Re. RAT In the service of moving on// readings / Brad R.

[owner-rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com]

Like the game of "telephone," the comments on this topic of play readings 
have wandered far afield

Thanks to Leon Martel, who said the listserv has become lively. I'm glad to 
take some credit for that, having come to Karen's defense so many days ago.

I was not taking Brad to task in particular, but using the incident as a 
cautionary note to ALL literary managers/artistic directors who serve their 
own needs before the playwrights, who cancel productions or set productions 
WITHOUT EVEN LETTING THE PLAYWRIGHT KNOW.  

Brad bumped the reading to attend an awards show, or because he considered 
the awards show would conflict with his reading, and that he failed to inform 
her, and that HE KEPT THE ISSUE ALIVE ON THE PUBLIC LISTS, all the while 
complaining it was a private matter.  Thank you, Brad.

I still take issue with the fact that the prominent bio in the press release 
was Brad's extensive bio.  Five lines would have done, not a novel.

I still believe that readings are useful if they audition the play for a 
particular theatre or producer who may stage the play. Or if there's money 
involved for the actors (that's a cool element of ASK).   Other than that, 
new plays ought to be workshopped for friends or one's own writers' group.  

I'm also tired of being invited to readings where the same durned play is 
read over and over.  So many playwrights abound  -- and yet ASK, the Taper, 
this Philly group and other groups keep promoting overexposed playwrights -- 
the same playwrights year after year.   Are there only a couple of dozen 
worthy writers in America? Are there no homegrown writers in Philly?

Many readings make me furious because   a) the play wasn't ready to be read
b) the readings are thrown out there in the wild hope a producer will 
magically show up to make it happen     c) it's easier than actually staging 
a play.


---
My other point was simply this:   Lit. managers or artistic directors who 
don't care enough about the language to spell or add punctuation in an E MAIL 
are suspect -- they're probably not likely to put the care into staging a 
play, either.  Plays are the last bastion of the language-driven form.  
(Poetry could be, too, but most contemporary poets I encounter can't tell the 
difference between a short story and an extended poem.) Yes, bend the rules, 
but only if you know what they are, first. 


MF