(Part 2) Best american dramas & plays books according to redditors
We found 102 Reddit comments discussing the best american dramas & plays books. We ranked the 56 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Smart.
Honestly dude, your strength is exactly what I told you, you have a sense of story-as-conflict which is kind of rare. Student films often start off with boring exposition.
The best thing you can do is READ ALOT OF PLAYS. I live in new york and I read a short play every day on the subway ride to work. Plays will teach you to write realistic dialogue and how to tell a story using people talking and arguing in a room (ie the main element of your chosen genre, which is drama). I look for collections of (usually short) plays when I go to the used bookstore (I try to get modern ones for obvious reasons, harder to learn dialogue from older ones). Try to pay attention to how dialogue "bounces off" each other in an action/reaction fashion, seeing this on a play manuscript on paper help you learn this. Your genre is drama so READ DRAMA. If you want a playwright to start with to explore Id go with John Patrick Shanley he write romance/drama but boy he knows how to keep people at each others throats.
Maybe get this:
https://www.amazon.com/13-Shanley-Thirteen-Plays/dp/1557830991/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519516204&sr=1-1&keywords=13+by+shanley
Im reading this right now:
https://www.amazon.com/Outstanding-Short-Plays-Craig-Pospisil/dp/0822225131
Just keep people arguing (maybe not every scene but most scenes and the first scene always), keep them talking in a realistic fashion, and youll be playing to your strengths.
Do NOT get caught in the trap of focusing more on your cinematography than your storytelling. We ALL fall into that trap. Just shoot closer thats your main cinematography issue which is loose compositions (im not an expert cinematographer on the technical side-my stuff is rough as hell with no image quality, but I know the artistic/creative side) .
Oh and biggest lighting tip:
Light people with a soft light from the side (often no fill light necessary) and watch how your stuff magically looks much more like a movie.
I would also recommend watching Blue Valentine and trying to learn from it. Heart wrenching drama.
Good luck on your journey
Your best bet is to read as many plays as you can get your hands on, and find monologues you connect with. The key will be hunting down plays with male characters in your age bracket.
Colleen Wagner's The Monument opens with a great monologue by Stetko, a young man on trial for war crimes. You could probably cut a good 1.5min section out of it for a dramatic piece. The character is challenging, and might be fun for you to explore.
The character of Sparkle also has some nice little monologues in Judith Thompson's Habitat.
You know I kind of hate to draw direct attention to them. But a few I can reference off the top of my head...
SargeantWilleyPete who's been spouting anti-black woman rants on youtube for close to a decade, and his "teachings" are credited with leading to the death of Asia McGowan by one of his followers.
Tommy Sotomayer who is a radio dj. I think he's revamped his brand a bit, but his old channel was worse.
And this is the book I was referring to.
Ive heard there are plenty more I actively try and avoid them, especially these days.
Found it.
The hungry woman : A Mexican Medea https://www.amazon.com/dp/097053440X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_aXMQCb2HVVBRV
https://www.amazon.com/Ruined-TCG-Lynn-Nottage-ebook/dp/B003ZHVC3Y
When theater people talk about Samuel French format, they're talking about a format for submission of plays, not a publication format. Sam French is the most common, standard play submission format, but each theater can have its own specifications. Here are some examples of Samuel French format:
http://www.playwrightslocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Samuel-French-Formatting-Guide.pdf
http://broadwayeducators.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Sample_Format_Page.pdf
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/stageus.pdf
When you say Samuel French format, you're talking about Acting Editions like these? Small, thin booklets used by actors as they learn the play? Published by Sam French or Dramatist's Play Service? They are called acting editions:
https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Acting-Clifford-Williams/dp/0573113653
https://www.amazon.com/Remember-Mama-Acting-John-Druten/dp/0573011974/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542057843&sr=1-3
https://www.amazon.com/Wit-Acting-Margaret-Edson/dp/082221704X
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0573651302/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i5
https://www.amazon.com/Side-Man-Acting-Warren-Leight/dp/082221721X
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Mans-Cell-Phone-ebook/dp/B003Z9JMNE
Sure. Is this OK? https://www.amazon.com/Hoard-Thomas-Coyle/dp/1984953125/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
>Yet he lost the battle to Order, the system of values that governs the world that Gotham is siatuated in
Did he? The entire thing was literally built on a lie -- in the John Ford style -- and came crashing to the ground. In the end, it was disorder that saved them. It took the two forces of order having a gunfight in front of city hall to return any sense of normalcy to the city, and the good guy reactionary order guys were the ones who blew the last bridge out of Gotham. And the city still needs its Batman.
I think the compromised order that Nolan constructed is a pretty good representation of the Nietzschean conflict between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The eternal conflict between the Batman and the Joker is necessary and natural, because one is incapable of surviving without the other. The best way I could explain this would be to read this -- or see it, if it's playing near you. It's a play after all, it's not meant to be read.
It's not perfect but it looks like you can buy the script from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Burns-Post-electric-Anne-Washburn/dp/1783191406
Interestingly, a few years back an author, thinking about the same unfulfilled prophecy re: Fleance actually wrote a sequel - it's....ok. Got some interesting points and ideas but also is a bit funky cause he's trying to close off a bunch of "loose ends"
https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Macbeth-Part-II-Banquo/dp/1605980110
The Humongous Book of Statistics Problems: Translated for People Who Don't Speak Math
http://www.amazon.com/The-Humongous-Book-Statistics-Problems/dp/1592578659
It took like 20 years for The Citadel to acknowledge him as a writer. It is a great book though. Pretty accurate for my own experience. Two books that are nowhere near as well written but have a great look at the experience:
Like I said, not as well written in terms of literary merit and prose but I'm about 20% through Through Their Eyes and I've read Sword Drill and man they are just dead on.
I was fortunate enough to see the play called "The Sea Farer" where it originated in London as well as its run on Broadway in 07'. I think you would find interesting parallels with your story. Great writing Hans. http://www.amazon.com/Seafarer-Conor-McPherson/dp/1559363126/ref=la_B001JP4OA2_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398225869&sr=1-2
// Edit: contraction fix
For the sake of publishing, I've had good luck with CreateSpace and KDP. Both are owned by Amazon and take a much smaller cut of royalties than traditional publishers.
https://www.createspace.com/
https://kdp.amazon.com/
To prove they work, here's a link to something I've published.
http://www.amazon.com/Static-Lullaby-Mr-Angus-Russell/dp/1466231998/
(Not child friendly, written for cynical teenagers.)
I actually wrote a children's story about the moon once. MOON, Shibes.
And here it is, in it's entirety.
Once there was a girl who loved the night sky.
she loved the moon.
She loved the stars.
She loved the airplanes.
Once, on her birthday, she had a wonderful wish.
She wanted to visit all her friends in the sky.
She wanted to ride an airplane.
She wanted to walk the moon.
She wanted to dance among the stars.
The moon, having heard her wish, lifted her from the ground.
She flew past airplanes.
She flew past clouds.
She came to meet the moon.
“I am the moon, and I love you”
“But moon, I want to keep going. I want to see the stars.”
“The stars will hurt you.”
“I just want to dance among them.”
“They won't treat you right.”
“They're so pretty.”
“I suppose, if you really wish, I could let you dance with the stars.”
“Thank you, moonfriend.”
So the moon let her go, and she kept flying. She met with the stars, and asked them to dance.
One star was hot and burned her.
One star had become a black hole and tried to shrink her down.
One star exploded and left her with a bruise.
When she could no longer take the stars, she floated back down to the moon.
“Moon, why did the stars hurt me?”
“Because they may be pretty from afar, but up close, they can hurt you.”
“Would you ever hurt me, moon?”
“no. I am the moon, and I love you.”
“You wouldn't make me feel small?”
“You are big to me.”
“You wouldn't bruise me?”
“I have no way to bruise you.”
“I love you moon.”
“I love you, girl.”
https://www.amazon.com/Things-You-Shouldnt-Past-Midnight/dp/088145611X?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
https://www.amazon.com/References-Salvador-Dali-Make-Hot/dp/0881452009
Okay so, YA books are my jam, and I'll get to those in a second. But if you want a fun summer read you'll have trouble putting down, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is great. It's a really fun read, especially for people who like books. It's got mystery, humor, and you'll stay up way too late reading to figure out what's going to happen next. It's not the deepest or most challenging book in the world, but it's real fun and well paced.
For YA, anything by Laurie Halse-Anderson is amazing. I've read Speak more times than any other book. Her book Catalyst is also really awesome. And I just finished her book Twisted a few days ago, and it was a great, quick read. (I actually finished it in one lazy day!)
Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why is heartbreaking. If you liked Fault in Our Stars, I'm sure you'll love this. It's a great concept (girl who kills herself gives a series of tapes to a boy to explain why she did it), and it's just superbly well written. Along the same lines, Markus Zusak's I am the Messenger is also a great high-concept, all-the-feels read.
If you like the more fantasy-esque YA books, the best series I've found is Clive Barker's Abarat series. If you end up getting these, make sure to get the hardcover versions. The writing is great itself, but what really makes the series is that each book has over 300 paintings and illustrations done by the author himself. It's a great epic, and the third book of five just came out last year. The series gets darker as it goes, which is great.
And, finally, not a YA novel, but Adam Rapp's The Metal Children is an awesome play about a guy who wrote a YA book that's the focus of a censorship argument in a small town. It's got some great points in it, and is a fast, fun read.
Hope this helps! Sorry if I used the word 'great' too much. :P
Oh! I love reading books!
Goat fucking? Who do you think you are, Edward Albee?
Modern Selection: Griller, by Eric Bogosian