9780415317856_the_routledge_creative_writing_coursebook

More documents

Recommendations

Info

www.ATIBOOK.irDrama 171(Ibid: 69)and old Mr Withers:VOICE ONE: Mother; mother; I’ve had the most unpleasant, the most mystifyingencounter; with the man who calls himself Mr Withers. Will you give me your advice?Come in here, son, he called. Don’t mess about. I haven’t got all night I went in. A jug. Abasin. A bicycle.You know where you are? he said. You’re in my room. It’s not Euston Station. Get me?It’s a true oasis….My name’s Withers. I’m here or thereabouts. Follow? Embargo on all duff terminology.With me? …You’re in a disease-ridden land, boxer Keep your weight on all the leftfeet you can lay your hands on. Keep dancing. The old foxtrot is the classicalresponse…. Up the slaves. Get me? This is a place of creatures, up and down stairs.Creatures of the rhythmic splits, the rhythmic sideswipes, the rums and roulettes, themacaroni tatters, the dumplings in jam mayonnaise, a catapulting ordure of gross andramshackle shenanagins, open-ended paraphernalia. … Mind how you go. Looksharp. Get my drift? Don’t let it get too mouldy. Watch the mould. Get the feel of it,sonny Get the density. Look at me.And I didVOICE TWO: I am ill.VOICE ONE: It was like looking into a pit of molten lava, mother One look was enoughfor me.(Ibid: 77–8)Any audience must surely think this bizarre. ‘Open-ended paraphernalia’, for sure. But isit open-ended? It is, but also anything but. The jumbled rubbish of old Mr Withers’sspeech can be heard, and seen, as the old male chauvinist advice mechanism, springinginto action with any passing youth who gets in its way. The emblem of it is: ‘Look at me,and respect me’, the act of a substitute parent—a command the son can’t take at allseriously. To him, Mr Withers is just another old josser doing his stuff. The son’sresponse in telling this story is a shrug.But male advice revives again with the father. He appears, the judge, admonitory. Hesits down between mother and son on the family settee. He speaks to each of them withavenging playfulness, but his threat is serious; it has to be felt as such by them and by theaudience. Will the son’s response be another shrug?VOICE THREE: I know your mother has written to you to tell you that I am dead. I amnot dead. I am very far from being dead, although lots of people have wished me dead,from time immemorial, you especially. It is you who have prayed for my death, fromtime immemorial. I have heard your prayers. They ring in my ears. Prayers yearningfor my death. But I am not dead.Well, that’s not entirely true, not entirely the case. I’m lying. I’m leading you up thegarden path. I’m playing about. I’m having my bit of fun, that’s what. Because I amdead. As dead as a doornail. I’m writing to you from my grave. A quick word for oldtime’s sake. Just to keep in touch. An old hullo out of the dark A last kiss from Dad.
www.ATIBOOK.irThe routledge creative writing coursebook 172I’ll probably call it a day after this canter Not much more to say. All a bit of a sweat.Why am I taking the trouble? Because of you, I suppose, because you were such aloving son. I’m smiling as I lie in this glassy grave.Do you know why I use the word glassy? Because I can see out of it.(Ibid: 80–1)How does the son react? Respectfully this time? How does the mother? Turning directlyto her, her dead husband articulates the words: ‘Not much more to say. All a bit of asweat.’ It hurts her, is intended to. Facing her, he stares into her eyes.We wanted the audience to feel his gesture as making a repulsive comment on hismarriage. She submits, looks down. But with the father, the son is not submissive. Histactic is to ignore him and talk about his new family in place of the old one: a shrug insupremis and unanswerable:VOICE ONE: They have decided on a name for me. They call me Bobo. The only personwho does not call me Bobo is the old man. He calls me nothing. I call him nothing. Idon’t see him. He keeps to his room. I don’t go near it. He is old and will die soon.(Ibid: 81)During this speech the son stares at the father, lowering his voice not his eyes. They arestanding up and facing each other across the space of the stage. The comic attitude of theson’s speech gives way to another tone—one of contempt. The audience must be able tosense that change, and to make a connection between old Mr Withers and the father.Arranging this play for the stage tested our inventiveness. We had to make our owndecisions about movements, gestures, actions, tones of voice and use of the stage space.We had learned and developed a kind of code, which we and the audience somehowunderstood. But it wasn’t until later that I found myself reading a book that explained thiscode to me.Status InteractionTwo years after directing this play, an American friend lent me a copy of Impro by KeithJohns tone. Johns tone had developed his ideas while working with actors and writers atthe Royal Court in the early 1960s, and afterwards at theatre schools in Britain and NorthAmerica. A point he makes is that once they have learned the rules of status transaction,actors can improvise without the inhibiting pressure to be original. His next point is thatstatus transactions happen all the time in life. We recognise low and high statusbehaviour instinctively, but we can also train ourselves to observe it:Low status (submissive)Breaking eye contact then glancing backTurning the body—hands, feet—inwardSitting or shrinking while others standKeeping in one place while others move aboutMoving the head and shoulders while speakingTouching the face or mouth while speaking
Page 1 and 2:
www.ATIBOOK.ir
Page 3 and 4:
www.ATIBOOK.ir
Page 5 and 6:
www.ATIBOOK.irFirst published 2006
Page 7 and 8:
www.ATIBOOK.ir
Page 9 and 10:
www.ATIBOOK.irPREFACESomewhere betw
Page 11 and 12:
Miroslav Holub, ‘The Fly’, from
Page 13 and 14:
www.ATIBOOK.irThe routledge creativ
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
www.ATIBOOK.irCHAPTER 2PERSONAL NAR
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132: www.ATIBOOK.irThe routledge creativ
Page 143 and 144: www.ATIBOOK.irCHAPTER 5CHILDREN’S
Page 165 and 166: www.ATIBOOK.irCHAPTER 6DRAMADrama a
Page 181: www.ATIBOOK.irThe routledge creativ
Page 201 and 202: www.ATIBOOK.irGlossary 190a piece o
Page 203 and 204: www.ATIBOOK.irGlossary 192Point of
Page 205 and 206: www.ATIBOOK.irBIBLIOGRAPHYTitles re
Page 207 and 208: www.ATIBOOK.irBibliography 196McCul
Page 209 and 210: www.ATIBOOK.irBibliography 198Penn,
Page 211 and 212: www.ATIBOOK.irIndex 200Bible 4, 107
Page 213 and 214: www.ATIBOOK.irIndex 202‘WHAM’ (
Page 215 and 216: www.ATIBOOK.irIndex 204in the creat
Page 217 and 218: www.ATIBOOK.irIndex 206O’Brien, T
Page 219: www.ATIBOOK.irIndex 208and persona
show all

9780415317856_the_routledge_creative_writing_coursebook

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?