Reading drama is very different from reading novels, you don't need me to tell you that. When I was much younger, I hated drama with a passion. I could never understand why dialogues have to be so difficult to understand (that's what I thought at the time). In fact, I'm not good with a lot of dialogues at length, I get muddled, that's a reason why I never read too many of Agatha Christie's novels. They tend to have long conversations and I get confused about who's saying what!
This was until I had to read 'Julius Caesar' in school, when I was 13 followed by 'Tempest' when I was 15. We had Oxford University Press annotated Shakespeare editions. And we had a very meticulous teach, who wasn't life changing or brilliant, but disciplined. The combination of the two meant that we were taught to read Shakespeare and understand him using the annotations on the side. We were required to enact them too, and I was Cassius. I have enjoyed drama ever since! It is always different and they is so much fun in imagining oneself in a character's shoes. This time around, for MA, I need to read a variety of playwrights, and they're all exciting, moving, and brilliant in their own right. Have you read any of these? What have you thought of it (them)?
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Hamlet
Alchemist by Ben Jonson
The Playboy of the Western World
Pygmalion
Murder in the Cathedral
Waiting for Godot
Look Back in Anger
*****************************************************This was until I had to read 'Julius Caesar' in school, when I was 13 followed by 'Tempest' when I was 15. We had Oxford University Press annotated Shakespeare editions. And we had a very meticulous teach, who wasn't life changing or brilliant, but disciplined. The combination of the two meant that we were taught to read Shakespeare and understand him using the annotations on the side. We were required to enact them too, and I was Cassius. I have enjoyed drama ever since! It is always different and they is so much fun in imagining oneself in a character's shoes. This time around, for MA, I need to read a variety of playwrights, and they're all exciting, moving, and brilliant in their own right. Have you read any of these? What have you thought of it (them)?
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Hamlet
Alchemist by Ben Jonson
The Playboy of the Western World
Pygmalion
Murder in the Cathedral
Waiting for Godot
Look Back in Anger
This is the fourth post for the April A-to-Z Blogging Challenge 2014.
Previously, Archaism, British literature, Critical Analysis
4 comments:
I read A Midsummer Night's Dream and Murder in the Cathedral in school. And I've seen AMND and Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. I think I was a little young for Murder in the Cathedral when I did it. Maybe you get more out of them when you're a little older.
Reading Hamlet was an absolute revelation.
I might be biased because I loved doing theatre productions, especially in college. It wasn't until I read Shakespeare's comedies and histories that I really came to love his work. It's so textured and made to appeal to both the high and lowborn of his age.
Tennessee Williams's plays are complex studies of human nature, and so are Henrik Ibsen's.
Studying drama has helped me so much as a fiction writer--especially to visualize how scenes are blocked and think about how to pair dialogue with action.
Happy A-Zing!
Laurel
Laurel's Leaves
What I coincidence! I fell in love with drama after I played a character in one of Shakespeare's plays too! Portia in Merchant of Venice. Drama is a treat to the senses! Good luck with the rest of the challenge!
http://themagicquill.blogspot.in/
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