With the recent release of the film version of Oslo on HBO, I thought it worth revisiting my brief thoughts on the stage version at Lincoln Center some years back during a trip to New York. I missed the Japanese version at Tokyo’s New National Theatre back in February. I was wondering how the general lack of knowledge here about (or interest in) Middle Eastern affairs might affect the characterizations; even accents are rarely used to distinguish varying nationalities, i.e., everyone speaks standard Japanese, sometimes making it hard to figure out who is who. It apparently sold well, helped by a starry cast, so hopefully there will be revival at some point. Continue reading
Category Archives: Play
A Kabuki Christmas Carol
This is my Kabuki version of the Dickens classic reset in late 19th-century Japan. That setting is deliberate: Scrooge’s youth would be the Edo Era of samurai and shoguns; his present the Meiji Era, when Japan opened itself to the world; and his future the increasingly Westernized Late Meiji or Taisho Era, all visually very distinct periods. I originally wrote the show in Japanese for a Kabuki script competition by Japan’s National Theatre. That didn’t work out, but when a local English-language troupe took interest, I rewrote it in English. The show takes place on a Japanese New Year’s Eve, which shares many similarities with Christmas Eve in the West, but the producer insisted on retaining the “Christmas Carol” title for marketing purposes (the Japanese title is different). The production, performed in English by a multicultural cast at a central Tokyo theater, proved a huge success in a sellout run. The image above was created for that production. Here is a slightly revised version of that script.
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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (film)
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (film)
4/1/21 (Thurs), Netflix
Part of August Wilson’s 10-play cycle of the black experience in the US in the 20th century. A white-owned record company in Chicago has contracted to make a recording with the imperious Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), a real-life Southern singer from the 1920s known as Mother of the Blues. The record makers hope to broaden her appeal by commissioning new arrangements from Levee (a spectacular Chadwick Boseman), a young black musician who is more tuned in to the tastes of the broader public and sees this as his stepping stone to fame. Unfortunately Ma doesn’t take kindly to suggestions, well meaning or not, and takes every opportunity to stick it to the white man regardless of how that affects others, including the young kid’s future. The clash between Ma and Levee – over music, her various demands, her woman (over whom both are fighting; the real Ma was evidently an unashamed lesbian) – leads to fireworks.
Our United States
I just came across a sample pilot script I wrote in 2000 for a proposed television show. I did it mainly for fun and, knowing nothing about the TV world, never submitted it to anyone. It’s been sitting unread on my computer ever since. Some parts may not be entirely PC these days, and some characters are underdeveloped at this early stage. Nevertheless, I figured I’d put it out there as originally written, warts and all. It’s funny for me to look at this in light of the numerous good political TV comedies have emerged in the years since. I vaguely remember that I wanted the character Kornpone to sound like Foghorn Leghorn. Enjoy. Continue reading
Act One
- Act One (Lincoln Center broadcast)
6/25/20 (Thurs)
Lincoln Center’s wonderful 2014 retelling of Moss Hart’s classic autobiography. I had missed this show back in the day and, as a huge fan of the book, had this broadcast marked in my calendar as soon as I heard about it. Continue reading
Rose
- Rose
9/25/20 (Fri)
Revival of Martin Sherman’s one-woman show, performed by Maureen Lipman and being streamed worldwide. The show was originally written for her back in 1999, but she never got around to it; it ended up being done at London’s National Theatre with an acclaimed performance by Olympia Dukakis. Presumably having nothing else to do stage-wise at the moment with all the theaters in London closed, she’s finally taken on the role, performing alone in an empty theater for live broadcast. One positive side to the wait is that she’s actually closer to the age of the character now.
Les Blancs (NT Live at Home)
- Les Blancs (NT Live at Home)
7/9/20 (Wed)
A fascinating play by Lorraine Hansberry of Raisin in the Sun fame, left unfinished at her early death and reworked by her husband for its debut in 1970. She wrote this apparently in response to a production she attended in 1961 of Genet’s hugely successful Les Nègres, wanting to jettison the exoticism of his show for a more realistic portrait of colonialism and the African experience.
La Cage Aux Folles (play)
- La Cage Aux Folles (play), 3/2/20 (Mon), London
The gay (in every way) French farce La Cage Aux Folles has had a storied history, enjoying success as a French movie (at the time America’s highest grossing foreign-language film ever), a long-running musical since revived on Broadway twice (winning Tony Awards on all three occasions), and an unfortunate hit American film version with Robin Williams. Given its history, it is amazing that the source play has never been performed in English. That has been rectified with this production in a tiny Fringe theater off the beaten path in a spirited translation by the estimable Simon Callow. Since the first film, the show has become more and more preachy and less and less interesting with each incarnation. A particularly cavernous gap exists between the casual French film, which was interested in the gay relationship only for its comic potential, and the American versions, where the gayness was the entire point. I saw the French film in its original release in the 1970s and loved the unashamed treatment of the topic, including the fearlessly “out” portrayal by the leads and Albin’s unexpectedly moving revelation at the dinner, both daring for the time. The politician’s slow burn at Albin’s confession was also masterful. The American versions seem embarrassed by the gay content and go out of their way to make their wokeness known. I’ve always been curious about the source play that started the whole thing, so this was an opportunity I wasn’t going to miss.
Fortune (フォーチュン）
- フォーチュン (Fortune)
1/23/20 (Thurs), Tokyo
World premiere of a new takeoff on the Faust legend by UK playwright Simon Stephens. Continue reading
A Look Back: King Charles III
The ongoing real-life drama of “Prince Harry: The Prisoner of Markle” brought to mind the character Prince Harry in Mike Bartlett’s fascinating stage show some five years back, “King Charles III“, that speculated on the future of the monarchy after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The show’s Harry is portrayed as uncomfortable with his royal role and willing at one point to give it all up, finding comfort in the arms of a fun-loving working-class woman. That notion has proved amazingly prescient in light of current events. I thought at the time that “history might make this [show] un-revivable”, but it now seems to be playing out in real time. This may put paid to the idea that God doesn’t write a good second act. It remains to be seen how this develops (the drama offers a hopeful ending), but I figured it was a good opportunity to look back at this remarkable piece. I wish New York and Tokyo could do political drama this well.
Allelujah! (NT Live)
- Allelujah! (National Theatre Live)
7/20/19 (Sat), Tokyo
An underwhelming critique of the UK’s national health system (NHS) by the estimable Alan Bennett, directed by his History Boys partner Nicholas Hytner and filmed in performance at London’s Bridge Theatre. Continue reading
Rosmersholm
- Rosmersholm, 6/6/19 (Thurs), West End
I hadn’t planned on seeing this piece, put off by the unwieldy title and not knowing much about it, but it was the least painful option on the half-price board. Described as minor Ibsen, it is rarely revived and is being produced commercially without the usual run at subsidized locations like the National Theatre to give it credence. Nevertheless, the reviews were encouraging, and I figured I could at least tick it off the box of shows you must see before you die.
It turned out to be a sharp and provocative drama dealing with political extremism and family intrigue, nothing minor about it. Continue reading
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