From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #160 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Wednesday, September 27 2000 Volume 01 : Number 160 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 15:24:54 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) 90s plays Andrew Hall wrote: > Maybe think of it as your opportunity to create a year program of > plays at a new Mormon repertory theater. Which is exactly what I'm planning to do. Do you have rights information on these plays? Thom Duncan - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 15:37:44 -0700 From: "Christopher Bigelow" Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) 90s plays The play that was the most intense and eye-opening for me in the 1990s was = Eric Samuelsen's _Accomodations_, which I saw at BYU in '92 or '93 and was = blown away by. Not only was the story gripping, realistic, and provocative,= but the performances were very convincing and moving to me, especially = the AML's own Scott Bronson as a conniving son. This play was my _Backslide= r_ of drama, opening up a new awareness of what could be done with drama = on Mormon themes, and I remember fantasizing that I wrote it. My second favorite is Brady, Josh. "Joyce Baking". This was very funny = but with a serious undertone that made it all the more powerful. I also = saw his "Great Gardens!" in a less-formal setting at BYU and thought it = was pretty good, but not in my top tier. I saw Kushner, Tony. _Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National = Themes. Part 1: Millennium Approaches; Part 2: Perestroika._ It's hard = to vote on these as Mormon plays, even though Mormonism does play a big = role. I saw it in SLC, where the laughter at the Mormon parts sounded = quite viscious, and my wife walked out when one character ripped off real = Mormon garments during a homosexual seduction. But the plays are quite = dense and fascinating and provoking, and I'm interested in Tony Kushner's = impulses for using Mormon characters and themes so prominently. He has = responded to contact from the AML's Irreantum magazine and may let us run = some of his future writing. I own the book of LaBute, Neil. _Bash : Latterday Plays_ and will read it = soon. I saw the movie of "In the Company of Men" and didn't think it was = quite as "bad" as all the hype, though certainly disturbing. I almost = thought the Aaron Eckhardt character was over the top and not very = believable. I read Samuelsen, Eric, "Gadiation" but missed the production. I didn't = find this one as moving and convincing as _Accomodations_, and the = particulars don't stick with me much, probably because I didn't get the = powerful performances to drive it home in my head. I remember reading Samuelsen's "Without Romance" but can't recall details = beyond that it concerned missionaries and that I liked it better than = _Gadianton_? It is the one about missionaries in Scandinavia and a former = porn star, right? What about Samuelsen's one-act "Bar and Kell" and "Love in the Time of = Electrons"? Maybe those will be on the 2000 list? I read "Bar and Kell" = and found it pretty compelling, and I enjoyed parts of "Electrons" but = found some of the performances obnoxious and the play a bit longish. I saw Slover, Tim. "Joyful Noise". This one deserves to be a national = perennial. It's not a Mormon play, but it's by a Mormon. I haven't seen Payne, Marvin. "Wedlocked" with Steven Kapp Perry, but it = would be a priority if I'm able in the future. Chris Bigelow - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 21:56:31 GMT From: "Dallas Robbins" Subject: [AML] Roger WATERS, _Amused to Death_ (album) (was: Moral Issues in Art) Todd, Your mention of Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death," reminded me of the Roger Waters album "Amused to Death", based on that book. I highly recommend the album for those who have not heard it before. Definately in my top five for past 10 years. Water's album is truly great satire, played out in all moral seriousness, without pulling any punches. News, media, wars, tv, money, politics, kitcsh, and celebrities become our social religion/idolatry, in which the entertaiment value is a pretended source of spiritual feeling. But this barage of cultural effluvia leaves us only lacking, and we slowly amuse ourselves to death. Sounds pessimistic, I know, but important issues to deal with. I think it ties well into the scripture that says in the last days the hearts of many will wax cold. I too fear we are far into a Brave New World where the inner person is no longer recognized, let alone valued: it is waxing cold. Emotions and intelligence are rapidly becoming only skin deep. Has anyone else listened to this album? I would be interested to know what others thought. Dallas Robbins editor@harvestmagazine.com http://www.harvestmagazine.com >From: "Todd Robert Petersen" > >Neil Postman has written a fantastic book on the subject of the perils of >excessive entertainment. It is called AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH. In it he >makes the argument that there are two ways contemporary culture will come >undone. One, the Orwellian (1984) way, in which the State crushes freedom. >Two, the Huxlean way (Brave New World), in which we "amuse ourselves to >death." _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 18:13:28 -0600 From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) 90s plays > NON-MUSICALS > "The Prophet". Ricks, 1996. Several contrasting views of Joseph > Smith. I've read this play and quite enjoyed it. I would love to see a production of it. And I can't understand at all the reviling it is reported to have received at Rick's College. > "Confessions", Wasatch Review International, 1994. > "Altars". Sunstone, Sept. 1997. Abraham and Isaac. One act. Yes, I wrote them. And I still really like them. I am still aching to see productions of them. > Pearson, Carol Lynn. "Mother Wove the Morning". 1990. A one woman > play. Saw it performed at BYU by Carol Lynn. I vote this one my least favorite play. I thought the script was torturously repetitive and the performance over wrought. When Carol Lynn started the second act with, "I don't want you to get the idea that I'm male-bashing; I'm not at all." my wife leaned over and whispered to me, "Who is she trying to kid?" My thoughts exactly, but the environment was hostile enough to make me understand that *I* could not say that. > Samuelsen, Eric. "Accommodations". A family deals with grandpa's > decline. BYU, 1993. Sunstone, June 1994. 1994 AML Drama prize. I was in this play. I have a soft spot for it. Eric is a calm and easy going playwright to work for. I strive for those qualities. > "The Way We're Wired". 1999, BYU. Singles in the church. 1999 AML > prize for drama. Saw it. Loved it. Favorite comedy of the 90s. > "Joyful Noise". 1996. Handel's composing The Messiah. AML prize. > Performed in San Diego and New York by the Lamb's Players. Saw both BYU productions. I love this play. Favorite drama of the 90s. > Young, Margaret Blair. "Dear Stone". BYU PDA, 1997. BYU Studies > Playwriting Contest winner. AML-list. I read this play. I think it would require very little rewriting to make it astonishing. I want to be in this play. Badly. > MUSICALS > Arrington, James, Steven Kapp Perry and Marvin Payne. "The Trail of > Dreams". UVSC, many other places. 1997. My wife and I were both in the latest production of this in '98 at the SCERA II in Orem, UT. It is the most worshipful thing I have ever done. I think it has a brilliant script and score. It deserves an audience of millions and millions, not just mere hundreds. Favorite musical. > Card, Orson Scott, Kevin and Khaliel Kelly, and Arlen Card (music). > "Barefoot to Zion". PVP, 1997. Saw it. Disappointing script. Good music. But I'm too close to it. I know the trevails of its gestation and birth. It's actually better than it should be considering how long the writers had to get the thing out. > Duncan, Thom. "Prophet", 1999, SCERA. Music by Mark Steven Gelter. > Update of "Let There Be Love," a version done at BYU in 1973. Saw it. My wife was in it. There are many good things about this show (like my wife) ... and many things that could be better. > Noorda, Tye. "Experience". SCERA, 1999. Plane crash victims talk > about life choices. Saw it. My wife was in it. I had a cameo as her husband. Dreadful play. > "Wedlocked" with Steven Kapp Perry. BYU Entr'Acte series, then at a > few other places. 1999. Read it. Saw it. Liked it. J. Scott Bronson--The Scotted Line "World peace begins in my home" - -------------------------------------------------------- We are not the acolytes of an abstruse god. We are here to entertain--Keith Lockhart - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 22:30:44 EDT From: Pup7777@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Introductions: Tom Kimball In a message dated 00-09-22 13:33:20 EDT, you write: << Currently looking for people that have manuscripts with Mormon content that want to be published. Specifically Histories, Biographies, Bibliographies and serious Fiction. Would love to do a Biblio-Mystery about Mormons. If anyone knows anyone working on the above categories have them contact me by Email or call >> Tom, I haven't heard of your publishing company before. Are you new? What have you published? I'd also be interested in hearing about your goals as a publisher and what type of stuff you thinks represents what you're about. It seems from your background you have a lot of experience in the Mormon market. You probably know what sells and what doesn't. From your request for Biblio-Mystery, you must think that would do well. I heard mysteries sell really well in the Mormon market. Do you think that is true? I love to hear what you have to say. [MOD: By all means, include responses to the entire List.] Lisa J. Peck - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 22:51:18 EDT From: Pup7777@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Defending the Romance Genre In a message dated 00-09-18 11:38:11 EDT, you write: << do any of Modleski's psychoanalytic interpretations apply to LDS-women readers? Gae Lyn Henderson >> Gae, Thank you for the summarizes. Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your post. I've been behind. Now to the group, I would love to see some great brain relate the romance genre on the whole to the Mormon romances. I think it would be interesting to see where we are different and where we are not. I'm not familiar enough with the Mormon romance or the other romances to do it nor do I have the time right now. I do think it would make a great paper and I know their are some people knowledgeable on the list that they could do a fine job. Lisa J. Peck - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 23:14:25 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] MN LDS Church's Position Sought Over High SchoolProductionof "Godspell": Deseret News "Eric R. Samuelsen" wrote: > Fact is, we haven't ever done Godspell, but we have considered, on several occasions. I fully anticipate that we would do it some time. But the timing just hasn't been right; there's always been one other show that seemed a little more important at the time. I can see how someone who takes a superficial look at _Godspell_ can think it's sacrilegious. A bunch of clowns play Christ and his disciples, and the one who plays Christ has a big Superman S on his chest. Surely these elements indicate it's a mockery of Christ. But it ain't. I saw it with some friends years ago while at BYU, when it was performed by the outdoor Castle Theater in Provo. A very powerful performance. It struck me as an innocent, childlike interpretation of the Gospel according to Matthew. In fact, if I were directing it, that's how I would play it--not as clowns acting out Matthew, but as a bunch of LDS kids in the ward nursery acting out their interpretation of all these Gospel stories they've heard. And I'd keep the big Superman S on the chest of the kid who plays Christ. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 19:02:14 -0500 From: Linda Adams Subject: [AML] It's a GIRL!! Hi All, We apologize for the delay in this announcement. Life has been hectic, as you can imagine, since the birth of our daughter on September 15th! (Steve also complains he can't figure out my Eudora address book [this from one who claims he can program?] and therefore couldn't send this message himself.) Rebekah Cicely Adams was born Friday, Sept. 15th, at 11:46 p.m. --she almost had a different birthday! --after a fairly easy labor and delivery. She weighed 7 lbs. 8.5 oz and was 20" long. She's very beautiful and we are all very excited to have her join our family. She's a very easy baby--hands down the easiest of the five! We feel very blessed. I don't have any pictures online yet. Hopefully I'll get around to borrowing a scanner soon (or mailing photos to my dad, who would scan them, right Dad? ;-) ), and then you can all go see her. Linda, Steve, Rachel, Michael, Sarah, Jacob, AND Rebekah Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 08:21:42 -0500 From: "Todd Robert Petersen" Subject: Re: [AML] Moral Issues in Art Though Harlow is convincing, I do not hold advertizing to be an art, which is why I threw my advertizing portfolio into a dumpster behind my apartment building in Seattle and began to rethink my life. I still think that to call art didactic comes, not from anything in the nature of the art itself, but from the viewer/reader. Some things I might think of as didactic, maybe aren't to others. Much of this has to do with my education and training and the way those things have had an effect upon my tastes. Kant thought tastes were innate parts of our psychological make up and Pierre Bourdieu countered that with some interesting work in the 60s which indicates that taste has much of its basis in education and class. Some people actually enjoy the didactic. It's hard for me to imagine why, but they do, and these people often share the didactic literature that they love from the pulpit in the form of the sub-genre of didactic LDS literature called, "poems-received-on-one's-mission." Nothing makes me feel more like an elitist [insert expletive noun of your choice] than those times when those kinds of poems are being read. My fiancee is kind, for she hates them too, knowing that she does not hate them worse than I do, that perhaps I hate them more than anyone else in the ward; she tells me to be calm. She understands my grouchiness becuase she is a sculptor who goes to homemaking (or whatever it is now called) and "suffers" through the arts and crafts projects for the sake of community. When the capable have to tolerate the less capable, a powerful lesson can be learned. Harlow wrote: > The difference between advertising and the Pieta and Dada and "The > Wasteland" and punk rock, which Todd gives as examples of didactic art is > not simply a matter of degree. Of course all art teaches, but it doesn't > follow that a work of art whose primary purpose is to make sure we get > the message differs only in degree from a work of art that treats the > audience as an equal who can choose to take the message or not. I'm not sure that art is ever indifferent to its own results. Artists are forever bellowing about the vacuousness of their audiences. I think that's reprehensible behavior, but I understand it. Flannery O'Connor once said that when the audience is deaf, you have to yell. - -- Todd Robert Petersen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 10:54:18 MDT From: "Jim Cobabe" Subject: [AML] conservative hatred MBA: - --- Mormons are a (generally conservative) part of American society, which (as demonstrated by the Matthew Shepard beating death) is afflicted with hatred of homosexuals. Labute is not criticizing Mormons, just using people who happen to be Mormon to criticize the greater culture. - --- Who is Matthew Shepard? Who beat him? How were the beaters associated with "a generally conservative part of American society"? In what way does this implicate "the greater culture"? - --- Jim Cobabe _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 11:14:06 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) 90s plays I haven't seen all of these, but I have seen many of them. I don't know = that I have favorites, but I could give a little thumbnail response to = each. I hope you'll forgive me, here, because this gets very personal for = me. >Arrington, James. "Wilford Woodruff: God's Fisherman" (with Tim = >Slover).=20 This is a one man play, and for those who like one man plays, it's superb. = I like it a lot, but prefer James' Farley pieces. I also think that = Marvin Payne's Planemaker is the finest of all one man pieces. =20 >"The Prophet". Ricks, 1996. Several contrasting views of >Joseph Smith. A much underappreciated masterpiece. This play absolutely deserves more = of a hearing. It takes literally and seriously Joseph Smith's "No man = knows my history," comment, and in a Rashomon-like fashion, shows us = several facets of Joseph. I love this play, and I really think it needs = further production. >"Tumuaki! Matthew Cowley Speaks". Hawaii, 1997. BYU 1998. See above. An excellent one-man play, by the master of the form. =20 >Bell, James. "Prisoner". BYU, 1994. National award for best new = >student=20 >play. About a Vietnam POW. Of all the plays we've done at BYU, this is perhaps our biggest success, = winning a major national award, getting a production at the Kennedy = Center, not bad for a student written piece. I'm still a little uncomforta= ble with it, even though I directed the WDA reading. Ivan Crosland gave = this play a terrific production, and it deserved to be successful. But = the portrayal of the Vietnamese characters was pretty cliched, in my = opinion, and the play is a bit clunky. Ultimately I think the play = succeeded because of a) a great production and b) great source material. = =20 >Blackwell, Adam. "Blind Dates". BYU, 1995. About date rape. One of the most controversial plays we've ever done at BYU. The administra= tion was extremely uncomfortable with this play, and nearly cancelled the = production. I can't imagine why; I think it's a great play. Rape is = portrayed quite graphically on-stage, in a sickening scene. Who would = want rape portrayed any other way? A courageous and important play, and = one that should be revived. =20 >Boulter, Adam. "Prodigals". BYU, 1994. Free agency SF. Well, that about sums it up. It's actually about psychology and brainwashi= ng, that kind of sci-fi, not space travel. It's a pretty cool play, as = long as you don't think about it very closely, with lots of cool effects = and theatrical innovation--then the whole story stops making sense. The = production was very troubled--the director was sick, and the playwright = ended up directing a lot of it, to the detriment of the final project. = I'm not sure it's very revivable, but I liked it at the time. >Brady, Josh. "Joyce Baking". BYU, 1998. Well, I directed this play, and so I'm not in the least objective. I = think it's a terrific Mormon comedy about BYU dating relationships. A = comedy with a tragic ending. Josh is a very interesting writer, who's = really going to be something special when he grows up a little. (Not a = knock on Josh; I just think playwrights mature in their mid-thirties.) I = also thought I did a great job directing it, BTW. :} "Great Gardens!". BYU, 1998. Inscape, 1999. Dinner theater in 2000. Josh's second professional production, in a lot of ways I think Great = Gardens is funnier than Joyce Baking, and perhaps a bit richer. A family = deals with various crises while eating together in a Chuck-A-Rama type = buffet restuarant. The mother character is the biggest problem. She's = kind of a monster, and I didn't believe her when I first read the play, = nor in production. But this teenage son character, who keeps getting = blamed for things he had nothing to do with, was magnificent. >Bronson, Scott. "Quietus & Other Stories". BYU, 1996. Orson >Scott = Card=20 >stories. I saw this at BYU in '96, but had the worst case of the flu ever, and = hated everything about it, what I was awake for. In retrospect, I think = it's a fine adaptation of some intriguing stories, but at the time, I = mostly just wanted to die. =20 >"Confessions", Wasatch Review International, 1994. Scott Bronson just doesn't get produced enough. This is a searing, = truthful, powerful play, and one I've been fighting for us to do at BYU = for years. But no one wants to touch it, because the idea of a fine = upstanding active LDS man being guilty of incest is just too hard for some = people to get their heads around. Too bad. >"Alters". Sunstone, Sept. 1997. Abraham and Isaac. One act. I darn near got this one on the season this year. It's very simple and = direct and lovely. Deceptively simple; my colleagues don't like it as = much. Someday. >"Fata Morgana". A one-act play produced at BYU in association >with = the=20 >Mormon Arts Festival, 1998 Scott goes absurdist. I love absurdism, and have often wondered why we = haven't had more Mormon absurdist stuff, so when we had a chance to do = this at MAF, I jumped at it. =20 >Chandler, Neal. "Appeal to a Lower Court". Sunstone, Dec. >1990. The=20 >Heubener story from the POV of the Branch President. I wish we'd do this play together with Tom Rogers' Huebbener. I think = they're both interesting and important plays. =20 >Christiansen, Alisha. "Minerva Teichert". One woman play at the >BYU = Museum.=20 >1997. >"Little Women". BYU, 1996-97. Adaptation of the novel. The Minerva Teichert play was quite interesting, I thought. Alisha does a = wonderful job of dealing with adaptations. =20 Little Women is a very interesting piece. First of all, it's two plays, = which between them cover the entire novel. And the fact is, Alisha loves = the novel and wanted to do an adaptation that would be true to the story = of the original. And that's a bit problematic, I think, because of the = mother. Susan Sarandon was great in the Little Women movie, but that = movie wasn't particularly true to the book. But in the book, Marmee's = 'parenting through platitude' style gets very wearying very quickly. =20 When adapting a nineteenth century novel for a twentieth century audience, = you have to make certain decisions. One thing you can do is update the = material. Another choice is to leave the thing in the nineteenth century, = unapologetically, and figure the audience will forgive you when the whole = thing seems unbearably drippy. That was Alisha's choice, and it's a = legitimate one. Amazingly enough, though, the theatricality of the work = really worked brilliantly; you'd think she would have employed nineteenth = century dramaturgical conventions, but she didn't. Still ultimately, the = play succeeded or failed depending on how much you liked the novel. I = found the gender expectations teeth-grittingly hard to take. And = essentially wanted someone to shoot Marmee. (Even Jo was a little hard to = take). =20 Great Little Women story: we workshopped the second play in WDA, and at = the time of the staged reading, Alisha was pregnant. During the first = act, Alisha was having contractions. Bob Nelson and I saw her at the = intermission, and said that we thought her husband, Steve, needed to get = her to the hospital. Alisha was reluctant, though; said she could tough = it out, but Steve, bless his heart, overrode her objections, and off they = went. I finish the staged reading, go up to my office for a second, and = there's a phone message. She'd already given birth. While the second act = was playing, she'd gone to the hospital, and ten minutes after her = arrival, she was a mom. Says something about the length of Alisha's = labors. And something, too, about the length of that second act. >Duncan, Thom. "Survival of the Fittest." Sunstone Symposium, >Mormon = Arts=20 >Festival readings, 1997. This play won the MAF contest, and deservedly so. Thom wrote a very = interesting play about the firing of professors at BYU for teaching = evolution. I think the speechifying could be cut down a bit, but this is = a very produceable play. Probably not at BYU, though, for obvious = reasons; college administrations tend to look askance at plays that diss = the people the buildings are named after. >Hales Harding, Marianne. "Never Mind the Forecast". 1997, >Ohio U. =20 >Ohio/Missouri era saints. Never saw this one, but Marianne's a fine writer. <"Hold Me". One-act performed at the 1999 Mormon Arts >Festival, at = festivals=20 >in NYC in 2000. I did see this one, and like it very much. Unfortunately, Marianne's = director was kind of a bozo, and the production was a bit troubled. But = once we fired the original director, things went better. >Hanson, Elizabeth, "A High and Glorious Place". BYU, 1996. >One woman = play=20 >on Eliza R. Snow. A version of the play appeared on KBYU in >1997 as = "Eliza=20 >and I". Again, a terrific one-actor piece. I think the film is quite interesting; = an early Richard Dutcher effort. >"A String of Pearls". BYU, 1996. About a group of women >during WWII.. This is the kind of thing Liz writes; an intelligent close examination of = the lives of women sort of on the periphery of society; in this case, = women whose husbands are at war. Liz clearly loves her characters, and = over the course of the play, we come to love them too. Unfortunately, this production was very weak. The acting was fine, but = the director, for some bizarre reason, decided to allow a full costume = change between each of the play's many scenes. So it was stop and start, = stop and start all night long, with sometimes three or four minutes = between scenes, and the play never had a chance; you'd just start to = develop some momentum, and then this long, tedious wait. Budding = playwrights: take note. Avoid at all costs blackout scene changes. Cut = them cut them cut them. >Hawkins, Lisa. "Change the Night to Day". 1996. BYU. >Kidnapped = sister=20 >missionaries. Man, in WDA, we worked on this and worked on this, and we could never get = it right. It was always histrionic and it just never did work. Basic = problem, I finally came to realize, was that Lisa just plain didn't know = enough about police procedure. She just didn't do her homework. So a = play about kidnapped missionaries ended up making little or no sense--you = kept thinking, why don't the cops do such and such, obvious things that = they would do. Note to budding writers: do your homework. Research. = (And avoid blackout scene changes.) =20 >Howe, Susan. "A Dream for Katie". 1992 BYU Women's >Conference. Never saw it. I personally think Susan's Burdens of Earth, about Joseph = Smith, is far better--a wonderful play, which we're producing this next = March. >Jensen, Julie. "Two-Headed". SLAC, 1999. About the Mountain >Meadows=20 >Massacre and polygamy. Non-Mormon, from Beaver, UT. A superb play, which my wife and sister-in-law saw, but which I didn't get = to. Julie's not really a non-Mormon--she was raised in the Church, I = think. My wife thought it a bit Mormon-bashy, and she's usually pretty = open-minded. But it got great reviews, and like I said, I didn't see it, = to my regret. (I was killing myself with Love Affair With Electrons). >Kushner, Tony. _Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National >Themes. = Part=20 >1: Millennium Approaches; Part 2: Perestroika._ Theatre >Communications= =20 >Group, 1993, 1994. Pulitzer prize winners. Pulitzer, and an Olivier, and Critics Play Circle, and a couple of Tony's. = . . . I saw it in New York, and I've taught it a few times. What an amazing = play. We've talked about it on the List, and I'm not sure I've got much = to add, except to say that I've learned more about theatricality from = Kushner than from anyone else. I do think that his whole cosmology in the = second play is weak, and reveals the fact that he really doesn't know much = about Mormons. It's not a Mormon bashing play, but it is Mormon ignorant. >LaBute, Neil. _Bash : Latterday Plays_. Overlook, 1999. Off->Broadway = and=20 >London. Three one acts. One, "A Gaggle of Saints", appeared >as "Bash" = in=20 >Sunstone, December 1995. Also "Media Redux" and "Iphigenia >in Orem". We've talked about this at some length. I think he's a Mormon naturalist, = and I think he's brilliant. I admire the work enormously. And ultimately,= I think he needs more dimension. Big question, though, is what is he = going to do next. I think he's stopped writing, and I think it's because = he's run out of things to say. =20 >"In the Company of Men". BYU, 1992. 1993 AML Prize. Later a >successful= =20 >film, which he wrote and directed, in 1997. Screenplay published >in = 1997, by=20 >Faber & Faber. Don't forget his play Lepers, which became the film Your Friends and = Neighbors. As a film, ITCOM works superbly, and as a film, YFAN doesn't = work at all. Can I also say, re both this and American Beauty, how much I = detest masturbation scenes in films? >Larsen, Paul. "The Raid and Trial of George Q. Cannon". 1996 >at the = Utah=20 >State Bar. 1997 at U of U. Paul wrote this as a play, and it didn't work very well, kind of talky and = uninteresting. He also wrote it as a screenplay at the same time. Well, = the Utah Bar Association wanted to produce it, and so he worked with a = director on it, and while they were working, Paul decided to show the = director his screenplay. And that's what they ended up producing. On = stage. The screenplay, with all the quick cuts and montages. The moral = of this story is, in Theatre anymore, realism is basically dead, and it = took with it the always false notion that Theatre Is A Verbal Medium while = Film Is A Visual Medium. So what was once a put down in Theatre circles = (your script is cinematic) is now a compliment (your script is theatricalis= t!). And the result was a play that was still . . . a bit too talky, for = my taste, but quite interesting. =20 >Livingston, Scott. "Free at Last". Performed at BYU, Spring >1996. = About=20 >black investigators and missionaries in Tennessee in 1978. I don't think anyone has ever worked harder on a play than Scott Livingston= did on this one. For nearly two years, Scott would mail me drafts of the = play, and I would comment and respond, and he would re-write. And it = never got any better. We started off with a deeply flawed script on a = terrific premise, and we ended up with a different flawed script on a = terrific premise. Re-writing is supposed to improve the piece, and = sometimes it does. Not this time. =20 The production was amazing. We had a racially mixed cast, with about five = black actors, and every night, when the show was over, they'd stick around = bear their testimonies to the audience. So what we had was a pretty weak = night in the theatre, followed immediately by a deeply moving and powerful = testimony meeting. And ultimately, I think we did some good in the world. Okay, I'm going to divide this post into two halves. The second will = follow. Eric Samuelsen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 11:54:05 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) 90s plays >Newbold, Bruce. "In Him was Life" 1998. One man reenactment >of = incidents=20 >from the life of Christ. I saw this at BYU, and I hope I can be forgiven when I say that I think = it's pretty boring. We're not supposed to say that, I suppose. But I = kept nodding off. >Paxton, Robert. =20 >"Brother Joseph" 1992. One man, two-act, performed at UNLV. >"What Wondrous Things". 1993. Full-length comedy on Nephi >and Laban. = MFA=20 >thesis. =20 Of all of Rob's plays, these two are the ones I know the best. He's a = very interesting writer. I really love the idea of taking Laman and = Lemuel and turning them into a kind of vaudeville turn. It's a smart, = funny, and finally kind of moving play. Lehi joking about Metamucil--price= less. =20 >Rogers, Thomas. _Huebener and Other Plays._ Poor Robert's, >1992. = Includes=20 >"Huebener", "Fire in the Bones", "Gentle Barbarian", "Frere >Lawrence", = and=20 >"Charades". >"Charades." BYU PDA workshop, 1990. >"First Trump." 1998. Available on Gideon Burton's Mormon >Literature = site. Tom is the guy who, pretty much single-handedly, revived Mormon drama. = Back in the seventies, when I was a student, Tom was the one man above all = others, who we looked to. I can't say enough about how inspirational and = important his career has been. Tom showed us that Mormon drama can deal with the tough issues. The = Church doesn't always look so good in Huebbener, but it happened, and he = tells the story sympathetically and truthfully and powerfully, and the = result is the most important Mormon play ever. Same with Fire in the = Bones; the Mountain Meadows Massacre is something we'd rather not deal = with, perhaps, but what a debt we owe to Juanita Brooks. And what a debt = we owe to Tom Rogers. I cannot emphasize strongly enough what a significan= t figure Tom is historically. =20 We workshopped First Trump in WDA two years ago, and it's still a play = that needs some work. Tom's biggest weakness as a playwright is wordiness,= and First Trump really does go on and on. In the staged reading, I = personally had a, no kidding, twenty minute monologue--it needs cutting. = But boy it's good to see Tom, now retired, still writing. =20 One last point--Tom is not only our most important playwright ever, but he = was and is a terrific theatre director. He directed one play of mine, and = it was a great experience. But back in the seventies, it was Tom who was = directing Pinter and Beckett and Brecht and all the other playwrights who = the faculty were too afraid to tackle. =20 >Samuelsen, Eric. "Accommodations". A family deals with >grandpa's = decline.=20 >BYU, 1993. Sunstone, June 1994. 1994 AML Drama prize. I look back at this play now, and I think it's a bit clunky. There's some = powerful writing, and I like the family I created, but I wish I'd done = more with them. I have another story to tell that involves those people, = and I think someday Accommodations will have a sequel. I still like the = issue--what do we do with an elderly relation who can't care for himself = any longer, and why do we assume that the women of the family should = assume that obligation? >"The Bottom of the Ninth". Apocalyptic comedy. BYU PDA, >1995. My heck. I have written and re-written this play twenty times, and I = still haven't gotten it right. Half the time I think it's my masterpiece, = and half the time I think it's garbage, and all of the time I think it's = not done. The idea is, it's the last of the ninth inning, of the seventh = game of the World Series, and suddenly, Armageddon breaks out. And then, = in the midst of the destruction of the Last Days, the players all try to = get together to finish the game. An apocalyptic comedy. And someday, I = just know I'll figure it out. >"The Seating of Senator Smoot". BYU, summer 1996. I do like what I did with this piece theatrically. I think the use of a = chorus helps keep the number of characters down a bit, and I liked the = idea of taking Reed Smoot, a humorless stick if there ever was one, and = making him the hero of a play. The Smoot hearings are over four thousand = pages in the Congressional record, which meant that the research was a = chore. However Reed Smoot was, I think, a lousy senator. So, yes, it's = important for the Church that he be confirmed. But I kind of gloss over = how effective he was once he got in. I also like the irony of having me, = of all people, write sympathetically about a Republican. It was probably = good for me. >"Gadiation". BYU 1997. Corporate greed, Utah members, uses >BofM = imagery. AML prize. Well, I don't know what to say about Gadianton. I still think it's my = best work. Getting it produced was a nightmare, because it was so = controversial, but once we got it on its feet, it really did play = magnificently. And that's nice to see. =20 >"Without Romance". 1998 Mormon Arts Festival production. >(Eric, is this = the=20 "The Way We're Wired". 1999, BYU. Singles in the church. >1999 AML prize = for=20 >drama. We talked about this one on the List. AdreAnn directed it, and once again = saved my fanny, by gently pointing out that a play that I thought was = swell was in fact a disaster. I re-wrote it completely, and thank heavens = it worked. =20 Right now, I'm workshopping a new play in WDA, a farce called "First = Impressions." That title's probably going to change. A Mormon farce; = about time. I have a new play called What Really Happened that's being = produced under the radar at BYU in January. My three one acts about = Mormon women will be produced (I think), at Bill Brown's new theatre in = Springville, under the title Three Women. And another new play, Peculiarit= ies, is scheduled tentatively for another under the radar production in = March. A bit about each of them. "First Impressions" is about an LDS assistant professor, who is desperately= eager to impress his grad students, and who has invited them to his = apartment for a party. They are equally apprehensive about him, and as = desperate to impress him. One grad student passes out drunk in the = bedroom, and much of the play involves the other grad student's efforts to = cover for him. A seven character, two actor farce, with lots of people = hiding in closets and chasing each other around beds with their trousers = around their ankles. =20 Three Women is three short plays, each with a cast of three women. "Bar = and Kell" was read at Sunstone last year; two women fellowship a third = woman, while not really considering what they're doing. "Judgment" is = about date rape. "Community Standard" is about a pornography trial, and = a young woman who, with great reluctance, has to serve on a jury. =20 =20 "Peculiarities" was originally titled "Weird Mormon Sex" and that's what = it's about. I interweave four stories; NCMO is one of them; this = marvelous uniquely BYU notion of a 'non-commital make-out.' Another story = has to do with this thing kids used to do where they'd drive from Provo to = Reno, get married, fool around, get it annulled, and drive back to BYU = having not broken the Honor Code. A third story deals with sex-less = adultery; a woman whose emotional life is tied to another man, not her = husband, but who would never dream of actually committing adultery. =20 This is going to have to be at least one more post. Be back soon. Eric Samuelsen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #160 ******************************