I have been thinking a lot about German lately. That's no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I have been thinking a lot about teaching German. I am currently studying German at BYU in their German Teaching program, which will not only give me a degree in German when i graduate, but a teaching license in the State of Utah as well. I am honestly a little scared to death when I realize that I will need to have several lesson plans each day for 180 days of the school year, and that there are a lot of things that I cannot plan for. But one thing I know very well is the German language, and I have studied language and second language acquisition for a while now, so I'm confident I could do at least an adequate job. But I keep thinking about how to make teaching German better, how to help students learn it better.
To learn German one needs to be as immersed in the language as native speakers are. One should read books, watch movies, hear music, speak and converse with others. I have heard it said that the best way to learn a language is to read in that language. When I look at my own English skills I see that this is true. I read a lot when I was kid, I read large novels, a large variety of novels and through reading I was exposed to many different ways of using the English language. I learned different writing styles, sentence structures and syntax. When I think about how well I speak and write in English, I realize that it is because I read a lot.
I want to foster that same language learning skill in my German classroom. And one way I have thought about is by writing simple novels in German. I want to write short little novellas, using German that is simple enough for students to understand while still introducing them to new vocabulary and grammar constructions. I would also like to expose them to German culture through the novellas. Something like a mixture of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and Angels and Demons is what I had in mind. I loved playing those Carmen Sandiego computer games as a kid, they were fun and entertaining, while still teaching you a lot about geography and history. I also recently watched the movie Angels and Demons again with my wife, and was fascinated with how it taught both history (if at times somewhat inaccurately) and the geography of Rome. I would love to write some kind of simple German novella that takes place in a German city, where the hero, in order to solve some great mystery, or maybe catch a thief, has to travel all across the city looking at landmarks and using the history of the city and Germany to get one step ahead. That could be a fun way of helping students learn the language and culture at the same time.
I think this could be a lot of fun to write, and could be a lot of fun to use in a classroom. But as of right now, this is just a great idea. I should be writing more, and maybe I’ll post what I’ve written here. What do you think?
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Ideas
I have been having ideas lately. A lot of ideas. I really wish that I had enough time to write everything that I think, everything that I want to write.
First: I want to write a short story about "A Life lived in Web 2.0" - I want to tell a story, probably a boy-meets-girl, does something amazing, gets girl, type of story, but I want to tell it using Google Buzz -- using Twitter updates, Google Chat Status messages, some Blogger posts, maybe a few pictures or videos through Picasa or YouTube. Basically, anything that posts to GoogleBuzz. I just think it would be interesting to tell a story in this way. The question is: Do I simply write the story in the style of Google Buzz posts, or do I go and create Google Accounts and Twitter accounts, and actually post everything, to take screenshots of the Google Buzz feed to tell the story?? I'll have to think about that.
Second: I want to finish(which means write more than just the first chapter) of a couple of novels I have been working on. More details to come as I get them.
Third: I had the wonderful opportunity to go see Godspell performed at BYU a couple of weeks ago, directed by a friend of mine, Carson McFarland. It was amazing! I have seen that show before, but it wasn't handled very well, it was almost sacrilegious. But this one was well done, tastefully done, excellently done. It got me thinking about wanting to write a Godspell sequel, set at BYU, using 3rd Nephi as the original Godspell used the Gospel of Matthew. It could be interesting. It could be fun. I'm still forming that idea.
Fourth: This one is not an idea to write, but an idea to do. I want to help foster technology in the classroom. I was thinking about a lot of classrooms and students who do not have access to the most basic of computers which could help them do their schoolwork. And I remembered that the company where I work has a Cascade program, where employees at Headquarters get new computers every 3 years or so, and their computers, which still work pretty well, get cascaded to other departments that don't necessarily need the newest computers. Why can't we work something like that out with businesses and schools and homes? I want to go to large corporations and ask how often they purchase new computers, and what they do with the old ones. See if they would donate them to schools for use in the classroom, and then after a few years in the classroom, when the school has received more computers, they could then be given to some of the students who cannot purchase computers for their home use. It could be a feasible program that will help low-income families have access to the same technology as other students. And in an ever increasingly technological world, those that cannot afford the technology will be left behind. It is our job, as teachers, to help them learn computers as much as our specific field of study.
Just some thoughts I've had recently that I wanted to write down and articulate. Any ideas of yours that you want to share, or any comments on these ideas is appreciated. If we can start the conversation then we can make something happen. I firmly believe that together we know so much more than we do individually and that as we share knowledge and ideas that the world can change!
First: I want to write a short story about "A Life lived in Web 2.0" - I want to tell a story, probably a boy-meets-girl, does something amazing, gets girl, type of story, but I want to tell it using Google Buzz -- using Twitter updates, Google Chat Status messages, some Blogger posts, maybe a few pictures or videos through Picasa or YouTube. Basically, anything that posts to GoogleBuzz. I just think it would be interesting to tell a story in this way. The question is: Do I simply write the story in the style of Google Buzz posts, or do I go and create Google Accounts and Twitter accounts, and actually post everything, to take screenshots of the Google Buzz feed to tell the story?? I'll have to think about that.
Second: I want to finish(which means write more than just the first chapter) of a couple of novels I have been working on. More details to come as I get them.
Third: I had the wonderful opportunity to go see Godspell performed at BYU a couple of weeks ago, directed by a friend of mine, Carson McFarland. It was amazing! I have seen that show before, but it wasn't handled very well, it was almost sacrilegious. But this one was well done, tastefully done, excellently done. It got me thinking about wanting to write a Godspell sequel, set at BYU, using 3rd Nephi as the original Godspell used the Gospel of Matthew. It could be interesting. It could be fun. I'm still forming that idea.
Fourth: This one is not an idea to write, but an idea to do. I want to help foster technology in the classroom. I was thinking about a lot of classrooms and students who do not have access to the most basic of computers which could help them do their schoolwork. And I remembered that the company where I work has a Cascade program, where employees at Headquarters get new computers every 3 years or so, and their computers, which still work pretty well, get cascaded to other departments that don't necessarily need the newest computers. Why can't we work something like that out with businesses and schools and homes? I want to go to large corporations and ask how often they purchase new computers, and what they do with the old ones. See if they would donate them to schools for use in the classroom, and then after a few years in the classroom, when the school has received more computers, they could then be given to some of the students who cannot purchase computers for their home use. It could be a feasible program that will help low-income families have access to the same technology as other students. And in an ever increasingly technological world, those that cannot afford the technology will be left behind. It is our job, as teachers, to help them learn computers as much as our specific field of study.
Just some thoughts I've had recently that I wanted to write down and articulate. Any ideas of yours that you want to share, or any comments on these ideas is appreciated. If we can start the conversation then we can make something happen. I firmly believe that together we know so much more than we do individually and that as we share knowledge and ideas that the world can change!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Die Wende, latest version of a play
I've been working on a play for the last few months. I call it Die Wende. It's about the fall of the Berlin Wall. I'm still working on it, but I think it's at a point where I can share it with the public. So, for your consideration, I present Die Wende.
Die Wende
by David Tertipes
Characters:
Stefan - 20 year old kid
Dad - his father
Lady - older East German woman he meets at the Wall.
Stefan
I was born the day the Berlin Wall fell. Maybe that's an omen or something. In any case, it's interesting, isn't it? Especially considering the fact that I'm half German. My mother was born near Berlin and lived there until she met my dad. They married and moved back to the States, where I was born. On the day the Wall fell. Mom says she was in her hospital room, the TV was on and of course every station was showing special reports. It was the happiest day of her life; I like to think that it was at least partly because I was born, but you never know.
It's funny, really. The Wall has always been an almost important part of my life. It's always been there, looming in the background, even though it now no longer existed. My birthday turned into a double party, celebrating my birth and German freedom at the same time. One year mom even put a miniature Brandenburger Tor on my cake! But I'd never actually been there. I'd never seen it. And it wasn't until I did that I realized just what it meant.
(Enter Dad, carrying suitcase)
Dad
(sets suitcase down next to Stefan)
Are you sure you really want to do this?
Stefan
Yeah. I think so. (beat) I've got to do something!
Dad
You know what I think about it?
Stefan
Yes. I know. You've told me a hundred times, you don't want me to go.
Dad
I'm your father, I'm supposed to be concerned about you. I want what's best for you.
Stefan
I know, I know. It's just ... I think I know what's best for me. I gotta do this myself.
Dad
Stefan, ... No. Fine. You're grown now. You've got to do this your way.
Stefan
Thanks --
Dad
--But have you thought about what you're going to do? How you're going to make a living, support a family someday?
Stefan
Dad!
Dad
Right. You're young and you don't think about those things.
Stefan
I'm only 20 years old. I shouldn't have to think about those things yet!
Dad
Years pass by so quickly, you'd be surprised at how soon you'll have to start making plans for the future. You'll have to go to college, decide what you want to study, what you want to spend the rest of your life doing. You'll find a girl, and have to decide if you want to spend forever with her, raise children with her.
Stefan
That's all way too much right now. I don't want to commit myself to anything I can't be sure of yet. I will settle down sometime, dad. Just not yet.
Dad
You don't have to know everything now. You could at least go to college. Get your general classes out of the way, take some random classes and see what interests you. That's how I did it.
Stefan
That's how you did it! That's not how I want to do it. I've thought about this, I've talked to Opa, it's gonna work. At least for a little while.
(Picks up suitcase, prepares to exit.)
I'll call when I get there. I'm sure Opa'll want to talk to mom at least.
(lights down to spotlight on Stefan. Dad exits in the dark)
Stefan
And that's how I left home. Dad wanted me to go to college. Get a degree. Get a job. Get a life! But I didn't want to yet. I liked the way my life was and I didn't see any need to make any drastic changes. Other than hopping on a plane, flying halfway around the world and moving in with my grandparents, that is. My grandparents who still lived in Berlin. Germany. Where the Wall had been.
(exits with suitcase, reenters with phone in hand, dials. Hesitates before pushing Talk, finally does and puts the phone to his ear.)
Stefan
Mom! Hey, how are you doing? I guess it's only been about a day and a half since I left, but still ... (beat)
Yeah, I landed alright, Opa was at the Flughafen to greet me. (pause)
Yeah, I'm fine. Oma made Rouladen and Rotkohl for me, it was amazing. How could you have ever left this country? (pause)
Oh, okay, sure. I'll talk to dad. (pause)
Dad, hi.
(exits, still on phone, as Dad enters from the opposite side of the stage with a phone to his ear)
Dad
How are you son? (beat)
Good to hear, good to hear. You get in alright? (beat) Good.
Listen, you know I don't really want you gallivanting around Europe ... No. Let me finish.
I may have been a bit harsh. Maybe it's a good thing that you're staying with your grandparents. Germany has a long history and a rich culture, you could really learn something, even if you're not going to school. I know I loved my time in Germany with the Army. Wouldn't trade it for anything.
(pause)
No, I guess you don't to have to visit all of the museums in Berlin! (small laugh) Just ... just be safe. Know that I love you.
(beat)
Thanks, and don't forget to call every once in a while. Your mother will want to hear from you.
(beat)
Goodbye. (hangs up)
Dad
My son was growing up, I guess. Well, he was leaving home, at least. I don't know what happened, what went wrong. No, I don't mean wrong, I mean ... I don't know, unexpected? He was supposed to have left home after he graduated high school, or at the very least he should've had a job by now. I don't mean to push him away, I just want to push him forward, towards something, towards a successful life. I love him and I do want to take care of him, but he's got to get out on his own sometime, he's got to start planning for his future. I don't want to coddle him forever.
Maybe he is growing up, though, in his own way, by going to stay with his grandparents. I just hope he isn't running away from responsibility, instead.
Who knows, maybe Germany will do him as much good as it did me. Berlin is an amazing place.
(Exit Dad)
(Enter Stefan)
Stefan
Berlin is an amazing place! I just love being here. And despite what dad thinks, I have actually been to a few museums. He was right, there's a lot of history here.
But it didn't matter, whatever I had planned each day, I inevitably ended up somewhere near the Wall, like I was drawn to it. Now maybe that's not really so surprising. It did run almost 100 miles directly through the middle of the city. Very little of it still remains, though. The only thing left, in most places, is a line of cobblestone marking where it once stood, and a little bronze plaque every few meters, "Hier stand die Berliner Mauer 1961-1989" Here stood the Berlin Wall.
I really was surprised at how little of it was still there.
(Enter Lady, older, about 70)
Lady
Your first time?
Stefan
What?
Lady
Is this your first time in Berlin, visiting the Wall?
Stefan
Yeah. Well, not really. I mean, yes this is my first time being in Berlin, but I've been here a month already. I've seen the Wall before.
Lady
What do you think of it?
Stefan
I don't know. It's not quite what I was expecting. I guess I thought there would be more of it. There's hardly anything left, just a few slabs of graffiti'ed concrete here and there.
Lady
It wasn't always like this, there used to be miles of Wall, and guards with their towers and their dogs and their guns.
Stefan
I know, I've read the books, seen the movies. But it's different actually being here and seeing where the Wall was ... and where it isn't anymore. It's a little eerie, in a way. Like I can't really believe all of the history books, because I don't see any proof of it anymore.
Lady
Can you blame us? That Wall was a constant reminder of everything that we couldn't have. It was a sad time of our histoy and we wanted to forget it. We were so happy to finally be free, to not have the Wall anymore stopping us from going East or West. We wanted to destroy that Wall, that symbol of our imprisonment, of our confinement. We tore into it with hammers and chisels and whatever we could get our hands on, anything to destroy it.
And then it was that we realized that we should keep some of it as a memorial, as a reminder that it should never happen again. A little too late.
Stefan
What was it like? Living here when the Wall stood here? I mean, look at this. This looks like a pretty major road, and there's the line. The Wall went right through here in the middle of the road, ending it.
Lady
The Wall ended a lot of things. (beat) But it wasn't all oppression and evil. There are many who feel that things were better back in the GDR, behind the Wall. From your point of view it must seem like a harsh life, but everything we needed was provided for us. Very few luxuries, though. I had to wait eighteen months before I could get a car, and the car I got wasn't exactly a Mercedes! It wasn't even as good as a Volkswagen. But it was a car, and it ran and it got me where I needed to go.
And I had a job, and I could buy food for my family and my children went to school, got good jobs, were able to raise families of their own.
Stefan
Why did they build the Wall, then? If things weren't so bad, Why did they need a Wall to keep you in, and why did they kill those who tried to get out?
Lady
You talk like a Westerner. Someone who sees the Wall as a prison Wall built by our oppressive Communist government keeping us in. But it was built as a protective Wall to keep us safe from the demoralizing influences of Western Capitalistic society. (beat) Well, that's what they told us.
Stefan
Of course they did. They didn't want to admit that they had to keep their citizens in by force! Just look at what happened as soon as it was rumored that there was a possibilty of travel to the West. I saw a news report about that night. Millions of Berliners stormed the crossings and overwhelmed the guards, and made it into West Berlin!
You had the ability to tear that Wall down all along, and the only reason you didn't was that they kept you so demoralized that you never had hope enough to unite and tear that Wall down.
Lady
You think our strength and ability to 'tear down that Wall' came from our hope of Freedom? You think we were like animals who were caged, straining against our chains, how is the phrase, 'yearning to be free?'
Stefan
Then, where did it come from?
Lady
From the one thing we were really denied. Sure, we were denied certain freedoms, but we weren't enslaved. We still had the freedom to live where we wanted, within the GDR, of course, to work where we wanted, to eat or drink as we wanted. We did not enjoy as much freedom as our Western brothers, but we were still free.
What was denied us was the ability to see our families. Many of us had loved ones in the West we could not visit. I had not seen my mother since 1961. She had not seen her grandchildren. We wrote letters back and forth, sent pictures each time one was born, at each birthday and holiday, but they had never met, had never held each other in arms.
(beat)
Do you know what announcement was made that night that caused so many to gather at the checkpoints to 'overwhelm the guards' as you say?
Stefan
No. What was it?
Lady
Gunter Schabowski announced that as of that moment all border crossings between East and West were immediately opened to allow people to visit their relatives. This came in response to years of protests, people begging to be allowed into the West to visit family and loved ones. They announced the opening of all border crossings and people flocked to the Wall to be let through.
Stefan
But how do you know it was all about family? They announced that all border crossings were open and everybody swarmed the crossings. That says nothing about going to visit family, it just says they wanted out of East Germany. Isn't that what the crowds chanted? "Wir wollen 'raus!" We want out?
Lady
Yes, they chanted that, at first. But that gave way to other chants, "Wir bleiben hier!" We're staying here! There were so many who wanted to go West to see family, to look around, see what it was like. But they didn't want to leave their homes permanently. They still had strong ties keeping them in the East, stronger than anything. They didn't want to leave, they wanted to make the East as free as the West.
And then they started chanting "Wir sind das Volk" We are the people, which became ultimately, "Wir sind ein Volk!" We are one people. And that's what the Mauerfall means, that's what the Fall of the Berlin Wall means. To me, at least, and many others. It meant that we were no longer a people divided into East and West, we were one people, one Germany, one family reunited.
Stefan
Is family really that important? That powerful? Powerful enough to collapse a regime that held power for over forty years? Without bloodshed?
Lady
You don't know? (beat) Tell me, do you have a family? A family that you're close to? Have you ever been away from them for a long time?
Stefan
... I have a family, of course. But I guess, we weren't all that close. Especially with my father. He doesn't like what I'm doing with my life, or not doing with it, according to him. (beat) Actually that's why I'm here in Germany, I'm staying with my grandparents, hiding from him, I guess.
Lady
Ah. Stay here long enough, though and you'll feel the kind of pull a family can have on you. It's what kept us strong when the Wall separated us and it's what gave us the ability to walk through that Wall when we decided we had had enough. But I guess it's different with you. You know that you can go home at anytime. Can you imagine being walled off? Not knowing when or if you could ever see your family?
Stefan
No. I can't imagine that. It seems unthinkable that any person or government should have that kind of power over another. Should that belong to that list of inalienable rights of man? The right to have a family, to see your family?
Lady
You're beginning to understand, I think, why the Wall came down so easily. It just took us 30 years to realize that fact.
Stefan
So. This Wall means a lot more than I thought it did.
Lady
Yes. It is much more than that. Much more.
Well, it is getting late, I must be going. I hope you enjoy your stay in Berlin.
Stefan
Oh, okay. It was nice to meet you.
Lady
And you. Auf Wiedersehen.
Stefan
Thanks. Tschüß!
(Lady smiles, and Exits)
Stefan
Berlin. It is an amazing city. American Presidents have given speeches here to overwhelming crowds. Two spoke in front the Wall. I sat in front of the Brandenburger Tor and watched videos of their speeches on my laptop, pretending I was actually there. Wishing I had been there. What an experience it would have been to hear Reagan's "Open this gate. Tear down this Wall!" Why does this city half a world away mean so much to these American Presidents? Why do they feel the need to proclaim "Ich hab' noch ein Koffer in Berlin" I still have a suitcase in Berlin, as Ronald Reagan did, or as John F. Kennedy famously ,"Ich bin ein Berliner" ? There is a power here, a rich history, a spirit that you can feel infused in the very stones of the streets.
I used to think that the Berlin Wall was merely a symbol of oppression and freedom. It stood for a people who had been denied their rights and it fell when they realized they had more power than the concrete and steel. Until I came here and stood where it was and spoke with those who had lived with it. JFK said in his speech, "this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace." That is what the Wall stands for, ... or fell for, I guess.
(Enter Dad)
Dad
He spent two months living in Germany with his grandparents, and then he called me one day, out of the blue, just wanting to talk. (beat) I hate to admit it but we had never really been all that close. Of course I love him, he's my son, but we never really had all that much in common, no real shared interests that allowed us to bond on a deeper level. But in that phonecall, which lasted all of fifteen minutes, we came to a higher understanding of what it means to be family. There was no weeping, or professions of love, or any of that cheesy, mushy stuff. We talked, as adults, as equals, and in that moment I watched my son grow up. And I realized that he is my son and I am his father and there's nothing on this green earth that can change that. (beat) I guess his visit to the Wall did him good. And me as well.
(pause)
He applied to and was accepted at the Humboldt University in Berlin starting that fall, where he studied history, focusing mostly on the latter 20th century and the effects that the Berlin Wall had on Germany and the world. (beat) I flew out in November and on the night of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Wall, we stood at the Brandenburg Gate with millions of Berliners, East and West, and celebrated Unity.
I am so proud of him, more than I have ever been.
Stefan
It's funny, you know. We talk in America about the Fall of the Berlin Wall as if it were one event, but it was more than that. There were so many small events that grew bigger and bigger, as ripples in a pond, or dominoes toppling. We tend to think of the Berlin Wall as a single giant structure that fell when enough people pushed on it, but it was merely the last and largest of a long line of dominoes that had been falling for a very long time; almost form the very day the Wall was built. All of those events leading up to November 9th and the events of almost a year after that until Germany's official Reunification Day, October 3 are all referred to by Germans as "Die Wende."
It means a Turning Point.
END
Die Wende
by David Tertipes
Characters:
Stefan - 20 year old kid
Dad - his father
Lady - older East German woman he meets at the Wall.
Stefan
I was born the day the Berlin Wall fell. Maybe that's an omen or something. In any case, it's interesting, isn't it? Especially considering the fact that I'm half German. My mother was born near Berlin and lived there until she met my dad. They married and moved back to the States, where I was born. On the day the Wall fell. Mom says she was in her hospital room, the TV was on and of course every station was showing special reports. It was the happiest day of her life; I like to think that it was at least partly because I was born, but you never know.
It's funny, really. The Wall has always been an almost important part of my life. It's always been there, looming in the background, even though it now no longer existed. My birthday turned into a double party, celebrating my birth and German freedom at the same time. One year mom even put a miniature Brandenburger Tor on my cake! But I'd never actually been there. I'd never seen it. And it wasn't until I did that I realized just what it meant.
(Enter Dad, carrying suitcase)
Dad
(sets suitcase down next to Stefan)
Are you sure you really want to do this?
Stefan
Yeah. I think so. (beat) I've got to do something!
Dad
You know what I think about it?
Stefan
Yes. I know. You've told me a hundred times, you don't want me to go.
Dad
I'm your father, I'm supposed to be concerned about you. I want what's best for you.
Stefan
I know, I know. It's just ... I think I know what's best for me. I gotta do this myself.
Dad
Stefan, ... No. Fine. You're grown now. You've got to do this your way.
Stefan
Thanks --
Dad
--But have you thought about what you're going to do? How you're going to make a living, support a family someday?
Stefan
Dad!
Dad
Right. You're young and you don't think about those things.
Stefan
I'm only 20 years old. I shouldn't have to think about those things yet!
Dad
Years pass by so quickly, you'd be surprised at how soon you'll have to start making plans for the future. You'll have to go to college, decide what you want to study, what you want to spend the rest of your life doing. You'll find a girl, and have to decide if you want to spend forever with her, raise children with her.
Stefan
That's all way too much right now. I don't want to commit myself to anything I can't be sure of yet. I will settle down sometime, dad. Just not yet.
Dad
You don't have to know everything now. You could at least go to college. Get your general classes out of the way, take some random classes and see what interests you. That's how I did it.
Stefan
That's how you did it! That's not how I want to do it. I've thought about this, I've talked to Opa, it's gonna work. At least for a little while.
(Picks up suitcase, prepares to exit.)
I'll call when I get there. I'm sure Opa'll want to talk to mom at least.
(lights down to spotlight on Stefan. Dad exits in the dark)
Stefan
And that's how I left home. Dad wanted me to go to college. Get a degree. Get a job. Get a life! But I didn't want to yet. I liked the way my life was and I didn't see any need to make any drastic changes. Other than hopping on a plane, flying halfway around the world and moving in with my grandparents, that is. My grandparents who still lived in Berlin. Germany. Where the Wall had been.
(exits with suitcase, reenters with phone in hand, dials. Hesitates before pushing Talk, finally does and puts the phone to his ear.)
Stefan
Mom! Hey, how are you doing? I guess it's only been about a day and a half since I left, but still ... (beat)
Yeah, I landed alright, Opa was at the Flughafen to greet me. (pause)
Yeah, I'm fine. Oma made Rouladen and Rotkohl for me, it was amazing. How could you have ever left this country? (pause)
Oh, okay, sure. I'll talk to dad. (pause)
Dad, hi.
(exits, still on phone, as Dad enters from the opposite side of the stage with a phone to his ear)
Dad
How are you son? (beat)
Good to hear, good to hear. You get in alright? (beat) Good.
Listen, you know I don't really want you gallivanting around Europe ... No. Let me finish.
I may have been a bit harsh. Maybe it's a good thing that you're staying with your grandparents. Germany has a long history and a rich culture, you could really learn something, even if you're not going to school. I know I loved my time in Germany with the Army. Wouldn't trade it for anything.
(pause)
No, I guess you don't to have to visit all of the museums in Berlin! (small laugh) Just ... just be safe. Know that I love you.
(beat)
Thanks, and don't forget to call every once in a while. Your mother will want to hear from you.
(beat)
Goodbye. (hangs up)
Dad
My son was growing up, I guess. Well, he was leaving home, at least. I don't know what happened, what went wrong. No, I don't mean wrong, I mean ... I don't know, unexpected? He was supposed to have left home after he graduated high school, or at the very least he should've had a job by now. I don't mean to push him away, I just want to push him forward, towards something, towards a successful life. I love him and I do want to take care of him, but he's got to get out on his own sometime, he's got to start planning for his future. I don't want to coddle him forever.
Maybe he is growing up, though, in his own way, by going to stay with his grandparents. I just hope he isn't running away from responsibility, instead.
Who knows, maybe Germany will do him as much good as it did me. Berlin is an amazing place.
(Exit Dad)
(Enter Stefan)
Stefan
Berlin is an amazing place! I just love being here. And despite what dad thinks, I have actually been to a few museums. He was right, there's a lot of history here.
But it didn't matter, whatever I had planned each day, I inevitably ended up somewhere near the Wall, like I was drawn to it. Now maybe that's not really so surprising. It did run almost 100 miles directly through the middle of the city. Very little of it still remains, though. The only thing left, in most places, is a line of cobblestone marking where it once stood, and a little bronze plaque every few meters, "Hier stand die Berliner Mauer 1961-1989" Here stood the Berlin Wall.
I really was surprised at how little of it was still there.
(Enter Lady, older, about 70)
Lady
Your first time?
Stefan
What?
Lady
Is this your first time in Berlin, visiting the Wall?
Stefan
Yeah. Well, not really. I mean, yes this is my first time being in Berlin, but I've been here a month already. I've seen the Wall before.
Lady
What do you think of it?
Stefan
I don't know. It's not quite what I was expecting. I guess I thought there would be more of it. There's hardly anything left, just a few slabs of graffiti'ed concrete here and there.
Lady
It wasn't always like this, there used to be miles of Wall, and guards with their towers and their dogs and their guns.
Stefan
I know, I've read the books, seen the movies. But it's different actually being here and seeing where the Wall was ... and where it isn't anymore. It's a little eerie, in a way. Like I can't really believe all of the history books, because I don't see any proof of it anymore.
Lady
Can you blame us? That Wall was a constant reminder of everything that we couldn't have. It was a sad time of our histoy and we wanted to forget it. We were so happy to finally be free, to not have the Wall anymore stopping us from going East or West. We wanted to destroy that Wall, that symbol of our imprisonment, of our confinement. We tore into it with hammers and chisels and whatever we could get our hands on, anything to destroy it.
And then it was that we realized that we should keep some of it as a memorial, as a reminder that it should never happen again. A little too late.
Stefan
What was it like? Living here when the Wall stood here? I mean, look at this. This looks like a pretty major road, and there's the line. The Wall went right through here in the middle of the road, ending it.
Lady
The Wall ended a lot of things. (beat) But it wasn't all oppression and evil. There are many who feel that things were better back in the GDR, behind the Wall. From your point of view it must seem like a harsh life, but everything we needed was provided for us. Very few luxuries, though. I had to wait eighteen months before I could get a car, and the car I got wasn't exactly a Mercedes! It wasn't even as good as a Volkswagen. But it was a car, and it ran and it got me where I needed to go.
And I had a job, and I could buy food for my family and my children went to school, got good jobs, were able to raise families of their own.
Stefan
Why did they build the Wall, then? If things weren't so bad, Why did they need a Wall to keep you in, and why did they kill those who tried to get out?
Lady
You talk like a Westerner. Someone who sees the Wall as a prison Wall built by our oppressive Communist government keeping us in. But it was built as a protective Wall to keep us safe from the demoralizing influences of Western Capitalistic society. (beat) Well, that's what they told us.
Stefan
Of course they did. They didn't want to admit that they had to keep their citizens in by force! Just look at what happened as soon as it was rumored that there was a possibilty of travel to the West. I saw a news report about that night. Millions of Berliners stormed the crossings and overwhelmed the guards, and made it into West Berlin!
You had the ability to tear that Wall down all along, and the only reason you didn't was that they kept you so demoralized that you never had hope enough to unite and tear that Wall down.
Lady
You think our strength and ability to 'tear down that Wall' came from our hope of Freedom? You think we were like animals who were caged, straining against our chains, how is the phrase, 'yearning to be free?'
Stefan
Then, where did it come from?
Lady
From the one thing we were really denied. Sure, we were denied certain freedoms, but we weren't enslaved. We still had the freedom to live where we wanted, within the GDR, of course, to work where we wanted, to eat or drink as we wanted. We did not enjoy as much freedom as our Western brothers, but we were still free.
What was denied us was the ability to see our families. Many of us had loved ones in the West we could not visit. I had not seen my mother since 1961. She had not seen her grandchildren. We wrote letters back and forth, sent pictures each time one was born, at each birthday and holiday, but they had never met, had never held each other in arms.
(beat)
Do you know what announcement was made that night that caused so many to gather at the checkpoints to 'overwhelm the guards' as you say?
Stefan
No. What was it?
Lady
Gunter Schabowski announced that as of that moment all border crossings between East and West were immediately opened to allow people to visit their relatives. This came in response to years of protests, people begging to be allowed into the West to visit family and loved ones. They announced the opening of all border crossings and people flocked to the Wall to be let through.
Stefan
But how do you know it was all about family? They announced that all border crossings were open and everybody swarmed the crossings. That says nothing about going to visit family, it just says they wanted out of East Germany. Isn't that what the crowds chanted? "Wir wollen 'raus!" We want out?
Lady
Yes, they chanted that, at first. But that gave way to other chants, "Wir bleiben hier!" We're staying here! There were so many who wanted to go West to see family, to look around, see what it was like. But they didn't want to leave their homes permanently. They still had strong ties keeping them in the East, stronger than anything. They didn't want to leave, they wanted to make the East as free as the West.
And then they started chanting "Wir sind das Volk" We are the people, which became ultimately, "Wir sind ein Volk!" We are one people. And that's what the Mauerfall means, that's what the Fall of the Berlin Wall means. To me, at least, and many others. It meant that we were no longer a people divided into East and West, we were one people, one Germany, one family reunited.
Stefan
Is family really that important? That powerful? Powerful enough to collapse a regime that held power for over forty years? Without bloodshed?
Lady
You don't know? (beat) Tell me, do you have a family? A family that you're close to? Have you ever been away from them for a long time?
Stefan
... I have a family, of course. But I guess, we weren't all that close. Especially with my father. He doesn't like what I'm doing with my life, or not doing with it, according to him. (beat) Actually that's why I'm here in Germany, I'm staying with my grandparents, hiding from him, I guess.
Lady
Ah. Stay here long enough, though and you'll feel the kind of pull a family can have on you. It's what kept us strong when the Wall separated us and it's what gave us the ability to walk through that Wall when we decided we had had enough. But I guess it's different with you. You know that you can go home at anytime. Can you imagine being walled off? Not knowing when or if you could ever see your family?
Stefan
No. I can't imagine that. It seems unthinkable that any person or government should have that kind of power over another. Should that belong to that list of inalienable rights of man? The right to have a family, to see your family?
Lady
You're beginning to understand, I think, why the Wall came down so easily. It just took us 30 years to realize that fact.
Stefan
So. This Wall means a lot more than I thought it did.
Lady
Yes. It is much more than that. Much more.
Well, it is getting late, I must be going. I hope you enjoy your stay in Berlin.
Stefan
Oh, okay. It was nice to meet you.
Lady
And you. Auf Wiedersehen.
Stefan
Thanks. Tschüß!
(Lady smiles, and Exits)
Stefan
Berlin. It is an amazing city. American Presidents have given speeches here to overwhelming crowds. Two spoke in front the Wall. I sat in front of the Brandenburger Tor and watched videos of their speeches on my laptop, pretending I was actually there. Wishing I had been there. What an experience it would have been to hear Reagan's "Open this gate. Tear down this Wall!" Why does this city half a world away mean so much to these American Presidents? Why do they feel the need to proclaim "Ich hab' noch ein Koffer in Berlin" I still have a suitcase in Berlin, as Ronald Reagan did, or as John F. Kennedy famously ,"Ich bin ein Berliner" ? There is a power here, a rich history, a spirit that you can feel infused in the very stones of the streets.
I used to think that the Berlin Wall was merely a symbol of oppression and freedom. It stood for a people who had been denied their rights and it fell when they realized they had more power than the concrete and steel. Until I came here and stood where it was and spoke with those who had lived with it. JFK said in his speech, "this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace." That is what the Wall stands for, ... or fell for, I guess.
(Enter Dad)
Dad
He spent two months living in Germany with his grandparents, and then he called me one day, out of the blue, just wanting to talk. (beat) I hate to admit it but we had never really been all that close. Of course I love him, he's my son, but we never really had all that much in common, no real shared interests that allowed us to bond on a deeper level. But in that phonecall, which lasted all of fifteen minutes, we came to a higher understanding of what it means to be family. There was no weeping, or professions of love, or any of that cheesy, mushy stuff. We talked, as adults, as equals, and in that moment I watched my son grow up. And I realized that he is my son and I am his father and there's nothing on this green earth that can change that. (beat) I guess his visit to the Wall did him good. And me as well.
(pause)
He applied to and was accepted at the Humboldt University in Berlin starting that fall, where he studied history, focusing mostly on the latter 20th century and the effects that the Berlin Wall had on Germany and the world. (beat) I flew out in November and on the night of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Wall, we stood at the Brandenburg Gate with millions of Berliners, East and West, and celebrated Unity.
I am so proud of him, more than I have ever been.
Stefan
It's funny, you know. We talk in America about the Fall of the Berlin Wall as if it were one event, but it was more than that. There were so many small events that grew bigger and bigger, as ripples in a pond, or dominoes toppling. We tend to think of the Berlin Wall as a single giant structure that fell when enough people pushed on it, but it was merely the last and largest of a long line of dominoes that had been falling for a very long time; almost form the very day the Wall was built. All of those events leading up to November 9th and the events of almost a year after that until Germany's official Reunification Day, October 3 are all referred to by Germans as "Die Wende."
It means a Turning Point.
END
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thoughts
And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen—
2 Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing.
3 And it came to pass that the people began to wax strong in wickedness and abominations; and they did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given; and Satan did ago about, leading away the hearts of the people, tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land.
3 Nephi 2:1-3
Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.
2 They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ.
Mosiah 26:1-2
Today is September 11th. That means quite a lot to an American audience. It was 8 years ago that we witnessed a terrible terrorist attack right here, in our own country. We had heard for years about bombings and explosions and whatnot in other countries, but it all seemed so foreign to us, it could never happen here. And then it did.
But that was 8 years ago. It's in the past. I look around today, and there are some vestiges of remembrance, flags are flown at half-staff today, there was a moment of silence in my class this morning, I read an article or two online about remembering, but that seems to be it. For the most part we have forgotten. We don't really remember what it felt like to live through that day. The horror, the terror, the unknowing-ness that we experienced are gone. I am reminded of the Nephites, as quoted in the first verses above, they had seen a miracle, witnessed an event of astronomical wonder. A day and a night and a day without any darkness, as if it were one day. And then 5 years later, they "began to forget" or worse "began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven". I always marveled at those verses, wondering how a people could forget something as spectacular as that, and then I look around at our country today and I begin to understand. We to have begun to forget, or worse, we're beginning to be less and less astonished at terrorist attacks, at news of bombings and killings and death.
Of course, I am speaking of us collectively, as a nation, because I know full-well that individually many of us remember. I have a good friend who grew up in the Bronx, whose family was there in New York that day. I had the opportunity to act with him in a play he wrote about his remembrances and experiences, and those of his family. To talk with him, to act with him in this play was truly emotionally draining. I had heard actors talk about a role being emotionally draining before, but hadn't quite understood, it was just repeating lines and walking back and forth, how could that be draining? It wasn't until I was in this play, titled 6 for the 6 stories that it told and having been written 6 years later, that I understood. To portray that part, of a father not knowing where his children were, if they were safe or not, while still trying to maintain a positive front in order to support his wife was hard. To do that again and again and again, without becoming jaded with it, to keep it fresh and new each time, because to the audience it was new, was even harder.
I must admit, I had very little personal experience to draw from. I felt much like the 'rising generation' spoken of in the second scriptural passage above. I was a little too young at the time to fully grasp the situation, and I was not personally affected. I grew up in Seattle, Washington. A whole continent away. I had never been to NY, never seen the Twin Towers, never even known anybody who lived there. It wasn't really real to me at the time. People kept saying it was like watching a movie, being stuck there glued to the TV. For me, it was. It was just as real as watching one of those disaster movies, I had the same emotional connection, or lack of one, I guess.
So where am I going with all of this? I really don't know. Today is just one of those days that requires some quiet reflection and deep thought. I needed to write something, to get these thoughts down and out in the open. Do with them what you will.
2 Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing.
3 And it came to pass that the people began to wax strong in wickedness and abominations; and they did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given; and Satan did ago about, leading away the hearts of the people, tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land.
3 Nephi 2:1-3
Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.
2 They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ.
Mosiah 26:1-2
Today is September 11th. That means quite a lot to an American audience. It was 8 years ago that we witnessed a terrible terrorist attack right here, in our own country. We had heard for years about bombings and explosions and whatnot in other countries, but it all seemed so foreign to us, it could never happen here. And then it did.
But that was 8 years ago. It's in the past. I look around today, and there are some vestiges of remembrance, flags are flown at half-staff today, there was a moment of silence in my class this morning, I read an article or two online about remembering, but that seems to be it. For the most part we have forgotten. We don't really remember what it felt like to live through that day. The horror, the terror, the unknowing-ness that we experienced are gone. I am reminded of the Nephites, as quoted in the first verses above, they had seen a miracle, witnessed an event of astronomical wonder. A day and a night and a day without any darkness, as if it were one day. And then 5 years later, they "began to forget" or worse "began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven". I always marveled at those verses, wondering how a people could forget something as spectacular as that, and then I look around at our country today and I begin to understand. We to have begun to forget, or worse, we're beginning to be less and less astonished at terrorist attacks, at news of bombings and killings and death.
Of course, I am speaking of us collectively, as a nation, because I know full-well that individually many of us remember. I have a good friend who grew up in the Bronx, whose family was there in New York that day. I had the opportunity to act with him in a play he wrote about his remembrances and experiences, and those of his family. To talk with him, to act with him in this play was truly emotionally draining. I had heard actors talk about a role being emotionally draining before, but hadn't quite understood, it was just repeating lines and walking back and forth, how could that be draining? It wasn't until I was in this play, titled 6 for the 6 stories that it told and having been written 6 years later, that I understood. To portray that part, of a father not knowing where his children were, if they were safe or not, while still trying to maintain a positive front in order to support his wife was hard. To do that again and again and again, without becoming jaded with it, to keep it fresh and new each time, because to the audience it was new, was even harder.
I must admit, I had very little personal experience to draw from. I felt much like the 'rising generation' spoken of in the second scriptural passage above. I was a little too young at the time to fully grasp the situation, and I was not personally affected. I grew up in Seattle, Washington. A whole continent away. I had never been to NY, never seen the Twin Towers, never even known anybody who lived there. It wasn't really real to me at the time. People kept saying it was like watching a movie, being stuck there glued to the TV. For me, it was. It was just as real as watching one of those disaster movies, I had the same emotional connection, or lack of one, I guess.
So where am I going with all of this? I really don't know. Today is just one of those days that requires some quiet reflection and deep thought. I needed to write something, to get these thoughts down and out in the open. Do with them what you will.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
So, I've been on a writing kick recently! And New Play Project just advertised for a new upcoming show, Bad Play Project! They were asking for bad play submissions. I thought, that sounds like fun, I'm sure that I can write a bad play. But it's harder than it looks. What constitutes a bad play? No plot? Poor characterization? Lousy dialog? Then why would someone want to see this play? It seems to me then, that to write a purposely bad play one must write a good play but in a bad way.
So, I wrote a play. It is mostly inspired by a line in the email that New Play Project sent out advertising this event. " All the plays chosen will be performed as a staged reading, so crazy stage directions (man explodes) are entirely possible." In my Shakespeare class earlier that week, we had been discussing the play The Winter's Tale, and how it contains one of the most famous stage directions Shakespeare ever wrote, "Exit, pursued by a bear." We watched a film clip of the director for the Royal Shakespeare Company talking about how hard it is to stage this, as he said "The problem is not 'exit, pursued by a bear' the problem is 'enter bear'!" How do you get a bear to enter?
And this led me to thinking. And I wrote a play, "Pursued by a bear"
Let me know what you think!
So, I wrote a play. It is mostly inspired by a line in the email that New Play Project sent out advertising this event. " All the plays chosen will be performed as a staged reading, so crazy stage directions (man explodes) are entirely possible." In my Shakespeare class earlier that week, we had been discussing the play The Winter's Tale, and how it contains one of the most famous stage directions Shakespeare ever wrote, "Exit, pursued by a bear." We watched a film clip of the director for the Royal Shakespeare Company talking about how hard it is to stage this, as he said "The problem is not 'exit, pursued by a bear' the problem is 'enter bear'!" How do you get a bear to enter?
And this led me to thinking. And I wrote a play, "Pursued by a bear"
Let me know what you think!
SCHOLAR
Good evening and welcome to tonight's scholarly look at The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare. I'll be your scholar and host, Professor Geoffrey Spencer Hall. We begin tonight where we left off yesterday, with Act III, Scene 3, the sea coast of Bohemia, a shipwreck.
This scene is possibly one of the more famous of this somewhat less than famous work by the Bard. Here we met Antigonus, a lord of Sicilia, carrying the infant daughter of King Leontes, who has been banished by the mad king who suspects the child of being the issue and evidence of adultery on the part of his wife and queen. Antigonus cannot bear to see the young innocent child killed, so he has a plan: he will leave her on the shore in the hopes that someone will find her. And just as he is abandoning her we have the most famous stage direction ever written: "Exit, pursued by a bear."
(Enter Antigonus, running, pursued by a bear)
ANTIGONUS
Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Bear! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
SCHOLAR
There actually is no bear.
ANTIGONUS
Wha? But I'm being pursued by a bear.
SCHOLAR
No, you're not.
ANTIGONUS
Yes, I am. It says right there in the script, "Exit, pursued by a bear." !
SCHOLAR
Yes, that's what the script says, but there is no actual bear.
ANTIGONUS
Then what's that pursuing me?
SCHOLAR
The bear is merely a symbol, it never actually existed. Shakespeare uses the bear as a symbol of Mother Nature, of nature, and of mothers in general. It is a well known adage that one must never come between a mother bear and her cubs; her rage at anyone seen to be meddling with her offspring is legendary. And here Shakespeare uses a bear to exact Nature's revenge upon the character of Antigonus, who is in the very act of exposing a child to the elements.
ANTIGONUS
I didn't mean to, I am bound to serve my king! I wasn't going to kill her, I swear!
SCHOLAR
Of course you weren't! Not after that dream you had last night.
ANTIGONUS
How do you know about my dream?
SCHOLAR
It's in the script, you give a big long monologue about it, describing how Hermoine, the queen and mother to this child, appeared to you in a vision. How you know by this apparition that she has died, most likely from grief at being spurned by her husband, labeled adulteress and traitor by her king, and having her newborn daughter ripped from her to be disposed of. She threatened you for undertaking this act, the will of your mad king, her husband, and swore in her wrath that you would never again see your own wife.
ANTIGONUS
Wow! That's exactly what happened! You're good.
SCHOLAR
Four centuries of scholars have debated on this subject. In your dream you saw the mother of the child you intended to kill come to avenge the wrongs done against her, and when you were about to leave her child to be exposed and die of the elements, the ultimate angry mother figure, the bear, appears to pursue and devour you.
ANTIGONUS
You mean I'm going to get eaten, too? That sucks! I'm just doing what I'm told.
SCHOLAR
Indeed you are. It seems Shakespeare is making a point here that was way ahead of its time, and would not become official until the Geneva Convention: that soldiers are not exempt from warcrimes or crimes against humanity simply because they were following orders. You were expected to disobey inhumane orders. What are you, a Nazi?
ANTIGONUS
What's a Nazi?
SCHOLAR
Never mind.
(Sound cue: Bear roar and crashing through trees)
ANTIGONUS
What was that?
SCHOLAR
What was what?
ANTIGONUS
That roaring and crashing sound I just heard? Is that the bear coming to get me?
SCHOLAR
Don't be ridiculous! I've told you there is no bear.
ANTIGONUS
I know, I know. It's a symbol. But I'm pretty sure I just heard a bear.
SCHOLAR
No, you didn't. But even if you did, I mean, even if there was an actual bear in the play, it is not pursuing you as much as it is being pursued.
ANTIGONUS
What does that mean?
SCHOLAR
Bear-baiting was a very popular form of public entertainment in Shakespeare's day. Bears would be brought in and chained to a stake in the middle of a pit or theatre-like arena called a bear garden, and then trained hunting dogs would be loosed upon it until either the bear or the dogs were dead. And people would take bets on which would win the fight.
ANTIGONUS
That's cruel!
SCHOLAR
Not in Shakespeare's day, which is also yours, so shut up! It was much enjoyed by royalty and commoners alike. The only evidence we have of people disapproving of the sport in Shakespeare's time only complained that it was being performed on Sundays, which the Puritans saw as 'breaking the Sabbath'.
ANTIGONUS
And what does that have to do with me, and my imminent doom?
SCHOLAR
There is no doom! That bear in the play is not pursuing you, it is being pursued by dogs for sport! Shakespeare has written this bear into the play as either a clever social commentary or a cheap appeal to the audience's baser pleasures.
ANTIGONUS
You mean, that this bear is chasing me because it is trying to exact revenge upon an Elizabethan society which revels in bear-baiting? It's gonna eat me to stop me from siccing my dogs upon it and killing it?
SCHOLAR
That's one theory, yeah. The other is that Shakespeare knew that bear-baiting was so popular and sought to give his public what they wanted: cheap entertainment in the form of a bear attack.
ANTIGONUS
A bear attacking me is entertainment?!
SCHOLAR
Sure, it's funny! In a morbid, schadenfreude sort of way.
ANTIGONUS
Taking pleasure in my pain? Is that what Nazi is?
SCHOLAR
Close enough. Anyway, are we clear now that the bear is simply a symbol, or a figment of the mind? Something meant to encourage scholarly debate?
ANTIGONUS
If you say so. Though it sounds to me like scholars are kinda grasping at straws, here.
SCHOLAR
What do you mean by that?
ANTIGONUS
Well, it's been four hundred years since these plays were written, right?
SCHOLAR
Yeah ...
ANTIGONUS
And there has been this 'scholarly debate' since pretty much the beginning, right?
SCHOLAR
Yes. Learned men have been discussing the deeper themes and meanings ever since the first performance of William Shakespeare's first play.
ANTIGONUS
Which means, that by now, you've probably run out of new intelligent things to say about them.
SCHOLAR
Wait a minute. These works are so universal, so wonderful-
ANTIGONUS
That there will always be new things to discuss? Do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to justify your career?
SCHOLAR
Well, maybe you've got a point. But it doesn't change the fact that scholars agree that the bear in this play is not an actual bear but a symbol of something much more important!
(Bear growls and tree branch breaking sounds get louder)
ANTIGONUS
Oh, you mean that bear? That bear getting very dangerously close here, is just a symbol? A symbol of what?
SCHOLAR
Of ... Of .... Of deeper themes. Of deep intellectual meaning. Of ... Of irony and wit and scholarly stuff!
ANTIGONUS
Right. It looks to me like it's just a hungry bear.
SCHOLAR
Which is exactly what it is! But it's only hungry because it's been starved to make it more aggressive when they send the dogs at it. It is a SYMBOL!
(Enter Bear, growling.)
SCHOLAR
Bear! Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Bear! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
(Exit. Pursued by a bear.)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
On Writing
Haven't written in a long time. And i guess that's really my problem. I should write more. Not necessarily here on the blog, but in general. Lately i've had this desire to write. I have these ideas, i need to put down on paper, but then i'm just a little lazy. I don't take the time or make the effort to write. But i need to.
That being said, here's a new short play that i'm working on.
I call it "Don't Jump!"
Don't Jump
(2 is standing on a bridge, looking out, leaning over the railing. 1 walks by)
1- Don't jump!
2- What!?
1- What?
2- What did you say?
1- I said ... (sheepishly) Don't jump.
2- Why would you say that?
1- I don't know. It was a joke. I thought it'd be funny. You were standing there at the railing and ... (trails off pathetically) (pause) Sorry. Have a nice day!
2- No.
1- No?
2- No. I'm not having a nice day. This is not a nice day. And I don't think it's going to be a nice day!
1- I'm ... sorry.
(pause)
1- Is there anything I can do?
2- No. Just go ... go.
(1 turns to leave)
2- Wait! (1 turns back) There is something you can do, if you still want to.
1- Sure, what do you need?
2- (pause) Push me.
1- What!?
2- I need you to push me.
1- Why should I do that!?
2- I had it all planned. All decided. This needed to happen, it needs to happen. But now that I'm standing here ... I can't do it. I need you to push me.
1- No! I can't. That's considered murder, or at least assisted suicide, which is illegal in most states!
2- Fine then! Just go. Turn around, walk off there. I'll figure something out on my own. (muttering - I always have to figure things out on my own. No one ever wants to help me.
something like that)
(pause)
1- (stands there uncomfortably, wants to leave, but doesn't want to leave 2 there alone) Um .... why?
2- Why what!?
1- Why are you doing this? What could drive you to such an extreme?
2-Why do you care? Do you really want to know, or are you just morbidly curious?
1-I'm ... um ... Well, to be honest, I am a little curious. What drives a person to do contemplate such a thing?
2- Why should I tell you. You don't know me. I'm nobody to you, I'm nobody to anybody.
1- No, no. You are. Sure, I guess I don't know you. I mean, we've never met, I don't know your name . . . I'm John. (extends hand)
2- I'm ... Gary. (shakes hand)
1- Well then, now I know you!
2- (chuckles) Yeah. now you do.
And that's what i've got so far. I just don't know where to take this play, what i want it to say. I don't want it to be easy, i don't want to solve all the problems. I want to leave it sort of "up in the air" so that maybe i can submit it to New Play Project's festival in June.
We'll see what happens.
That being said, here's a new short play that i'm working on.
I call it "Don't Jump!"
Don't Jump
(2 is standing on a bridge, looking out, leaning over the railing. 1 walks by)
1- Don't jump!
2- What!?
1- What?
2- What did you say?
1- I said ... (sheepishly) Don't jump.
2- Why would you say that?
1- I don't know. It was a joke. I thought it'd be funny. You were standing there at the railing and ... (trails off pathetically) (pause) Sorry. Have a nice day!
2- No.
1- No?
2- No. I'm not having a nice day. This is not a nice day. And I don't think it's going to be a nice day!
1- I'm ... sorry.
(pause)
1- Is there anything I can do?
2- No. Just go ... go.
(1 turns to leave)
2- Wait! (1 turns back) There is something you can do, if you still want to.
1- Sure, what do you need?
2- (pause) Push me.
1- What!?
2- I need you to push me.
1- Why should I do that!?
2- I had it all planned. All decided. This needed to happen, it needs to happen. But now that I'm standing here ... I can't do it. I need you to push me.
1- No! I can't. That's considered murder, or at least assisted suicide, which is illegal in most states!
2- Fine then! Just go. Turn around, walk off there. I'll figure something out on my own. (muttering - I always have to figure things out on my own. No one ever wants to help me.
something like that)
(pause)
1- (stands there uncomfortably, wants to leave, but doesn't want to leave 2 there alone) Um .... why?
2- Why what!?
1- Why are you doing this? What could drive you to such an extreme?
2-Why do you care? Do you really want to know, or are you just morbidly curious?
1-I'm ... um ... Well, to be honest, I am a little curious. What drives a person to do contemplate such a thing?
2- Why should I tell you. You don't know me. I'm nobody to you, I'm nobody to anybody.
1- No, no. You are. Sure, I guess I don't know you. I mean, we've never met, I don't know your name . . . I'm John. (extends hand)
2- I'm ... Gary. (shakes hand)
1- Well then, now I know you!
2- (chuckles) Yeah. now you do.
And that's what i've got so far. I just don't know where to take this play, what i want it to say. I don't want it to be easy, i don't want to solve all the problems. I want to leave it sort of "up in the air" so that maybe i can submit it to New Play Project's festival in June.
We'll see what happens.
Monday, November 3, 2008
On Villainy
So, it's November, and that means NaNoWriMo! National Novel Writing Month. It's a crazy concept: you have a month to write a 55,000 word novel start to finish. Sounds kinda fun, and i tried last year and fizzled out.
The thing i've realized is that i am much more of a rewriter than i am a writer. It is so much easier to go back and edit and rework something i've already written than to sit down and write it for the first time. I find that as i write, i try to edit as i go and so i get hung up on trying to find the exact right word, or whatever and i lose the whole train of thought and stop writing. I saw this with a play that i wrote. It took me over a year to get it to a point where i liked it, and it's only a ten-minute play! But i actually sat down one day and wrote it out, no matter how orrible i thought it was as i was writing it, i just kept going to the end. And then i spent months going back rereading it a thousand times, changing this word, that period, etc. until i really like it.
And so that is what i must do with my novel. I have been kicking around a couple of novel ideas (yes, that was a pun) for a while now and i just need to sit down and actually start writing, and keep writing. When it's done i can go back and make it amazing, i just need to get it down on paper!
And i'm hoping that NaNoWriMo will help motivate me! I know i'm starting late, ut let's celebrate the fact that i'm even coming to the party at all!
And so, i want to talk about Villainy! I mean, in my opinon a good villain is what makes a good book. I have always been drawn to those villains that i can relate to, they often make the creepiest bad guys. Villains who aren't just evil for the sake of being evil, but who have real motivating factors that the audience can understand. I love Richard III, who "since I cannot play a lover, i am determined to be a villain", he was never loved because of his deformities and so turned to evilness. Or Frankenstein's monster, same case, he was never shown affection or love by his creator and so he was only able to repay in kind, in villainy, in rampaging. He is a tragic figure and i pity him as much as i fear him.
That's the kind of villain i want to create. And i have thought long and hard about my villain and how to create him, why he went bad and so on. And i think i want to explore the villain as the direct opposite of the good guy.In German all evil words, like temptation, start with a prefix "ver" which means twisted or bad, it has connotations of being evil, and can be added to almost any verb or noun to make that word evil. "Leiten" is to lead, but "verleiten" is to lead astray, to tempt. "Achten" is to admire, respect, but "verachten" is to despise, scorn. You get the idea? And i want to creat a villain who is simply the good guy, but evil.
And how did he become evil? I really loved the play i saw a couple weeks ago about Lucifer before e fell and became the Devil, it portrayed him as an honest character, as a man with whom one could relate. And his reasons for falling, for rejecting God, were very understandable. I want to do that. I want a villain who maybe studied too much, learned too much and decided that Evil had to exist in this world in order for Good to exist. Without one there is no other, and so he decided in his twisted way, to become the Evil that needs to exist.
I don't know where else to go from there. But i think i wil simply start writing, now that i have some character ideas fleshed out a bit and i'll let them tell me wat happens next.
Stay tuned and i may post a few passages here!
Keep an eye out for my smashing Bestseller, The Twisted King. (title subject to change)
-Teeps
The thing i've realized is that i am much more of a rewriter than i am a writer. It is so much easier to go back and edit and rework something i've already written than to sit down and write it for the first time. I find that as i write, i try to edit as i go and so i get hung up on trying to find the exact right word, or whatever and i lose the whole train of thought and stop writing. I saw this with a play that i wrote. It took me over a year to get it to a point where i liked it, and it's only a ten-minute play! But i actually sat down one day and wrote it out, no matter how orrible i thought it was as i was writing it, i just kept going to the end. And then i spent months going back rereading it a thousand times, changing this word, that period, etc. until i really like it.
And so that is what i must do with my novel. I have been kicking around a couple of novel ideas (yes, that was a pun) for a while now and i just need to sit down and actually start writing, and keep writing. When it's done i can go back and make it amazing, i just need to get it down on paper!
And i'm hoping that NaNoWriMo will help motivate me! I know i'm starting late, ut let's celebrate the fact that i'm even coming to the party at all!
And so, i want to talk about Villainy! I mean, in my opinon a good villain is what makes a good book. I have always been drawn to those villains that i can relate to, they often make the creepiest bad guys. Villains who aren't just evil for the sake of being evil, but who have real motivating factors that the audience can understand. I love Richard III, who "since I cannot play a lover, i am determined to be a villain", he was never loved because of his deformities and so turned to evilness. Or Frankenstein's monster, same case, he was never shown affection or love by his creator and so he was only able to repay in kind, in villainy, in rampaging. He is a tragic figure and i pity him as much as i fear him.
That's the kind of villain i want to create. And i have thought long and hard about my villain and how to create him, why he went bad and so on. And i think i want to explore the villain as the direct opposite of the good guy.In German all evil words, like temptation, start with a prefix "ver" which means twisted or bad, it has connotations of being evil, and can be added to almost any verb or noun to make that word evil. "Leiten" is to lead, but "verleiten" is to lead astray, to tempt. "Achten" is to admire, respect, but "verachten" is to despise, scorn. You get the idea? And i want to creat a villain who is simply the good guy, but evil.
And how did he become evil? I really loved the play i saw a couple weeks ago about Lucifer before e fell and became the Devil, it portrayed him as an honest character, as a man with whom one could relate. And his reasons for falling, for rejecting God, were very understandable. I want to do that. I want a villain who maybe studied too much, learned too much and decided that Evil had to exist in this world in order for Good to exist. Without one there is no other, and so he decided in his twisted way, to become the Evil that needs to exist.
I don't know where else to go from there. But i think i wil simply start writing, now that i have some character ideas fleshed out a bit and i'll let them tell me wat happens next.
Stay tuned and i may post a few passages here!
Keep an eye out for my smashing Bestseller, The Twisted King. (title subject to change)
-Teeps
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