Students of Literature

[Luckdragon]

Hello.

I am new to this forum, although I do download books from Literature Network.

Anyway, I am writing an article for a newspaper in my city. I need feedback from people living in America and England, preferably students of Literature in these countries.

I am from India, where there is a paucity of plays (as in those that are performed). Of course, the few plays that we do have are amazing but then, I study English, and most of the plays prescribed on our syllabus, we never get to see (and someone told me this is very self-defeating, for what use is it if a play is not performed? Of course, I don't entirely agree, but for that, you need to read my article).

It all boils down to this: If you would be nice enough to answer a couple of questions, it would be great.

My email address is listed on my profile page. Please do mail me and I'll send you a short (I promise!) questionnaire.

Ta if you do! :)

Luckdragon

[Scheherazade]

Why don't you post your questionnaire here so if anyone is interested, they can respond?

PS: Good luck :)

[Luckdragon]

Good idea.

Okay, here goes.

My article is on Theatre and Drama.

The idea for the article originated in an eventful discussion at an
Internet literary forum. Someone asked another person if he had "read"
a certain play, which resulted in an Englishman getting
all worked up about the "read" part. "Plays are meant to be PLAYED and
not read, so why on earth do you talk about reading them?" was what he
asked vehemently

There is no doubt a lot of truth to this statement, but then why do we
have plays prescribed in college syllabuses, and why do publishers
bring out editions of plays (apart from the fact that they are used by
theatre people)? Why are some classroom exercises on plays so much
fun? Why do so many people have The Complete Works of Shakespeare?

Personally, for me reading a play does not come close to watching an
actual performance but it is an experience in itself. An example would
be Wilde, who I love reading, and even Neil Simon. And of course,
Shakespeare.

Another case in point is that as students of English in my city, we
cannot have access to many plays, let alone the ones that are in our
syllabus.

And so, my article focusses on the experience of "reading" a play, and
about how school and college students approach the texts, without
seeing the play they are studying or reading.

(The reason I thought I'd keep it to email is that if I decide to quote someone, I'd like her/his name and location, possibly her/his University.)

1. As a student who has no doubt studied drama in class, do you think
it is pointless to have plays on the syllabus, when kids
do not end up "seeing" the plays?

2. In what way is play reading (not merely reading it aloud in turns
but also studying plays and reading them individualliy) differently
rewarding from live theatre?

3. Do you think that the performed play is the "real" thing, that it
is what the playwright originally intended? Or is the experience that
you get inside your head, from just reading the play (hearing the
characters' voices in our own way, and not in the dialect that they
are supposed to be heard in) also a valuable experience in its own
way?

4. Most importantly, in your country, do you have access to at least half of the plays on the syllabus?

Some of the questions may amount to literary hairsplitting but I promise not to get too pedantic in my article. Answers will be much welcome.

Luckdragon

[amuse]

on our various syllabi (if we are taking like courses) or your particular syllabus?

I will do this shortly, sometime today - when is it due?

[mono]

1. As a student who has no doubt studied drama in class, do you think
it is pointless to have plays on the syllabus, when kids
do not end up "seeing" the plays?

2. In what way is play reading (not merely reading it aloud in turns
but also studying plays and reading them individualliy) differently
rewarding from live theatre?

3. Do you think that the performed play is the "real" thing, that it
is what the playwright originally intended? Or is the experience that
you get inside your head, from just reading the play (hearing the
characters' voices in our own way, and not in the dialect that they
are supposed to be heard in) also a valuable experience in its own
way?

4. Most importantly, in your country, do you have access to at least half of the plays on the syllabus?


1. I find it admirable when a person has the ability to read and play, and imagine the look of it, using his/her imagination. If, however, a student seems more willing than others, eager to see the play in action, I would recommend rehearsing lines with friends/family.

2. In the theatre, a thing already considered a piece of art comes alive, breathes, and has motion. I think seeing a play (or acting or directing one) allows the mind to unplug; what once existed only on paper (and in the mind) now takes action, which seems an art in itself.

3. Good question. I think that a performed play never seems real until the playwright has directed the work himself/herself, which would involve going back a few hundred years to see Shakespeare's original works; he developed the plays of his time to his taste, and though we have the ability to mimic it with the same lines and setting, the feeling from culture of his time never takes hold. I would take more of the latter answer, that the "real" thing is what you experience in your head, for perception on a work of art depends on the senses and understanding.

4. Luckily, and not to brag, I live in a fairly art-oriented city that always has performances of plays, musicals, operas. I have never (and probably will never) had the ability to see all of the plays I have read, but I have had the opportunity, at least.

Good luck, Luckdragon; I hope I have helped.

[Luckdragon]

on our various syllabi (if we are taking like courses) or your particular syllabus?

I will do this shortly, sometime today - when is it due?

On your syllabi.

And sure you can post today, the article is due this weekend.

Luckdragon

[amuse]

1. As a student who has no doubt studied drama in class, do you think
it is pointless to have plays on the syllabus, when kids
do not end up "seeing" the plays?

not at all. they can at least participate in discussions about said plays., they can "see" the plays acted out in their heads, they gain an appreciation for character development and play writing.

2. In what way is play reading (not merely reading it aloud in turns
but also studying plays and reading them individualliy) differently
rewarding from live theatre?

well, there's no audience for starters! no mass reaction - silence, tears, laughter, etc. no blocking on stage, no sense of the physical space and drama that helps plays come alive, esp. period pieces performed with characters with different mannerisms, physical and vocal than we have in our daily lives.

3. Do you think that the performed play is the "real" thing, that it
is what the playwright originally intended? Or is the experience that
you get inside your head, from just reading the play (hearing the
characters' voices in our own way, and not in the dialect that they
are supposed to be heard in) also a valuable experience in its own
way?

no - how do we know what the playwright intended? i think the experience in our own head is extremely valuable - for example, i re-read "Taming of the Shrew" some months back, and i had a little production right there. not part of this question, but when people reading it together form different pictures, they can compare them and gain multiplicities of appreciation for the different ways it can be staged/interpreted. i think genius is somehow hitting on what the playwright intended, and just knowing it bone deep. it would be great to have a full cast carry out this vision, or even a single player. if the director gets this, that's great, but if someone reading at home alone gets it, that is just unbelievably amazing. to perfectly see, hear, create, emulate with someone else's vision. i don't know that dialect is necessary...i mean, how many of us have heard all of them anyway? approximation is okay, and even if that's lacking, the character still reads differently.

4. Most importantly, in your country, do you have access to at least half of the plays on the syllabus?

the last time plays were on any of my syllabi i was in high school - 100% yes to all. san francisco always has very fine productions (lived an hour north).


good luck on your project! it was fun helping you. come back and say hi/chat with us sometime. :)

[Jay]

As a non American or British student myself, would you be interested in opinons of the rest of the members of the forums? Personally can't see why that'll be crucial for your paper/article. I mean, does location matter that much if a student not from the States or the UK wanted to take part? I think it's the 'studying (English) literature' that we'd all have in common. Just an idea.

[Luckdragon]

Well, like I said in my first post, I am from India, where we don't have many performances of plays in general, let alone the ones that are prescribed. I merely wanted to find out if this was the case with students from other countries, especially Britain and America, for don't these countries have an amazing number of plays that are performed every year? And as I am writing this for a newspaper in my city, location matters, to a certain extent.

I'd really be interested in hearing your opinion on the subject. I don't have friends from other countries, so I thought I'd put my question up on this forum. :)

[Luckdragon]

Thank you, amuse, Mono and Scheherazade, for your suggestions. My article is done, and uses many of your views. I will PM you the article as soon as it is published.

Thanks :)

Luckdragon