Why bad plays happen to good people
Recently I saw a couple of plays that returned me to this train of thought:
While there may never be a definitive answer why bad things happen to good people, I believe there’s a good theory why bad plays are written by good people: They want people to get along in life. And unfortunately, that’s what they have happen in their plays, too.
Think back to the last play you saw written by someone thoroughly nice. Chances are, it was well-meaning and dull. If you’re going to be nice, I’m all for it — just don’t do it in your play. I’d rather see the latest play by an utter bastard, or at least someone who can summon that up. Like Neil LaBute.
That doesn’t mean that the collected poems of Donald Rumsfeld should win the Nobel. Odiousness is allowed, but talent is essential.
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:00 am
Funny you should mention this just after I finished reading “JED HARRIS The Curse of Genius” by Martin Gottfried. If you’re not familiar with the name, Jed Harris was a Broadway producer-director from the 1920s to the 1950s who helped craft theatrical milestones like THE FRONT PAGE, OUR TOWN, THE CRUCIBLE, and quite a few other stage successes. He worked with Hecht, Kaufman, Olivier, Cagney, Hepburn, Hayes… okay, let’s just allow that the history of 20th century American Theatre was largely moved and shaken by Jed Harris.
He was also, from all accounts, a complete sh-t. I’m sorry, but there’s just no polite word to describe the man: Olivier’s Richard III and Disney’s Big Bad Wolf were both based on Harris. He was probably responsible for the suicides of two actresses; Katherine Hepburn refused to discuss him; he nearly killed Moss Hart’s career before it started, and William Wyler (the director who gave us ROMAN HOLIDAY) once tried to beat him to death.
July 24th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Jed Harris sounds like a fascinating figure (and certainly somebody I’d like to read about), but not somebody I want to pattern my life after. I’ve never bought into the notion that great art comes from drinking too much or from misanthropes. It comes from everywhere. The best writers are ruthless with their work but not necessarily assholes to everybody else.