 |
| La Ronde - Soulpepper |
This
week’s plunder is coming from 2 sources: Jason Sherman, the playwright who has
adapted La Ronde for Soulpepper from
Arthur Schnitzler’s original and Demetri Martin, author of This is a Book by Demetri Martin.
Sherman’s work has particular stylistic elements that resonate in my own
writing and Martin’s book has inspired me to look at comedy and storytelling
from new perspectives. (I know I could
have probably written a separate post for each, but I feel like I’ve been
cycling through ideas and inspirations from both so much this week that they
have somewhat merged into one in my mind.)
As I delve into the world of being a produced playwright, I’m finding that I don’t really know a lot about being a produced playwright. I have been very thankful over the past few weeks to be able to observe some of Sherman’s writing process. One of the things that I have struggled with is how to behave during rehearsals as a playwright. It’s a strange new world to me. I’ve been an actor, I am a stage manager and I briefly dabbled in directing, but I have only had a few interactions with playwrights in the rehearsal hall and have never been one (as my only role in the process).
Playwriting
is a tricky business. You are writing
things that are meant to be said aloud, so, unlike writing books, it is
difficult to fully comprehend if your work is achieving its intended purpose
without hearing it read by actors. It
also changes based on the actors that are reading it. Between Empty
Boxes and My Mother’s Daughters,
I’ve learned so much about how essential readings with actors and directors are
to the development process. When I’ve had readings of my work previously,
it has been extremely difficult to break out of the stage manager role because this
is how I feel most comfortable in a rehearsal, but it is not at all productive
when my purpose for being in the room is as a writer.
Studying
Sherman’s behaviours in rehearsal has truly been one of the most enlightening
experiences in quite some time and I have already been able to plunder and
incorporate some of the things that I’ve learned from his manner and work into
my own. The most fascinating thing was
watching how he listened to his work being read. Often times I would look over and see him
with his eyes closed or head down, which when you think about it, makes perfect
sense. I always thought that if I did
something like that I would be considered rude, but how else are you truly
going to hear the words of your text without any other distraction. I tried implementing this comportment during
the last reading of Empty Boxes and
it was so effective. As a stage manager,
I have trouble removing my eyes from the script for too long, but that is not
beneficial during readings. If I am
reading along, I hear the words as I intended them and not as they are being
presented by the actor. It is only when
you listen to how the words you’ve written are interpreted by another person
that you can determine if they are communicating your intent.
I also
struggle with taking a commanding creative role in a production. As a stage manager or even a producer, my
creativity is not focused on the overall structure or concept of the
production; that type of work is left to the directors and designers. As the playwright, I do get input into the
shape of the show: I created it! If
something is not coming across clearly, I can change the script. But previously during readings, when people
would have questions for me about characters, I would often feel intimidated
and worried that I might come up with the wrong answer (another reason why I
never made it as an actress). After
watching Sherman’s command of his work and the ideas he was trying to express,
it inspired me with confidence. Of
course I know what is happening in the show: I wrote it! I can tell you exactly why things are
happening and I can also say that some stuff might be crap and needs work, but I
get to make that determination and most text is worth discussing. This past read was such a positive experience
and it was very much due to the implementation of some of the mannerisms and
attitudes I pilfered from Sherman.
The
other thing that I’ve appropriated from Sherman’s work is how to deal with
monologues and stage directions. After
working for weeks on La Ronde, I
remembered that I had a copy of Sherman’s The
League of Nathans and started combing
through it with a new perspective on his writing (I failed to actually read the
script when we were studying it in university).
Again, my stage management brain sometimes comes into conflict with my
writer brain, so I end up with stage directions that read more like a prompt
book. This is how I understand people moving on stage, but that does not a good playwright make. Sherman’s stage directions are clear and
concise and really paint a picture for mood and atmosphere without imposing on
direction. I have yet to apply this new
found inspiration to my own work, but during the reading this past week, I did
find that the stage directions in Empty
Boxes are in desperate need of an overall.
I’ve spent so much time working on the dialogue that I’ve completely neglected
this part of the text. Luckily, I’m
working with a director that I get on with incredibly well and I know that the
lacking stage directions are not going to hinder his process, but when I edit
for future productions, you may seem some Sherman inspired stuff.
My final
point on Sherman is relating to his inclusion of many monologues in his work;
they are so carefully and skilfully embedded in the dialogue that while
viewing, you don’t feel the “Oh no, here comes another monologue” feeling that
I know I sometimes get at the theatre.
The way his are formatted, you will probably not realize it is a
monologue until it is almost over (unless you are reading it or are a stage
manager with the script in front of you).
This is an area that I struggle with.
If you have ever seen one of my scripts in the first draft, they read
something like The Vagina Monologues,
just one person’s rant after another. My Mother’s Daughters is suffering from
this problem right now. I have all the
text I want to say, it’s just that no one really says it to each other (which
can make for some pretty boring drama).
My goal with that piece is to pull back some of the monologues and see
if I can channel some of Sherman’s ingenuity and ease the longer speeches into
a dialogue. We’ll see how that
goes! I’ll keep you posted! At least, having an example like Sherman to emulate
gives me some direction as to where and how I need to go about accomplishing
that task.
Now onto
Martin...
I know
you might be confused how Martin and Sherman have bound themselves together in
my mind, but it is because of this: comedy!
Sherman has a brilliant way of combining comedy with serious subject
matter and I find his sense of humour is very similar to my own, which is why I
have been able to extract so much from his works. This week, I have also been reading This is a Book by Demetri Martin, which
I have barely been able to put down. This book is a collection of rants, thought
and doodles by Martin. He has a unique
and varied style that has left me in stitches on number occasions. I like to think I’m funny (even when no one
else does), I try to infuse humour into my writing, but I don’t think I come up
with funny ideas.
Martin’s
book has made me look at comedy in a whole new light. Because his style varies between each piece
in his book, you get a unique look at so many different things that are
funny. One essay is from the perspective
of a boy raised by a man raised by wolves; another uses colours to describe
situations in a hilarious way (hard to explain, but awesome to read, if you get
the book, this section is called “How I Felt”).
After reading this book (and I’m not quite finished yet), I can’t help
but have a new perspective on comedy and style.
The experience has been similar to my post about the Empty Boxes Auditions, when the
candidate spoke about writing a story inspired by a mundane object. Martin takes unusual ideas or obscure topic
matters and makes them interesting (and hysterical). It’s just a matter of looking at things from
a different perspective from the rest of the world. This is something that I definitely struggle
with; being a nerd and outcast for most of my life, I have spent every moment
trying to conform and fit in; now, just as I feel I’m achieving my goal of
conformity, I am venturing into a world deviation, where unique and exceptional
ideas are esteemed. Martin’s book is a
good reminder of how to create in this way.
It is the obscure that is interesting.
What is lying below the surface?
His essay on “Bees” looks at a woman who was stung by a bee while on the
phone and then gives statements from the perspective of the phone, the table,
the bee, the nearby tree, a squirrel and the person on the other end of the
phone. The humour is in hearing the
various perspectives. It is not a
complicated idea and most of the statements are exactly what you might imagine
them to be, but how often to you actually look at something from that viewpoint. Anyway, This
is a Book by Demetri Martin is not only a fantastic read, but for me, it is
working as a writing exercise book. If
ever I’m short for ideas or inspiration, I will just try writing in one of the
styles employed by Martin and I’m sure the ideas will come flowing. I’ll try to do one shortly and post.
Well,
that’s all for this week. For more
information on the people, places and things mentioned in this post, please go
to:
Jason Sherman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Sherman
The League of Nathans - http://www.playwrightscanada.com/index.php/genres/jewish-theatre/the-league-of-nathans.html
La Ronde at Soulpepper - http://www.soulpepper.ca/performances/13_season/la_ronde.aspx
True West at Soulpepper - http://www.soulpepper.ca/performances/13_season/true_west.aspx
Soulpepper - http://www.soulpepper.ca/
Demetri Martin - www.demetrimartin.com
This is a Book by Demetri Martin by Demetri Martin - http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/This-Is-A-Book-Demetri-Martin/9780446539692-item.html
PS – I have
to leave you with an excerpt from Martin’s book because I haven’t stopped
laughing since I read it!
From the section called “Ideas & Opinions” in This is a Book by Demetri Martin by Demetri Martin:
“WARNING:
Sometimes it looks like I’m dancing, but it’s just that I walked into a
spiderweb.”
No comments:
Post a Comment