Please spare me your lack of surprise that I’ve finished Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter’s book chronicling the gestation of the eponymous musical, before having finished the book said musical was based on, Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton. They are both big thick tomes spanning years (arguable decades), but while Chernow’s prose is delightful and accessible, his book does not consist of rap lyrics, easily digestible footnotes, and beautiful photos. Like Cannonballer ellesfena, I bought the book because I am an obsessive Midwestern […]
A contemporary romance set in London. Yay Britishism!
Rising star and current darling of London’s West End, Elaine “Lainie” Graham has to pretend to be passionately in love with and kiss her ex-boyfriend Will Farmer every evening and sometimes for matinee performances. While none of her family really liked him, she was still shocked and upset when she discovered he was cheating on her – by seeing it splashed on the front page of the tabloid news media. Now she’s pretty much sworn off men for a while and is none too amused […]
The viscount and the playwright
Margaret “Maggie” Delamere makes a comfortable living as the popular playwright of the most successful burlettas (because the theatre doesn’t have an official licence, every line of all the plays has to be sung by the actors) at the Imperial theatre. In the past, she’s never had any problems getting new ideas or getting her plays finished on time. Now, with the Imperial’s board of directors and the audience clamouring for the sequel to her most popular play yet, Maggie is suffering from a terrible […]
“The Glory of Living” A play script Vangie13 cbr #49
by Rebecca Gilman “They did. Because they’re of that type. It’s just a thing that happens to a type. And it woulda kept happenin’ forever.” The Present. Rural deep South. Imagine a triangle, with the points being Murfreesboro, TN; Atlanta, GA; and Birmingham AL. Poverty. Poor education. Nothing to do. Lisa is 15. Her mother is a prostitute and she entertains her clients behind a sheet in the living room of the trailer house where she lives with her kids. Lisa has literally seen it […]
“Hush” A play script Vangie13 cbr #48
by April de Angelis “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” — Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5” Hush is set on a dismal beach a year after Jo has mysteriously disappeared. It is about the effects that the disappearance is having on those she left behind. Or else it’s about socialism and the failure […]
“Waiting for Godot”: Vangie13 cbr #45
by Samuel Beckett I read a lot of scripts for my job. It’s time for season selection/design, so it’s time to read scripts. It’s been cutting into my CBR review time. And then I realized: I’m still reading stories. Here’s one of those stories. “Well? Shall we go?” Act I Two men, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), meet by a leafless tree near an empty road. They have a conversation that reveals they are waiting there for a man named Godot. They’re uncertain if they’ve […]