Nov 6, 2007
2
After a day of watching a reading of Herbie: Poet of The Wild West and then some scenes from Open Minds, I discovered something my subconscious mind may already know.
First of all, they were written 3 years apart and are very different kinds of plays but they both have a character named Herbie in them. (I also have 3 plays with characters named Bobby--3 very different Bobbys.) And the Herbies are different too. And the plays are very different.
But, I wasn't aware that they had similar lines. From Herbie, a scene between him and his mother:
MARY
Well I guess you have to kill him, then. Who’s my soldier?
HERBIE
I am.
MARY
That’s right. Just, um…shoot him in the back, OK? Don’t let him take a shot at you.
From Open Minds:
MOTHER
Not quite yet. Oh, you’re such a good boy. Stand up straight. Now aren’t you a smart looking boy? Who’s my soldier?
HERBIE
I am.
MOTHER
That’s right. You are, aren’t you? Now what are you going to do when people come to visit?
Now in one way I have no idea where this phrase Who's my soldier came from. But also, apparently my subconscious thinks this phrase is funny. Funny enough to use twice.
The readings both went well yesterday. We'll see what happens next.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I noticed the similar lines, too! Am going to try to blog about my Szymkowicz/Szymkowicz reading night later this week, but I liked that part of the evening quite a bit. I love it when writers use similar lines/characters in their work.
It reminds me somehow of Monet and his haystacks.
Had a great time at the Lincoln Center reading, so did my wife. Any play that has a bear and conjoined twins gets a thumbs up. Congrats!
thanks, you two. Glad you were able to come.
I like it too, Johnna. It's werid that the stuff you think is the stuff someone will use more than once is not always what they use. I have no idea where this soldier thing even came from. Or the name Herbie. Alt hough my father told me over the phone yesterday that they took me to see Herbie Goes Bananas at the drive in when I was very young and that I wouldn't stop talking about it. I guess it was either this playwriting thing or a love bug mechanic.
Post a Comment