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Howdy folks. I just became a member of a local theater company (hurray for me) and after Thanksgiving we're gonna sit down and work out a season for next year. The company is a relatively new and small one, so we're only looking to put up about 3 shows a year, not including our monthly monologue slams.
Anyway, I'm pretty well read, but there are so many plays out there that I'm asking for some Hatrack help.
So tell me, what are your favorite plays?
Are there any out there that you think I absolutely have to read?
Are there any plays you know that you've only read and would love to see produced?
I'm looking for modern or classical, comedies or tragedies. But no musicals. (I have nothing against musicals, but we just don't have the resources to do most musicals justice...at least not yet.)
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I just saw an absolutely brilliant production of "The Little Foxes" by Lillian Hellman. It incorporated a few Brechtian styles and was done in a tiny black box theatre (though it did have a set). It could be right up your alley.
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My two favorite plays are ones I'm sure you've read: The Importance of Being Earnest and Much Ado About Nothing. I also really like Oedipus Rex. I don't read/go to many plays any more, so I don't know any other than the big ones.
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There's a play called Blackpool and Parrish by David Belke, that is probably the funniest play I have ever read. The other funniest play I ever read is called Knave of Hearts by Todd McGinnis. They're both Canadian, and not terribly well-known, but they are absobloominglutely brilliant.
Also brilliant and hilarious, and much more well known, is Lend Me A Tenor by Ken Ludwig.
I'll see if I can track down the online previews of the other two. They're out there somewhere...
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My old high school just put on a production of SHakespeare's Twelfth Night. Apparently, it was really popular, more popular than any play in the past.
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As Bees in Honey Drown by Douglas Carter Beane is a really good play, lots of fun for actors and audience both, but also has a serious side.
Doug Wright has a collection of nice, creepy one-acts that are written to be performed as a set called Unwrap Your Candy, and it can effectively be done very minimalistically.
I'm very fond of both Extremities by William Mastrosimone and Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman. They both have kind of similar themes, and are very powerful.
My favorite play of the past few years is hands down The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh. Dinner by Moira Buffini is a very close second. They're both deliciously twisted, in different ways.
And even though some say it's outdated and irrelevant now (which I don't agree with), I still love David Mamet's Oleanna.
Except for the Dorfman play, I've either seen all of these done professionally or been involved in a production of them myself...if I give it some thought, I'll probably come up with other plays that I've only read as well. I'll have to think a bit to come up with a good, narrowed-down list of classic (and royalty-free) plays. (And happier plays - so far these are mostly on the darker side...hmm, what does that say about me? )
Is your company looking to do a season of plays that are somehow linked, e.g. thematically, etc.? And does it have a goal/mission statement? Are there any cast size preferences/limitations?
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quote:And even though some say it's outdated and irrelevant now (which I don't agree with), I still love David Mamet's Oleanna.
I read the first post of this without looking at the following posts, and it took me a good 30 seconds of trying to picture the cover of the copy of the play I had to remember its title and the author's name. I felt silly when I came back to suggest it, and there it was!
Other serious plays I liked were MacLeish's J.B., Wiesel's The Trial of God, and Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.
(I'm a theology minor--that's why I've read a bunch of religious-themed plays.)
If you're looking to do something fun, there's always Neil Simon.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I'll respond to a lot of your suggestions (and they're all good) when I get back home from work. But until then, here's our mission statement. It's nothing fancy:
HATG (Hovering Above the Gutter) Theater Company's mission is to nurture emerging talent by creating fresh interpretations of both classic and contemporary works. Although profoundly influenced by the diversity of American culture and its origins, we remain, above all, dedicated to the integrity of the playwright's words and use their work as our standard to create extraordinary theatre.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Tinros: My old high school just put on a production of SHakespeare's Twelfth Night. Apparently, it was really popular, more popular than any play in the past.
Apparently it is very popular. It feels like recently, everyone in Philadelphia is putting up Twelfth Night. Great play though.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:And even though some say it's outdated and irrelevant now (which I don't agree with), I still love David Mamet's Oleanna.
I read the first post of this without looking at the following posts, and it took me a good 30 seconds of trying to picture the cover of the copy of the play I had to remember its title and the author's name. I felt silly when I came back to suggest it, and there it was!
Other serious plays I liked were MacLeish's J.B., Wiesel's The Trial of God, and Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.
(I'm a theology minor--that's why I've read a bunch of religious-themed plays.)
If you're looking to do something fun, there's always Neil Simon.
I've loved JB ever since I played Mr. Zuss in a directing scene for a class. Thanks for reminding me!
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My college did a performance of Steve Martin's play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile." It was great.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Robert Schenkkan's The Kentucky Cycle is a series of 9 one act plays that span a 200 year time period following the fates of one family in a small corner of Kentucky. The phrase in your mission statement, "diversity of American culture and its origins," made me think of it. All 9 plays might be a bit too much to bite off, but they stand well on their own if you wanted to do just one or two of them. When I was in high school, we competed with "Fire in the Hole" from The Kentucky Cycle; we took state. That play counts as one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far.
Posts: 364 | Registered: Dec 2005
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We just closed on A Lion in Winter, which is really good. It's a comedy involving King Henry II trying to figure out which of his three sons will succeed him (his oldest son has recently died thus leaving him heirless). His wife and mistress are plotting along with the three boys.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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I'm a fan of Kenneth Lonergan. I've never actually seen any of his plays produced, but I've read a few of them. 'This Is Our Youth' is terrific, if you're looking for something modern. It'd have to be a young cast, though.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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(I have nothing against musicals, but we just don't have the resources to do most musicals justice...at least not yet.)
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