Writing: Working in the Theatre (Working In The Theatre Seminars) [Hardcover]

Robert Emmet Long (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0826418066 | ISBN-13: 978-0826418067

Published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Tony Awards®, the launch of the new Working in the Theatre series from The American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards®, promises to be one of the most exciting theatrical-publishing events ever.

For more than 30 years, the Wing has produced the Working in the Theatre seminars, a series that features the greatest names in theatre. In book form for the first time, these compact volumes—at an affordable paperback price for gift-giving—are for students and for anyone with a passion for the theatre. Here are the inside, behind-the-scenes words of the actors, writers, directors, and producers who make Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theatre, and London's West End come alive.

Spanning the range of these freewheeling and well-attended panels, with a concentration on the most recent shows and current stars, the information, anecdotes, gossip (yes!), heartaches, and triumphs are all here. Each book has a refreshing immediacy featuring the timeless words of the pros themselves, in conversation with one another, as they teach us ever-so-entertainingly about every phase of the theatre, from Aristotle to Ziegfeld, from Medea to Spamalot.

In the Working in the Theatre Series, we learn what a career in the theatre is really about, from inspiration to a Tony or Pulitzer Prize
How do actors prepare?
What have the actors found to be the best techniques?
How do writers get their work staged?
How do playwrights and cast interact with the director?
What are some of the special challenges of choreographer-directors?
What is the role of the producers and backers?

Each volume features an original foreword by one of the participants and is like a master class on its subject. The books are well organized for easy reference. Each also has an index and 8 pages of unique or behind-the-scenes photographs.

Among the personalities "starring" in these books are Edward Albee, Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Billy Crudup, Edie Falco, Harvey Fierstein, John Guare, Anne Heche, Arthur Kopit, Swoosie Kurtz, Tony Kushner, Nathan Lane, Jessica Lange, Frank Langella, Terrence McNally, Arthur Miller, Mike Ockrent, Estelle Parsons, Chita Rivera, Patrick Stewart, Susan Stroman, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, and many others.

*Tony Awards is a registered trademark of the American Theaatre Wing

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mention in Today's Books / Booklist

"Gathering wisdom from 85 notable playwrites, lyricists, and directors, this book offers guidance for students and writers working in theater."— Columbia College Today, March/April 2008

About the Author

Robert Emmet Long is a recognized critic of American and British literature, and a commentator on the performing arts. He is author or editor of some 30 books and he has contributed over 400 articles to many journals and magazines, including The Nation, Commonweal, and Saturday Review.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (January 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826418066
• ISBN-13: 978-0826418067
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,609,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent slim book - just the good stuff, February 5, 2010

By 

Rachel Rutherford (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Writing: Working in the Theatre (Working In The Theatre Seminars) (Paperback)

This is a slim white book that is purely quotes from master playwrights. The quotes are short -- one line to a half-page long -- with lots of white space. Practical workaday thoughts. It is as if you are sitting there working on your play, and suddenly the fairy godmothers appear and give you blessings: Rosewater. Salt. Green leather boots.

For example, from "Starting Out":

"PAULA VOGEL
I had an older brother who died from AIDS, who was quite brilliant. He was supposed to be the writer in the family: wrote novels, wrote poetry. And you know how, in a family, as siblings, you never do what your older sibling is doing? I started thinking about theatre as not as literary a form as the novel or as a poem. I started telling myself that playwriting was actually not writing, that it was all right to write a play because, basically, I was writing the script -- but that actors and directors would actually be writing the production. So, I wasn't really a writer. I was writing a scenario. I was writing a structure. I was writing an excuse for us all to get together in a room."

Or, from "Writing For The Stage":

"ROBERT ANDERSON
It's usually three years between the time I finish a play and the time it gets on. It's murder.

EDWARD ALBEE
I keep a play in my head for years before I trust it to the page. I let it evolve.

KEITH GLOVER
I usually get the title first and I usually run it past my wife and I ask, "What do you think about this?" And she goes, "OK. You can do a little bit better," or something like that. And then, I try to live up to the title.

THERESA REBECK
Sometimes, I'll see someone in an orange sweater and think, "Oh, a person in an orange sweater. Her name might be this." It's the mystery of where ideas come from.

NILO CRUZ
I usually start with something it could be. It could be just a face, a character, it could be a name. It could be some particular kind of behavior that I'm interested in exploring. So, I never know what the play is going to be about.

THERESA REBECK
You have to center yourself deep inside the body of the character, so the words can rise out of that.

MARSHA NORMAN
[Director] Jon Jory said, "I can just tell you the mistakes you don't have to make as a first-time writer." And then, he especially gave me a great piece of advice: "When you're looking for a subject, look to a time in your life when you were terrified -- when you were really frightened, when you were scared, when you were frozen in fear." And that does, indeed, turn out to be a great place to look for subject matter."

I recommend this book. Well worth the price. Thanks, playwrights and authors, for the wisdom.