Week 14 - The Trophy Wives of Venice

This week's play was partly inspired by a film I saw this week, The Help.  Although I think the film was definitely a sanitized, Hollywood version of the civil rights struggles in the 1960s, it was entertaining and well-acted.  The scenes revolving around the characters played by Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard were particularly well-realized.  If you've spent any time in the South, even in the 21st century South, you can definitely recognize the passive aggression, the surface politeness, and casual cruelty of the "mean girls" in the movie.  I've definitely been on the receiving end of that sort of behavior so it was lovely to see the "mean girls" get their comeuppance in the end.

This week I was also the observer of a Facebook discussion on the merits (or lack thereof) of The Merchant of Venice.  The play is definitely not one of my favorites by Mr. Shakespeare (in my opinion, it should join Two Gentlemen of Verona and King John on the "let's never do these plays again" list.  Much of my problems with Merchant stem from my hatred of the "heroine," Portia.  It occurred to me this week that Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of the English language, wrote some of the most insufferable female characters in existence.  For every sparkling Beatrice, there seems to be a whiny Julia.  So, I decided to write about three of my least favorite Shakespearean women - Portia from Merchant, Julia from Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Helena from All's Well That Ends Well; as well as one of my favorite Shakespearean heroines, Viola from Twelfth Night.  This week's play, inspired by mean girls and Shakespeare, is The Trophy Wives of Venice.

NOTE:  I'm sure my listing of my favorites and least favorites will elicit comments like "But I love King John!" And "I've played Helena and she's awesome!"  And "Pericles is the worst play Shakespeare wrote. Why isn't it on your list?"  So, I'll just say that these are my opinions.  You may agree with me.  You may not.  But, as in politics, I'm not gonna change your mind and you're not gonna change my mind either. :)

Week 12 - Waiting for Falbo

Hello hello!  This was an exciting week for me.  An essay I wrote was published on Ms. Magazine's blog, thanks to the generosity of friend Aviva Dove-Viebahn.  You can read the post here:

Ms. Magazine Blog

Other friends have joined forces against the War on Women.  They have started a movement online (Wear White for Women's Rights) that is picking up steam and fans all around the world (Neil Gaiman, among others.)  You can read more about THAT here:

Wear All White for Women's Rights

I will be among the many wearing all white on April 2nd to protest the recent treatment of women by Congress and members of the media.  Read up on the movement and please join us!

With all these great and exciting things happening, I almost forgot - I had a play to write this week!  Don't worry, I wrote it.  My week 12 play is titled Waiting for Falbo.  It is a short take-off on Waiting for Godot, featuring some of my friends.  You ever have those moments in conversation when you think "this should be in a play?"  I have a lot of moments of Beckettian absurdity with these particular friends, so I thought it would be entertaining to put it on paper.

Week 4: Ten Things I Hate About Shrew

This week's play is...well, some might find it a bit controversial.  Controversial enough that I'm debating whether or not to put it up on Google docs.  Controversial enough that I don't know how comfortable I feel talking about it in a public forum.

Suffice to say, the play's title is Ten Things I Hate About Shrew.  It is quasi-semi-sort of-allegedly based on an incident that may or may not have happened to me in real life. That possibly fictitious incident provoked a lot of rage, at least to me.  Now that it's all over, I can see the humor in it.  So, I wrote a play about it.  I think it's pretty funny.

I may just have to call this one a closet drama that is not meant for public performance or distribution.  So, I'll be in my closet, reading my play, having a cocktail, and giggling to myself if anyone is looking for me. :)

Week 3: Fish on a Bicycle

Well, here we are at Week 3 of my project.  In the musical Rent, Jonathan Larson wrote that we should measure our lives in love.  I am measuring my life in plays.  It's the same thing, I guess.

I am happy to tell you all that I succeeded in writing a play that had nothing to do with Shakespeare this week. It was tough - when you study one guy for three years, he tends to take over your brain.  Just a little advice in case you're thinking about grad school. ;)

This week's play, Fish on a Bicycle, was inspired by a post from She The People, a blog run by The Washington Post.  The post can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/lap-dances-for-businesswomen-no-thanks/2012/01/20/gIQAes2KDQ_blog.html.

This week's play explores what it would mean for a couple of men to prove that they were team players to their female boss.  When I started writing it, I really didn't have a clear idea of where I was going with this piece.  After writing it, I was surprised at how, well, violent and angry it was.  I knew I had a definite reaction to the Post piece, but I guess I didn't realize HOW angry it made me.  That's the great thing about writing - it gets all of those emotions and thoughts out of your body and onto paper.