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Oct 27, 2006
Oct 26, 2006
fratricide
my cowboy hamlet. I'm not saying it's a better poem.
in fact the fact that it's bad is kind of the point.
And it works better in context but here it is anyway.
Fratricide: A Poem For a Bear to Read
In the grimy streets of
Dust-y
Dust
Where the flowers don't grow
Fratricide
A man goes out to buy a horse
But comes home with
A gun instead
It gleams
Polished as it is
Fratricide
A Bear is just a large person who feels too much
Fratricide
I had
Such
Hope in my heart
Before
Fratricide
Flowers at the funeral
No flowers at the saloon
A bear will hibernate in winter
But our feelings
Cannot sleep
Fratricide
Oct 25, 2006
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/impeachment/its-a-mandate-209624.php
via daisey
http://www.mikedaisey.com/
"Buried in this Newsweek story is the news that 51% of
American voters want Bush impeached — 28% say High
Priority, 23% say Low Priority, 44% against, 6%
undecided or don't know what a president is. And only
78% of Republicans oppose impeachment, proving
something or other.
Didn't Bush come back in '04 claiming 51% was a
"mandate" for all kinds of new fun?"
a poem
play and replacing with something funnier. It is a
poem the dancing bear delivers so that the Hamlet can
watch his uncle's reaction. You know, that thing the
traveling players do? It's for that. Anyway, this no
longer cuts it, so here it is.
Once there was a bear
By the name of Mean Dean
He was the meanest bear
You have ever seen
He had long dark fur
Coals for eyes
Growls on his lips of enormous size
But his brother was better
In every manner
Stronger and sleeker
With paws like hammers
And a wife bear besides
Of enormous size
With soft red lips
And warm yellow eyes
Mean Dean decides
To perform fratricide
To be the biggest baddest bear
In town
So one day when
Brother bear turns his back
Mean Dean runs
With a drop-kick
Ten-claw
All-teeth
Two-fist
Red-rage
Unconscionable
Attack
And when brother is dead
Mean Dean eats his flesh
Takes his cave
Seduces his bearoness
The moral is
There is no moral
Because who can stop a bear?
Only a bullet perhaps
Between the eyes
To catch him unaware
Oct 22, 2006
scene from new play--first draft as always
Oct 21, 2006
photos by punam bean
Oct 20, 2006
From Chris Durang's newest post:
"When I was growing up in the 50s, "live and let live" was often said about people who were different, and even about people whom one disagreed with. It seemed an American value. I don't feel I've heard that phrase in a very long time. I hope it returns to the voices and thoughts of my fellow citizens"
Oct 19, 2006
1st draft of scene from new play
Oct 13, 2006
From NY Times:
BAGHDAD, Oct. 10 A team of American and Iraqi public health researchers has estimated that 600,000 civilians have died in violence across Iraq since the 2003 American invasion, the highest estimate ever for the toll of the war here.
CIVILIANS!!!! People who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. It must be hard to support the American Occupation when you see your families and friends die.
Oct 11, 2006
a short play of mine in LA starting oct 13.
http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/126054
http://www.theatreofnote.com/#lickfirst draft of scene from new play
(Back in the White House the PRESIDENT and CHENEY)
PRESIDENT What are you doing tonight, Cheney?
CHENEY Well, me and the wife and Halliburton were gonna go out and catch that new superhero film. That OK?
PRESIDENT Sure sure.
CHENEY Youll be OK in the White House without me for a couple hours?
PRESIDENT Oh, sure. Sure. You know last night Halliburton and I were having a beer and he said the darnest thing. Oh, I shouldnt tell you. Oh, youd hate this. Oh, I gotta tell you. Promise to laugh. You got to promise to laugh.
CHENEY OK.
PRESIDENT You promise?
CHENEY I promise.
PRESIDENT He said you look like the stay puff marshmallow man. Thats what he said. Heh heh.
CHENEY Ha Ha. I will shoot him in the face. I will blast him the fuck away, that fucking bastard who does he think he is?
PRESIDENT Now, dont get upset. Take a breath.
CHENEY Im breathing.
PRESIDENT You promised you would laugh.
CHENEY Im laughing.
PRESIDENT Youre turning red.
CHENEY Im OK. Im fine. Its sorta funny.
PRESIDENT Yeah, right?
CHENEY Anyway, I cant stay mad at Halliburton.
PRESIDENT No. No, no one can.
CHENEY Listen, I know that the American people have been kind of down on you because of the war and all.
PRESIDENT They have been.
CHENEY And I know thats hard.
PRESIDENT It is.
CHENEY But we know were doing the right thing. I know it and you know it and Halliburton knows it and history will show that this is the right war at the right time.
PRESDIENT I know. Its just so hard. Everyone is so critical. Im not used to all this public criticism.
CHENEY Yes, mostly weve managed to shield you from it.
PRESIDENT Lets do that again some more. I just dont like all the talk.
CHENEY No one does. Listen, I know theres a lot of pressure to pull out of Iraq. Let me be honest with you, Halliburton wanted me to talk to you.
PRESIDENT About what?
CHENEY He just wants to make sure youll stay strong.
PRESIDENT He doesnt have to worry about me.
CHENEY Thats good to hear.
PRESIDENT Lets pray a minute.
CHENEY Well, I should be going.
PRESIDENT PRAY!
CHENEY Ok, OK.
PRESIDENT Dear God, Sweet baby Jesus. Please give us the strength to continue this most important war. Please be with our soldiers as they are bombed on the side of the road and blown into smithereens. Please ride beside them. And please let the American people know that you stand beside me. Maybe you could give them a disease. Heh heh. Those bastards. Well show them. And please fill me with your mercy so I can stop hating Cheney all the time. Please prevent me from telling the secret service that he is an enemy of the state who must be waterboarded. Please let him laugh at my jokes more and appreciate me and not give me more flak about the war and Halliburton. Also please help him to protect me from criticism that does no one good at all. Amen.
CHENEY Amen.
PRESIDENT Well, youve got a movie to go to.
CHENEY Oh, right. I mean unless youd rather I stay here. I can go to a movie another night.
PRESIDENT Oh, whichever.
CHENEY Maybe Ill go back to my office and think up more ways to silence your critics.
PRESIDENT Oh, yes. That might be good. But whatever you want, really. No pressure. I just want whats best for the country.
CHENEY Yes, the country.
I have noticed lately that my full lenghts seem to be loosely based on 10 min plays I wrote 2, 3, 4, 5 years ago. I wrote a cowboy comedy 10 min play and then I wrote a full length cowboy comedy hamlet. I wrote a 10 min film noir comedy and then more recently I wrote a full length film noir and now I seem to be writing a version of my 10 min play America At War. I'll let you know how it goes.
Oct 10, 2006
ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/world/asia/10assess.html?hp&ex=1160539200&en=4476571b6d74d04a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
"Mr. Bush and his aides contend that Iraq was the more urgent threat, in a volatile neighborhood. But the Norths reported nuclear test now raises the question of whether it is too late for the president to make good on his promise that he would never let the worlds worst dictators obtain the worlds most dangerous weapons. "
Oct 9, 2006
Thanks to Mike Daisey for pointing this out. The Daily show is the reason I got cable. Check this article out.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061004-7908.html
The Daily Show is as substantive as the "real" news 10/4/2006 4:36:32 PM, by Eric Bangeman
The Daily Show is much funnier than traditional newscasts, but a new study from Indiana University says it has the same amount of meat on its bones when it comes to coverage of the news. The brand of news coverage Jon Stewart and the rest of The Daily Show's staff brings to the airwaves is just as substantive as traditional news programs like World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News, according to the study conducted by IU assistant professor of telecommunications Julia R. Fox and a couple of graduate students.
http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc100406
"But the Secret Service did not take kindly to his comment.About ten minutes later, I came back through the mall with my eight-year-old son in tow, Howards recalls, and this Secret Service man came out of the shadows, and his exact words were, Did you assault the Vice President?
Heres how Howards says he responded: No, but I did tell Mr. Cheney the way I felt about the war in Iraq, and if Mr. Cheney wants to be shielded from public criticism, he should avoid public places. If exercising my constitutional rights to free speech is against the law, then you should arrest me.
Which is just what the agent, Virgil D. Gus Reichle Jr, proceeded to do."
Dear Students,
We are pleased to tell you that after conversations with representatives from the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, including Wendy Goldberg, the artistic director of the Playwrights Conference and a board member, we have their assurance that they will not this year, or in the future, be asking for a percentage of future royalties from the plays they accept for development. They are looking for other sources of funding, but those monies will not come from your subsidiary rights. Any issue like this can be complicated, and there may have been miscommunications on all sides, nevertheless we're grateful to receive these assurances from the board and the artistic director Wendy Goldberg. So it is with great relief and happiness we once again encourage you to submit your application to the valuable O'Neill Playwrights Conference. You should also know they have extended their deadline for submission until October 23 (postmarked). If you sent out a copy of our previous email, please send out a copy of this one to the same people. We're happy to be sending good news. Sincerely yours,
Chris and Marsha 10/07/06
Oct 8, 2006
O'Neill Update
I have heard from multiple sources that the O'Neill is not asking for sub rights.
As Jason Grote said in the comments of the previous post, "I've been told by Wendy Goldberg that this is not true - that this was briefly on the table in May 2006 but then quickly pulled. Whether one believes that version of events - or that it was pulled in response to this outcry - it's no longer the policy at the O'Neill."
Oct 7, 2006
an Email I received
Dear Juilliard Mafia,
We are writing to warn you about a development at the O'Neill Playwrights Festival, a situation so serious that we can no longer recommend that you send your scripts there, and hope to discourage you from mentoring or assisting them in any way. The problem is this - from now on, the O'Neill Board is determined to demand a percentage of the playwright's subsidiary income IN PERPETUITY from any play accepted for presentation at the O'Neill. This means that for four
days of rehearsal, and a presentation with actors using scripts, you will owe them a permanent percentage of your income from that play. This is so patently unfair, and so clearly against their own mission statement, that we can only assume they have lost their minds, or perhaps decided to think of themselves as commercial producers instead of the generous, helpful organization they used to be, devoted to playwrights and their work.
They tried to demand this participation from two writers this summer, but were thwarted by efforts by the Dramatists Guild, and the agent for two of the writers, John Buzzetti. Both writers said they would
pull their work if this provision was attached and the O'Neill backed down, saying that since no warning was given, it wasn't fair to ask for the percentage. But last month they announced they would be demanding the percentage from the writers whose work was accepted this summer.
We urge you not to submit your scripts to the O'Neill. We urge you to talk to your agents about this, and not participate in any way. We are afraid this is the beginning of the end for an institution we have all admired and cherished. This is part of a disturbing trend in "development" organizations, where playwrights are increasingly expected to pay for their productions, in spite of the fact that those organizations raise money and get grants claiming that they exist to help playwrights. More and more, it's looking like those organizations exist to support themselves, not their writers. In this regard, beware of any contest that charges you more than $15 to apply, because that's about what readers are being paid these days.
Over and over again in class, we urged you to get over feeling grateful, and defend yourself in situations where you sense you are being taken advantage of. So this is just us saying it again. Do not give your work away, and do not pay somebody to produce it, and
do not grant rights that are excessive. Do not encumber your work with percentages to people who think they deserve them just because they recognized you were good.
Please pass this information along to anyone you think could use it. The only way to impress on the O'Neill the insanity of what they are doing, is to deny them the plays that they need. Many of us have tried talking to them, and they are not listening. So we are taking this step, and encouraging all writing teachers in America to contact their students in the same way.
All our best,
Chris Durang and Marsha Norman
Oct 6, 2006
free speech?
so here at Columbia, the Minuteman founder was forced off the stage yesterday by protesting students. he was planning to speak against illegal immigration.
These students turned him into a victim. By attacking him physically instead of debating him, they helped him get more media attention and gave him more venues to speak his views, instead of silencing him as they intended.
What is going on? The practices of the current administration are being accepted by the general public--the idea that everyone should not be allowed to say what they want. Just call the media liberal and they will bend over backwards to not tell the "liberal" side of the story. Tell the country they are traitors and unamerican and against God if they dare question your policies. Or just refuse to talk to them unless they ask the easy questions.
Bush surrounds himself with people who will never criticize or question him. He squelches debate by playing the father who knows best. It's hard to debate someone too who won't tell you what's going on, refuses to tell the truth. Clinton lied about sex. Bush's lying brought us into Iraq and thousands and thousands of people have died because of it. He has turned the US into a terrorist country that ignores the Geneva convention and tortures people--people who may or may not even be involved with terrorist networks.
And he wants the power to tap the phones without warrants, and jail anyone including you or me without any proof of wrongdoing or any way for you or I to ever get out of jail, because you can't get a lawyer if you haven't been charged with anything. So you just sit in your foreign jail until they torture you to death.
Meanwhile the terrorist threat is worse because of Iraq. The rest of the world sees our country does not respect human life, that we set a bad example. We are a world power and we are a fucking asshole who refuses to listen to other people's opinions who only responds with violence. Because we know best. Like these Columbia kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNXmy0e5fc
At the end of the video some guy says that republicans would never respond that way. with violence. and this is partially true. They don't have to when they can get the cops and the army to do it for them.
Oct 5, 2006
Oct 3, 2006
some useful information
Halloween is coming up and here is some useful information for all those of you who do not want to spend eternity burning in hellfire away from God's love.
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/sermons/halloween.html
"Will Jesus Sling Little Children Into Hell For Celebrating Halloween? A Word From Our Pastor
Quite frankly, the answer is, absolutely yes! The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is very choosy when it comes to picking people to live with Him for eternity. Why else would He refer to His followers as the chosen people if He wasn't choosy? The fact that He initially chose the Jews, who, out of all the folks on the planet, were the ones who winded up killing Him, only underscores that the Lord has learned the hard way that it pays to be even more selective in picking folks to be nice to!"