There’s this script, see…

Go to the comments and list plays you think Lacuna could/should do. (See the post below for kinds of theatre events you’d like to see us do.)

33 thoughts on “There’s this script, see…

  1. School for Scandal. I like this play: it’s very funny and it has a lot of fun roles in it, like Mame.

  2. The Glass of Water, by Eugene Scribe. This is the ultimate “well-made” play of 19th century Paris. If you’ve ever taken theatre history, you heard the title of this play. I finally got to read it a couple of years ago, and it’s not at all stuffy (at least in the new translation I had). Intrigue, romance, and skullduggery at the court of Queen Anne, with a dramatic reversal on every page. What’s not to like?

  3. I wish I could contribute more, but I am completely ignorant when it comes to plays other than the ones I hve read in Literature class (Shakespeare and the like) and the ones I have performed in (Can’t Take it With You and Steel Magnolias anyone? Among others…)
    I trust the judgement of both Marc and Dale to choose the best play for our ensemble. Maybe if someone has copies of scripts of the suggested plays we can read through them and decide then.
    My only thing- Shakespeare is a good thing, but please no Romeo and Juliet 🙂

  4. Maybe Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

    Or The (Caucasian) Chalk Circle–Bertolt Brecht’s version of an old Chinese fable.

    Don Delillo’s The Day Room, möbius strip of a romp.

    Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes.

    Peter Barnes’ The Ruling Class or Red Noses.

    Chekov is ensemble stuff. Or George Bernard Shaw.

    Or we could blow the dust off some more Auntie Mame type fun from the golden age of Broadway drama.

  5. I don’t claim any great knowledge of what would be “for the good of the many”, but some plays I like include:

    The Lesson, by Ionesco – I was assigned to do a reading of this one in high school. It was at this point I discovered I REALLY wanted to act someday. It only took me 11 years more to get around to it.

    Amadeus, by Shaffer – Saw the traveling Broadway production in Nashville, complete with incredibly aromatic pudding and a tilting stage. Loved it.

    Proof, by Auburn(?) – Yeah, I know there is a movie coming out, but I loved the Alliance production of the play from a few years ago. Besides, wouldn’t Dale make a great insane professor?

    Any Shakespeare, by Shakespeare – I’ve never done one and would love to.

    BTW, Dale asked me to include Rumors, but I told him I wouldn’t do it.

  6. Turff thinks it’s a shame that Annie and Oliver have already been done by NTC.

    But we digress.

    Chekhov, yes!

  7. American Theatre magazine had a script many years ago called The Sweets Table at the Richelieu which intrigued me. Grotesque characters and heartbreaking tragedy.

  8. Was “Sweets Table” by Richard Nelson?

    It might be fun to look through those “Best Plays” anthologies which were compiled every year beginning in the ’20’s (?) and which charted what had been going on in New York for that year.

    And Broadway Play Publishing is always interesting (a Samuel French-like publisher for the terminally hip). I do have a secret desire to try a Mac Wellman at some point, but…

    When I first had the thought that it would be nice to work again as a group, I wasn’t really thinking about a particular play. To be honest, I gave up trying to “keep up” with theatre not long after grad school and stopped reading plays, including much classic drama. Being seduced by the avant-garde will do that to you. The memories of what I have read and seen are in deep storage–deeeep storage. I suppose I was thinking in general terms about the kind of drama a budding ensemble could enjoy performing:

    –many interesting and diverse characters
    –much comical and farcical complication afoot
    –or a “great reckonings in little rooms” type of play in which many revelations and reversals happen in a contained location and over a short period of time
    –or something more epic in scope, sweeping saga, etc. Shakespeare, of course. Or something resembling novel for the stage.
    –a rare gem from the canon of great stage pieces (not necessarily a work of Literature, capital L, but solid audience involvement guaranteed, and slightly off the too well-trodden path of usual community theatre fare)

    If we do Restoration, why not a Wycherly?

  9. Oooh, The Country Wife!!! Damned funny show! And hard as the dickens!

    Sweet Table at the Richelieu is by Ronald Ribman.

  10. Tales of the Lost Formicans, by Constance Congdon.

    The Triumph of Love, Marivaux, adapted by Stephen Wadsworth

    How about Of Thee I Sing! as a musical for an election year?

  11. OK–not the most classy of productions, but certainly one of the most fun:
    The Rocky Horror Picture Show; playing the month of October. We could get Yvonne Monet over at Alamo Jack’s involved and advertise in Atlanta. Just a thought.
    Jenny

  12. Also, to be way over the top–Hedwig and the Angry Inch anyone? I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
    Sorry,
    Jenny

  13. I ready for Hedwig or Horror. In fact, the fickle finger of fate has pointed to Jenny and I’m going to send her meditations on the question: process vs. just doing the show, using Rocky Horror as an example. She did nothing to deserve this abuse. I’ll send along excerpts to the blog; better yet, I’ll write them on the blog and won’t clog up her e-mail.

    If we have a taste for transgression, what about something by Jean Genet. The Balcony? Or Frank Wedekind’s Lulu plays, Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box? Or La Ronde? Les Liasons Dangereuse (we could do Hampton’s version but throw in some of Heiner Muller’s just to say we did)? European decadent is much better developed than the American variety.

    Or, another rock and roll musical which doesn’t get done anymore is Sam Shepard’s Tooth of Crime.

  14. OK OK……I think The Country Wife would be a GREAT show for this group, but thats is just what I think. I think Rocky Horror would be great just because I have a DEEP love for that show. I am really game for anything that is out there.

  15. How about A Death in the House Next Door to Kathleen Turner’s House on Long Island? If this group could make that play good, it could make anything good.

  16. I have a number of ideas running around in my head right now…let’s see. I would like to write some scripts including adaptations of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories as well as A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I think if we are not impeded by censors, several other options present themselves… A Doll’s House, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Waiting for Godot, Endgame… the list is endless. I would like to see us jump out of the box in a gargantuan way [nods head to Mame]. I took a course in Irish drama last term and especially enjoyed the work of Marina Carr and Martin McDonagh. Some of their work is starting to become popular here. I am open-minded and receptive to whatever, but for the record, I will not be in a musical unless I am either backstage or the comic relief, like Gooch was. I like you guys too much to sing for you. That being on the record for posterity now, I offer my services to my esteemed fellow thespians.

  17. Candide would be my choice for a big musical for this group, although we’d have to find a lyric soprano for one of the leads.

    As long as we’re adapting literature, I just found on the shelf in my office Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat. I had forgotten all about that wonderful, subversive book! “Once, in a certain part of the forest, there lived a very large and very stupid bear. His name was Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat. And this is why.”

    And… “Hello in there!” he roared. “I am Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat, and I give you fair warning. I am going to count to three,and then I am going to squash-you-flat!”

    For some reason, I hear him with a broad Manchester accent.

  18. This is fun. And speaking of The Cherry Orchard (I think there’s a Mamet translation out there, somewhere), what about a version set in the South, either during Reconstruction or sometime in the 1950’s, done delicately and done for real.

    Any Beckett is fine by me. Sam’s my boy.

  19. Yes, and Mamet’s translation is available through the Theatre Communications Group, aka American Theatre magazine, just as my last listing is.

    As for The Cherry Orchard set in the South, I’ll let Laurel comment on that when she arrives.

  20. I am by no means a great thespian and scholar of theatre, but I do know what I like. I am totally a musical girl. In fact, Mame was actually my very first straight play. I know not everyone is a musical person, but they are a whole lot of fun to do. One of my curent favorites is The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The best part about the show, in my humble opinion, is the audience participation. I love shows/plays where the actors get involved with the audience. Shorter College, my alma mater, always found a way to incorporate the audience. It made the theatre experience exciting because you never knew what the actors could do next.

  21. Equus by Peter Shaffer. It is a very challenging Drama. It would be hard to pull off, but if we did it would be the talk of the theatre community. It would also show everybody that we have what it takes to do more than just comedy.

    But I also really like the Foreigner. It’s a great comedy that also has a good message. Plus a lot of people outside the acting community are familiar with the show.(which mean a bigger audience)

    Then again you can never go wrong with a Neil Simon or Agatha Christie show.

  22. What about The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams or I Love Sam Shephard – maybe The Curse of the Starving Class. I read the blogs and they are taking some time to get through. I get the jist but let’s keep it simple. I’m kind of like the Jeff Goldblum Character in the Big Chill – I need the Reader’s Digest version. The net net. I am very open to anything. My Fair Lady, Angels in America, loved Big River! Can’t sing a lick but Mrs. Upson can teach me! Maybe,,,,

    Marvel

  23. 1.Equus by Peter Shaffer- This is a powerful Drama that would leave the audience in a spectacular state of WOW. The show would prove to the audience that “Community Theatre” can do more than just funny shows. I saw Central Forsyth High School do this show, and it knocked me senseless. The fact that high school students can give such a mind blowing performance of Equus (no disrespect, after all I just got out of high school) makes me ponder what Lacuna could do with it.

    2. Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck- “This outstanding drama was very successful on Broadway and has become one of our most consistently popular titles. A tremendously moving study of the character of two roving farmhands, one of whom, “with the strength of a gorilla and the mind of an untutored child” , unwittingly murders a woman, and is killed by his friend to prevent his falling into the hands of the law. ”

    3. Death of a Salesman– I haven’t personally seen the show performed anywhere, but I have heard a lot of good things about it.

    4. The Diviners– Once again I saw this show preformed by North Forsyth High School. It is the only play that I have ever seen the entire audience, including me cry in. That is how emotionally involved everybody was. It was one of those shows that you will never forget. It’s one of shows that will have everybody around town talking about how GREAT Lacuna did.

    What makes a phenomenal drama is an exceptional story line, direction, and depth of character. These are shows that are fairly popular, but at the same time I haven’t heard of many theatre companies doing them. (probably because they are scared)

    Comedy

    5. The Foreigner– This is a brilliant Comedy, that has great characters, and a good message at the end. The show is also well known by everybody in the community which of coarse would mean bigger audiences($).

    6. Rumors by Neil Simon- You can never go wrong with this hilarious play. There are no other words to use with this show except HILARIOUS.

    7. Noises Off by Michael Frayn- This Play is absolutely hysterical. I saw it at West Georgia University about two years ago. I felt like I was watching Who’s Line is it Anyway, Blue Collar Comedy Tour, and Jeff playing O’Bannion ( I love ya Jeff) all at the same time. Hilarious show.

    “The fundamental aim of our art is the creation of this inner life of a human spirit, and it’s expression in an artistic form” Stanislavski

  24. Marvel expresses concern that we’re getting too exuberant. Of course we are. But that’s OK. We’re not going to meet in a week or two and launch into rehearsals for any of these plays. (At least I hope we don’t!) We’re just thinking out loud and seeing what directions members might like to go in. Keep the exuberance going! BTW, I second Angels in America.

  25. In honor of Marvel, I have created a new rule: the Reader’s Digest Rule. Since we’re now up to three rules, I figured we needed a page to keep track of them. Check it out in the sidebar menu: 5. The Rules.

  26. Hello All Lacunas,
    I don’t know if I am doing this right because I think I just sent this email but I don’t see it posted. I will be out of town next week in Augusta but I would love to have everyone over at our house on April 9th to get together and celebrate and….gosh let’s just go! It seems like we are all pretty pumped up about the next project! Seriously – I think there is enough on the table to go for it!

    The next filming project is by Stimulus films called Grilling Billy Hicks, in Georgia. Why can’t we help each other out and encourage our Lacunas to go for these projects? These guys are from Georgia! Gone to LA but stay local as well! The casting guy emailed me back and just wanted a picture of me or head shot. I had head shots done in 1982! Auditions in Atlanta are April 8th! Lets get together and make someone’s dream come true! Really The casting guy/ owner emailed me back for a picture to see if I would be up for a speaking role. I am so out of the loop,if y’all have your stuff together go for it. Part of being in our group, hopefully, will help each of us encourage eachothers’ gifts.

    I am kind of honored and kind of embarassed about rule #3, cause well, now I get it!

    What is the old female actor to do? I would like to meet Sunday, we can watch the end of the Masters and talk acting! Cookout, appetizers….something fun! How do you do spelling check on this?

    Marvel
    678-471-9347 cell
    404-348-4968 home

  27. Let’s make it a “bad head shots from the ’80’s” party. Well…mine’s pretty dorky.

    Putting the finishing touches on a vision for a radical and exploratory performance group while watching the Masters: shall I start listing the people who will be turning in their graves? Talk about subverting even the subversives. Julien Beck, this birdie’s for you baby!

    Film work… Marvel, we’ll talk.

  28. I just read Marc’s comment carefully. Julien Beck… heh…

    So we could revamp Frankenstein to the Masters, making Tiger Woods the constructed Other?

    Oh, wait, this belongs in the other thread.

  29. If we consider a musical:

    A modest means version of Paint Your Wagon with “period” instrumentation (banjos, fiddles, honky tonk, etc). De-Broadway it and move it into something else. Focus on characterization and playing and the fun of it. Haven’t seen it since I was a kid, movie or stage musical versions. Are there sufficient women’s roles? I am not tongue and cheeking.

    Also, I still think about staging a version of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for aMad King. Just because I have a copy of the score.

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