| re: for the playwrights out there - |
| Last Edit: pcot 09:41 pm EDT 06/19/19 |
| Posted by: pcot 09:40 pm EDT 06/19/19 |
| In reply to: re: for the playwrights out there - - Chromolume 06:48 pm EDT 06/17/19 |
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There's an important distinction between the playwright's stage directions and the "acting edition" stage directions. Many older plays were marked up by a stage manager before publication based on what the original production looked like just before closing, rather than from any collaborative creative writing process. (One giveaway: set designs in the appendix.) In contrast, one of the last steps in modern play development is "actor-proofing" the piece by means of the playwright's directions, and hours are spent. For the older plays, perhaps look to the published literary versions for same.
So reading is cool, but know the source, I guess. I was doing an old Boucicault melodrama several years ago and went to look at the old promptbooks at the Lincoln Center library -- they gave an interesting sense of the original. You could see where the stage manager had really pressed the pencil into the paper to emphasise certain moments.
Otherwise, there are the extremes: Beckett, you'll either need the stage directions or a good lawyer. Shakespeare, you almost always won't. (Though comparing F's to Qs' can give some insights on the original staging.) Cheers.
-pcot |
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