Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

I've found over the 40-some-odd plays (musicals, operas, ballets, etc.) I've written thus far, that I'm lost unless I know the style a piece wants to be written in - and moreover, that I really like writing in set styles. Elizabethan verse drama, Comedy of Manners, Moliere's couplets and so on. The challenge of matching one's voice to an historical sound intrigues me.

So, I'm wondering, are there any other style-lovers out there? And if so, what do you find you gravitate towards and why?

well I like drama and comedy plays to read. now I'm working on a play that's about a butterfly.
once I finisf it I'll send it to you. I want to hear your oppinion on it.

The OP is actually articulating a good definition of how to write new classics. People often argue with me in that I am too stringent on the differences between new plays and movies; new books vs older; classic vs recent. Not so. I'm just insistent on the quality of authenticity.

While I don't agree with the notion of 'instant classics' but I think that when an author sets themselves the task of creating a new work which obeys all the principles of a tradition in drama, comedy, or the genres--you can then claim, at the very least--that you are working with rigor.

Seriously, instead of following whatever informal, perhaps marketing-driven trend might be going on in the field you're working in; harken back to some older tradition and accept the hardships and constraints. If you create a work which is comparable to time-tested exaqmples of the genre; then you have something to really be proud of. And guess what, when you go back to an older style and do it well; audiences of today are usually caught by surprise and enjoy it. There's a good chance it will make a splash.

The Zuckerman brothers did it with 'Airplane!' and Robert Towne did it with 'Chinatown' and a few years ago it happened again with, 'The Man Who Wasn't There'.

Of course, it can at times become strangulation of new creativity; for example the resentment of the neo-classicist school of painters in France towards the Impressionists. Nevertheless.

I really like comedy as well. Basically anything that's light and relaxing :)

-Nihar
www.niharsuthar.com

It's interesting you bring that up.

I'm fairly new to playwriting and had the odd experience of writing a heightened piece about drama school. Because actors are exposed to so many different styles, I had the challenge of finding ways to slip from style to style. I think the voice class scenes, which involved a lot of iambic pentameter, were the most fun to write.

I think there's something to be said for blending different styles, and I'd really like to figure out how to make it work. 'Casablanca' inspires me a great deal.