tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3034777129700667247.post2334043633754443778..comments2018-08-08T01:09:59.246-07:00Comments on Sprockets and Greasepaint: Who's your Daddy? NATIVE EARTH redoes O'Neill as a race cardCeleste Sansregrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906752549498213770noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3034777129700667247.post-46362473747638835182012-04-06T05:50:58.958-07:002012-04-06T05:50:58.958-07:00Keef,
Arguments, like plays are generally constru...Keef,<br /><br />Arguments, like plays are generally constructed so a series of premises lead to a conclusion. Call me colonial if you must but I think the Greeks aren't a bad place to start to learn about how to construct either a play or an argument.<br /><br />This is not the case with the comments you've offered here but I will try to address your randomly made points in the order you've made them.<br /><br />LAW AND ORDER is written according to a fairly standard television plot model: ensemble cast and an A story and a B story and sometimes a C story. I wasn't arguing that plays should be written like episodic television. I was arguing this was a play with no clear ending.<br /><br />Neil Simon mostly writes comedies. Ms. Beagan wasn't adapting a comedy: she was adapting a naturalistic American drama based on a classic French drama based on a Greek myth. If she wanted to throw out the structure, she could have done that but the structure went out the window 2/3 of the way through the show, which I found problematic. Judging by the other reviews I read online and in the press, I wasn't alone in this.<br /><br />WHERE THE BLOOD MIXES, written by a member of said diaspora, has a clear start, middle and ending and a protagonist and is one of the best plays I've seen in the last five years. If you're referring to ensemble shows like THE REZ SISTERS by Tompson Highway, all the characters at the centre of the piece are working towards one, clear objective. The great Quebec playwright Michel Trembley uses a similar device in LES BELLE SOEURS. Paul Thompson did quite a lot of that kind of collective creation back in the 70's when he made work like THE FARM SHOW. I've seen all of those plays and I didn't walk out of the theatre not knowing what happened to the main characters by the end of the show.<br /><br />If you liked Franken for the part, you are entitled to your opinion. There was no sexual chemistry between him and the woman he was ostensibly having sex with and that, not the age difference between the two of them was a problem for me. I also needed to believe he was physically capable of beating the crap out of every other man on the stage and that certainly wasn't the case. If you didn't need to believe either of those things, maybe we weren't watching the same play.<br /><br />As to why Ash Knight's character didn't run off with the bag of money: I can't agree with you. Life Keef, is a shit sandwich: the more bread you've got, the less shit you have to eat. If you don't believe me, live for a week with no money and then live for a week with a bag of money. I think most humans, if handed a bag of money, would leave a crap situation, which those boys were certainly in, take the money and run.<br /><br />Some of the actors were good, some less so. There again, you don't have to agree with me.<br /><br />Beagan has written better plays and I expected a better play from her than this. I really think she need more time to work on the show than she got. I meant it when I said I hope she rewrites it and remounts it a some point.<br /><br />Yes I am an actor and a writer and I have taken beat-downs and accolades from the press and from my peers. I have had everything from 1 1/2 to 5 star reviews for plays I've written and/or acted in as well as for stuff I've co-created and/or produced. I find both successes and failures instructive. Yes, it's nicer when people love the show and you know it rocked. However, I can say I have had some great conversations with friends and colleagues about why my work or theirs didn't turn out as it should. I appreciate those conversations and I try to learn from them. I try not to get a fat head from praise or permanent bruises from drubbing. If you can't take criticism, this is the wrong business to be in, in fact, I'm not sure you can be in any business if you aren't prepared to try and learn from your mistakes.Celeste Sansregrethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06906752549498213770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3034777129700667247.post-43532220523527588282012-03-14T14:17:48.656-07:002012-03-14T14:17:48.656-07:00Celeste
You speak to the rules of writing plays a...Celeste<br /><br />You speak to the rules of writing plays as though they are finite. Personally, I don't like formulaic plays or movies. We are inundated with them on a continual basis, be it Law and Order, or The Odd Couple. I admire artists that work outside of the normative drivel that feels and sounds like a hundred other different Neil Simon plays. My experience with plays within the Indigenous diaspora is a lack of a protagonist. You speak in very colonial terms when it comes to writing plays. As to free as injuns, I disagree that Jerry Franken was the wrong person for the role. The uncomfortable truth of an older man taking a much younger wife was written and cast on purpose. The uncomfortable feelings were intentional me thinks. I fully understood why those two boys didn't take that money and run. To me, Ash Knight's character knew they had little or no power outside of that plot of land. Your assessment sends mixed messages. You say you don't blame the actors but then you rake them over the coals. You call this play a "mess" but then go on to praise Ms. Beagan for her talent, when clearly you don't feel like this piece exemplifies any of her talents as a writer. I am confused. Since you are an artist like myself, you know how hard this business is. It is always difficult for me to see artists tear down other artists' work like you have done. I know you are entitled to your opinion, but there will come a time when someone will judge your work, and I hope they are kinder than you are to Ms. Beagan and the other talented artists attached to this piece. I don't know if you will post this, since this is your forum not mine. But if you really are open to dialogue, I'd love to continue this conversation.keefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04803379586347304138noreply@blogger.com