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ejreadswords's Reviews (100)
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
“Being a playwright, darling? A playwright? Acting isn’t demoralizing enough, you choose playwriting?”
Read this play twice this weekend. Jumping from being nineteen years old in This is Our Youth in my Scene Study class to being sixty-six years old with a bum knee in this play for my spring rehearsal project. First time we’ll be working on a full-length production at Stella, and I’m very excited to get to work with my cast and director! Think we have a good group, genuinely.
At my core, I relate the most to Elliot. He has this air of bitterness and sadness to him that’s me on my worst days (but I won’t lie, there’s at least a moment every day where I embody Elliot, lmao). But he’s such a great character and you want to give him a hug. Of course, Anna, is such a marvelous character.
“Do you think it’s easy telling your child the truth? Do you? Shall I pretend your play was a work of genius? Is that what you want? Lies? I can lie; I pretend for a living. Marvelous! Absolutely brilliant! All it was, was a childish attempt to get back at me! To embarrass me!”
Frankly, all of the characters in this play are much older than us actors playing them. We’re all in our 20s (I’m the oldest actor at the senior-citizen age of 29 years old), but we’re playing 70, 66, three of us are in our 40s, and then of course Juliana gets to play 21.
You can tell the Chekhov influence right off the jump! The arc and the yearning and the fact that everyone’s an artist (or related to one). All the jokes on actors. It’s inside baseball, this play, but it’s fun. There’s much to mine, and I'm excited to approach as an actor.
Desire is the root of all suffering. This play supports this 100% valid claim. These strange happenings that we have no control over, and the ways we’re inextricably attached to each other, no matter how disjointed and dysfunctional. Family will disappoint you time and time again. And love shows and reveals itself in the weirdest of ways sometimes.
But we gotta keep going.
I’m gonna read this a few more times, obviously, and then I’ll be acting in it for four performances in May. God, I hope I can be convincing as Walter. But like Walter’s resolve in the third act when he tells Elliot “what he really thinks,” I believe I’ll have to just decide to be Walter, and choose to believe that my choices are the right ones. It's taken him 66+ years to get somewhere near this resolve; maybe driving the Porsche softens the blow of whatever emptiness he feels inside. But he found Nell. We choose what we want to believe, sometimes. The pain doesn't leave you.
“What should I regret? The work on stage I didn’t do? Not a chance. Starvation is not a virtue.”
Read this play twice this weekend. Jumping from being nineteen years old in This is Our Youth in my Scene Study class to being sixty-six years old with a bum knee in this play for my spring rehearsal project. First time we’ll be working on a full-length production at Stella, and I’m very excited to get to work with my cast and director! Think we have a good group, genuinely.
At my core, I relate the most to Elliot. He has this air of bitterness and sadness to him that’s me on my worst days (but I won’t lie, there’s at least a moment every day where I embody Elliot, lmao). But he’s such a great character and you want to give him a hug. Of course, Anna, is such a marvelous character.
“Do you think it’s easy telling your child the truth? Do you? Shall I pretend your play was a work of genius? Is that what you want? Lies? I can lie; I pretend for a living. Marvelous! Absolutely brilliant! All it was, was a childish attempt to get back at me! To embarrass me!”
Frankly, all of the characters in this play are much older than us actors playing them. We’re all in our 20s (I’m the oldest actor at the senior-citizen age of 29 years old), but we’re playing 70, 66, three of us are in our 40s, and then of course Juliana gets to play 21.
You can tell the Chekhov influence right off the jump! The arc and the yearning and the fact that everyone’s an artist (or related to one). All the jokes on actors. It’s inside baseball, this play, but it’s fun. There’s much to mine, and I'm excited to approach as an actor.
Desire is the root of all suffering. This play supports this 100% valid claim. These strange happenings that we have no control over, and the ways we’re inextricably attached to each other, no matter how disjointed and dysfunctional. Family will disappoint you time and time again. And love shows and reveals itself in the weirdest of ways sometimes.
But we gotta keep going.
I’m gonna read this a few more times, obviously, and then I’ll be acting in it for four performances in May. God, I hope I can be convincing as Walter. But like Walter’s resolve in the third act when he tells Elliot “what he really thinks,” I believe I’ll have to just decide to be Walter, and choose to believe that my choices are the right ones. It's taken him 66+ years to get somewhere near this resolve; maybe driving the Porsche softens the blow of whatever emptiness he feels inside. But he found Nell. We choose what we want to believe, sometimes. The pain doesn't leave you.
“What should I regret? The work on stage I didn’t do? Not a chance. Starvation is not a virtue.”
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Spend a lifetime with them and you might get a moment of insight into their pain… until then, allow them their grandeur in silence.”
A genius play. Thank you to Fran, who told me I should read this, and said, “you’d be a good Ken.” And I’m flattered, but also, the role does seem suited for me, if I may say so myself: I’m definitely going to add his last monologue to my arsenal — it’s so dang good!
“You know, not everything has to be so goddamn IMPORTANT all the time! Not every painting has to rip your guts out and expose your soul! Not everyone wants art that actually HURTS! Sometimes you just want a fucking still life or landscape or soup can or comic book! Which you might learn if you ever actually left your goddamn hermetically-sealed submarine here with all the windows closed and no natural light — BECAUSE NATURAL LIGHT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!”
Never have I stopped to write down more lines or quotes than this play, I think. The dialogue is so good, and the sentiments so profound. Rothko is such an interesting man; a true “artist” for all the good and the bad that entails.
“I AM HERE TO STOP YOUR HEART, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?! I AM HERE TO MAKE YOU THINK! I AM NOT HERE TO MAKE PRETTY PICTURES!”
Like the ideas they discuss from Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy, two things can be true, and opposing ideas and practices can still be inextricably linked. I agreed with Rothko, I agreed with Ken. Both are usually right, in a way.
“All my life I wanted just this, my friend: to create a place… A place where the viewer could live in contemplation with the work and give it some of the same attention and care I gave it. Like a chapel… A place of communion.”
“But… it’s a restaurant.”
“No… I will make it a temple.”
Ugh. So good! There's so much to say, but all I'll tell you is: read the play. I'd love to watch a staging of it -- can only imagine how beautiful the lighting design can be; and the whole conceit of watching the actors stare right into the audience (where we suspend our disbelief that they are looking at whatever current painting that Rothko is working on) would be so tremendous. Seeing how they're stirred looking at these paintings, but we get to see it. We're the painting -- the audience. I'd love to see that, and I'd also love to help that creation.
“How do you know when it’s done?”
“There’s tragedy in every brush stroke.”
A genius play. Thank you to Fran, who told me I should read this, and said, “you’d be a good Ken.” And I’m flattered, but also, the role does seem suited for me, if I may say so myself: I’m definitely going to add his last monologue to my arsenal — it’s so dang good!
“You know, not everything has to be so goddamn IMPORTANT all the time! Not every painting has to rip your guts out and expose your soul! Not everyone wants art that actually HURTS! Sometimes you just want a fucking still life or landscape or soup can or comic book! Which you might learn if you ever actually left your goddamn hermetically-sealed submarine here with all the windows closed and no natural light — BECAUSE NATURAL LIGHT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!”
Never have I stopped to write down more lines or quotes than this play, I think. The dialogue is so good, and the sentiments so profound. Rothko is such an interesting man; a true “artist” for all the good and the bad that entails.
“I AM HERE TO STOP YOUR HEART, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?! I AM HERE TO MAKE YOU THINK! I AM NOT HERE TO MAKE PRETTY PICTURES!”
Like the ideas they discuss from Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy, two things can be true, and opposing ideas and practices can still be inextricably linked. I agreed with Rothko, I agreed with Ken. Both are usually right, in a way.
“All my life I wanted just this, my friend: to create a place… A place where the viewer could live in contemplation with the work and give it some of the same attention and care I gave it. Like a chapel… A place of communion.”
“But… it’s a restaurant.”
“No… I will make it a temple.”
Ugh. So good! There's so much to say, but all I'll tell you is: read the play. I'd love to watch a staging of it -- can only imagine how beautiful the lighting design can be; and the whole conceit of watching the actors stare right into the audience (where we suspend our disbelief that they are looking at whatever current painting that Rothko is working on) would be so tremendous. Seeing how they're stirred looking at these paintings, but we get to see it. We're the painting -- the audience. I'd love to see that, and I'd also love to help that creation.
“How do you know when it’s done?”
“There’s tragedy in every brush stroke.”
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again,
Good Kate; I am a gentleman."
Okay, I love 10 Things I Hate About You and that almost influences the entirety of my opinion of this play.
“Hortensio, peace. Thou know’st not gold’s effect.”
I'm exploring Petruchio in my Shakespeare class with Fran as Kate, and boy... are we in for some fun stuff with this scene! My Shakespeare teacher just telling us, "you both wanna fuck each other so bad in this scene. How do I know that? It's in the text!"
Born to be Lucentio. Challenged to be Petruchio.
Good Kate; I am a gentleman."
Okay, I love 10 Things I Hate About You and that almost influences the entirety of my opinion of this play.
“Hortensio, peace. Thou know’st not gold’s effect.”
I'm exploring Petruchio in my Shakespeare class with Fran as Kate, and boy... are we in for some fun stuff with this scene! My Shakespeare teacher just telling us, "you both wanna fuck each other so bad in this scene. How do I know that? It's in the text!"
Born to be Lucentio. Challenged to be Petruchio.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Doubt requires more courage than conviction does, and more energy; because conviction is a resting place and doubt is infinite—it is a passionate exercise.”
I knew from reading John Patrick Shanley’s introduction to the play, which I included an excerpt of above, that I was in for a real treat. Had been meaning to watch the film for a long time now, but in a way, I’m glad this was my introduction to the work. The ideas are right there, and just READING the play, and creating voices in my head — it adds to this layer of doubt.
“If I could, Sister James, I would certainly choose to live in innocence. But innocence can only be wisdom in a world without evil. Situations arise and we are confronted with wrongdoing and the need to act.”
If I heard Father Flynn explain his side, or if I heard the conviction from Sister Aloysius, maybe I’d be like Sister James and be so easily swayed. I’m left with this interesting layer of doubt — this Catholic guilt and doubt that I already possess.
Wonderfully-written. As a bonus, this play is actually quite funny. I read this entire play at a coffeeshop earlier today and let out a few good chuckles. Some satisfying bits with bloody noses, blindness, and coworker nonsense (even if they’re all nuns — we’re all only human and not divine nor immaculate).
The last couple scenes — the Mrs. Muller meeting… wow. I gasped at a reveal, which I guess is how we’re supposed to react. You think you know, you think you know. There’s layers and nuance to all of this. A lot to chew on, genuinely.
“When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God, but in His service.”
Loved reading that the original cast of the show said in interviews that the second act starts when the audience leaves the theater. This was so quick to read, and I saw that it translates to about 90 minutes of theater. Makes a lot of sense! Father Flynn’s sermons can take awhile; and boy, I’m sure there are a lot of meaningful pregnant pauses. Wow. Great stuff.
Father Flynn would be a difficult character to play… but I’d love to do it. I know it takes place in the 1960s, but hey, the next Pope might be Filipino! And I was born in the Bronx. Maybe we can manifest this for a revival in 20-25 years.
I knew from reading John Patrick Shanley’s introduction to the play, which I included an excerpt of above, that I was in for a real treat. Had been meaning to watch the film for a long time now, but in a way, I’m glad this was my introduction to the work. The ideas are right there, and just READING the play, and creating voices in my head — it adds to this layer of doubt.
“If I could, Sister James, I would certainly choose to live in innocence. But innocence can only be wisdom in a world without evil. Situations arise and we are confronted with wrongdoing and the need to act.”
If I heard Father Flynn explain his side, or if I heard the conviction from Sister Aloysius, maybe I’d be like Sister James and be so easily swayed. I’m left with this interesting layer of doubt — this Catholic guilt and doubt that I already possess.
Wonderfully-written. As a bonus, this play is actually quite funny. I read this entire play at a coffeeshop earlier today and let out a few good chuckles. Some satisfying bits with bloody noses, blindness, and coworker nonsense (even if they’re all nuns — we’re all only human and not divine nor immaculate).
The last couple scenes — the Mrs. Muller meeting… wow. I gasped at a reveal, which I guess is how we’re supposed to react. You think you know, you think you know. There’s layers and nuance to all of this. A lot to chew on, genuinely.
“When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God, but in His service.”
Loved reading that the original cast of the show said in interviews that the second act starts when the audience leaves the theater. This was so quick to read, and I saw that it translates to about 90 minutes of theater. Makes a lot of sense! Father Flynn’s sermons can take awhile; and boy, I’m sure there are a lot of meaningful pregnant pauses. Wow. Great stuff.
Father Flynn would be a difficult character to play… but I’d love to do it. I know it takes place in the 1960s, but hey, the next Pope might be Filipino! And I was born in the Bronx. Maybe we can manifest this for a revival in 20-25 years.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“This morning I watched one of my patients die before my eyes.”
“But you’re not a doctor, Ivan.”
“Then I am all the guiltier. Oh, Alyosha, how can you look at this barren untranslatable Russian idiom around us, and still believe in God?”
With my fairly pedestrian and elementary knowledge of Russian Drama and literature (and let’s face it, it’s really just purely Russian Drama at this point), I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this irreverent, nonsensical play spoofing so much from Russian art as well as just contemporary Western art as well.
Laughed a lot while reading. Would imagine a lot of great bits are visual — Constance during her long, strange translations of scenes from Russian to English, and the ‘yes, and’ that seems to play out with the characters she’s telling stories of but changing circumstances (from “whorehouse” to “warehouse”).
Mary Tyrone Karamazov killed me. Mary’s already ‘not there’ at times in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, but how she’s used in this play, just deliriously referring to her sons as characters from a completely different play… a wonderful bit. Got me every time.
“Mama, I’m going to be a pop star!”
“Edmund, stop saying that! It’s just a summer cold!”
My first Durang. He won the Tony for Best Play with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and I feel like I’ll visit the play quite soon. Beyond Therapy I’d love to read next and will do it soon. He’s from New Jersey! I can hear it with the dialogue. Feels so New Jerseyan.
“But you’re not a doctor, Ivan.”
“Then I am all the guiltier. Oh, Alyosha, how can you look at this barren untranslatable Russian idiom around us, and still believe in God?”
With my fairly pedestrian and elementary knowledge of Russian Drama and literature (and let’s face it, it’s really just purely Russian Drama at this point), I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this irreverent, nonsensical play spoofing so much from Russian art as well as just contemporary Western art as well.
Laughed a lot while reading. Would imagine a lot of great bits are visual — Constance during her long, strange translations of scenes from Russian to English, and the ‘yes, and’ that seems to play out with the characters she’s telling stories of but changing circumstances (from “whorehouse” to “warehouse”).
Mary Tyrone Karamazov killed me. Mary’s already ‘not there’ at times in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, but how she’s used in this play, just deliriously referring to her sons as characters from a completely different play… a wonderful bit. Got me every time.
“Mama, I’m going to be a pop star!”
“Edmund, stop saying that! It’s just a summer cold!”
My first Durang. He won the Tony for Best Play with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and I feel like I’ll visit the play quite soon. Beyond Therapy I’d love to read next and will do it soon. He’s from New Jersey! I can hear it with the dialogue. Feels so New Jerseyan.
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I read this book over the course of a few months (just made a goodreads today, this is my first 'review'). A part of me didn't want it to end; it really felt like a film school in a book, and I related immensely to this feeling of impostor syndrome that follows you all throughout your life.
The difference is that Mike Nichols is an EGOT, and had a long, varied, wondrous career; and me, well, I'm, uh... just getting started?
Mark Harris' writing was effortless to read. I'd imagine as empathetically written as Mike Nichols was with his actors on-set.
I got my copy of my book signed by Mark Harris at a screening of Carnal Knowledge at the Film Forum in NYC. He introduced the film with some context of where Nichols was at his career when this film was released; how Carnal Knowledge was misunderstood, and was more often than not playing at the porn theaters, given how honest and unforgiving it was with its treatment of sexuality and masculinity.
I got to tell Mark Harris himself how his book helped usher in my mini-Nichols obsession, as well as an intro to Elaine May (her film The Heartbreak Kid is one of my all-time favorites, which I was inspired to watch after reading this book). I also got to say how much this book fueled and continues to fuel me creatively; there's so much to pick up from the book, but also to read about the vulnerabilities and flaws behind the 'human' behind the masterpieces (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Mark was gracious with his words back to me and said, along the lines of, "I think you got everything out of this book that I would've wanted anyone to." He considers this book in a way to be a 'how-to' book, especially in the realm of directing and creating. He said that in a way to me that maybe indicated that he had a feeling I'm cut from a similar cloth as Nichols, and that meant a lot.
More a review about the experience than the book itself, but I'm not sure how I'll proceed with this goodreads account. I really loved this book and will continue to go back to it from time to time to provide comfort, navigating this complex and strange world we live in.
The difference is that Mike Nichols is an EGOT, and had a long, varied, wondrous career; and me, well, I'm, uh... just getting started?
Mark Harris' writing was effortless to read. I'd imagine as empathetically written as Mike Nichols was with his actors on-set.
I got my copy of my book signed by Mark Harris at a screening of Carnal Knowledge at the Film Forum in NYC. He introduced the film with some context of where Nichols was at his career when this film was released; how Carnal Knowledge was misunderstood, and was more often than not playing at the porn theaters, given how honest and unforgiving it was with its treatment of sexuality and masculinity.
I got to tell Mark Harris himself how his book helped usher in my mini-Nichols obsession, as well as an intro to Elaine May (her film The Heartbreak Kid is one of my all-time favorites, which I was inspired to watch after reading this book). I also got to say how much this book fueled and continues to fuel me creatively; there's so much to pick up from the book, but also to read about the vulnerabilities and flaws behind the 'human' behind the masterpieces (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Mark was gracious with his words back to me and said, along the lines of, "I think you got everything out of this book that I would've wanted anyone to." He considers this book in a way to be a 'how-to' book, especially in the realm of directing and creating. He said that in a way to me that maybe indicated that he had a feeling I'm cut from a similar cloth as Nichols, and that meant a lot.
More a review about the experience than the book itself, but I'm not sure how I'll proceed with this goodreads account. I really loved this book and will continue to go back to it from time to time to provide comfort, navigating this complex and strange world we live in.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
This one… HOO BOY. Lyrical, brutal, sensual, and romantic to life itself, by way of its intensity & trueness to itself.
Paraphrasing a bit, but loved the sentiment that: People say life is circular, or history is circular. But rather, it moves in spirals. We move in a circular motion and return to old spots again, but a circle away — a distance away from where we were before when we were last at that spot.
“Because a bullet without a body is a song without ears.”
“Did you know people get rich off of sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand, and say, “it’s been an honor to serve my country.”… what if the elation I feel is not another “bipolar episode” but something I fought hard for?”
“If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you’re born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly.”
Paraphrasing a bit, but loved the sentiment that: People say life is circular, or history is circular. But rather, it moves in spirals. We move in a circular motion and return to old spots again, but a circle away — a distance away from where we were before when we were last at that spot.
“Because a bullet without a body is a song without ears.”
“Did you know people get rich off of sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand, and say, “it’s been an honor to serve my country.”… what if the elation I feel is not another “bipolar episode” but something I fought hard for?”
“If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you’re born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly.”