Favorite Play ... Acted/Directed/Seen, etc.

[Marc]

I thought this might be interesting. Let us know your favorites (add categories as needed). Here's mine:

Favorite production seen: (tie)"Marat/Sade" by Interlochen Arts Camp; and "Freewheelin' in the Attic of Whim" by Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis

Favorite role I've played: Pale from "Burn This" by Lanford Wilson

Favorite show I've directed: (4-way tie) "Macbeth," "The Exonerated" by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, "Betrayal" by Harold Pinter, and "Frankenstein, Inc." by me.

Favorite script I've read and would love to see performed: "Oedipus Rex" or "Amadeus" by Peter Shaffer

[[deleted user]]

This sounds like fun. Here are my top picks:

Favorite production seen: (tie) Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Donmar Warehouse Theatre and I Am My Own Wife by Portland Stage Company.

Favorite Show I've directed: The Bald Soprano.

Favorite script I've read and would like to direct: The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles' Antigone by Seamus Heaney & The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht.

[Morgan]

Favorite role I've played: Mrs. Appleyard from "Picnic at Hanging Rock"

Favorite play I'd like to direct: Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus"

Favorite play I'd like to design: "Polaroid Stories" by Naomi Iizuka

Favorite play I read and can't wait to see: "The Pillowman" by Martin McDonough, set for the Curtain Theatre at UMass Amherst

Favorite play I've read: "Nine Come" (I forgot the playwright's name)

[Letitia]

Favorite play ever: Miracle Worker. It's old, and some consider it cliche, but I find it incredibly powerful.

Favorite author: Tom Stoppard.

Favorite production seen: Jesus Hopped the A-Train.

Favorite production a part of: The Foreigner by Larry Shue

[Ralph]

Favorite play I've ever seen: "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds."

Favorite musical ever seen: "Gypsy" with Tyne Daly.

Favorite playwright: Tennessee Williams.

Favorite production I've been in: "Prisoner of Second Avenue."

Favorite I've ever directed: "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum."

Play I'd like to be in: "Deathtrap."

Play I'd like to direct: "Come Back to the Five-and-Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."

and many, many runners-up.

Have a great day everyone.

Ralph

[Dorian]

i like chicago!
:)
ummm... i like musicals more than plays i think.
is that what we[or u guys:] are talking about??

MUCH L0VE
-mrs.confused

[Erin]

Favorite play to read: Mandrake (Machiavelli)

Acting: tie Jane Martin's Defying Gravity and Anouilh's Antigone

Costume Design: Vinegar Tom (Churchill)

Directing: Art of Dining (Tina Howe)

[Jessica]

Oh how to pick. My taste ranges so wildly through the highbrow, the lowbrow, the middlebrow, etc.

Favorite play I've directed: Tennessee Williams's Camino Real

Favorite dramaturgy experience: Jean Genet's The Balcony

I'd love to direct: A very kinky Midsummer Night's Dream

I'd love to produce: a vibrant dinner theater/cabaret with a new show each week and a real mix of stuff -- short plays, musical acts, comedy, improv, weirdness, readings

Favorite performance seen: Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Ariane Mnouchkine's Les Atrides.

[Joseph]

One of the most amazing pieces I've ever seen was a very intimate adaptation of Avecinna's Recital of the Bird by my old friend Massoud Saidpour. It was presented for 10 people in a wooden yurt in the California desert during Grotowski's Objective Drama Research Program.

Favorite play I've directed/acted in: Dream of a Ridiculous Man, adapted from the writings of Dostoevsky. Produced by Akropolis Performance Lab

Favorite "commercial" play acted in: Hamlet in Hamlet for the Players Guild of Canton.

Favorite Children's Theatre production acted in: Old Kate in Treasure Island for Magical Theatre Co in Barberton, OH(yes, I played an old pirate woman. Gave Billy Bones the Black Spot).

[Nikki]

Hi everyone, I'm new here :) I haven't appeared in plays myself, but I've seen countless musicals and plays over the years.

My favorite playwright is Tennessee Williams, my current favorite plays are "Journey's End" for drama (been on Broadway recently) and for comedy Bennett's "History Boys".

I hope to find some inspiration here for plays to read and see.

[Ali]

Welcome Nikki, there are lots of others recently joined the group, yet to hear about their experiences and favroites.
I personally don't know "Journey's End" and "History Boys"! Am I ages behind? It could be.

[Nikki]

Hi Ali :) "History Boys" has been a huge success in the last 2-3 years, first at the National Theatre in London, then on Broadway where it won 8 Tony-Awards last year. It has also been filmed with the original cast, but the film was not very successful, sadly. It is presently on tour in the UK again and will return to London in December. I first noticed it on Broadway but didn't see it there, just bought the play script. Loved it and booked a ticket for the show in London this spring (saw it together with "Equus", starring Daniel Radcliffe) and also bought the movie version on DVD.

I noticed "Journey's End" because it was on Broadway starring one of my favorite movie actors, the dashing Hugh Dancy. I would have killed to see him on stage, but sadly the show closed a few weeks before I went to New York :( So I bought the play script at least to know what he was doing there. It's a very touching anti-war play set in the trenches of the first World War. People say it was no success on Broadway because Americans are tired of 'war'.

I usually check what's playing on Broadway and in the West End and even if I can't see most plays live, I try to read the scripts to know what the plays are about.

[Ali]

Thanks a lot Nikki. Cost me just 30 minutes to collect brief informations about History Boys:
http://www.historyboysonbroadway.com/
as for Journey’s End, how could I forget Sherriff who’s written the famous Windfal. Am I that old?
Have you checked this: http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/02/2...
I used to follow performances at West End when I was living in London, but this also goes back to the last century! (beginning of 90’s) Seems I haven’t seen a big satisfying performance for ages, as what’s going on here around is not very much worthy to discuss about.
Good luck

[KC]

Favorite play seen - Angels in America - both parts
Favorite play to read - anything Shakespeare - but most especially Lear and Othello.
Favorite role played - that's tough - but I have to go with Quilters - to say actual words of actual women was very moving.
Favorite play to direct - I'd have to say I'd love another stab at Mother Courage - especially in this time of war.

thanks,
kc

[John]

Nikki ...

The only two Tennessee Williams productions I've seen were obscure ones:

"Red Devil Battery Sign" in NYC, starring Elizabeth Ashley as The Woman Who Knew Too Much. I loved the sizzling neon devil sign indicating she was in trouble!

"5 x Tenn" at a very small theatre here in Seattle. Five recently-discovered (?) one-acts.

John

[Rosemary]

Some of my favorites plays: "Silence", "The Pitchfork Disney", "Shockheaded Peter", "The Woman in Black", "The Weir", and a chilling two-person version of "Turn of the Screw".

I adore Tennessee Williams--even his lesser plays have their moments. When I was child watching the movie verison of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and heard Big Daddy's mendacity speech, I was marked for life.

[Ali]

Hi Rosemary, the echo of your voice (contributions) in our deserted group sounds excelent. The problem is (for me) that what our American friends read / see are mostly from local dramatists (at least not very famous in Europe) so I have no idea about what you've read or seen lately.
have a nice weekend

[John]

The person sitting next to me when I attended "The Woman in Black" a couple of years ago thought it very funny that I gasped (not quite screamed) in horror when the Woman popped up out of the floor.

[Rosemary]

"The Woman in Black"--yes, I gasped, too, John!

Ali, you're right that it's difficult to find common theatre experiences across continents. Partly, it takes time for a playwright's work to become world famous. Partly, some/many of us in this group may be drawn to seeing odd and edgy plays performed in odd/edgy/tiny venues. Those plays may only have local or regional followings.

On a slightly different topic, the movie versions of plays--which can help to spread a play's popularity--are sometimes far removed from the experience of seeing the work on the stage. For example, I liked the movie version of "Quills" but I absolutely adored the stage version I saw at Stages Theater in Houston.

[Mary]

Best Plays I've Seen: The Importance Of Being Ernest and Anna In The Tropics (Among others)

Favorite Musicals: Guys And Dolls, Wicked and Company

Play I've Only Read And Want To See: Faust

Play I've Only Read And Would Love To Be In:
The Last Flapper As Zelda Fitzgerald

Musical I'd Love To Be In: Wicked As Elphaba (And Many More!)

[Pandora]

Mary, I love The Importance of Being Ernest. I would love to be in this play!

Plays I've been in and had a wonderful time were Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (I don't think anyone has ever heard of this one - but it is FUN) and Godspell (even though I can't sing!).

[Danell]

My favorite play i've seen: A tie between RENT and Les Misrables (both were traveling broadway troupes..and both were AMAZING!)

Favorite play i've been in: The Rimers of Eldritch (I played Patsy) -GREAT script!

Play I want to act in (or even see) - basically anything by David Mamet, but mostly Oleana.

[Mary]

Hey Pandora! Oh Man, I am OBSESSED with Earnest and one of my dream roles is Gwendolyn-The whole scene where Jack proposes and she goes off into oblivion about the name of Ernest, Priceless!: )

[Amy]

Hi Everybody:

Wow, Danell - I haven't thought about The Rimers of Eldritch for years. I was also in it once upon a time - played Mary Windrod (with lots of prosthetic makeup).

Favorite play seen - a very long time ago I saw Maggie Smith play Titania *and* Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Stratford Festival. It was a lovely production all the way around.

Favorite play directed - The Laramie Project

Favorite musical directed - Working

Favorite role - probably Kate in The Taming of the Shrew (I've played the part in three very different productions) and *no* it wasn't typecasting

Currently - I was just cast as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter - also a favorite of mine

I've been enjoying reading everyone's posts.

[Daniel]

Great idea for a discussion board. Sorry I'm coming into this a little late...

Favorite production seen: (3 way tie) the touring company of CRAZY FOR YOU in San Francisco (hands down better than the Broadway production I then saw four months later) and Harold Pinter's THE HOTHOUSE (in Minneapolis [or was it St. Paul?]) and a Polish production of OTHELLO at the International Shakespeare Festival in Santa Barbara, CA.

Favorite role I've played: 'Jud Templeton' in Bernard Slade's TRIBUTE.

Favorite show I've directed: THE CHAIRS by Eugene Ionesco

Favorite script I've read and would love to direct: (tie) -- EXIT THE KING by Ionesco and TERRA NOVA by Ted Tally.

Favorite show I've been a part of NOT as an actor: RADIO GALS (Pasadena Playhouse & Off-Broadway)

Show I'd most want to see on Broadway right now: (tie -- of course) WICKED and THE HOMECOMING.

Show I'm most likely to see next: PROOF ... at a local college.

[Mojgan]

Hi:)
These days, my favourite production is the "dead Class" by "Tadeusz Kantor" which I had seen a video of.
Have anyone seen it?

[Joseph]

Hello Mojgan,

I agree, "Dead Class" is a remarkable theatre piece, as is one of Kantor's other pieces,"Wielepole, Wielepole" (both of which I've also seen on video). If we're including theatre performances only available now through video archival footage, I would add to my list Grotowski's "Constant Prince" and "Apocalypsis Cum Figuris;" two of the most important/influential productions of the 20th Century.

[Mojgan]

Hi Joseph:)

I have seen kantor's "Wielopole, Wielopole" and also "Let the artists die" too. (both on Video) But the "Dead Class" is another thing!
About grotowski's works, I haven't seen the works you said. I've just seen "Akropolis" and it wasn't a
masterpiece.

[Büşra]

OMG!Thera are so much option to read!I want to real all of it!There are many play whis is my favourite but I love Who afraid of Virginia Wollf author is Albea nowadays.It is an absurd play but it doesnt like İonesco's or Becket's play.It disturbs you.After read the play you say 'wouw!'

[Büşra]

Tenaciousleigh wrote: "This sounds like fun. Here are my top picks:

Favorite production seen: (tie) Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Donmar Warehouse Theatre and I Am My Own Wife by Portland Stage Company.

Favo..."
I really love bold soprano...

[Amy]

Büşra wrote: "OMG!Thera are so much option to read!I want to real all of it!There are many play whis is my favourite but I love Who afraid of Virginia Wollf author is Albea nowadays.It is an absurd play but it d..."

I played Martha a couple of years ago. Let me tell you, that play and that character will leave you limp and exhausted at the end of a performance. But I loved every minute of it also.

[Büşra]

I tried it Amy..And I never change that minutes in my experience :) I love Martha and her power..

[Amy]

Did you also play Martha, Busra (sorry I don't have the right diacritics for your name on this keyboard)? I would like to know how you approached the part and what elements you felt were key to your interpretation.

[Deb]

Favourite play ever seen: Margaret Edson’s "Wit" (this is a hard question - I could have a different answer every day!)
Favourite Play I've been in & produced: Bryony Lavery's "Frozen" or Susan Miller's "My Left Breast"
Play I'd like to see: Ionesco's "The Chairs"
Favourite play I've directed (in school): Steven Berkoff's "Lunch" (I don't direct much - too scary)
Favourite new play I've read: Lucy Kirkwood's "it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now."
Favourite musical I've seen: Morwyn Brebner's Little Mercy's First Murder"
Favourite playwright: Daniel MacIvor/Moira Buffini
Favourite Play I'd like to produce & act in: Art of Dining (Tina Howe)

[Gretchen]

My favorite was The Producers. I was in the ensemble so I got to be a little old lady with a grey wig and dance with a walker. We did fan kicks and sang dirty songs. Those dirty little old ladies! :) I was 16 at the time.

[Gretchen]

Elizabeth wrote: "Wow, so many excellent plays have been mentioned! Here are mine:

Favorite plays: Angels in America, anything by Shakespeare.

Favorite productions: Angels in America on B'way; The Caucasian..."

I LOVE Angels in America! I've only seen the first part though, never seen part two.

[Rose]

Favorite play seen: The Glass Menagerie (the theatre company that performed this used an all african american cast set in St. Louis. It was an interesting twist :P)

Favorite play read: Gotta choose my top three:
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Tempest by William Shakespeare

[Leslie]

Over the weekend, I saw a wonderful production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, one of my favourite plays. Amanda Wingfield, the slightly crazed matriarch at the play's centre, was played with just the right mix of manic energy and softness.... My full review can be read at my blog, www.the-reading-list.com

[Büşra]

Amy wrote: "Did you also play Martha, Busra (sorry I don't have the right diacritics for your name on this keyboard)? I would like to know how you approached the part and what elements you felt were key to you..."

It doesn matter that about my name Amy :) Yes I played Whose afraid of Virginia Woolf and its woman character Martha.It was so interesting experiences because American Absurd is so comlicated branch...If you play someone You starting feel like it..Because of the fact that I love Theatre.

[Emily]

Hullo! I'm new...but thought I'd put my tuppence in! My favorite play to direct most recently was "The Taming of the Shrew" (see here: http://youtu.be/xaebQOnnHMU) along with "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet" (naturally).

Favorite play I've been in is probably as Lady Bracknell in "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Favorite musical is "Les Miserables," with the best PLAY I've ever seen probably being Sam West's 2000 RSC production of "Richard II." All they had was a few chairs (one painted gold), a long wooden box, and a pile of dirt (and they could have done w/o the dirt)...and it was RIVETING.

[mert]

Favourite play ever read: Waiting For Godot/Samuel Beckett (I'd like to direct it)

Favorite play ever seen: Topor Party in Antalya, Turkey, directed by Mehmet Ulusoy.

.. and I'd like to dramatize Kafka's Metamorphosis.

Favorite playwrights: Samuel Beckett, Will Shakespeare and Boris Vian.

[Jenna]

I need to go back and read all your fun responses, but here are some of mine.

Favorite play I've ever seen: some ties of course - The School for Scandal (Guthrie Theatre, c. 1999), Mary Stuart on Broadway with Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter; Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Patrick Stewart and Mercedes Ruehl; and an amazing production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Stratford Festival around 2007

Favorite musicals ever seen: off, too many to chose, but The Woman in White (West End with Maria Friedman), Mary Poppins (West End Original Cast), A Little Night Music (Broadway with Bernadette Peters) and She Loves Me (West End Revival Cast with Ruthie Henshall).

Favourite opera productions I've seen: Turandot at the MET, Le Nozze di Figaro at Santa Fe Opera, Le Nozze di Figaro at Staatsoper Wien, La Traviata at the MET and Boston Lyric Opera

Favorite playwright: Uh, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, William Shakespeare - all the obvious ones

Favorite production I've been in: The Cherry Orchard

Favorite I've ever directed: August Strindberg's The Stronger

Play I'd like to be in: (well if I was a really amazing actress) - I'd love to do Margaret in Henry VI, Part III, Gina in The Wild Duck or Yelena in Uncle Vanya

Play I'd like to direct: tie between All's Well that Ends Well, The Lady from the Sea (Ibsen), and the musical Carousel

Productions I want to see: War Horse

[Jenna]

Elizabeth wrote: Favorite roles: Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream; Emilia in Desdemona by Paula Vogel; Rita in Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein.


Looks like you got to act some good ones!

[Ruja]

Favourite production seen - Seagull by Chekhov in Theatre of the Bulgarian Army and Woyzeck in Deutsches Theater Berlin
Favourite scripts read - The waiter by Harold Pinter and The Cripple of Inshmaan by Martin McDonagh
Favourite play I've been in - Inferno by Dante
Play I'd like to direct - Waiting for Godot

Oh there are so many, many more...