in this place at this time for this reason

qotd

If you could write like one fiction author, who would it be?
Submitted by Marilyn.

Angelacarter002

I feel temperamentally suited to hosting the spirit of Angela Carter, which seems as good a way as any to narrow down a difficult choice.  Ms. Carter passed away on February 16, 1992, three months shy of her 52nd birthday.   

Angelacarter001

far away

Far Away (2002 production)

Saw Flashpoint Theatre Company's full production of Caryl Churchill's "Far Away" last night, nearly a year after having seen a simply staged reading of the same play at the Wilma Theatre.  A beautiful and horrifying play under any circumstances, it moved me more the first time out, even script-on-music-stand.  When the language and dialogue is as finely and tightly orchestrated as they are in this play, it seems, only the simplest of choices in acting and staging are required to unleash the play's power full force.  Present the lines clearly, underlining only the bare minimum of operatives.  Choose one's focus clearly, acknowledging little more than another person on the stage with you.  Don't play scared, don't play old or

Far Away (2004 production)

young, simply allow the words the room they need.

There are few enough plays in this world so well written that they can be treated with such graceful understatement.  It is understandable that young directors might bring their full array of tools to bear on a play every time out, because most of the time their ingenuity is needed.  But not so much here, not for this great play. 

QotD: Life-Changing Books

What are five books that changed your life? 
Inspired by Ms. Genevieve.

Not necessarily my favorite books, but they each mattered in their time ....

Look at America: The Country You Know and Don't Know, by the Editors of Look Magazine
    --a photo collection, all b&w, that kept me fascinated for much of my childhood, its images lurking in me like recurring dreams even as my parents took my sister and me on a series of long distance automobile trips cross-country and throughout the west.
Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne
    --my transition from pulp scifi and Classics Illustrated to full-blown literature, and the first instance in which I carried around a heavy, hardcover book as my constant companion.
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
    --restless at 16 years of age.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    --the first tragedy that really meant anything to me personally.
Twelfth Night, or What You Will, by William Shakespeare
    --the play that I come back to over and over again.