Monday, January 28, 2013

The Script

I broke my own house rule of prohibiting printing anything over 10 pages, instituted to keep my children from running through reams of paper that inevitably end up in the recycling sometimes in less than a couple of days after printing. I printed the 104 pages of the script for The Book Club Play, late at night when my kids were sleeping. I just can't read prose (or scripts) on a screen. Old school.

I'm very glad I did print it out as I thoroughly enjoyed marking up the margins with exclamation marks, question marks, arrows and phrases. As a writer, and not a playwright, I was fascinated to read a story so well-told and so humorous through only dialogue and not even much monologue. The lines are very short, conversational, a sentence per speaker at a time. I was also surprised that there wasn't more stage direction in the script, and yet I could envision where the characters were and how/when they moved.

I did wonder how the pattern of the script (Book club meeting / confessional / pundit) will play out on stage. Will it seemed contrived? Show don't tell? Or perhaps a good break in the pace? I did enjoy that the "scenes" are organized by Book Selection, and that the imposition of the Documentary filming heightens the power and control issues amongst the Book Club members.

Lastly, I kept thinking about the idea stated early on (p. 55) about the role of books, as entertainment vs. enlightenment. I see a parallel between the discussions I've had about movies vs. films. It also extends to the discussion of what is the role of a bookclub then - intellectual engagement and discussion vs. social interaction and party. As the literary agent on p. 24 says, "every one of us has a story." As a writer, I am also struck by the pithy quote: "Writing a book takes courage. Getting it published takes luck. But getting someone to read your book takes a friggin' miracle." and so true also for a play.

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