book eight: or, the Cursed Child problem

[sadcypress]

So in the wee hours of Sunday morning, I was at GeekyCon in Orlando, surrounded by Harry Potter fans, and finally getting my hands on the published rehearsal script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. As I waited in line, however, I heard the dude in the IMPECCABLE Remus Lupin cosplay ask his Tonks, "So, is it going to look like... Shakespeare

Comments

[tempestsarekind]

I don't really have any suggestions at the moment, but I would love to read such a post! I've read modern plays, but almost always in the context of a course where we weren't thinking about theater, so it was easy to focus on Theme or What This Says About This Period In History, or what have you.

I guess one thing to focus on would be: what, to you, are the things that make reading a play different from reading a novel (or a long poem, I guess)? What do you do with the fact that you're reading something that's supposed to be brought to life with actors and scenery - do you imagine a production in your head? Do you have to, if that's not your thing?

[sadcypress]

Yeah, what I want to do is find a way to talk about reading a play without necessarily analyzing it- so much of the resources I found while googling last night focused on analysis, and I don't think that's the most helpful step 1 in this particular case. What I have in mind is finding a way to approach reading a play for pleasure when you are used to novels, and so that's where my mind keeps circling around. For me, I read plays and project a rudimentary staging onto them, just so I can see it in my mind's eye as I go, but it's not that different from what I do when I read a novel. I don't know how NOT to do that, so finding a new perspective on this is tricky!

[tempestsarekind]

I remember being puzzled by lengthy stage directions, when I was younger - especially because I'd read Shakespeare, where the stage directions are quite minimal even if you include editorial additions: how beholden was I to the way the directions told me to imagine a character, for example?

[daiq]

My Year 9's (I teach high school Drama in Australia), today got all up in arms about the complaints that it is nothing more than bad Fan Fic and hello, that is stage directions! I have banned Spoilers because, my job, and they are being really good about it :)

I have friends who have seen it in London in preview and they all said, no matter what the script reads like, it translates REALLY well on stage, so yay!

[daiq]

Also, Black Watch, GENIUS! My students study Verbatim Theatre in our final year, and while Black Watch isn't on the syllabus (state mandated) I always use it as an example because it is SOOOOO amazing. One of the few standing ovations I have given (because I was to be absolutely blown away to get to my feet) was Black Watch when it toured to Australia.

[sadcypress]

BLACK WATCH IS SO GREAT. SO GREAT!!! I've seen it maybe.... five times over two tours that came through DC. I may be overdue to watch the DVD again....

[silviarambles]

No suggestions, but I'd love to read such post too! I'm one of those who loves seeing plays and absolutely loathes reading them, so I'm sure I'm doing something wrong...

[sadcypress]

I don't know if you ARE doing something wrong, though! I don't know what I really have to say beyond recommending that people do what I do- use stage directions to orient yourself and imagine that you're watching the scene. I read novels the same way, but just do a little more imaginative work when I read a play. If that's what you already do, I'm not sure what else to suggest, which is making me worry that I don't have enough to say to justify a post. I'm not sure!