Sunday, June 7, 2009

A PLAYful Idea

I'm watching the Tony Awards tonight. Now here's a novel idea. Actually it's a PLAYful idea. For this summer's reading I going to read...some plays. Here's a terrific article I read this morning about the joys of READING drama. I love to watch the playwrightt's words come alive on stage. So I haven't read drama since I taught ninth grade English (Romeo & Juliet, anyone?).

But Dwight Garner inspired me to try reading some drama again. He says, "To encounter plays on paper is to encounter them in their platonic form. You’re glued to the playwright’s words, not sitting in Row K jostling for an armrest. While reading, you can submit more perfectly to the author’s spell and, what’s more, you are your own casting director." Convinced! I'm off to order Yasmina Reza's Tony Award winner God of Carnage.

3 comments:

  1. Have you seen this play? It got quite a bit of attention on the Tony Awards last night. Let me know how you like reading it. (No matter how good it is, however, it can't beat MY Billy Elliot!) Tanny

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  2. Oh...and I'll be reading a play this summer as well! A few teachers at GEHS are hoping to teach Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" next year. I grabbed a copy and will read it while I'm on vacation in July. Tanny

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  3. I wonder how a musical script would read? I searched on amazon.com and google. No script for Billy Eliot. Do read the NYT article by Dwight Garner. Excellent. I've always been a bit of a purist, thinking plays were meant to be seen and heard. I look forward to submitting to the "author's spell," of engaging with the written word.

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