The First 5 Plays on Video

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > 5 PLAYS > VIDEO

'I start with theme and character and, sometimes, ideas for scenes and dialogue, and I get a sense thematically of what I want to explore and accomplish. Basically I'm too immature to actually work it all out in my head before I start for some reason. So I actually start and just let the screenplay sort of guide me as to where it's going. Sometimes I hit walls, and then I go back and I start from the beginning, because I always find that wall has been built because something hasn't been seeded correctly, something hasn't been developed. . . . I also find that by approaching writing that way as opposed to [outlining], you come up with incredibly original work, because you're not using formulas and you're not mapping out plot lines that can't help but be sourced from a million movies you've seen.'

-- Richard LaGravenese

Before you rush out to rent the videos of the First 5 Plays, the film adaptations of three of them changed the structure of the original plays. All but one are still good films and several are exceptional. If you can't find these on the racks at your local vido rental joint, you can order them from amazon.com through the linked video covers.

When Hollywood got through with adapting these plays, here's what happend to them . . .

'NIGHT MOTHER was left alone. It's a strong film with first-rate performances. And it's faithful to the dialogue and structure of the original play.

CRIMES OF THE HEART was left alone, too.

The film version is a bit softer than the play -- for some reason in filming the bite and edge of the original play got rounded off, even though the dialogue is mostly there. But it has a great cast.

A SOLDIER'S PLAY got a Happy Ending. They did this by eliminating one of the three levels of its time structure [the present]. And that removed any hint of what the playwright was really trying to say through the play's original Theme. But despite all that, it's still a first-rate and very powerful film.

M. BUTTERFLY lost its entire complex time structure of flashbacks. They converted it to a linear story that required the moving of the introduction of its Suspense Plot to the middle of the script, thus making a brilliant play one of the most boring films made in the last decades of the 20th Century.

But there's a grand performance by Jeremy Irons. And, combined with reading the play, it's one of the best lessons you'll ever get on the importance of Suspense Plots and when they need to be introduced in film and theatre.

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF had a sort-of happy ending grafted onto it, but that was done years ago so we can excuse the folks who did the deed. Acts I, II, and the early parts of Act III are relatively intact in the film. And the performances are amazing.

And for the all-time best film version of an American play . . .

Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, filmed as it was originally written, but with all the feel of a real film. It's an amazing film with amazing performances.

And another one of those you won't want to watch with your grandmother, unless she's really hip.

If you can't find a good local vido rental outfit with a large selection of plays on tape, you can order recommended plays, screenplays, videos, and books through the Web without having to do title searches. Look for linked book or video covers [as above left] or the amazon.com logo throughout The Playwriting Seminars. And the world's leading Internet bookstore can get them to you in a few days.

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