Comments on: The Power of Drama

By: Stefanie

Stefanie — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:18:14 +0000

Carrie, I will be crying right along with you.

Fiona, thank you. I think you are right about the documentaries. Now if only we could get more people to actually see them…

Litlove, LOL, that sure does blow the catharsis bit to pieces. Where does one draw the line between art and spectacle?

Paul, thank you. That would certainly qualify as drama. I do wonder if sports are the only thing we have left that would be close to what the Greeks experienced with their drama? I have not read or that I can recall, heard of De Niro’s Game. I will have to look it up. Thanks for the tip!

Kim, how cool that you got to see Kushner speak. plays do create a community for their duration, don’t they? It’s such a magical feeling sharing that experience with what are very often complete strangers.

Melanie, I live in a theater town too but don’t manage to make it out often enough unfortunately. I must make more effort because it is so totally worthwhile.

Dorothy, you’re right talking about TV and movies doesn’t have the same community feel to it as a play. After I finished writing I wanted to go see a play too!

Thanks for the link Imani! I let my Harper’s subscription lapse in May because I was always two or thee months behind because of school.

Pete, we do ignore documentaries don’t we? As though documentary was equivalent to boredom. So not the case. Plays make me feel energized too, but I also know what you mean about the invisibility of watching a movie.

By: pete

pete — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:52:40 +0000

I agree with Fiona that the modern-day equivalent would be the documentary film-makers who make films about uncomfortable subjects (the Iraq war, global warming etc.) Society doesn’t so much fine them as ignore them. I like the edginess of drama, and I often walk out of a play more energised than I would if I’ve seen a film. But it’s also nice to relax in the anonymity and invisibility of watching a film.

By: imani

imani — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:58:41 +0000

I haven’t been to a play in a loooong time (when I used to see them regularly back home). I’ll have to check out the local theatre listings. By the by, Harper’s Magazine posted a little something on your Emerson and since you are now forever associated with him I thought I’d link you to it in case you hadn’t caught it .

http://harpers.org/archive/2008/06/hbc-90003075

By: Dorothy W.

Dorothy W. — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:07:36 +0000

I agree with you about drama, and your post makes me want to see more plays! They aren’t at all like films, really. There’s an edge to drama that film can never have. We don’t come together for events like this anymore, I don’t think — instead we talk about TV shows or movies or maybe celebrity gossip after the fact.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:03:54 +0000

There is something about a play–the immediacy of it, the dynamic between actors and audience, the fact that anything can happen–that is lost in movies. You see the same movie I see. But a play is a living thing and the one I see performed in Minneapolis is not quite the same as the one that was performed in New York, or even the one that was performed the day before or the day after. It’s exciting to think about

I so agree, Stefanie! This is one of the things I really love about being able to see a play more than once, a benefit of living in a theatre town.