Play Suggestions

Plays and other dramatic works
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SonOfTheExiles
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Post by SonOfTheExiles »

“Brewster’s Millions”, by Winchell Smith (1871-1933) and Byron Ongley (1876–1915)

This classic play, based upon the novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon (1866 - 1928), is about a young man who must spend …dissipate, really ... a million dollars in order to inherit many millions more.

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=SnMPAAAAQAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en&redir_esc=y

I’ve wanted to do this play for some time, but have never been able to find a PD copy. A little tic-tac-ing with the Google Books people has resulted in this 1925 copy being switched to full-view. (Huzzah!)

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, the classic 1945 film adaptation can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laAjS1RaBac

A short summary of the premise can be found here in this clip from the 1980s film version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FosFEzsLKiI
(And yikes! Who puts an oxygen cylinder next to an open fire?!)


Cheers,
Chris
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soupy
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Post by soupy »

Six Plays by Robert Greene

Alphonsus, King of Arragon 3
A Looking-Glass for London and England 77
Orlando Furioso 165
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay 223
James the Fourth 303
George-a-Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield 399

Robert Greene (1558–1592) was an English author popular in his day. He represents the Elizabethan age at its best and its worst.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Greene_(dramatist)

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55769

It might be interesting for some enthusiasts of drama

Craig
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mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

soupy wrote: March 9th, 2021, 8:31 am Six Plays by Robert Greene

Alphonsus, King of Arragon 3
A Looking-Glass for London and England 77
Orlando Furioso 165
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay 223
James the Fourth 303
George-a-Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield 399

Robert Greene (1558–1592) was an English author popular in his day. He represents the Elizabethan age at its best and its worst.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Greene_(dramatist)

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55769

It might be interesting for some enthusiasts of drama

Craig
Thanks for this suggestion. I moved it to the Play Suggestions thread. :)
MManolakes
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Post by MManolakes »

Is the 1923 translation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac by Brian Hooker (1880-1946) in public domain? This is the translation in blank verse which is the one most people are familiar with -- it was the basis of the 1950 film. I know the Thomas-Guillemard translation was recorded several years ago for LV (before I joined the site, alas) but if the Hooker translation is available, I think it might become my next project.

Mike
WendyKatzHiller
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Post by WendyKatzHiller »

MManolakes wrote: April 4th, 2021, 2:41 pm Is the 1923 translation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac by Brian Hooker (1880-1946) in public domain? This is the translation in blank verse which is the one most people are familiar with -- it was the basis of the 1950 film. I know the Thomas-Guillemard translation was recorded several years ago for LV (before I joined the site, alas) but if the Hooker translation is available, I think it might become my next project.

Mike
It seems to be PD

https://onemorelibrary.com/index.php/en/books/literature/book/french-literature-135/cyrano-de-bergerac-157
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

WendyKatzHiller wrote: April 4th, 2021, 7:38 pm
MManolakes wrote: April 4th, 2021, 2:41 pm Is the 1923 translation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac by Brian Hooker (1880-1946) in public domain? This is the translation in blank verse which is the one most people are familiar with -- it was the basis of the 1950 film. I know the Thomas-Guillemard translation was recorded several years ago for LV (before I joined the site, alas) but if the Hooker translation is available, I think it might become my next project.

Mike
It seems to be PD

https://onemorelibrary.com/index.php/en/books/literature/book/french-literature-135/cyrano-de-bergerac-157
For some reason, though, this specific test is licensed as CC BY-SA 4.0, so we wouldn't be able to use this one.

This one looks PD and accessible: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102695706
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MManolakes
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Post by MManolakes »

TriciaG wrote: April 5th, 2021, 4:36 am
WendyKatzHiller wrote: April 4th, 2021, 7:38 pm
MManolakes wrote: April 4th, 2021, 2:41 pm Is the 1923 translation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac by Brian Hooker (1880-1946) in public domain? This is the translation in blank verse which is the one most people are familiar with -- it was the basis of the 1950 film. I know the Thomas-Guillemard translation was recorded several years ago for LV (before I joined the site, alas) but if the Hooker translation is available, I think it might become my next project.

Mike
It seems to be PD

https://onemorelibrary.com/index.php/en/books/literature/book/french-literature-135/cyrano-de-bergerac-157
For some reason, though, this specific test is licensed as CC BY-SA 4.0, so we wouldn't be able to use this one.

This one looks PD and accessible: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102695706
Thanks, Tricia. Good to know.

Mike
Leni
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Post by Leni »

From Wikipedia: Gil Vicente (c.1465-1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often referred to as the "Father of Portuguese drama" and as one of Western literature's greatest playwrights. Also noted as a lyric poet, Vicente worked in Spanish as much as he worked in Portuguese and is thus, with Juan del Encina, considered joint-father of Spanish drama.

I never knew there were PD translations of his plays into English, but looking for the Portuguese text I found an edition with not one but four of his works translated! So, here it is as a suggestion. :D

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/28399
Leni
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ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

Looks interesting. I've been running a buncha Spanish plays both Old and Modern - as well as Plautus plays; this could be a good follow-on.

Thanks, Todd

(Though if anyone else wants to start this, feel free - I am not claiming it in any way even if there was a way here at LV to do so.)
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

I hope this is the appropriate place to post this... I'm interested in BCing George Bernard Shaw's "The Devil's Disciple," written 1897, on Gutenberg at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3638/3638-h/3638-h.htm I have not coordinated a play before though I've read for some. I have a few questions:

Am I correct in thinking that it's OK for me to both PL individual parts (except for the one I read) and edit them together into single-file acts, but that I need someone else to PL my part and also to PL the completed acts? And is it OK to put a collaborative play into the Launch Pad without arranging for those PL tasks in advance?

I'd like to do this, and know I'll be free to do my parts of the work through January 2022. After that I may be moving and not available for a while.. is it reasonable to think the play (3 acts, 13 roles plus stage directions) might be able to be completed in that amount of time?

Is it OK for the BC to take a character role in a play, or is it better for the BC to read the stage directions? I'm clear that the BC is supposed to narrate in dramatic readings, less clear how that works in plays.

Is there anyone on here who'd be interested in PLing and/or reading for this play?

Tentative summary: Set during the American Revolution. Richard Dudgeon, put off by the dour religious ferocity of his stepmother and many of his neighbors, declares himself to be the devil's disciple, befriends the town's disreputable characters, and takes a certain grim satisfaction in the shocked disapproval of his neighbors, including Judith, the romantic wife of minister Anthony Anderson. Hearing that the British Army under General Burgoyne is approaching and is hanging prominent rebels, Minister Anderson attempts dutifully to save Richard's soul, and is repulsed. But when the soldiers come to arrest Anderson, the Devil's Disciple, to his own surprise as much as anyone else's, answers to the minister's name and is carried off to a cursory trial for treason. Both the Andersons respond dramatically and unexpectedly to this decision, and by the end of the play the relationships and religious views of the central characters have been upended. Rudeness, repartee, heroics, deflation of heroics, and excessive authorial commentary abound.
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ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

JoannaHoyt wrote: June 8th, 2021, 4:35 pm I hope this is the appropriate place to post this... I'm interested in BCing George Bernard Shaw's "The Devil's Disciple," written 1897, on Gutenberg at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3638/3638-h/3638-h.htm
Please go up a level in the Gutenberg file naming tree so that readers can choose in which format they want to access the book.
I have not coordinated a play before though I've read for some. I have a few questions:

Am I correct in thinking that it's OK for me to both PL individual parts (except for the one I read) and edit them together into single-file acts, but that I need someone else to PL my part and also to PL the completed acts? And is it OK to put a collaborative play into the Launch Pad without arranging for those PL tasks in advance?
No one HAS to PL your part. PL of individual parts is an aid (I think vital) to the editor of a play before assembling everything, but not required. All that is really required is the final PL of the assembled play before it is cataloged.

Yes, you can launch without a DPL already identified. Hopefully someone will volunteer quickly. If they do not volunteer right away, hopefully you will still PL parts quickly so that errors don't end up only being found during final assembly of the play - when original readers may be gone or unable to match sound in their corrections as well as would be liked.
I'd like to do this, and know I'll be free to do my parts of the work through January 2022. After that I may be moving and not available for a while.. is it reasonable to think the play (3 acts, 13 roles plus stage directions) might be able to be completed in that amount of time?
I've had plays take a month. I've had plays take 6 months. The LV record time is less than a decade, but approaching it... 3 acts and 13 roles seems like end of the year is reasonable given that Shaw is now PD everywhere so you aren't precluding a buncha potential readers.
Is it OK for the BC to take a character role in a play, or is it better for the BC to read the stage directions? I'm clear that the BC is supposed to narrate in dramatic readings, less clear how that works in plays.
Good heavens yes, you can take whatever role you want! The reward for offering it.
Is there anyone on here who'd be interested in PLing and/or reading for this play?

Tentative summary: Set during the American Revolution. Richard Dudgeon, put off by the dour religious ferocity of his stepmother and many of his neighbors, declares himself to be the devil's disciple, befriends the town's disreputable characters, and takes a certain grim satisfaction in the shocked disapproval of his neighbors, including Judith, the romantic wife of minister Anthony Anderson. Hearing that the British Army under General Burgoyne is approaching and is hanging prominent rebels, Minister Anderson attempts dutifully to save Richard's soul, and is repulsed. But when the soldiers come to arrest Anderson, the Devil's Disciple, to his own surprise as much as anyone else's, answers to the minister's name and is carried off to a cursory trial for treason. Both the Andersons respond dramatically and unexpectedly to this decision, and by the end of the play the relationships and religious views of the central characters have been upended. Rudeness, repartee, heroics, deflation of heroics, and excessive authorial commentary abound.
Spoiler in your summary perhaps? Not what we'd want in the catalog if that is the case....

Thanks, Todd
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

Thank you very much for all the clarifications, Todd! I'll fix the summary and put this in the launch pad tomorrow.
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alanmapstone
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Post by alanmapstone »

JoannaHoyt wrote: June 8th, 2021, 6:10 pm Thank you very much for all the clarifications, Todd! I'll fix the summary and put this in the launch pad tomorrow.
Hi Joanna
I would certainly be interested in reading a role as this is one of my favourite GBS plays.
Good that you are prepared to take this on :thumbs:
Alan
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JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

Hurrah! Looking forward to hearing your reading. The project's in the launch pad now. viewtopic.php?f=28&t=87752
alanmapstone wrote: June 9th, 2021, 4:08 am Hi Joanna
I would certainly be interested in reading a role as this is one of my favourite GBS plays.
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soupy
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Post by soupy »

Philip van Artevelde; a dramatic romance. In two parts
by Sir Henry Taylor 1800-1886
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Taylor_(dramatist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_van_Artevelde

https://archive.org/details/philipvanartevel00tayl/mode/1up

As this work, consisting of two Plays and an Inter- lude, is equal in length to about six such plays as are adapted to representation, it is almost unnecessary to say that it was not intended for the stage. It is properly an Historical Romance, cast in a dramatic and rhythmical form. Historic truth is preserved in it, as far as the material events are concerned — of course with the usual exception of such occasional dilatations and compressions of time as are required in dramatic composition.
Last edited by soupy on July 31st, 2021, 11:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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