BWW Blog: Christopher Panella - Read More Plays!

Plays can be the most riveting, inspiring, heartbreaking, and exciting pieces of literature to read. Plays are consuming and often remind me of great classics because of their elegance and sheer effortlessness. Just like The Great Gatsby effortlessly leaves you questioning the morals of the wealthy class, plays can leave you with questions, answers, emotions, and nothing. As it's summer and most of us are traveling, working on our crafts (you'd better be, I blogged about it earlier), and relaxing, I propose a great piece of advice: read more plays!

Literature itself is probably my favorite subject. I love to read books and articles and poetry. I find myself lately, however, reading more plays, from Shakespeare classics to Amy Herzog's 2012 4000 Miles which I HIGHLY SUGGEST. Plays are powerful, they are engrossing and richly developed. Sure, acting in a play and taking on a complicated character can be fantastic, but that doesn't mean sitting in bed until 2am reading a play isn't just as fantastic. In fact, it's more fantastic in my opinion. Have you ever seen a play/musical and the actors and their portrayals don't fit the description you originally imagined yourself? It happens all the time to me, especially in film. When you read plays or film scripts or books, YOU are in charge of the characters; the author has given YOU the ability to develop and create the characters how YOU please. It is a freeing experience to have that opportunity, an opportunity not many receive.

As much as I simply suggest everyone read more, I think that theatre kids should push themselves to specialize in play reading. Being well-read in terms of theatre can be very rewarding in social activities with other theatre kids and professional life. It's similar to receiving a degree in something theatre-related: knowing your stuff can leave people impressed and with the memory that you are not just an artist, but a SMART artist (see what I did there? I connected it to a previous blog of mine. That, my readers, is continuity).

Plays are special to read because they are unlike any other piece of literature. They offer different characters and voices, stage direction that truly allows you to picture the stage in your mind, and plots that are clear and understandable. A lot of times, books and stories leave the plot open for the reader's interpretation. Despite how amazing that can be, reading a play where the plot is completely decided can be refreshing. Personally, I don't have favorite plays of all time, but my current favorites are 4000 Miles (as previously mentioned) and Macbeth (OBVIOUSLY, I MEAN THAT SHOULD BE A FAVORITE FOR EVERYONE). By the way, if you're looking for a great, interesting, and unconventional version of Macbeth in television/film version, I HIGHLY suggest the 2010 BBC broadcast of Macbeth, which is set in more of a modern time and is pretty fantastic.

As actors, it is so important to be well-read and know our craft. I encourage every theatre kid grab a few random play scripts from local libraries, online, or their theatre department and READ. Please read. To help with this, I will try to include suggested plays every few blogs or so. That way, there will never be a shortage or reason not to pick up a play and enjoy it. My first suggestion has to be 4000 Miles. Before taking my suggestions, please read a small synopsis of the plays on Wikipedia or the publishing website to see how you feel about the maturity level of the play.

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