tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post5083172619454053319..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: After The Debs is OverKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-56414677353877433032017-04-28T22:35:50.489+01:002017-04-28T22:35:50.489+01:00It sounds amazing. Hope it travels far and wide. x...It sounds amazing. Hope it travels far and wide. xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-50274637376006450942017-04-24T03:26:45.051+01:002017-04-24T03:26:45.051+01:00I’m like you, I find it hard to sit back and say o...I’m like you, I find it hard to sit back and say out loud (especially aloud), “I couldn’t have done that any better.” But even if I can bring myself to say that a part of my brain’s thinking, <i>That may be true but</i> someone<i> could’ve done it better.</i> The real question is: Is it as good as it needs to be? It doesn’t need to be perfect but it does need to be up to the job for which it was intended. In other words: Does it work? And the damndest thing is we have to put it in the hands of strangers who don’t love it like we do and watch them get a feel for it, me with my readers and you with your audience. We have to sit there and wait to see if anyone got what we were <i>really</i> up to. That’s where the “stealing” comes in. It’s not stealing; it’s appropriating; it’s shorthand. If either of us were to mention Adam and Eve in a work immediately a whole set of images and ideas would drop into place—they wouldn’t be able to help themselves—and that would flavour the text that follows, like popping in a Polo Mint before drinking a glass of milk. The problem is that those who know Brecht and Shaffer are probably going to be less than familiar with the work of Bruce Lee and Reeves and Mortimer and so no one—no one bar us—is ever, EVER going to get what we do the way we want someone (our ideal reader) to but the more we pile in there the better chance we give everyone of picking up on something that’s not obvious and being able to feel a bit pleased with themselves. I remember when I was researching <i>All That Fall</i> and noticed Beckett had two boys in the play called Tommy and Jerry which immediately made me think of the Hanna and Barbera cartoons. I could find no reference <i>anywhere</i> in my textbooks to back that up. Is that what Beckett was alluding to? He’s not here to ask and even if he was he probably wouldn’t say but I’d like to think I picked up on something everyone else missed. Makes me feel right smug.<br /><br />I’m pleased your play went well but I’m more pleased you’re pleased. <i>That</i> is an achievement.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-7460799016916759412017-04-23T09:54:07.342+01:002017-04-23T09:54:07.342+01:00Congratulations Ken to you and the team. I have no...Congratulations Ken to you and the team. I have no doubt that it all went really well. I enjoy your writing and I only get snippets, if you like, of it. You clearly value the cast and wider team and I'm sure they all felt supported by you. Well done.<br />And indeed, please keep writing.@carolinesweetienoreply@blogger.com