A Book So Special, I Had to Make a Friday Reads to Share It
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- Turns out I have a playlist for Friday Reads videos, so maybe this isn't my first one after all!
Books and plays discussed herein:
The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
Angels in America: Perestroika by Tony Kushner
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Films mentioned or discussed herein:
Angels in America (dir: Mike Nichols)
Possession (dir: Neil LaBute)
I owe my possession of the oral history to @saintdonoghue
Here is a link to the trailer for the Angels in America mini-series, currently streaming on Max:
• 'I Am a Messenger' Tra...
@booksimnotreading brought me here. Happy Reading! 😎📚👍
Well done, Jason! ❤️
I was happy to open YT and see you
posted this. Great video.
That book is right up my alley. I will definitely pick it up especially after just seeing Angels in America again. I love the art and stories and I am a sponge for process. Love your enthusiasm about it all.
As for Possession, it is one of my most favourite and captivating reads even though I have only read it once over 30 years ago.
I am now eager to pull it off my shelf today and start it this month.
I have always been disappointed by the film. I have watched it plenty of times, always approaching it thinking it will be the different adaption that I wanted. I wish it would be remade, in parts.
I smile for the joy of expecting to see Kelly each week and then here you are, like the Easter Bunny LOL
You’re going to adore the book. Damn thing had me in tears last night. Three pages of the actresses who’ve played Harper over the years talking about what the Night Flight speech means to them.
Great to see you back doing a Friday reads Jason! This really sounds like a powerful book and isn’t it wonderful to have a book you can’t stop thinking about. I need to reread Possession as when I read it in my twenties I wasn’t bowed over by it, yet so many other people whose opinions I trust seem to love it.
I find I like and admire Possession more each time I read it.
I was always present as the writer in all productions of my plays back in the day. However, the writer kind of has to keep schtumm and let the director and actors bring their creative processes to the fore because otherwise why would we employ them? I used to do the actor warm up exercises with the cast and then leave them to it, being present for advice/questions, but mainly being a cheerleader. I do remember one of my short 15 mins play was so badly misinterpreted that I stopped going to the performances for the final two. I was in the venue, but I just didn't go into the auditorium. Some you win, some you lose. It doesn't surprise me that LaBute messed up the fil version. He should only be allowed to direct his own stuff, not anybody else's
I think I would prefer _not_ to be present - but I admire and respect playwrights who give the production staff free rein. Aside from changing words, all’s fair game to my view, though it can be stupid, like when we had a Shakespeare comedy here in Chicago end with the main female love interest getting brutally stabbed to death and then curtain.
I had no idea you'd been a playwright prior to writing novels, my friend. To give you some idea how much control Kushner exerted over some productions: Declan Donnellan directed the first British production of Millennium Approaches and Kushner's influence and demands were such that when Perestroika was finished, Donnellan agreed to direct it on the condition that Kushner not be allowed into the UK during rehearsals and only be permitted to attend previews beginning, I believe, with the third one. The two have become close friends, but their capacity to be at loggerheads with one another in those early days would've killed the chance at friendship for many people. It's bizarre and exhilarating to read about how Kushner imposes himself upon the vision of most directors -- he's been much better about merely being available in the way that you describe in recent years.
@@OldBluesChapterandVerse Ha ha! Yes, I was a playwright at Uni and thought that was a spiffing idea for a job for after I graduated. Of course it paid even less peanuts than novel writing at the level I get published. I gave it up once our twins arrived and once they were weened, then I turned my hand to prose because I couldn't go and hang out at theatre bars while they were still so young. Bests decision I ever made, I infinitely prefer prose to stage. Though I have one unproduced script I have a nagging hankering to get staged, but have not yet reached sufficient status as any kind of writer to be able to demand it gets produced.
Hi Jason! I just got this book based on your recommendation. I thought you might also be interested in another oral history book, especially since you're also such a film buff. A while back I read "Life isn't everything: Mike Nichols, as remembered by 150 of his closest friends" written(?) or created by Ash Carter and Sam Kashner. It's a mosaic-style portrait of the artist and man, very worthwhile if you like Mike Nichols, and if you haven't already read it, of course. Cheers!
@@overherereading I will absolutely add that to my TBR. Thanks!
Glad to hear you mention Alexeivich. I was an undergrad in new York city when AiA was the biggest thing in town. Couldnt ever afford a ticket but I love the miniseries.
Meryl Streep says in the book that during its initial Broadway run, it was all anyone in cultural circles could talk about in NYC.
I have never heard of this. 😮 Admittedly, I don’t follow current/modern theater news. Fascinating!
I loved Possession the novel. I thought they were real people and went to look them up and discovered they were all made up. So well done. I did like the movie, but the book is sooo much better.
Yeah, the movie is successful enough on its terms, but holy moly could that novel make a spectacular film in the right hands. Imagine an adaptation by Joe Wright or Jane Campion.
@@OldBluesChapterandVerse Oh Jane Campion, I so loved Top of the Lake and the Piano. We should write her and ask for a remake 😁