tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post6513883008638102313..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: That Was Some Theatrical FortnightKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-86265925722807974552015-11-08T13:09:32.875+00:002015-11-08T13:09:32.875+00:00Hi Jim
It's funny you should say that, about ...Hi Jim<br /><br />It's funny you should say that, about rewriting. Both of the plays I saw recently have suggested small(ish) rewrites to me This is much more about me that about the productions I saw. Having seen each play a few different times, I can see a couple of places where the writing doesn't make the point as well as it could have done. I will go and and tweak them both, I think. :)Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-8603879663656731952015-11-08T12:39:46.659+00:002015-11-08T12:39:46.659+00:00When Carrie was in the States last one of the thin...When Carrie was in the States last one of the things I watched was Maxine Peake’s take on Hamlet. Having seen David Tennant in the role only a few months earlier I couldn’t help but compare the two. Later I watched a documentary on the play which showed clips from Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent performance along with some others like Richard Burton and Derek Jacobi all trying to infuse something of themselves into “To be, or not to be...” I thought Peake acquitted herself well but it was hard to take the scene at the graveside seriously as she addressed a balled-up jumper instead of the skull of Yorick. But that’s the thing, no one performs Shakespeare any more, they interpret him. I suppose it must be like being able to see a reader’s thoughts as he or she is trying to figure out where you’re going in your novel and realising you said more than you intended and they’ve picked up on it. I’ve found that over the last ten months as I’ve been editing this book; there was so much subtext there and even at this late stage new things keep dawning on me and I find myself thinking, <i>I wonder if I meant that?</i> Eventually I’ll have to abandon it but not yet. It must be odd sitting in the audience watching a play you’ve written. It’s yours but not yours. Do you ever want to rewrite stuff after you’ve seen it performed? I think I might. Or maybe it’s a matter of compartmentalisation. You have to lock the writer-you in the house because no performance will ever be good enough for him.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com