One thing I found very intriguing last fall was when a local indie theatre troupe, Hardcover Theatre undertook an ambitious serial endeavor called "London After Midnight." Basically, a vampire tale that is presented one chapter at a time, one chapter per season. A cross between Dickens and a soap opera, it has the potential of bringing patrons back to find out what happens next, as well as giving actors & crew a chance to really develop characters over a long period of time. For me, hearing about this was inspirational as well as ingriguing.
Another thing I find intriguing is non-traditional theatre. By that, I mean theatre that is presented in non-traditional spaces. Possibilities are nearly endless, and it also frees a low-budget company from the financial requirement of securing an actual theatre space (which can run into the multi-thousands of dollars through rehearsals & performance) and being bound by traditional lighting/sound considerations.
Two more things I find inspirational as well as intruiging are the movie My Dinner with Andre and the Simon & Garfunkel song, The Dangling Conversation. Both deal with sort of the cafe/coffeehouse "intellectual" conversation; the former examining it and celebrating it, and the latter taking a little dig at it.
WHAT IF someone wrote a serial play called "The Dangling Conversation" that took place IN a coffeeshop? I think there have been moments when all of us have sat around just bullshitting with one another and thought "boy, what a shame that no-one else will ever get to appreciate the richness/humour/etc. of this conversation." I have, anyway. Of course, My Dinner with Andre sets an incredibly high standard for a writer, and The Dangling Conversation serves as warning as to how such a performance might be perceived by an audience if it wasn't pulled off just right. I think it would be a lot easier and more compelling if there were some sort of hook involved-some sort of plot or event unfolding as a new character or two are introduced through subsequent "chapters."
During a meeting of my theatre company on Sunday, I just tossed the idea out, and everyone else was intrigued. At this point, it's still an instance of "belling the cat," but my wheels are turning. I toss out the idea here to see if anyone has any kind of plot idea they would toss into such a setting?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
9 comments:
Coffee and Cigarettes. Maybe along the lines you are thinking, or not. And a collection of short vignettes, not a play. Check it out, if you like Jarmusch.
Just for you I used the AMG entry, and not the IMDB.
Wow-have you seen it? If so, what did you think?
(AMG is WAY better than IMDB.)
I liked it, but I love Jarmusch. Not everybody does.
I'll check it out.
Part of the conversation could be related to a friend that is supposed to be showing up with some very big news. Over the course of these conversations other friends show up offering intriguing morsels about this anticipated friend's big news but without actually really saying what it is.
Could have some weird things happening in the coffee shop that has nothing to do with the people having a conversation. People dropping glasses, toilet over flowing and forcing people outside for a time, and a man digging in his nose thinking no one is watching. Turn it into a comedy? Just random thoughts.
I've been thinking about the "big news" aspect. I don't want it to turn into "Waiting for Godot," though...I like the Cory ideas, except I think I'd want to keep the cast as minimal as possible, or at least totally focused on the goings-on at one particular table, so everyone else in the place (e.g. the audience) is really focused there.
ITE!
I had this idea yesterday that maybe a reporter is meeting some "anonymous" head of a radical political group in Minneapolis to try to find out their motivation/plans, etc. Seems like it would open a lot of possibilities for intrigue, schemes, surprises, maybe even death.
Post a Comment