The Pavilion by Craig Wright

by Craig Wright

Book annotation not available for this title.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Playwright and television producer.


Librarian note: There are multiple authors with this name in this data base. This one is Craig^^Wright.

Reviews

[John Perine · Rating 5 out of 5]

EDIT: 2/23/24
“Do we become by forgetting or by remembering the past? Are we building ourselves, or are we rather foaming into existence on the developing curve of a wave? At the edge of the water, at the edge of the land, on the shore of the past and the future we stand; somehow, in the middle of life, as if born again in the foam of ancient oceans, we wake in the wake and we find ourselves: alive.”

Damn damn damn damn DAMN. Seven years since my first read, and this play still breaks me open. Thanks for asking, YES I am dying to direct it again.

—

Look obvs I love this play I talk about it all the time. No line affects me like “Of course my heart’s broken but all in all I’m very happy because life’s been good.”

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this plays really differently today, in the light of the #MeToo movement, than it would 20 years ago when it was written and first performed. It basically presents what happens when a man comes back to his high school reunion to try to reconnect with and woo the girl he left pregnant, to face an abortion alone, twenty years previously. Thankfully, she is suitably pissed at him and (spoiler alert) doesn't succumb to his charms, but the whole thing seems rather smarmy and just plain ooky nowadays.

There are other significant 'issues' I had with with the play. It begins each act with supposedly poetic, philosophically dense monologues by the Narrator that I had to read several times to make even rudimentary sense of - I doubt anyone merely listening to it would fare any better, most probably worse.

The other element I found problematic is that there are only three actors - the two playing the primary couple, and the Narrator who plays everyone else at the reunion - which requires him to do split second changes of more than 2 dozen characters ad nauseum. A really brilliant actor MIGHT be able to pull that off - but it would otherwise render the play even more confusing. It's a shame, as Wright definitely has talent, and although I didn't quite buy the characters, he writes fluid and interesting dialogue.

[Aaron Piccirillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Yeah, maybe we could hang out and... just remember how it was.”

overall was a really good show and had a unique concept to it with there being some absurdist/surrealist elements to the structure. i enjoyed act 2 more than act 1 and wished there had been more conversation between the two main characters because that’s when the show was interesting. the fight at the end of act 1 was great but there were some weird writing/plot structure moments that didn’t really work and felt they were coming out of no where. wish there was more talk about time as well since this show claims to be “a play about time”. it was a good show and i wish the ending had been a little bit stronger as well as some more character development between the two characters.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was assigned a monologue from this play for my acting class and, naturally, had to read the play itself as part of my research. It's a truly amazing play. It's gut wrenching and funny and moving and really somehow boils so much into so little. The usage of the narrator in the piece was particularly interesting and exciting and I love when plays shatter the fourth wall and address the tech crew and the audience. So much of this play was just captivating and moving and honestly, in spite of the subject matter, lots of fun. I highly recommend it.

[Sarah Oravetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dialogue in this play is incredibly beautiful - I felt almost high the entire time I was reading it.

[rachel jayn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why is Peter an idiot?

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

After seeing a production of Craig Wright's THE UNSEEN a few years ago, I immediately went to amazon and bought everything else I could find by the playwright. THE PAVILION was my favorite. The first few pages had all the hairs on my arms standing straight up. They just really sort of nailed the question of existence, and how we all came to be, in this really pure and poetic way. Hard to describe, but very affecting. The rest unfolds into a lovely, eerily honest relationship story. Very worth a read. An excerpt: "...Monkeys in slow motion turn into women and men and soon campfires dot the plains for days in every direction. And around each campfire, minds spring to life like sudden stars in a blank, black sky. The tiny tea leaf of consciousness spreads its bittersweet smoke through the sea of the primitive mind. Law is invented; then morality, then love, then forgiveness. Thousands and thousands of ideas, knit together over time, each one less practical and more ornamental than the last, all stretched taut above the wandering, wondering heads like a little pavilion; a temporary shelter for the human project... "

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting, frankly overwritten piece. I say overwritten, but maybe I should claim it was grandly written instead. Because Wright gives a high school reunion an universe-sized scope, as he examines all the things that could happen at the pavilion at any given moment. At times, I found this approach enlightening; at others, I found it frustrating, as if blowing things out of proportion only highlighting the general weakness of the characters and their inability to act. But that may have been the point. I'm not sure. Hence, the three stars.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, heartbreaking, theatrical. Qhat more do you want?