tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post1491760784351230071..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Silly, rotten, derivative, but sane - George Bernard Shaw's The Sanity of ArtAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-32786448461752239782015-12-10T13:30:15.682-06:002015-12-10T13:30:15.682-06:00absolutely correct! i got some wires crossed. se...absolutely correct! i got some wires crossed. seems to be happening more lately... i guess it's true, what they say about getting old: whatever it was; i forget...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24982028732785834392015-12-10T11:50:48.598-06:002015-12-10T11:50:48.598-06:00I thought "the new ashmolean marching society...I thought "the new ashmolean marching society and students conservatory band" was Mudpuddle's invention until I looked it up. Bless you, Google. I wish I'd known about Loesser's version when I lived in Oxford. I'd have started the original.Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-81778652169406422082015-12-10T10:06:10.656-06:002015-12-10T10:06:10.656-06:00I had not had the slightest idea that there was a ...I had not had the slightest idea that there was a musical version of <i>Charley's Aunt</i>. I am crushed to see that Altman beat me to that joke.<br /><br />All right, some Shaw plays will be part of next year's reading.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-19963592161644944802015-12-10T09:40:54.359-06:002015-12-10T09:40:54.359-06:00Frank Loesser should get credit for his song, thou...Frank Loesser should get credit for his song, though. ...in a musical based on <i>Charley's Aunt</i> by Brandon Thomas. It's great fun, but it's not exactly Wildean (or Shavian). In Robert Altman's film <i>Cookie's Fortune</i> the villainous Camille Dixon says the play she is producing is Wilde's <i>Salomé</i> with a few "improvements" she provided. I thought Al Pacino could have done with her help in his film of <i>Salomé</i>.<br /><br />Back to Shaw!<br />Shaw can be funny, but he's also intently didactic. The funny lines are always from the characters Shaw approves of at the expence of the ones he doesn't. It's like watching the Olympic Shooting Fish in a Barrell Final.<br />Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-27981757630809193462015-12-10T08:39:15.583-06:002015-12-10T08:39:15.583-06:00I hope the Wilde play was Salomé.
Frank Loesser s...I hope the Wilde play was <i>Salomé</i>.<br /><br />Frank Loesser should get credit for his song, though. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-72700323144623474782015-12-10T08:27:07.771-06:002015-12-10T08:27:07.771-06:00Ha, good one, Roger!Ha, good one, Roger!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-29109344655724089012015-12-10T08:26:47.145-06:002015-12-10T08:26:47.145-06:00A bitter satire, yes, that is how I remember it. ...A bitter satire, yes, that is how I remember it. It was only years later, reading about Shaw, that I kept coming across his witty side, and eventually it sank in that he might write more than one kind of thing. The film critic Stanley Kauffmann was a big help here. He was a great Shaw fan who was attuned to his comedy, like in the play <i>You Never Can Tell</i>, a comedy of errors with mistaken identities and such nonsense.<br /><br />Until recently, though, I have not bothered to see for myself.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67123178128035579622015-12-10T06:44:46.260-06:002015-12-10T06:44:46.260-06:00Mrs Warren's Profession is the most recent one...Mrs Warren's Profession is the most recent one I read. Is it funny? Is it meant to be funny? - I think it's termed a comedy at least; but really it's a very bitter satire - as are all these plays. Shaw looks at society and doesn't like what he sees. I don't remember there being jokes, or even inherently comedic scenes.<br /><br />I'd assumed you'd read all the plays.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-81819135577671700382015-12-10T00:51:43.417-06:002015-12-10T00:51:43.417-06:00Shaw ...remains popular in university theater depa... Shaw ...remains popular in university theater departments. <br />Perhaps that's why the plays don't seem very funny.Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45387746124634495072015-12-10T00:48:52.893-06:002015-12-10T00:48:52.893-06:00I think someone may have been...improving, shall w...I think someone may have been...improving, shall we say?...the Wilde play. <br />Mind you, "the new ashmolean marching society and students conservatory band" would be an improvement on some of the plays.Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-91856443203144297922015-12-09T23:24:28.145-06:002015-12-09T23:24:28.145-06:00i remembered that from one of wilde's plays, i...i remembered that from one of wilde's plays, i forget which one; but it was a hilarious song which seemed suitable for interjecting there... well, maybe not; sorry...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28250323301253777862015-12-09T19:46:31.164-06:002015-12-09T19:46:31.164-06:00I wish I had written that. It sounds good.
The I...I wish I had written that. It sounds good.<br /><br /><i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i> is imperishable and unique, even for Wilde. I would never bother to compare another play to it, except possibly another of Wilde's, and that would just be to demonstrate its uniqueness.<br /><br />Mudpuddle, what does that song have to do with Shaw? You have stumped me, but good.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44832365864552664182015-12-09T18:59:34.148-06:002015-12-09T18:59:34.148-06:00Maybe you didn't write about the Shaw play; ma...Maybe you didn't write about the Shaw play; maybe I'm making that up.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-81789044675313646762015-12-09T18:58:30.989-06:002015-12-09T18:58:30.989-06:00We'll be seeing "Mrs. Warren’s Profession...We'll be seeing "Mrs. Warren’s Profession" in March. We saw Wilde's "Ernest" last season; I'd never seen it nor read it and found it hi-larious. A couple of years ago we saw "Pygmalion" and it was pretty darned good, too.<br /><br />The thing about Shaw, maybe, is that his humor can be mean-spirited, like Shakespeare's. What was that Shaw play you wrote about a few years ago, the one about Shakespeare and Walter Scott? "Whar's yer Willie Shaxper tha noo?" That was great fun, and really perceptive on Shaw's part, as I recall. Theater criticism in the form of a play.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-47620191728334735302015-12-09T17:16:55.649-06:002015-12-09T17:16:55.649-06:00i think it's hard to beat "the new ashmol...i think it's hard to beat "the new ashmolean marching society and students conservatory band"!Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-90768465445666239782015-12-09T16:27:17.612-06:002015-12-09T16:27:17.612-06:00I think the plays are generally not very funny, bu...I think the plays are generally not very funny, but I prefer Wilde; let each audience member make up his or her own mind about Shaw (a playwright who remains popular in university theater departments).RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-72005234091897690522015-12-09T16:21:40.512-06:002015-12-09T16:21:40.512-06:00These long critical essays have plenty of wit. Are...These long critical essays have plenty of wit. Are the plays generally not funny? I read <i>Mrs. Warren's Profession</i> long ago and did not find it funny at all - how good can that memory be, how good could that reading have been - but <i>Candida</i>, the one Shaw play I have read in the last 25 years, was quite funny.<br /><br />I am just an ignoramus about the plays.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-50316287071883439022015-12-09T15:50:09.800-06:002015-12-09T15:50:09.800-06:00As I think I noted previously, Shaw impressed me m...As I think I noted previously, Shaw impressed me more as a critic than a playwright; if he had an infusion of Oscar Wilde's wit, he might have been a better dramatist. But at least Shaw made sure Ibsen got noticed in England. Hooray for Shaw!RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-49886192080953594662015-12-09T08:15:39.400-06:002015-12-09T08:15:39.400-06:00Ibsen is a good candidate! Ibsen plus Wagner even...Ibsen is a good candidate! Ibsen plus Wagner even better.<br /><br />I should read Shaw's plays sometime.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70121834800315414262015-12-09T06:03:48.340-06:002015-12-09T06:03:48.340-06:00I've been reading Shaw too, and he'll be m...I've been reading Shaw too, and he'll be my next post (if I ever get around to it; maybe today). Of course, I'm not adverse to the idea that Ibsen does signify the end of art.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.com