Playwrites’ Wrights

My laudable opponent managed to sober up long enough to offer some wisdom, and perhaps the last word, on the subject of creative control vis-a-vis The Text.

From the St. Louis Newline theatre group thingy:
“”In the end, maybe it just comes down to the individual writer and his
license. Albee, Simon, and Beckett want to be strict about it, but
what about Suzan-Lori Parks, Jeff Goode, or Tom Stoppard? Or Scott
Miller? Or Byron Kerman, for that matter? As the writers, we’ve all
probably got a different take on just how much leeway we’d like to
give a director or company doing our show. Or maybe we just don’t
care, which, of course, is our right, as well.”

He then mentions the Creative Commons licensing. I’m all about this. It’s probably not for writers hoping to make a living out of their work, but it might be useful for the rest of us still thrashing around in the pool of mediocrity and trying to lay our dirty hands on the first greased rung of the ladder.

Regarding the writer’s vision, the Tin Ceiling’s experience with Blackbird White does highlight that some caution should be used in staging and original text exactly to the writer’s own specifications and vision. Especially if the writer isn’t sure what his vision actually is, or whether he has one at all. Although, in my defence, I did suggest during the dress rehearsal that the pirate play might have been better served if it were set on a time traveling U-Boat; one sent to a parallel universe with instructions to destroy Shakespeare’s second finest work and thus deal a terrible blow to WWII British resistance. Apparently, the “set designer” didn’t think he had the mustard for that kind of injury time tactics change. Pah. Amateurs.