A good writer always proofreads and polishes his most trivial social medium posting, for even that is a reflection of himself.

A good writer will always be a good writer, and so he need not fearing losing his talent, for it is an acquired ability to observe and record that, really, every human being should have.

Writing specialty stores are reviving and selling old-fashioned manual typewriters. Quite tempting to buy one, but it would be more decorative than functional for me because supplies such as ribbons, carbon paper, circle erasers with brushes, and correcting tape are no longer as available. (I even remember that I used to have two-color ribbons!)

Dramaturging for TheatreWorks Singapore: Shen

Hello Shen!

I am glad that you finally finished writing this play. You will recall that it was incomplete when I read it in Singapore and had a long, overseas phone conversation with you while you were in Tasmania.

You have written a very interesting, multi-media play verging on Theatre of the Absurd, incorporating stage, video, visual art, and sculpture. (I was tempted to mention also puppetry but the stand-ups never actually interact with the players.) The final production design should be equally interesting. You will need, however, two directors to make the play succeed: a video director and a stage director, or someone who can be both.

All of the methods you used in this play are methods of alienation, and I can see why: the subject matter and dialogue are so brutally frank that some detachment on the part of the audience is necessary. The truth will remain, nonetheless, that the entire play entails raw honesty. This will work only in a venue that encourages intimacy, such as a night club or a chamber theatre with a small audience on sofas and throw pillows.

Be mindful of the length of your videos. They should not overpower the stage play. The video that opens Scene 3, for instance, is too long.

Like Isaac, whose play I dramaturged before yours, your dialogue tends to be comprised of questions and answers. That is not really how people converse in real life. Avoid the interview format, especially since it usually elicits mere exposition and not dramatic tension. Try doing writing exercises with small scenes in which NO ONE ever asks a question. What would they say to each other?

Your ending is abrupt. Ensure that there is adequate closure for all characters, including characters who are not onstage. Also, although the play opens with a video, do NOT end it with a video. It is emotionally unfair to your stage performers. In theatre, the live performance always rules.

Finally, I hope you are aware that this is a hard play to cast. You will need to sit in on readings and rehearsals and constantly adjust your dialogue to the truth, the choices, and the personality that every cast member will put forth. This is not a vehicle for an auteur director. It is one in which the cast must participate in the creation of the play.

Dramaturging for TheatreWorks Singapore: Isaac

Hello Isaac!

First of all, I was very much surprised that you submitted a completely different play. This is not the manuscript that I read and discussed with you the last time I was in Singapore. It is, however, a very well-crafted, sensitive, and moving play, and I enjoyed reading it. It is certainly more serious than the first play (which you should keep and develop in the future, although, while it was so much fun to read, I realize that it is harder to sell to a producer). Moreover, the new play that you submitted is quite a nasty vehicle and will prove extremely challenging to its prospective actors and director. For some reason I felt that it was written for Lyon, who was one of your co-participants in the workshop I conducted.

My comments:

This play is best staged without blackouts and scene breaks. The music videos are completely superfluous and will only end up like mini-episodes from The Voice. The technical breaks are cruel to your performers, who will have to pick up their focus and concentration each time a new scene begins. Note that, in the beginning of each scene, you yourself as a playwright are picking up by means of warm-up dialogue. One long, uninterrupted play, like August Strindberg's Miss Julie, will be more emotionally fulfilling for your actors.

Such breaks also shatter the audience's suspension of disbelief.

It takes too long for the audience to learn why the son has come back and must stay. The audience will be able to take only so much suspense, after which it will decide to get bored. Your final exposition is dished out in the end as a twist, and remember that every twist is a betrayal. This prolongation thus makes the father more real and the son two-dimensional, so that the story comes across as being told from the point of view of the FATHER.

Indeed, it seems that the father is well-rounded all throughout the play, but that the son is not a character--he is AN IDEA. The dialogue therefore comes out as dialogue between a person and an idea. As a writer, did you feel defensive and that you had to be over-rational in building up the son?

Avoid interrogations, such as the son asking questions and the father answering them, like interviewer-interviewee repartee. If your characters don't NEED to say anything, then keep them silent. As I have said elsewhere, silence is a line.

Over-all, you have written a beautiful play. A reading should clarify exactly where you need to balance your elements.

There IS one drawback to this play: you need extraordinary performers to pull it off. Yes, I believe that Lyon is one of them.