Glyn Maxwell’s maxim (common saying expressing a principle of conduct) ‘whoever masters form masters time’ sums up the challenge for those writing for the theatre – and helps account for my unlikely monologue with five speaking characters and two actorsLela & Co is a play about a person trying to narrate a story. It is not a gay one,but even in the darkest of stories there is room for comedy, and Lela is eager to entertain. Despite her determination to see it through (and she is very determined), or her need to do so is troubled by the temporal nature of the theatre experience. In an hour and 20 minutes she will have lost you. The house lights will go up,the spell will break, and your imagination will be your own again, or turning naturally from suspension of disbelief to criticism.
When I was first approached to write the play that became Lela & Co,the difficulties of telling Lelas story became mine, too. It is not a particularly unique story; there are other plays, or films,television dramas, documentaries and petitions that all follow a similar narrative. It is a timeless story, and a placeless one,with no strong, current political or theoretical allegiances. There is a saying in the theatre world that is meant to encourage you judge whether a play is grand for programming or not: why this play, and why now? From the writer’s perspective,this doesn’t seem to be the lawful question. More urgent is: why this play, and how? How to narrate this well-told story in a way that is worth the telling?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com