Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Is 60 seconds too short for a play?
guardian.co.uk: "Eh? What? Oh, right. Clearly I'm the best qualified person to write about a – hang on, popping out for a fag … That's better, where was I? Oh yes, 60-second plays. Perfect theatre for those with a short attention span, or just another nail in the coffin marked 'culture'?"
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3 comments:
The benefit of 60 second long plays, is that the playwrights and actors make everything that much more precise. If one only has 60 seconds, then you've got to make those 60 seconds count. Each word and movement must be extremely purposeful, you would hope that in longer plays that is true as well, but with 60 second shows it is put to the extreme test. Also, the other benefit of a 60 second show, is that it pushes and forces everyone involved to look at what truly makes up a story. With only 60 seconds, you must convey a beginning, a middle, and an end. The 60 second play is a test, and a honing exercise, for everyone involved.
I am not sure how I feel about 60 second plays. I agree with the author in that 'It isn't an amuse-bouche, it's a slow-roasted main course'. I feel that plays should be enjoyed over a longer period of time, if only for the fact that a 60 second play is just enough to make you mad. Im not trying to discount the validity in these shows, for Im sure there are some that are truly moving. I guess I just would classify them as an interesting sketch, rather than a true play.
I can't see a 60-second play standing on its own, but as a part of a group of plays performed together it becomes an interesting idea. No two audiences will react the same way to any show, some people will like what others don't and vice versa. With 50 _very_ short plays all being performed together there's a much better chance for everyone in the audience to find at least something that they like. As others have said, you need to greatly shorten the storytelling to make it fit, if you cut the fluff you could get a very tight show, if you cut the wrong bits you might have nothing left, but good or bad in a minute the play is over and it's time for the next one.
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