115 replies to this topic

[Honoured Guest]

Lay Down Your Cross / Hampstead Downstairs / 23 Feb to 24 March
http://www.hampstead... Your Cross/277

[The Suburbanite]

Honoured Guest, on 05 February 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

Lay Down Your Cross / Hampstead Downstairs / 23 Feb to 24 March
http://www.hampstead...+Your+Cross/277

Oh for christ's sake. There should be special coaching in writing synopses so people can do it better. This one, with its stupid we-have-to-have-them-these-days-despite-being-meaningless pull-quote, is like every other sodding synopsis. They are becoming like film trailers, which make all films look the same. Theatres' marketing promo synopses are making every new play sound like every other one. Unless all new plays are actually the same.

[Honoured Guest]

I agree with you about these teasers, but I'd hate them to be replaced by synopses. I prefer to see a play without knowing details of the action in advance. I find it helpful to have some indication of the tone of a play. I hate misleading teasers, which are often written well before the play itself!

[The Suburbanite]

Yes "synopses" is probably the wrong word but these things they seem to mostly have now are crap.

[xanderl]

The Suburbanite, on 05 February 2012 - 02:40 PM, said:

Theatres' marketing promo synopses are making every new play sound like every other one. Unless all new plays are actually the same.

Here's the synopsis for my new play, "Vera Lays Down Her Cross In Basildon". Any feedback would be great!


'People always get the wrong idea about Essex don’t they? You left! You left. You made it clear how you felt, and you left. And that speaks volumes. Bobby’s dead and you’re still breathing. That’s a f*cking walking talking tragedy that is'

In a house in Luton, boxes are stacked high, the paint is out and Tony is ready for a spring clean.  Len’s on his death bed and the family gather to say their final farewells. As the spread is laid out and the ham sandwiches sit next to the wreaths, it’s hard to see who’s hungry and who’s just greedy. The boy who comes back from a war far away in a wooden box is glorified and called a hero. As the funeral plans are made in a small Kent town, his siblings squabble over who he was. His sisters still aren’t speaking after nearly 20 years, his nephew’s trying for a baby – and a bigger house, while his best mate Ken remembers ‘Bas-vegas’ when it was a village. Amidst the dust and clutter lie photos and memories of family fun; reminders of what used to be. Maybe the fanfare isn’t needed for this heroic martyr. As the funeral of his son looms, and his aloof daughter and ex-wife return, will the regrets of the past and the sorrows of the present prove too much for Tony and his kin?

[The Suburbanite]

Excellent - a proper mash-up.

It reminds me of a "film plot generator" I drafted a while back as part of an unsuccessful book outline. It was a grid made up of typical film plot elements (one of them was "...and has 24 hours to...") from which you could select in any order and it would make up a feasible-sounding plot. Someone had probably done it way before me anyway, but I wonder if anyone's ever tried it with plays. Family members returning, funerals, secrets being uncovered, and rooms with boxes in would probably all feature. Plus of course a woman who refers to her children as "darling."

[xanderl]

I can't believe I forgot to include this one!

As big-hearted patriarch David clings to a deal that could save both his ailing catering firm and his cherished standing in the Edgware Jewish community, his children are at loggerheads.

You must’ve heard him banging on about the long line of Rosenbergs, stretching back to the Bible. He reckons some ancient relative catered the Last Supper.

While eldest son Danny fights for the Israelis in Gaza, his sister investigates war crimes in that same conflict. Their brother drinks and brawls and refuses to join their father’s business. But when tragedy strikes, each family member is forced to confront head-on the clash between individual identity and the demands and expectations of community

[RH1234]

I have no inside information whatsoever, but I wouldn't be surprised if this transferred to the Wyndham's, which is free from mid-March.

[Lynette]

xanderl, on 05 February 2012 - 06:08 PM, said:

I can't believe I forgot to include this one!

As big-hearted patriarch David clings to a deal that could save both his ailing catering firm and his cherished standing in the Edgware Jewish community, his children are at loggerheads.

You must’ve heard him banging on about the long line of Rosenbergs, stretching back to the Bible. He reckons some ancient relative catered the Last Supper.

While eldest son Danny fights for the Israelis in Gaza, his sister investigates war crimes in that same conflict. Their brother drinks and brawls and refuses to join their father’s business. But when tragedy strikes, each family member is forced to confront head-on the clash between individual identity and the demands and expectations of
community

You forget to add: And what is the significance of the macaroons which appear as the tension mounts?

[fringefan]

So will this be another case in which the reviews (or predictions, at this stage) will be prove more interesting than the play itself?  And should we now have a new thread for Lay Down Your Cross?