Wednesday, July 21, 2004
High Drama
I've been thinking about writing a play. I certainly haven't been doing anything close to actually writing one, but the thought keeps crossing my mind that it would be something fun to do. (I'm sure that's what Shakespeare thought when he got started.) The one thing I have done is make a trip to the library, where I checked out a couple of famous 20th Century plays. In the last two weeks, I have read "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde, "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett, and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard. If my objective was to find what it is that makes these three plays so supposedly "great," my astute observation is this: It's not about the plot (especially in "Godot" oh heavens is it not about the plot), it's not about the characters. It's about the witty dialogue. "Earnest" does have some semblance of a plot and some interesting characters, but what really makes it hilarious is the way people talk. Jack says he has lost both of his parents, and Lady Bracknell responds, "Both? . . . That seems like carelessness!" "Rosencrantz" succeeds so well (at least in the reading, if not in the performing of it) at least partially because of the contrast of the Shakespearean lines from "Hamlet" with the crazy banter between our two sort-of heroes.
So I guess I need to practice my witty dialogue. Look to this space for me to try my hand at it.
So I guess I need to practice my witty dialogue. Look to this space for me to try my hand at it.
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