February 1997 ----------------------------In this issue------------------------------------------ The Play’s the Thing: Structural Analysis of Fences Rubin's Corner: Donal McCann Invades New York Again Voices: Sex, Race, and Decency feuds put Theatre in the News Dr. Joyce Brothers survey, August Wilson-Robert Brustein dialogue, Internet Decency Act CyberTheatre Monthly: Virtual theatre district lacks Theatre TRE Trivia, What's New & Gossip du jour ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voices is Contemporary Theatre: Sex, Race, and Decency feuds put Theatre in the news "Did you see that recent Joyce Brothers column that included an interesting fact about theatergoing? Seems that readers were asked whether they preferred going to "a hit Broadway play" to having "good sex"? And the results? 77 percent of the women opted for the show which may surprise you -- but not as much as the fact that 47 percent of the men did, too? Awright, Broadway! --STAGESTRUCK by Peter Filichia" I'll leave the reader to draw whatever inspiring or warped conclusions he will from that little morsel. Also this past month: Distinguished director and critic Robert Brustein* and playwright August Wilson brought their long-running feud into the time-honored forum of public debate. The event, moderated by Anna Deavere Smith, did not cover much new ground but served to reinforce the position both men have taken in the letters column of American Theatre and on various keynote-speakler podiums in the past year... August Wilson fired the first shot before a gathering of non-profit theatres last year, calling for a separate black theater, denigrating non-traditional casting (citing examples understood to reference Brustein's Death of a Salesman, not his mentor, Lloyd Richard's, planned Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and criticizing the black actors and directors participating in n "art that is conceived and designed to entertain white society." Wilson claims the casting of black actors in roles written for whites "denies us our own humanity" but more to the point, he implies the use of a black actors to play the Danish prince reduces the number of plays produced written by black playwrights. Robert Brustein's response made up in frankness what it lacked in tact: "I don't think Martin Luther King ever imagined an America where playwrights such as August Wilson would be demanding, under the pretense of calling for healing and unity, an entirely separate stage for black theater artists. What next? Separate schools? Separate washrooms? Separate drinking fountains?" His position is that the majority of legitimate theatre explores not the experiences of a particular group but "the workings of the human soul, which has no color." While the evening produced an exciting dialogue, struck a blow for the legitimacy of public debate in an age where the election year versions are disgusting photo-ops, and launched a few quotes that will be circulating for years (as when Brustein accused Wilson of possessing "one of the best minds of the 17th century") there is a downside. This controversy relegated to the back pages the many theatrical offerings planned for Black History of whch Broadway's Bring In `Da Noise, Bring In `Da Funk, Off-Broadway's A Brief History Of White Music, and regional productions of everything from Twilight Los Angeles: 1992 to Having Our Say, from Paul Robeson to The Emperor Jones could have made a very different statement about the status of "Black Theatre" in America. On the CyberBeat: a number of Theatre Artists are making their voices heard a in a "friend of the court" brief prepared by Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts for in the American Civil Liberties Challenge to the Communications "Decency" Act. Among them playwrights Tony Kushner, Jon Robin Baitz and Craig Lucas. We salute you guys. *Quoted extensively in last months Play's the Thing WHAT DO YOU THINK? Your opinions are invited on these and other burning theatre issues. Start a thread in the Theatre Forum Bulletin Boards, or to contribute to the TRE letters column, drop an e-mail to Theatre_msn@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rubin's Corner DONAL MCCANN INVADES NEW YORK A few nights ago a friend of mine gave me a call on the phone. He told me that he had an extra ticket for a new show called, "The Steward of Christendom". The show was to be followed by one of those classic meet the actor seminars. He knew about my attitude of hearing an actor explain his work after the show. Then, he added still another reason for me not to attend this performance. The show was at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn. New York Theater can not take place in another borough. After a long discussion, he convince me to go. During our subway trip to Brooklyn, my friend reminded that I had seen the star of the show, Donal McCann, in three other works. The first production was John Huston's last movie The Dead in which he played the anguished husband. I was reminded that he had the part of the Irish sculptor in Bernardo Bertolucci's recent Stealing Beauty. I had the unfortunate experience of seeing Mr. Donal's last Broadway performance in Brian Friel's Wonderful Tennessee. This show collapsed almost as soon as it opened in 1993. In this play he brought a mix of toughness, cynicism and defeat in the role of a Dublin bookmaker with financial troubles, a suicidal wife and a sexual yearning for his sister-in-law. As we approached Brooklyn and the theater, I certainly did not know what to expect from this evening of theater. The role is a grueling play since Mr. Donal never leaves the stage. During the show he moves his character from fury to kindness and tenderness. At the end of The Steward of Christendom, Donal is alone with his memories of his dead son. The play concludes with total silence which is the purist form of theater. During his thirty minute discussion, Mr. McCann talked about his farther, John McCann. He told us that was his father's specialty was to blend the force of personality with a reputation for integrity and humanity. It was not until Donal was in school that he developed the persistence that marks the way he approaches roles. Mr. McCann became an apprentice journalist on a Dublin evening newspaper, but did amateur theatricals and took jobs as an extra in the Abbey Theater. By 1968 he was established as a member of the Abbey ensemble. After his time at the Abbey he became popular in plays such as Juno and the Paycock, Miss Julie, and Prayer for My Daughter. During the seminar he wore a rumpled gray jacket and drab open-necked shirt. He mentioned that he liked regular trips to the betting parlor. When he does a show he becomes so intense that he will spent hours researching his character and trying out the role. Mr. McCann hates the status of being a celebrity and career actor. This is why he was so happy when the play was booked into Brooklyn rather that Broadway. He summarized his lecture by saying that, "I don't belong anywhere when celebrity equals merit or money means talent or wealth achievement. Using your talent is what matters." During our return trip with my new Metro Card Multi-Pass in my pocket, I thought about the entire evening. I was grateful that my friend would not take no for an answer. I think I plan to return to Brooklyn again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Play's the Thing Beginning this month, it is my intention to cover plays in more depth. I hope to bring a deeper appreciation for plays in general. I would also like the articles to serve as encouragement for people to begin reading more plays. I will from time to time cover playwrights of interest, adding pertinent information to the articles. If there is a particular play you would like to see covered, or if you have questions regarding a certain play, please feel free to email me at: Stagewright@msn.com. I will try to consider the requests and add them to the list of plays to be covered. The first play I am covering is Fences by August Wilson. It is written in a realistic style and I will use it to explain the style of realism and some important components that make up the structure of a play. Structural Analysis of Fences When attempting to capture real life on stage, playwrights use the theatrical style known as realism. Realistic plots follow a climactic structure which includes the elements of exposition, rising action, climax and resolution. Late points-of-attack, with the audience entering the story late in the action, are due to the amount of exposition that takes place to catch up the audience with the events of the story. Rising action builds with situations tied together by cause and effect. The mounting suspense grows until the turning point or climax, is revealed. The task of tying up loose ends and answering the unanswered questions is the plot's resolution, which must be as logical as the plot itself. Most realistic plays contain no elements of supernatural or out-of-time experiences. Fences, by August Wilson, is written in the realistic style except that it does contain a few non-realistic elements such as visions of heaven and tales of death and the devil. Exposition, or the telling of the past and present events, fills in the blanks for readers and audiences. Characters can reveal that information as can the play's stage directions. The play reader has a distinct advantage over the audience by having the stage directions as an extra expository device. In Fences both types of exposition occur. The play opens with the stage directions telling that the scene is but one of many nights spent the same way. The directions state, "It is Friday night, payday, and the one night of the week the two men engage in a ritual of talk and drink. Troy is usually the most talkative and at times he can be crude . . . though he is capable of rising to profound heights of expression." The stage directions also hints at Troy's personality, a man of many words, whether profound or crude. In the midst of the same scene, Troy's wife Rose enters and the directions give a glimpse of her own past and present connection to the night's event. Wilson writes, "Though she doesn't drink, her presence is an integral part of the Friday night rituals." The character Gabriel, Troy's brother, is introduced in the stage directions which reveal that he was, "Injured in World War II, he has a metal plate in his head." The information explains Gabriel's unusual behavior. Later in the play, the death of Troy is explained in the stage directions. It is a simple note that reads, "The time is 1965 . . . It is the morning of Troy's funeral." Exposition by the character can reveal the history of a character and can explain present circumstances. Troy's decision to keep his son Cory out of sports has long been an issue for him. He tells Rose, "I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn't getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me." His statement is also a good example of two other expository devices -- foreshadowing and retrospection. Foreshadowing hints at future events while retrospection tells what has gone before. By the play's end, Troy refuses to sign for Cory to attend college on an athletic scholarship because the opportunity had been taken away from Troy years before. Though good enough to play professional baseball, Troy was prevented from playing because of social conventions in place at the time that prevented African Americans from playing. Troy tells his friend Bono, "Don't care what color you were. Come telling me I come along too early. If you could play . . . then they ought to have let you play." Troy's statements point in both directions, as foreshadowing and retrospection. The rising action of Fences builds from the developing relationships of the characters and the complications that happen. These complications, made up of discoveries (changes from ignorance to knowledge of the character) and reversals (changes in the direction of the character's fortune) become the skeleton that supports the play. As more information is gained, the play moves steadily forward. During Act One, Troy's relationship with his son Lyons, giving handouts or "loans" and the fact that Troy was not around while Lyons was growing up, leads to Lyons going to jail in Act Three. Lyons became what Troy was, a man with frustrated dreams and a criminal record. This is one of the complications that moves the story forward to the crisis and climax. The next set of rising actions mirror each other as they rise to the climax. Troy uses the baseball metaphor of striking out to represent the lines Cory crosses before a confrontation will occur. Strike one closes Act One when Troy discovers that Cory has not been at his job because he has been playing football. Cory finds out that Troy pulled him from the team and canceled the recruiter visit. Words fly until Troy says, "You swung and you missed. That's strike one. Don't you strike out!" At the same time Rose discovers Troy's affair has produced a child and she feels betrayed. This becomes Troy's own strike one. She tells Troy, "I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom." Cory's strike two comes when he finds Troy hurting Rose. Cory knocks Troy to the ground and Troy tells him, "That's strike two . . . You're living with a full count. Don't strike out." Troy's second strike with Rose comes when she discovers that Troy committed Gabriel and is receiving part of his support check. "You did Gabe like you did Cory. You wouldn't sign the papers for Cory . . . but you signed for Gabe. You signed that paper," she says to Troy. Strike three becomes the major crisis and climax of the play. Troy learns that Alberta, his mistress, had the baby, then died in childbirth. Troy brings the baby home and asks Rose to help him raise her. Rose, who always wanted more children, agrees to raise the girl but tells Troy, "From now on . . . this child has a mother. You is a womanless man." The decision is irreversible. The climax culminates with Cory's third strike. While Cory tries to assert his views of Troy, the conflict escalates to confrontation. Cory grabs a bat and is soon disarmed by Troy who tells him, "Go on and get away from around my house." Cory leaves and doesn't return until Troy is dead. The tensions mount and at this point the audience's emotions should be the most intense. The final scene of the play begins the resolution that ties up all the loose ends. The baby, Raynell, is now seven. Troy is dead. Cory joined the Marines after leaving home. Lyons is in jail for passing bad checks. Cory refuses to attend Troy's funeral until Rose tells him that the good in Troy lives on in him. She concludes with, ". . . I'm gonna do her just like your daddy did you . . . I'm gonna give her the best of what's in me." Cory then decides to attend his father's funeral. The few non-realistic elements that are found in Fences deal with Gabriel's' notions that he is the trumpet blower who will open St. Peter's gates. When Lyons asks Gabriel what he's been up to, Gabriel responds, "Oh, I been chasing the hellhounds and waiting on the time to tell St. Peter to open the gates." The play ends with, according to the stage directions, Gabriel finishing, " . . . his dance and the gates of heaven stand open wide as God's closet." Since realism deals with tangible life, not the skewed version of life as Gabriel perceives it, this example is one of the exceptions to the realistic plot structure of the play. Yet it could be considered "realistic" since people with mental handicaps do perceive the world differently than real life. August Wilson uses the structure of the realistic style to give the world a glimpse into the compressed last years of Troy Maxson's life. Wilson weaves around the elements of realism a story that fits the climactic structure like a second skin. These characters feel like real people, struggle like real people and ultimately survive and continue on like real people. Even the non-realistic elements add a depth of human experience that feels natural and explainable. The human story, encapsulated and presented theatrically, related by realistic style, shares the truth of living everyday with the audience and the reader. Plays by August Wilson Recycle The Homecoming The Coldest Day of the Year Black Bart and the Sacred Hills Jitney! Eskimo Song Duel Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Fences Joe Turner's Come and Gone The Piano Lesson Two Trains Running Seven Guitars Internet sites relating to August Wilson The Hill District: August Wilson Information on the book August Wilson and the African American Odessey by Kim Pereira Information on an upcoming lecture by Wilson Review of Two Trains Running August Wilson's Sacred book --- Caprice Woosley is currently pursuing her BFA in theater (directing and playwriting), after 25 years working in and around community theater. She is a playwright, produced but not published, actress, and amateur dramaturg who enjoys researching plays. She is a host in the Writing Forum where she co-hosts a Writing Discussion Group. She also hosted "Shakespeare Unplugged" and "Murder and Mayhem" in the Theatre Forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CyberTheatre Monthly Virtual theatre district lacks theatre GeoCities is interesting - they offer "homesteads," free spaces for personal homepages divided into themed neighborhoods. Amidst areas designated Paris, NapaValley, College Park, Rainforrest and Area 51, I was delighted to find "Broadway: footlights, greasepaint, and the excitement of live theatre and show business." Show business was booming - there were over 8500 virtual lots. Since each site has a numeric address, I decided to visit those who's addresses corresponded to the locations of real Broadway Theatres. What follows is a comparison of what's happening at the the real and virtual... 1530 Broadway Real World: Roundabout Theatre - one of the most respected legit theatres in the world, offering a full season of classic and original plays, from Scapin to Cabaret, with stellar casts. Currently previewing The Three Sisters with Amy Irving, Lili Taylor & Jeanne Tripplehorn GeoCities: the page is titled "Hi, I'm a Vampire" and it contains "stories by Charlene Usup" from something called Corpus Femina - there are 5 stories - Veronica, Mandy, Angel, Nhi & Lydia, available in either English or Danish with a link to "Erotic Art" 1535 Broadway Real World: Marquis Theatre - currently playing - the name of the show is Victor/Victoria, but the real dramatics happen offstage: Julie Andrews threw a diva fit refusing her Tony nomination when no other aspect of the production was recognized, co-star Tony Roberts gave us diva fit: the sequel when Liza Minelli stepped in for Julie GeoCities: seasoned actor's homepage - Make that, a working actor's resume, with a few links of limited interest at the bottom of the page. 1564 Broadway Real World: Palace Theatre - Beauty and the Beast - Disney's tale as old as time offers the best musical score to hit Broadway in a decade GeoCities: "Bienvenido a la Pagina de Billy Seok" Yes, it's Billy Seok's homepage, there doesn't appear to be much content here, theatre-related or otherwise, and it is entirely in Spanish. 1633 Broadway Real World: Circle in the Square - they've had their share of financial problems, but they're not dead yet, in fact, they're ready to open the English hit Stanley. Gregory Mosher is still somewhat notorious in theatre circles for leaving Lincoln Center at the height of its popularity declaring that theatre was dying. Now he's at CitS, and it's 4 years later. The challenge of saving CitS seems to appeal to him, as he now talks about re-inventing theatre not burying it. GeoCities: AMKRAUT'S HOME PAGE at first I thought the Amkraut's were a family, but the page is written in the first person, so I imagine it is an individual. There is no content whatsoever here - but Amkraut invites us to send him e-mail or sign his guestbook. He also offers some web-building tips only slightly less comprehensive than that in HTML for Dummies, from which even the novice will learn only that A on his keyboard probably sticks - unless there's some hidden message in the misspellings HEDDER & INSTED which escapes me. 1634 Broadway Real World: The Winter Garden - playing Cats, now and forever GeoCities: ghena's Homepage "just call me G" A half-dozen links (no, not theatre-related, a marijuana-hemp info site and (copyrighted) Grateful Dead Lyrics) and background wallpaper that makes the page very difficult to read. But at least ghena's interest in music brings us peripherally into the realm of entertainment & performance. 1681 Broadway Real World: The Broadway (for some reason, they've never gotten around to naming it for anyone) currently running Miss Saigon GeoCities: mediacomM: Liveliest Website in Malasia At last, we've found some content: the page author, K.S. Chan apparently stopped to think through what he was trying to do before he began building his site"I had a dream. A dream to own a WEB site that is vibrant, lively, exciting and fun.... my objective would be to built a WEB site with total interaction between "Internaut" , "Surfer", "Hackers", "Trackers", "Programmers", "Gamer" - Now, I'm not sure what an Internaut is, and I find much of Mr. Chan's philosophy to be on par with that of the average long-distance commercial, and I still can't work out any tie-in between the content here and theatre, but there's a cyberhost who's at least put a few items on the table to compensate his guests for coming in to visit. And at this point in my websurf, I'll take what I can get. So, in a random sampling - we're 0 for 5 on great theatre sites in the Geocities Broadway Neighborhood. Are there any good theatre-sites here at all? Yes. Elyse Sommer's CurtainUp at 1068 offers a selection of New York reviews that are superior to much of what you'll find in Aisle Say. But right now there's no way to find content-rich or even on-topic sites in Geocities without sifting through all the mundane. How do you use the internet or online services with respect to theatre - do online media help you research, find jobs, or just learn what's happening in other towns. Let us know at Theatre_msn@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRE Trivia: In what plays do the following outrageous meals occur: • Two newlyweds discover their spouses living in sin with their partners from a previous marriage and all sit down to breakfast • A houseguest gives a luncheon in his host's home for a dozen famous murderers •A gentleman sits down to tea and eats all the cucumber sandwiches he served especially for his guest, then tells the guest there were no cucumbers at the market • A dinner is given for the residents of a home for unwed mothers Match up the Musical with the appropriate spectacle Shogun Miss Saigon Phantom of the Opera Tommy Les Miserables Sunset Blvd Evita Baricade Flying Pinball Machine Car Chase Movie Clip Falling Chandelier Earthquake Helicopter Answers to last month's trivia: • The law in Camelot: July and August cannot be too hot • Although Julie Andrews originated the roles of Eliza Doolittle and Guenevere, but when the movies were made, those heroines were played by Audrey Hepburn and Venessa Redgrave. • Valerie is the Chorus Line dancer who steals her card to find she scored Dance 10, Looks 3 • The composers were Arthur Sullivan, Richard Rodgers, and Frederick Loewe; the lyricists were William Gilbert, Oscar Hammerstein, and Alan Jay Lerner • Musical matchups • The Hard-Knock Life is from Annie • The Prince of Humbug is from Barnum • Honey Bun is from South Pacific • Cell-Block Tango is from Chicago • In Praise of Women is from A Little Night Music • A Hymn to Him is from My Fair Lady • How to Handle a Woman is from Camelot • The Mob Song is from Beauty and the Beast • The Rumble is from West Side Story ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gossip du jour... •Roman Polanski will direct a stage musical based on Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire •Jekyll & Hyde composer, Frank Wildhorn, will again have to undertake massive rewrites before his musical adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel sees the gleam of footlights •Chicago's Big Four (The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens and Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre) have resolved their differences with the League of Chicago Theatres and are again willing to have their shows considered for the city's Jeff Awards, now that multiple-winners are sanctioned. •The participation of the Green Bay Packers in the SuperBowl closed Milwaukee Repertory and other Milwaukee theatres on SuperBowl Sunday ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Mersinger Theatrical Services