365 Days/365 Plays

by Suzan-Lori Parks

“Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the most important dramatists America has produced.”—Tony Kushner
 
“The plan was that no matter what I did, how busy I was, what other commitments I had, I would write a play a day, every single day for a year. It would be about being present and being committed to the artistic process every single day, regardless of the ‘weather.’ It became a daily meditation, a daily prayer celebrating the rich and strange process of a writing life.”—Suzan-Lori Parks
 
On November 13, 2002, the incomparable Suzan-Lori Parks got an idea to write a play every day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The result is an extraordinary testament to artistic commitment. This collection of 365 impeccably crafted pieces, each with its own distinctive characters and dramatic power, is a complete work by an artist responding to her world, each and every day. Parks is one of the American theater’s most wily and innovative writers, and her “stark but poetic language and fiercely idiosyncratic images transform her work into something haunting and marvelous” ( TIME ) .

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Fiction

426 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Suzan-Lori Parks is an award-winning American playwright and screenwriter. She was a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant in 2001, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002. She is married to blues musician Paul Oscher.

Reviews

[Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely hit and miss, emphasis on miss.
The writing is lazy and many of the ideas simply set themselves up and go nowhere. There is so much more good, short-form theater out there (neo-futurists anyone?). While I admire the task she has undertaken, I feel like she did the bare minimum to complete it. There are long stretches where the plays just feel like journaling... unedited, unrevised and uninteresting doodles that any writer will recognize. I was sometimes inspired to figure out staging that would improve the plays but mostly I was annoyed. Also, the political pieces (this was written in 2003, the year we invaded Iraq) seem condescending and even baiting (when they aren't boring).
To be fair, I've seen productions of a handful of these plays and they were all better live than they were on the page. But the self-serving nature of the 365 project really discounts and undermines the theater companies that brought this work to life.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

In writing 365 plays they aren't all going to be winners. Taking them separately, some are thoroughly forgettable, but some are incredibly poignant and fantastic.

Taken together though, they make up an interesting tapestry of Mrs. Park's preoccupations. Certain images reappear again and again (Lincoln, ants, Soldiers, etc) and serve as a guide to what is on her mind these days. Taking all the plays together creates a surreal novel about people striving to matter in a time where men are turned into indistinguishable ants as war rages on without end and people become more and more disconnected.

In a practical matter, in performing these plays, they work very well as a springboard for Viewpoints-like investigations.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this is a collection of plays, skits, theatrical ideas and dumbshows, but more than that, it's a one-of-a-kind artist's diary, a daily ledger of Parks' preoccupations (war, gender, race, Abraham Lincoln, power dynamics) as well as how things like national holidays, the news, personal events, friends, and celebrities inform, reform and deform our thinking and thereby the creative process. I'm planning on reading this again in the future, just one play per day, but this time around, I couldn't stop myself from devouring it in big chunks.

[Ashley Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder if SLP thinks about these plays and which ones she found embarrassing to publish. I rated 4/5 for unknown reasons. Just vibes. I appreciate the task but obviously not all of these plays are good. It’s just a romp seeing an amazing playwright take on such a feat.

[Ari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think my teenage self would have entertained being seen reading something like this by the David Lynch fans so that I could join in on their "YOUWOULDNTGETIT" type of conversations and maybe get a kiss or two. I am an adult now and this sadly does not bring me any sort of joy, connection, fulfillment nor wisdom so it's a pass.

[Evan Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool little project that I think is executed about as well as this could be done

[Ivy Rockmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

she is so cool

[Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, from the past reviwes I've read on this book, I'm a bit surprised at the level of unappreciation for Suzan Lori Park's 365 plays 365 days on good reads. I just finished it this morning and although there were some parts of the play where i felt the need to skip sections, I found the book pretty satisfactory. Definitely unconventional, what I just read were plays in one single play. Now this was another confusing aspect of the play too, differentiating the ddifference between a play & a scene. A lot of the "plays" seemed like scenes to me. There was another thing about Park's grammar. She tended to not thoroughly spell words and leave out punctuation for a lot of contradictions. But besides the technicality of English and play writing the topics that Suzan touches on embodies the diversity, stereotypical, real, ugliness, and beauty of our United States of America.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

My company--Akropolis Performance Lab-- produced Week 2 in Seattle. The plays are generally ok. Some are brilliant, but overall I question whether anyone besides SLP could get these published. So many people marvel that she was able to accomplish the task she set for herself (write a new 1-5 pg "play" every day for one full year), but really it's just discipline. Having freed herself from the burden of having to write a great short play everyday she allowed for several good plays and many mediocre ones. The truly remarkable feat in all of this is that she and her manager have convinced hundreds of companies around the country to participate in the performance event.

[Maddsurgeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible accomplishment, and a great read. I saw Parks speak last month and she was very inspiring.

The project is basically what it says it is, a play a day every day for a year. Some are interconnected, some are one-offs, some are simple and funny, some are obscure and meaningful, some are vaudevillian two-handers and some are mind-bogglingly impractical to consider staging. There seem to be some recurring themes but I won't bother going into that here; suffice to say, if you see a local theatre doing some of these plays, do yourself a favor and check it out.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the book that inspired me to write a short (or flash) fiction piece a day for a year. There are a lot of great pieces throughout this book that are inspiring or thought-provoking. Definitely enjoyed reading this book and seeing such dedication to the craft. I thank her for the inspiration this gave me and hope it inspires someone else the same. Worth the read if you enjoy plays or are a writer of any kind.

[Maryanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is brilliant bathroom reading! yeah, they're not all pulitzer-prize winning pieces. Some of them may not even be plays at all. But it's an inspirational testament to applying discipline to the creative process.

Eventually, I really burned out on these. When it's less than 1 page, maybe it really isn't a play.

[Nicolette Hummel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful playwright. While not all of the plays are perfect, it’s an interesting enough concept to keep you reading. And though there are some imperfections, some of the plays are so touching and satisfying that it makes up for the less intriguing parts. Recommend for anyone interested in playwriting or short form theatre. 4.5 ⭐️

[Dana Jerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art of writing under time compression, is that you never get as much out of it as you hope you will. It is simply an exercise to build (in this case mental) muscle.
She still only gets to explore a handful of themes that might be concentrated better into one larger work.

[Karen Jean Martinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Suzan-Lori Parks, I hugged you once and wish I could hug you every day because I love the art you create. Thank you for embracing this wild idea and sharing it with us all.

We're staging the Father Comes Home from the War series in my Acting III class. :) Love.

[slp · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating, hilarious, intriguing, challenging. great way to pass the time. and possibly become a better human.

[Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept is intriguing and works both in favor and against the book. That said, there are a few real gems in there.

[Shaney]

Crazy

[Ivy]

Another likely candidate for the only-read-half-of-it book pile. Bummer.