large part by people
who saw the Heidi Chronicles on HBO and thought "Ya know, I betcha I can
write a play". They turned out to be wrong. The thing is there's no way for
to tell from the cover what lies within. So you have to read em all.
My point is a practical one. Theaters have mechanisms, either conscious or
unconscious, to sift through plays and find the ones they want to do. That's
not going to go away. The great thing about RAT nationally and BCT locally (
in LA) is that a community of like spirited (I typed like minded but I
crossed it out) theater folks is has been and is being created. This
means......ummmmm. There's a connection between the two but I don't know
what it is. I guess it gives writers a chance to network and get to know
other theaters but SOME people think thats a BAD idea.\
Oh well.
I think that what I would like to see is more recommendations on this list
of plays and playwrights. Things that have worked for your theater or that
you loved but couldn't do.
I'll start.
Some Recommended, Underproduced Playwrights that Rat folk might love.
Paul Mullin - Brilliant writer. Tuesday, The Septarchy, Louis Slotin Sonata
Kirk Wood Bromley - Writes iambic pentameter masterpieces. Wants Unwished
Work and many others.
Chris Jeffries - Single handedly recreating musical theater. His music for
Charles Ludlum's Corn:The Musical still runs through my head. Maggie
Cassidy, The Fatty Arbuckle Spookhouse Revue, I See London I See France,
Suzanne Maynard - A singularly original voice - Abigails Atlas, The
Handwriting The Soup and The Hats
Paul Plunkett - Gory and funny - Catching Hell, The Swine Show
Glen Berger - Great Men of Science won Ovation awards here in LA.
Okay, thats enough.
Send me yours.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: InTheLime@aol.com [SMTP:InTheLime@aol.com]
> Sent: Thursday, March 04, 1999 4:04 AM
> To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
> Subject: Re: RAT Unsolicited Scripts . . .
>
> In a message dated 99-03-04 02:01:38 EST, you write:
>
> << and 95% of the directors responsible for the thousand or so horror
> stories
> I've heard from actors over the years >>
> I'm sorry...I know that we have to blame someone for all the horror
> stories,
> and why not blame the writer or the director or the administrator. But
> how
> many of those actors were also "bad?" (although I hate that term) Or
> could
> not find the power within themselves to say to the director "this is a
> horror
> story we are creating together, might we join forces to rewrite it for the
> good of all?" I've done that as an actor. Responsibility for any
> production
> belongs to all participants. If it was horror story, then it takes all
> to
> make change.
>
> Sometimes I've noted that the main problem many of the "bad" directors and
> writers have had is that they have chosen to work with mediocre actors
> with a
> good look (granted, that was their original responsibility of choice...but
> if
> only 5% of directors and writers are of any value...let us look to actors
> as
> well...cause I'll tell you their numbers are equally low in percentage of
> the
> mighty). I tend to work with great actors and figure the audience will
> get
> over it if they don't look like Chippendales or calendar girls.
>
> At Vagabond, we have what is called the Core Development Ensemble, and
> those
> amazing actors of little pay will work tire(fully) to help the writer and
> playwright say what they mean...if we're going with percentages...I'd say
> that
> across the boards the problem with "artists" that I meet is that they lose
> sight of what they want to say artistically because they are so @!%#@ up
> the
> #@% trying to figure out how to put food on the table.
>
> And boy can I understand that and feel for them in their plight. Eating
> other
> people's left overs this month in PA.
>
> --Aileen McCulloch, The Vagabond Acting Troupe