Blowsy Irish Drunks

[half_double]

BRUCE VILLANCH: It’s a political reaction, not an artistic one. Like when Colleen Dewhurst said Olivier could no longer play Othello. I asked her if that meant she could only play big, blowsy Irish drunks.
NATHAN LANE: Did she deck you?
BV: No, but now I can never make a play for Campbell Scott.The Life in 3 Parts crew decided, after nearly 7

Comments

[eal]

It sounds to me as if we have some less than intelligent people here (and yes, this is Marcie's diplomatic voice

[aprilkat]

"Joni Mitchell is an icon of the lesbian movement"

Um, excuse me, Joni Mitchell is everyone's icon. Sheesh.

Unfortunately, sometimes sessions like these just say more about the participants than the play. Your attitude is just right - don't respond or defend, just take the goodies and let the rest fall away.

that seems like a slap in the face not only of this play, but my entire identity as a playwright. And I don't know what I'm going to do about it, but it's really more than I'm willing to take.

Please don't do anything about it except accept the fact that you got a handful of egocentric duds and have a reading with some people whose opinion you respect. It's not worth doubting yourself over! Yes, sometimes this is the writer's fate. But it's also the writer's fate to put things out there again anyway, because it NEEDS to be said.

That said, good for you, being there on the line and risking it! Wish I could read it...

[arcanefruition]

Gah! Another strike against Mac.

[gnomi]

Worst of all was the insidious comment (I wish I could remember exactly how it was phrased) intimating that, because I'm not a gay man myself, I'm not 'authorized' to write characters who are.

This is insidious, and it's totally baseless, as well. Was Mary Shelley not "authorized" to write Frankenstein because she was not a mad scientist? Was Bram Stoker not "authorized" to write Dracula because he wasn't a vampire? Should Shakespeare not have written any of his myriad plays because he wasn't Italian/Scottish/Moorish/a fairy? The idea that the author/playwright can only write from the perspective of characters that exactly mirror his or her life would rob us of some of the greatest literature in history.

Now excuse me while I get into my time machine and go back to 19th century Russia - I need to warn my ancestors what I plan to write, so they can plan their journey accordingly.

[utilitygeek]

Actually, I'm not sure I don't agree with the Joni Mitchell objector. Not because they're right, per se, but because I probably would have made the assumption that it's not a CD that's the iconic representation of the relationship, it's a Joni Mitchell CD, if you see the difference.

Of course, to me, Joni Mitchell is reminicent of being annoyed by the constant stream of folk music on long trips with Kira, so maybe I'm biased. :-)

The point is that I might have wondered "what the author meant" by referencing Joni Mitchell. Maybe it should be a Hues Corproation record: Rock the Boat on a 78

[half_double]

Ah, but note that you say you associate Joni Mitchell with Kira. Kira is many things, but a lesbian is not one of them. Unless there's something about her that I don't know. Or unless there's something about you that I don't know....

[utilitygeek]

My point was not so much that I associate Joni Mitchell with lesbianism, so much as I don't associate Joni Mitchell with relationships or love so much as long car trips, and fearing the Ritalin wearing off. To an observer only partially informed, questions of "why Joni Mitchell" pop up.

Also, there are many things you don't know about me. A vagina is not one of them.