I was sitting in SUB, contemplating the braincases of various reptiles when I couldn't help but over hear a group of people who I could only imagine were either English or Theater students. What I surmised from their conversation was that they had a 'good' play, but no ending for it. The solution: leave it open ended. "Ok, so how do we let the audience know that its finished and they can go home?"
"Why don't we start the play with the exact same lines as the ending. You know, that way, people know that they've come full circle."
"Say, that's good. Mess with the time line, clever."
Before long they had a play with a beginning just as bad as the ending and a middle that could be mediocre at best in that context. They then added some symbolism, a few metaphors, some foreshadowing to the fact that they're going to leave it open ended, a simile here and there, some gratuitous use of the word "fuck" and some equally gratuitous social references just to make it topical.
I'm seriously sorry for Spark of Life if she has to deal with crap like this.
Monday, April 04, 2005
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Oh, the joys of collegiate playwrights. I won't say that all of them are bad, but the vast majority suck more than a drunk cheerleader. And that's a lot of cock. I'm not one to judge, though, I've written equally ridiculous dribble in my life (and heard more), but I do know how hard it is to do. Playwriting is one of the most difficult forms of the written word to produce.
These guys don't seem to have too much respect for that, though. You can't just sit at a table and churn out major plot points of a script. Of course, I can't really pass full judgement, because I don't know the rest of their process leading up to that.
And for some reason beginning playwrights use the word "fuck" a lot. I don't know why.
And this is the longest comment on a post ever.
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