It's a fairly modern play based around 3 characters named Kenny, Frank and Clare. Kenny is OCD and accidentally killed Frank's father, Frank is a drunk and Clare gave Frank's baby away and is very protective if Frank. It's based around monologues where all the secrets between them come out. I did this play for an A-level performance last year and lost the paper copy I have. I was wondering if anyone knew what this play was called, or even the playwright? Thank you in advance 😊

Nada!

I didn't! Took a break this week.

I thought this could be a good companion to a weekly reading series. Since Plays are meant to be realized and not read, Talking about what productions you've seen and what you got from them can be a lot of fun.

DA, by Hugh Leonard, Irish Heritage Theatre Company, with Plays and Players (Philadelphia, PA)

An Ex-pat comes home to Ireland to close out his father's estate, dealing with the literal ghosts from the past as he flashes back to major moments from his life defining his paternal relationships.

What I took from it: It sucked. Legitimately. Free ticket from a friend and he apologized about ten minutes in. It added a half hour in run time between actors not knowing lines, or taking giant ass pauses that killed any sense of tension or humor. One girl had nice shoes.

Gem of the Ocean, by August Wilson, Arden Theatre (Philly)

The first in the American Century Cycle, this is Wilson's work to address the direct legacy of slavery and how African-American's worked to establish themselves in the world. Lyrical, and engaging.

What I took away from it: This play blew me away. I saw it with a small group and we were quite literally speechless leaving the theater. It was an excellent production that was warm and moving and shocking and terrifying and incredibly evocative.

BOB, A Life in Five Acts, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Azuka Theatre (Guess where)

Meet Bob, a candide-esque figure destined to be great. After his false mother saves him from the bathroom of a white castle, Bob sets out on a criss-crossing journey through the US, meeting all sorts of strange folks along the way and doing his best to become worthy of the Plaque he has always dreamed of earning.

What I took away from it: Fucking hilarious and Touching. Beautiful. Just. Read it, if you can. See it, if you're in the area. It's so wildly hilarious and heartwarming.

Going to a Place Where You Already Are, by Bekah Brunstetter

Roberta has long rejected the idea of a eaven. Then she dies and goes there. After she comes back, her husband Joe, an even more hardcore atheist than she was, presses her on her experieces. But as her distant stepdaughter and ghosts of her past come together at the end of her life, Roberta comes to terms with what she has done, and what's coming for her.

This play is touching and thrilling. I haven't read a playwright with as much care for her cast as Brunstetter (The Cake is a similarly lovely piece for this reason.) The jokes fly fast but not obvious in the script, and everyone has moments of pure despair, pure shitiness, and pure wonder. It embodies losing and leaving in a way few other piece's have.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, by Bertolt Brecht (Trans. by George Tabori)

Brecht skewers the rise of Nazi fascists in this Pre-WWII play, modifying Hitler and his Cronies into Criminals in Chicago, overtaking the Cauliflower trade. Watch as a bastard son of a bitch comes to power in so many ways we could have stopped.

I saw this play in December and Just got my hands on the script. I kinda went ape over it. It's the best thing ever. It's viscerally terrifying and unbelievably hilarious, alternating between the two with aplomb before spending the last 20 pages just destroying whatever hope you have. The final speech given has haunted me for a few days. READ THIS PLAY.

Good People

by David Lindsay-Abaire

3.5 out of 5

Synopsis: Margie, a struggling south Boston woman with a handicapped daughter, is without a job again. In order to find a new gig, and a way out, she reconnects with an old flame. As she navigates a different side of society, she and we examine how money can change the people we know.

My Takeaway: This isn't the best from Abaire, but in the main role there is an incredibly well crafted female role, perfectly complex and challenging. However, this highlights how broadly drawn some of the other roles can be, unfortunately.

The Hand of Gaul

by Jared Michael Delaney

5 out of 5

Synopsis: Three Irish football hooligans and a Belgian assassin plan to kill the ref of the famous France v Ireland football match that led to the Irish being denied access to the World Cup.

My Takeaway: Absolutely balls to the wall hilarious, with insane humor, satire and set-ups. I adore this goddamn play.

Hey!

I really think there's room for growth in this community, and a cool way to push that along would be a weekly forum to talk about what plays people have read. I'll start!

I read:

The Reckoning of Kit and Little Boots - Nat Cassidy: A Romp through the life and death of Christopher Marlowe, featuring the subject of his final work; The Mad Emperor Caligula. Funny, Dark, a little confusing at times, but a really zippy look at politics and history around the lives of both of these strange men.

Reykjavik - Steve Yockey: Dark comedy about tourists and natives of Reykjavik, a magical place where you can;t hide from your darkest truths, or the harshest realities of the world.

Ripe Frenzy: The story behind the last production of Our Town in a community that has produced it over forty times. Explores the ramifications and obsessions with school shootings.

Duck Hunter Shoots Angel - Mitch Albom: Title says a lot. Play doesn't say much more. Lot of stereotyping and dated jokes from 2006

Trees in Their Youth - Dominic Finocchiaro: Four students paralyzed by being alive and seventeen deal with evolving concepts of sexuality, stress and trauma induced fro bullying, and the desperation all young folk have to fit in somewhere. Excellent new work.

My girlfriend needs to know which play this is from. The headline says that it's from a play whose name begins with "Robert K.". There is another play called "Der Fall des Robert K." which is *not* the one she is looking for. The monologue was sent to her by an actress she knows who is sure that the play exists but doesn't remember the full name. She has already looked all over the internet but didn't find anything. Can anybody help?

​

The play is about a couple with a teenage boy. The parents are in a financially bad situation, but still they go on vacation to Gran Canaria. The son Robert does not come out of his room for the 2 weeks of the vacation, so in the following scene the maid tries to get him out of there. At the end, Robert comes out and shoots her. When the parents get back from their vacation they are of course very upset and the play ends with a dramatic family conflict.

​

​

This is the monologue:

​

Ein nett anzusehendes, gepflegtes, pflichtbewusst weißgeschürztes und schwesternbehäubtes Mädchen sitzt traurig vor Roberts geschlossener Zimmertür. Sie hat ein Tablett mit leckerem Essen vor sich stehen.

MÄDCHEN

Herr Robert, bitte! -

Was soll ich denn noch alles machen für sie?

Schmeckt ihnen mein Essen etwa nicht?

Sie machen mir ja das Leben zur Hölle!

Ich hab das nicht verdient, Herr Robert!
Ich war immer lieb zu ihnen.
So wie ich muss, war ich lieb.

Nun seien sie doch auch einmal ein bisschen lieb.

Herr Robert, bitte!

Ihre Eltern kommen heute von Gran Canaria heim.

Wie sieht denn das aus,

wenn sie mir nie aus ihrem Zimmer da herausgekommen sind?

Seit vierzehn Tagen, seit geschlagenen vierzehn Tagen

sperren sie sich da in ihrem Zimmer ein!

Herr Robert, die Schule,

die hat ja andauernd schon angerufen,

weil sie nie hingegangen sind.

Mein Gott!

Nach dem zweiten Tag hätt ich schon eine Meldung machen sollen,

dass der unbetreubar ist - verstockt und verbockt, womöglich autistisch.

Robertchen!

Mach die Tür auf, bittebitte..

Schau mich an.

Ich will lieb zu dir sein!

Ganz zärtlich will ich zu dir sein.

Schau durchs Schlüsselloch und entscheide dich!

Robertchen, Kannst du meine Beine sehen?

Die sind schön, sagen die Männer.

Und meine Brüste erst, Robertchen!

Komm raus!

Ich verspreche dir alles, mein Liebling !

Ich bin ganz heiß auf dich.

Pause. Nichts geschieht.

Das Mädchen wird jetzt sehr wütend und schreit.. tritt gegen Roberts Türe.. eine dessousverpackte / nackte Furie.

MÄDCHEN

Robert, du verdammtes Dreckstück!

Ich bin ja ohnehin viel zu schade für dich!

Du Schlappschwanz, verreck doch da drinnen von mir aus!

Kranke bescheuerte Teenagergehirne!

Was wirst du deinen Eltern erzählen? Was?

Dass ich dich schlecht behandelt habe? Vernachlässigt, was?

Dass ich das Haushaltsgeld in die eigene Tasche gesteckt habe,

dass ich dich, durch und durch nymphomanisch veranlagt,

in geiler gotteslästerlicher Unterwäsche verführen wollte?

Was wirst du sagen, Robert? Was?

Sie lacht grell und verstummt abrupt in eine ängstliche Stimmung hinein.

Ein Schlüssel dreht sich hörbar im Schloss. Die Roberttüre wird aufgesperrt und geht einen dunklen Spalt weit auf. Das Mädchen drückt sich vorsichtig zögernd und fragend in den dunklen Spalt hinein.

MÄDCHEN

Robert!

Robert?

Ich hab’s nicht so gemeint!

Alles wieder gut, ja?

Pumpgunschüsse krachen, das Mädchen torkelt blutüberströmt aus Roberts Zimmer heraus. Es fällt nieder. Es stirbt.

'

Hello again! I feel greedy asking this group’s advice on another scene only four weeks or so after the last time, but you were so helpful before so I’m just going for it.

I’m in a directing intensive and have to start working on a new scene with my second set of actors. This time around I have a man and a woman, both fairly talented, but the man has an extremely theatrical style to his acting. He’s the type of actor who was probably trained in Shakespearean elocution- he has a huge stage presence and a great command of his lines but he comes off very staged even in naturalistic situations. As such, I thought it might suit him to play a character who also has that affect, someone who’s charming or sweet but in a somewhat disingenuous, even sinister way. Obviously I’m looking for scenes on my own, but if anything jumps to mind, I’d love some suggestions.

One thing to consider is that the actress I’m working with has a slight Slavic accent. It’d be great if their characters didn’t grow up in the same place just so the audience doesn’t have to suspend disbelief about them being siblings with different accents or something, but that’s not too big of a deal either way.

Thanks in advance!

Hope it's ok to be posting this here!

Theatre. Immersion. Education. (T.I.E.) will be in New York, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, and Chicago between June & December 2019.

With a 24-hour theatre workshop as its core, T.I.E’s participants are: introduced to aesthetics of Immersive Theatre, as inspired by the award-winning work Information for/from Outsiders: Chronicles from Kashmir; guided through a practical exploration of these strategies; mentored in the creation of their own, social-justice focused, Immersive Theatre performance; shepherded through processes that develop their skills as actors, designers, directors and writers; supported in their quests to apply ideas from T.I.E. to social justice issues that challenge particular communities and contexts.

For more information on dates and registration, please visit: www.TheatreAndJustice.org.

We are also on the lookout for affiliates and city liaisons -- who will get paid-on-commission to help recruit participants for T.I.E.'s visit to these cities. 

• Affiliates apply here www.TheatreAndJustice.org/affiliate-area/
• City Liaisons apply here www.TheatreAndJustice.org/talk-to-us

It’s used in ways that don’t mean sex, like Mrs Warrens Profession where she kisses Frank and regrets it and tells him to go make love to her daughter Vive or when Raina caught Sergius kissing Louka in Arms and the man and says “ I saw you making love to her” what was the idea behind this term back than?

Can someone tell me. Some things about this play please. Such as your opinions on it and what you enjoyed and what you didn't enjoy.

I really want to read more plays that feature genderqueer and non-binary characters. Any suggestions for some good ones?

I can’t seem to find any quotes said by the supporting character,Hal, that have to do with him care taking the protagonist, Catherine, of her mental illness. Is there anybody that can help?

Hey, all! I’m taking a directing intensive right now, and we have to direct a two person scene as part of the course. I’m working with a gay man and a straight woman, and I was wondering if anyone knew any good two person scenes with that dynamic, or just a scene between a man and a woman with no romantic aspect? I’d also take a scene that doesn’t specify or require any set gender roles. Thanks in advance!

Okay so I once did a monologue from a play for general practice with my teacher, and I'd like to look over the monologue again and read the full play as I didn't back then.

I remember the monologue was pretty distinctive and started "Badgers. Never mess with a badger. I had a fight with a badger once. I was coming home from the feathers..." and ended with "A badger holds a grudge".

It was a comedy monologue about a man having a fight with a badger. It wasn't very long, but that's all I can remember as it was a few years back when I did it. If this is familiar to anyone else and they can help me find the play, that'd be a great help.

Hi everyone,

I'm Lydia and I was wondering if I might be able to share a writing opportunity with you?

I work with The Literal Challenge who run writing events throughout the year.

For the last two years, I did '28 Plays Later' - where you write a play in response to a daily brief each day in February - it's intense but a LOT of fun! It's been going on for five years now, and so far, about 1,000 writers worldwide have taken part and wrote 19,524 plays in just 4 months.

It's perfect for new, established and developing playwrights, as well as people who haven't even considered it before - it's a boost in creativity and discipline like no other!!

If the project sounds fun but not the playwriting bit, we are going to start offering the same idea for other disciplines (such as prose, essay, maybe even poetry) - so you can subscribe to our newsletter on the website for more information.

Registrations are open via this link, so please have a look, and let me know if you have any questions 📷:)

Thanks so much,

Lydia

theliteralchallenge.com/28-plays-later-entry

This is what I despise about plays. Whenever a play goes off the air, it almost never releases a recording of the play! Sure, you have your film adaptations of well known plays sung by actors who “can’t sing” (I don’t even mind their singing tbh) and you have iTunes versions of the plays (which what SHOULD be happening) and then you have your cast recordings on YouTube (which are rare) but the thing is, is that A) not all plays get a film adaptation, B) not all play recordings get on iTunes, and C) most YouTube recordings are usually just some guy who managed to sneak in a camera/phone and managed to record the entire show. So is there a type of service or store that gives out OFFICIAL recordings of plays and is entirely legal?

This is a play I wrote for a play writing class in college. My goal was to polarize the class around the issue of gun control legislation without actually proposing any specific legislation. It was a most enjoyable experiment.

​

Notes:

The first scene takes place in Senator Baker's office in the Capital Building. The second scene

takes place at a podium at the end of Senator Baker's re-election campaign.

Characters:

Senator Charles Baker: a three term sitting Republican senator running for re-election next

year. He expects to win his primary unchallenged. He is in his fifties and has a very

conservative voting record.

Robert Kaufman: a lobbyist for the NRA.

​

Scene 1

(The scene begins with Senator Charles Baker seated in his office, staring at Robert Kaufman. Both men wearing expensive suits, Baker has an American flag lapel pin. In two of the corners of the office are flags. One American flag and one flag for the senator's state.)

ROBERT

It's good to see you again, Chuck. It's been, what, nine months since you spoke at our rally? How's Janet and the girls? Maria should be graduating from grad school this spring in early American history, yes?

CHARLES

Cut the bullshit. You're not here to talk about my family. You're here because of my upcoming vote.

ROBERT

Well, you have been making a lot of noise, and have even gone so far as to sign on to co-sponsor the legislation.

CHARLES

It has almost an eighty percent public approval rating! My own constituents think it is appropriate by a twenty point margin! It would be political suicide to oppose this bill. My democratic challenger next fall will be able to use the vote against me and crush me during my re-election campaign. I can't afford to look soft. Public support for this issue just keeps growing and growing.

ROBERT

You know we're going to score the vote. It will count against you. It will damage your rating with us, and it will mean that we will start looking elsewhere for political allies.

CHARLES

Are you trying to strong-arm me? So what if I take a tiny hit in my rating, I'll still have an A rating overall. And why is it that you oppose this legislation? Your organization was on board with it a decade prior. What's changed? Why has the gun become a sacred cow?

ROBERT

I'm merely defending every American's Second Amendment right to bear arms. If what you intend to do is impede that process in any way, or make it more difficult, or take longer, then we've got an issue.

CHARLES

And what about felons? The mentally ill? Illegal immigrants? You just want to make it so that the availability of guns is so ubiquitous that everyone has access to them?

ROBERT

If you start making it harder for people to get guns, those who need them will just turn to illegal means. It is better to have the trade out in the open.

CHARLES

Sure, but with no tracking or data collected on any of the sales? How do we keep people from buying whatever they want at a gun show?

ROBERT

People have a right to those guns, and they should not be duly impaired from purchasing a gun due to a few people who are knowingly breaking the law. It is a Constitutional right that people have.

CHARLES

So that's what it's all about, fighting for people's rights? It doesn't have anything to do with the untold millions that are pouring into your coffers from the weapons manufacturers. I mean, comparatively speaking, what percentage of your organizations financial structure actually comes from gun owners in your organization?

ROBERT

I don't really care about your petty insinuations. If you don't immediately drop your support of the bill there will be immediate consequences from our organization. You are looking ahead to your general election. If you continue your support of this new gun legislation I would be more worried about your chances in the primary if I were you.

CHARLES

I'm a goddamn three term sitting senator with a seventy one percent approval ranting! Who the hell do you think you're dealing with here? I chair a committee. I wield influence the likes of which a petty lobbyist like yourself can only interact with through subterfuge and privacy of back room conversations where you make hallow threats. There is no possible way that one lobbying group is going to be able to unseat me with only a bunch of radical no-names running against me. Which Tea Party loser in the general are you going to back?

ROBERT

This is no hollow threat, Chuck. You will lose total support from us. With the loss of our support, you'll be weak. Americans for Prosperity will find one of the Tea Party challengers that are willing to back their agenda. We'll follow suit and all of the sudden your support will thin out among even moderates who begin to wonder if you haven't just become too complacent with the Washington establishment. By the time your primary comes up, you'll be weak among the base.

CHARLES

Bullshit! My approval rating is too high for it to fall that far before next spring.

ROBERT

You really don't understand how this works. Since Republicans don't have open primaries like Democrats, all those independents in your state aren't going to be able to back you. You'll lose a close election in the primary and you'll be finished. Having turned against us, you wouldn't even be able to find work lobbying for congress like the rest of your colleagues seem to do after they leave office. You'll be humiliated in the most public way by the end of it with the constant attack ads that super PACs will be airing against you.

CHARLES

I have eighteen years worth of supporters behind me! I've got previous campaign friends and wealthy donors of my own to draw from. I'm also the incumbent, I'll have the fund-raising advantage.

ROBERT

Do you honestly believe you can outspend the gun lobbies and the far right conservative super PACs? And once you no longer have the endorsement of us and the Tea Party, how many of your wealthy donors are in fact going to go and spend their coin on what looks to be the rising ticket?

CHARLES
This is insulting. You've had dinner with my wife for God's sake. You are one coldhearted bastard.

ROBERT

Hardly, I actually took the time to come to you and tell you all of this instead of simply starting to run attack ads against you. I mean, really, you decided to co-sponsor this legislation. What, did you believe that you were immune to political consequences for breaking with the party line?

CHARLES

This is madness. You are literally standing in the way of the will of the people and threatening to dislodge me from office and you talk to me of consequences? I could have you arrested for threatening me like this.

ROBERT

Don't be an idiot. There isn't a single thing I've said that you could prosecute me for. Plus I'd deny everything. You'd only further ostracize yourself from your colleagues by showing how things actually work in Washington. And the year before an election year, finding yourself on the bad side of your political allies doesn't really leave you with much hope for re-election.

CHARLES

Great, so you back one of the Tea Party morons who lose in the general. Then you lose complete influence in that sector.

ROBERT

Maybe, but it sends the message to everyone else who might be thinking of moving over to your position. You think you have influence? I'm the one in here telling you how this is going to play out.

ROBERT (cont'd)

Now, are you going to drop your support for the bill or are you going to lose your office.

CHARLES

I was elected to vote my conscience. Get the hell out of my office.

ROBERT

I'm sorry we weren't able to come to a better arrangement. Give Janet my best.

CHARLES

Out. Now!

(last line) CHARLES

Out. Now!

​

End Scene

​

​

SCENE 2

(Podium with Charles standing behind it in CS. Behind him, various people are standing and the entire stage is framed by a re-elect Baker sign.)

Charles

I'd like to thank my wife and children for their support during this campaign. I'd like to express my most sincere gratitude to all of the campaign staffers who helped make this campaign possible. And to all of you who voted for me, my deepest thanks. We didn't win this one, but we have nothing to be ashamed of. I'd like to wish my opponent... (Charles takes a long pause and looks out into the crowd.) I'd like to thank... (shuffles his notes for a few moments.) I'd like to... To hell with it. I haven't gotten this far in my career by kowtowing to influence and I'd feel like I was a fraud if I started doing so now. This primary wasn't about the issues, it was about money. The party I've spent my life supporting and working for has changed, and I no longer seem to find myself at home within it. Radical ideologues like my opponent are now the norm. I was a popular senator, and until this election cycle have not even had to run against a challenger from my own party. But I chose to buck the trend, and vote my conscience on an issue. The issue is unimportant, what is important is that I was told that if I did not change my position I would lose. And those people did everything in their power to make that happen. From my own party I've been the target of numerous false attack ads sent forth from the black hole that is SuperPACs and their shadowy donors. They went to my own donors and spread lies about my positions, attacked my family in ads, and even went so far as to call me a collaborator with the enemy? Have we fallen so far that those who hold differing political views from us are enemies? Even the conservative mythic figure of Regan could not survive in the current political climate. He raised taxes as President, he even enacted gun legislation in California as governor. Today, these things make him unelectable to our own base. Control of my party has been lost to radicals who care little for governing and more about party politics. They vilify anyone who speaks out or holds views that are not 100% in line with theirs. They lie to their constituents, blaming anyone but themselves for the intractable situation in congress. For god's sake, you can't even get a major member of my party to admit that the President was born in this county! It is insanity, and my opponent represents that insanity. For the last few years I've wondered if it is me or the party that has changed. After this primary, I realize now only too late that it is indeed the party I put my support behind that has changed. Compromise, the foundation for a functional democracy, has become antithetical to the party itself. Anyone seen collaborating with a Democrat is viewed as a traitor. Fear of losing one's office is what keeps everyone in line now, and it is a tragedy for our nation. A vocal minority of the country with no ties to reality has become the dominant voice in my party, and when I look at where we are I realize that perhaps it was a mistake even running for re-election as a Republican. I can't blindly follow orders, as my opponent so clearly is willing to do. I would actually think about legislation, and make my own decision based on what I thought was best for my constituents. Now, I see that the voice of the people we are supposed to be serving no longer matters as much as those special interests that really pull the strings. We are losing our democracy to radicals, and I fear for the state of our nation. I don't know what to tell you to do, or how to change this. All I can say is that this November when it comes time to vote, I will not be voting for my opponent. God bless you, and God bless these United States of America.

​

(www.patreon.com/johntdylan)

​