showard@udenva.UUCP (showard) (04/30/85)
[It's not a bug, it's a feature.] Here's a topic for you: how about a list of the most difficult plays with regard to props. The reason that I bring this up is that we're doing "You Can't Take it With You" and I'm trying to get somebody to lend us a xylophone! My two nominations are: 1.) "You Can't Take it With You" by Kaufman and Hart. A xylophone, printing press, snakes, Meccano set, fireworks, etc. 2.) "Deathtrap" by Ira Levin. A crossbow, trick handcuffs, a pistol-axe(!), a double-desk, etc. Mail nominations to me at udenva!showard or post them. I'll post a summary of replies. Hope this hasn't been done too recently! --Steve Howard, a.k.a. Mr. Blore (bonus points for guessing which character I played in "Ten Little Indians" :-))
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (05/01/85)
> > 1.) "You Can't Take it With You" by Kaufman and Hart. A xylophone, printing > press, snakes, Meccano set, fireworks, etc. > Not to mention the jar full of flies for the snakes and a jar of pickled pigs feet.
lizv@tektools.UUCP (Liz Vaughan) (05/07/85)
> > Here's a topic for you: how about a list of the most difficult plays with >regard to props. The reason that I bring this up is that we're doing "You >Can't Take it With You" and I'm trying to get somebody to lend us a xylophone! > What about plays with bizarre items of clothing? "The Ride Across Lake Constance" features a smoking jacket that a character takes off & reverses to a magician's tails, complete with hidden pockets etc.... costumer's nightmare..... Liz Vaughan tektronix!tektools!lizv
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/10/85)
"Sleuth" has to be near the top. It needs a sailor mannequin that laughs (preferably while moving various portions of its anatomy), a grandfather clock, a piano, etc. It's only one set, but it is required to be an extremely cluttered set, and cluttered with exotic items, too. -- Peter Reiher reiher@ucla-cs.arpa {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) (05/20/85)
Next year Berkeley Rep is doing "The Art of Dining" by Tina Howe, who wrote the not-very-good "Painting Churches" being done by San Francisco's ACT this year. I'm pessimistic about The Art of Dining, but it ought to qualify as prop-intensive, since a great deal of carefully prepared food is supposedly consumed on stage. I have no advance information, but I predict that Narsai David (who is on Berkeley Rep's board) will get himself into the act somewhere. -- Richard Mateosian {allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!srm nsc!srm@decwrl.ARPA
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/22/85)
In article <2730@nsc.UUCP> srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) writes: >Next year Berkeley Rep is doing "The Art of Dining" by Tina Howe, >I'm pessimistic about The Art of Dining, but it ought to >qualify as prop-intensive, since a great deal of carefully prepared food >is supposedly consumed on stage. Your pessimism is fairly well justified. I saw "The Art of Dining" at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. a couple years ago. The play is little more than a curiosity, and I can't see why anyone would bother doing it again, particularly because it is a very difficult work in terms of set and props. Indeed, gourmet food is required, and part of the idea of the play is that the audience can smell the food itself, adding to the realism (about the only good idea in the play). The kitchen is on stage, so there is only a certain amount of fudging possible. The actors, then, must be able to handle a certain amount of the cooking themselves. In addition, the set requires several merry-go-round horses in good condition. A little rewriting can get around this, I suppose, but rewriting plays to make them easier to stage never struck me as acceptable, by and large. Basically, "The Art of Dining" would make Grotowski barf. It's all production values and no text or performance substance. -- Peter Reiher reiher@ucla-cs.arpa soon to be reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDA {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) (05/25/85)
In article <5601@ucla-cs.ARPA> reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (Peter Reiher) writes: >>Next year Berkeley Rep is doing "The Art of Dining" by Tina Howe, >>I'm pessimistic. > >Your pessimism is fairly well justified. The play is little >more than a curiosity, and I can't see why anyone would bother doing it >again. Indeed, gourmet food is required, and part of the idea of the >play is that the audience can smell the food itself, adding to the realism >(about the only good idea in the play). The kitchen is on stage, so there >is only a certain amount of fudging possible. I don't KNOW, of course, but I SUSPECT that the fact that Narsai David (TV and radio cook and owner of a well known Berkeley restaurant) is on Berkeley Rep's board of directors has something to do with it. -- Richard Mateosian {cbosgd,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!srm nsc!srm@decwrl.ARPA
silberma@agrigene.UUCP (05/30/85)
> In article <2730@nsc.UUCP> srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) writes: > >Next year Berkeley Rep is doing "The Art of Dining" by Tina Howe, > >I'm pessimistic about The Art of Dining, but it ought to > >qualify as prop-intensive, since a great deal of carefully prepared food > >is supposedly consumed on stage. > > Your pessimism is fairly well justified. I saw "The Art of Dining" at the > Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. a couple years ago. The play is little > more than a curiosity, and I can't see why anyone would bother doing it > again, particularly because it is a very difficult work in terms of set > and props. Indeed, gourmet food is required, and part of the idea of the > play is that the audience can smell the food itself, adding to the realism > (about the only good idea in the play). The kitchen is on stage, so there > is only a certain amount of fudging possible. The actors, then, must be able > to handle a certain amount of the cooking themselves. In addition, the set > requires several merry-go-round horses in good condition. A little rewriting > can get around this, I suppose, but rewriting plays to make them easier to > stage never struck me as acceptable, by and large. > > Basically, "The Art of Dining" would make Grotowski barf. It's all production > values and no text or performance substance. > -- > Peter Reiher > reiher@ucla-cs.arpa > soon to be reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDA > {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***