tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post6140643393387111759..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: The Playwright as KingAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-80333779400908112822007-03-05T09:46:00.000+11:002007-03-05T09:46:00.000+11:00Hi Jodi - you're right, of course, on both counts ...Hi Jodi - you're right, of course, on both counts (I hate smilies, but here goes - :) )<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, so am I. Audiences don't help to <I>make</I> theatre, as in participate in the process before it is unleashed on the unsuspecting public (well, sometimes it happens, but fairly rarely): they are simply necessary for its occurence. Unless you're Grotowski. And Artaud suggested Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-22912615556247646462007-03-05T08:15:00.000+11:002007-03-05T08:15:00.000+11:00Also I think - happy to be proven wrong - that it ...Also I think - happy to be proven wrong - that it was Edward Gordon Craig who had recourse to puppets...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-33154507493342724062007-03-05T08:11:00.000+11:002007-03-05T08:11:00.000+11:00I was actually generalising the goal in that argum...I was actually generalising the goal in that argument to the making of theatre. Purely for the sake of this discussion. And apart from actors, I believe it does require an audience...<BR/><BR/>JodiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-88984587910656691642007-03-04T20:38:00.000+11:002007-03-04T20:38:00.000+11:00Maybe that's the most important point, George, tha...Maybe that's the most important point, George, that every work is different, with its own shape and experience.<BR/><BR/>One of the jobs of criticism, maybe its primary job, is to attempt to make distinctions. One thing, Jodi: not all theatre has the same goal, unless that goal is generalised to the making of theatre: people work in different ways for different reasons to different effect, and Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-3916382476342462882007-03-04T15:42:00.000+11:002007-03-04T15:42:00.000+11:00Watching Richard Foreman in rehearsal recently -- ...Watching Richard Foreman in rehearsal recently -- certainly a writer/director/designer who's had a reputation for rather dictatorial stage practice -- was a surprising experience for me. I'd expected to see Foreman ordering his actors about with little concern about their input, or those of the fellow designers and technicians around him. Instead, he seemed relatively open (at least as director) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-24987212985570948862007-03-04T14:18:00.000+11:002007-03-04T14:18:00.000+11:00Hi JodiWell, I don't know. It is, like all these d...Hi Jodi<BR/><BR/>Well, I don't know. It is, like all these distinctions, an arbitrary one, and therefore must not be allowed to fall into orthodoxy; but it does express a certain basic difference of writerly attitude. And is therefore, for me at least, useful. <BR/><BR/>The only thing theatre can't do without (unless one is Artaud, of course, who thought puppets were better: and even then you Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-39687061183339073732007-03-04T10:40:00.000+11:002007-03-04T10:40:00.000+11:00I really should be more careful about the typos.I really should be more careful about the typos.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-42056460579097457392007-03-04T10:10:00.000+11:002007-03-04T10:10:00.000+11:00You present the case for this distinction with a r...You present the case for this distinction with a rare reasonableness, Alison. Just one point then. Let's take two directors - Tom Healey and Kate Cherry. I've worked fairly extensively with both of them. Their working methods are chalk and cheese. Certainly they share a common goal, the creation of work on a stage. But their approaches are entirely different. Why, then, given your reasons for Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-27399410001279229352007-03-03T18:17:00.000+11:002007-03-03T18:17:00.000+11:00Thanks, David, it's most interesting, and points o...Thanks, David, it's most interesting, and points out that it's important - perhaps especially for writers - to remember that theatre can be created <I>without</I> writers. Though I was speaking specifically of cases where there is a writer involved.<BR/><BR/>And Albee is provocative - he says "The big problem is the assumption that writing a play is a collaborative act. It isn’t. It’s a creative Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-64006331675260692742007-03-03T17:55:00.000+11:002007-03-03T17:55:00.000+11:00Hi Alison et al,As someone who works in a devising...Hi Alison et al,<BR/><BR/>As someone who works in a devising company which as part of its process generates 'writing' (words that are spoken by the performers for specific dramatic purposes), I've always been disappointed when punters ask us who the writer is, and don't seem to believe any of us when we tell them there wasn't a writer, but rather a team. this isn't ideological, but a fact of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-78768638314338060802007-03-03T14:00:00.000+11:002007-03-03T14:00:00.000+11:00Rant away Jodi - that's what we're here for. Actua...Rant away Jodi - that's what we're here for. <BR/><BR/>Actually, I think it's a very useful distinction, because there are differences of process, even with the same writer. Projects can be initiated by a director, the writing itself can involve tons of collaboration and input from various artists, including the performers, and yet still be written by an identifiable writer. And then others are Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-3902799728916056962007-03-03T12:45:00.000+11:002007-03-03T12:45:00.000+11:00Having ranted early in the morning on your last po...Having ranted early in the morning on your last post, clearly defending the rights of the writer - I feel it incumbent upon me to comment here. I personally feel that the distinction between a 'playwright' and a 'writer for theatre' is a false one, based on an ideological distinction - also false - between collaborative practice and the supposed ivory tower of the traditional playwright. It's a Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com