#theater talk

[cinemaocd]

I have found the greatest program in the history of public television...

Theater Talk!

@wgbh

#OMG I can't believe this has been on youtube for seven years #and I have googled mark rylance videos weekly for at least five years #and have not ever found this #anyway the gods of the algorithm giveth somedays and they came through for me today #this is glorious #Theater Talk #if you live in NYC have you seen this???? #this is like an SNL skit but it's fucking real I'm losing it #Mark Rylance #this is going to be rylanceland for the week while I work on the Year in Rylanceland for next week

[byronicbi]

First night of auditions: done.

And I Have Thoughts.

I'm a writer. That's it. The end. I know nothing about set builds or stage directions or any other tech stuff that goes into building a play. I create the world, write the words, and a team of people take care of the rest.

The invitation for me to sit trough the first round of auditions was a courtesy that isn't often extended to playwrights, so I was grateful for the opportunity to see how it's done. I think everyone who got on that stage and read scenes did a fantastic job and there was certainly a select few who Got It(tm). No complaint there, but it's not like I have any real say on who gets what role anyway.

What was really interesting to see, though, was the difference in vision between me and the director.

It's a short play because no one is going to take a stab at staging a three-act debut, which is the first constraint I had to work with. Ten pages is what I was allotted which meant I had to sacrifice setting and background for the sake of dialogue to carry the full story.

The second "constraint", is that the heart of the play is a social commentary that reflects a variety of marginalized identities. It was written by a person who sits at the intersection of said marginalized identities. The director, on the other hand, is a white middle-aged cisgender straight woman.

Now, I don't care. I'm of the belief that all sorts of stories should be explored by everyone regardless of who they are. But what I do find utterly fascinating is how the director has read these characters.

She gets the point of the play. We've talked about it. She understands the references, nuances, symbolisms, etc. She's championed it as the resistance piece that it is, but it was in her directions to the actors that really made me sit back and go "huh, of course this is how you see this".

The protagonist is the chillest motherfucker on the planet. Sure, he's frustrated, he snarks, but he's very low-vibe. The "antagonist", for lack of a better word, as well as the neutral party, blow his reactions out of proportion. They try to frame him as violent, volatile, unstable, when he's literally just hanging out, asking them to either help or leave him the fuck alone.

The increase in agitation and discrepancy between action and reaction is very clearly labeled throughout the script, but the director just... didn't catch that? She's made the protagonist this angry ball of disdain because, apparently, that's the only acceptable (or at least known) way that a trans qpoc reacts to injustice throughout daily life.

Again, as the playwright, I have no real say on how the director chooses to go by staging a story. When you write something and release it into the wild, how characters and stories are perceived is entirely out of your hands. However, this birthed two thoughts.

One, how would this have gone if, had I the space, I had provided more context to the story. My cast page was pretty barebones because I was uncertain of just how brief brief actually meant. (Turns out you can get away with a LOT according to some properly published plays I have sitting on my desk.) In short, I'm certain a lot of mischaracterization could be prevented by having some pretty hefty author's notes in place, something that is actually encouraged in playwriting.

Two, how would have a QPOC staged and directed this.

Through and through, despite my best attempts of stripping the play of it, the director managed to (subconsciously) incorporate biases and stereotypes, undermining the whole point.

On one hand, like I said, I am exceptionally lucky and grateful to have even been given the opportunity to not only set something of mine on a stage but to be mentored and resourced into the Big Blue Ocean of theater (D.C. & multiple competitions are currently on the hot seat). On the other, I have to work myself up to probably making a fool of myself and stepping on toes to get answers that I might not like but will have to live with for the time being.

Either way, this has and will likely continue to be a huge learning experience on all kinds of fronts, and I'm both excited and terrified about it.

#an actual proper blog post? from ME? it can't be. #mostly some observations and thing learned right off the bat. #theater talk #this got long so i shoved most of it under a read more

[sondheims-hat]

October 29, 2005: Elaine Stritch appears on Theater Talk to promote her cabaret show At Home at the Carlyle. She speaks about Sondheim at length.

#sondheim #elaine stritch #theater talk #Youtube

[blusandbirds]

anyone who says the blue beetle movie is a basic origin story is lying to you. in a normal superhero movie they get at least a day or two of fun hijinks—sticky fingers, zappy powers, quippy one liners—meanwhile jaime reyes over here is speedrunning the worst 48 hours i’ve ever seen anybody experience.

#blu talks #blue beetle #jaime reyes #xolo maridueña #dc #JUST GOT OUT OF THE THEATER

[delicatesquashblossom]

“Sidney Pollack doesn’t understand love”

#Arthur Laurents #Theater Talk #The Way We Were

[kaleidescopic]

oh you hate musicals? oh so youre allergic to all fun and whimsy then? youre against all joy and giddiness brought in front of you huh? you just hate any and all happiness and silly times dont you?

#“hamiltons so overrated” this #“falsettos is so cringe” that #“the dancing in six is so embarrassing” this #“ride the cyclone is so weird” that #“people dont break into song in the middle of a sentence irl” this #“its unrealistic and not historically accurate” that #SHUT UP #ACTUALLY SHUT UP #YOURE NOT ORIGINAL #YOURE NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE BC YOU THINK UR ABOVE MUSICALS #STOP TALKING AND APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF TALENT EVERYYTHING ABOUT THAT SHIT TAKES #STOP MAKING FUN OF ACTORS FOR BEING GOOD AT THEIR JOB #musical theatre #kal rambles!! #musical theater #broadway #sorry i just got a little angry

[common-grackle]

does anybody have a bootleg of the 1596 production of a midsummer night's dream?? :/

#shakespeare #a midsummer night's dream #gracie talks #theater

[tizeline]

If by a chance - IF - Donnie joined the drax brothers what his outfit would be?

Like... deadass?

Like deadass.

As in he'd literally just steal this particular Megamind outfit, no question about it.

#catastrophic levels of theater kid bs from donnie #like a deadly amount #also donnie would LOVE megamind omg #donnie is a megamind kinnie 😔 cringe #Tiz Sep AU #tizel talk #tmnt #rottmnt

[fleetwood-mac-andcheese]

Sometimes a family is a child, the child’s mom, the child’s three dads, and two women who don't get nearly enough stagetime

#musical theater #musical theatre #mamma mia #falsettos #mamma mia! #original #jamie talks

[cinemaocd]

Someone on Theater Talk just called Rooster Byron "a Degenerate Oberon, king of the fairies."

I can't think of a better description of Mark Rylance to be honest...

#so appropriate that it's a shakespeare character as well #for our fave oxfordian #mark rylance #I'm liveblogging this I guess #theater talk

[yaolmao]

Unironic out of context event that has recently occurred:

#puss in boots #puss in boots the last wish #shrek #dreamworks #one of THE best movies I’ve ever laid eyes on #watch it in theaters it is genuinely worth all your money #edit: I need more people to talk about their favorite scenes it would make me the happiest person ever #I’ll go first. #the entire movie is my favorite scene

[swordmaid]

brienne but she's wearing 1949 cocteau's beauty and the beast inspired fit!!! this is the inspo pic i used if ur curious.

gonna be posting more of this redesign thing (and also jaime's ver) some time in the future but i just wanted to share this one <3

#brienne of tarth #asoiaf #mine. #u know literally just as i finished colouring this i found that some theater made an opera version of this batb #and they made belle's dress BLUE...which is a win for me and also not bc they made it light blue #but here it's supposed to be velvet.. idk if it comes across as velvet but that's the fabric of choice lol. #but im gonna ramble because i really like the concept... i love brienne in pearls!! i feel like pearls will be her jewellery of choice #and i talked abt this before in some post but i think tarth regalia would have a lot of pearls just bc they're an island #and i think they would export pearls alongside marble lol #i love brienne in silver and pearls BUT the reason why the flower thing on her cape is gold bc in the film #the pearl chain was actually a gift from the beast. so she's wearing jaime's gift. and i made the cape more silvery white (leaning on white #to resemble his cloak so it's like... jaime gifting her his white cloak..... hihihIHIHIhhihihihihi...... #tbh i drew that concept before too BUT I JUST LIKE IT!!!!!!!! i want it to happen actually....please....thank u.. #also the feathers in her hair is bc i want to accessorize her in a brienne way BUT ALSO supposed to be like the plumes knights wore in thei #helm. she's wearing trousers in the fit btw only the upper half of the design is based on beauty but the silhouette mimics beasts' more. #but anyway i really like this design!! bc it's a bit ott but also not in a way that seems out of character for her? idk LOL

[wigglyscardigan]

oh hey here are some more textposts I made 10 days ago and then forgot to post

#starkid #hatchetfield #tinky #t’noy karaxis #peter spankoffski #richie lipschitz #max jägerman #grace chasity #stephanie lauter #ruth fleming #pokey #pokotho #nibbly #nibblenephim #webby #textposts #hf textposts <3 #kaz talks in an empty theater

[shrewcafe]

neuvifuri college au where they both go to the same university and yes this is how they met, accidentally matching outfits like they (their past lives coughs) haven't done that for the past 500 yrs

#genshin #genshin fanart #genshin modern au #neuvillette #iudex neuvillette #furina #furina de fontaine #neuvifuri #furillette #law student neuvi #theater arts furina #id like to think they talk in cursive #pls do not perceive their inner monologues #they wouldnt WANT u to perceive it anyway #matching fits like the sillies they are #like the SOULMATES they are #idk what else to tag

[vrronica-sawyer]

very normal group of queer people chilling on modern day earth

gung ho guns version

#i built a whole modern au on my head while sketching these pls talk to me about Trigun guys #sketched modern gung ho guns bc I was tired of preppy/jock knives propaganda #and then sketched this one #but finished this one first bc I have character biases #wanted Meryl to be giving corporate goth but she’s giving community theater production of heathers I cannot escape my roots #Trigun #Trimax #trigun maximum #Trigun 98 #vash saverem #vash the stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #wolfwood #meryl stryfe #milly thompson #polygun #bc everything’s polygun 2 me #rill’sart

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

you guys ever notice how in his dialogue when he's in bertie's presence, jeeves uses quotations and references constantly, but in his THOUGHTS during "bertie changes his mind," he doesn't use any? this is obviously because he doesn't care if we the audience know he knows shakespeare, but he will languish and die if he doesn't get to dazzle bertie with his wit and knowledge every five seconds

#ok actually you know what #this post was supposed to just be a joke #but then i started thinking #the audience jeeves is presumably writing for in bertie changes his mind is new and aspiring valets #members of his own class #to whom he probably feels he has less to prove #but when he's talking to rich people who are liable to look down their noses at him #he needs them to know how smart he is #though he is ALSO a dramatic secret theater kid who's addicted to his crush's attention and admiration #that's very much part of it too #// #jeeves and wooster #jeeves books #bertie changes his mind #carry on jeeves #reginald jeeves #jooster