Plays I've Read

Submitted by Kza on Tue, 08/31/2004 - 08:56
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  1. 2005:
  2. (October 19) Proof by David Auburn [What a shitty, middlebrow play. It's like a Lifetime version of Kieslowski's Blue. I think I seriously overrated the movie.]
  3. 2004:
  4. (September 22) Reckless by Craig Lucas [28 scenes, varying locations, although some scenes happen moments after the previous scene.]
  5. (September 13) Terra Nova by Ted Tally [Two acts, no scenes, broken up by the memories/hallucinations of the main character which form de facto scenes.]
  6. (September 8) Plenty by David Hare [12 scenes, 11 of which are in different places, and cover 1946-1962, approx.]
  7. (August 31) The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder [Three acts, two locales.]
  8. (August 30) A Fair Country by Jon Robin Baitz [don't remember.]
  9. (August 29) Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare [One locale that doubles for several different places; two acts (I think).]
  10. (August 23) True West by Sam Shepard [Nine scenes over the course of two acts; one locale.]
Author Comments: 

I decided recently that I should get back in touch with my theatre roots, after spending years studying film and writing screenplays. Some of these I've read before, some (quite familiar titles) I never have.

[9/15/04: I'm adding a description of how each play is structured, in terms of acts, scenes, times, locales, etc. This is for the benefit of my poor memory.]

192211/09/2004

Never read a play by Max Frisch?

Kza11/23/2004

Hmmmm... No, I don't believe so. The name isn't familiar. When I get some free time, I'll google the name. Feel free to list any important titles, though!

192212/27/2004

Two of his most important plays are Andorra and Biedermann und die Brandstifter. (For the last one I don't know the English title.) Most of his works (also his very famous novel Homo faber) are about the 'Bildnisdenken'. This means that his novels and plays are about the prejudices of the society towards other people, often strangers. This doesn't sound very original, but it IS refreshing and quite satirical. Together with Bertolt Brecht he is one of the best-known 20th-century-authors of the German-speaking literature.

Kza12/28/2004

Cool! Thanks for the info; sounds interesting. I'll see what my library has when I'm ready to read plays again. (It's been awhile, obviously.) Also, Frisch sounds like someone who might've been adapted to screen by Fassbinder or the like; have any of his plays been turned into movies?

192212/28/2004

I don't think his plays have already been adapted to the big screen.
But his novel Homo faber has been turned into a movie by Volker Schlöndorff in 1990 (starring Sam Shepherd).

Penny12/28/2004

The American title of Biedermann und die Brandstifter is The Firebugs. I agree that prejudice is the main theme. It has an odd similarity to Carrie, in that the outcasts are also destructive (or are believed to be).