Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Plays are rather different to novels; a play is meant to be watched.
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It depends on the play. One could argue that Frank O'Hara's plays aren't meant to be performed at all (and indeed could not, with scenes including impossible spectacles, cf. hundreds of thousands of orangutans that "die noisily").
Some plays benefit from being read
and being seen. With late Beckett, many would argue the primary sensual aspect of the plays is sonic, not dramatic, and lies in the reading and reciting; others, who have seen an actor like Billie Whitelaw perform "Rockaby" or "Not I," often feel differently.
(An amusing piece written by an actress who starred in a production of "Not I" was published in the
Guardian and may be perused
here.)