Richard Maxwell Project

Hello Everyone!

I can't get to the website to see what exciting things everyone else has written because this computer I'm on is being stupid. But I'll just say what's on my mind anyhoo:

I've just read the script and I think it is incredibly funny without obviously trying to be and tres richard maxwell. Yay for Jennie, Hannah and Simon. I can't wait to hear Grace and Helen's musical genius put into full swing for the songs, and of course to hear Ohki's beautiful voice =)

I've been given the part of the student which I think is so funny I'm worried how I'm ever going to manage the scene without laughing! Oh well at least we have a whole two weeks for me to get over it…… lol

See you tomorrow!
Let's get Maxwelling I guess =)

Heather D.
xxx

This was a very interesting experience I thought. It's worth noting that Richard Maxwell's texts have changed quite a bit in the last few years. The collection ends in 2000. Pretty soon after that end date they became more dense, richer, more poetic in places. Drummer Wanted begins with the same kind of 'inarticulate' exactness as we saw in House and Caveman, but by the end its accumulated a different tone. With Joe and Showcase there is an even greater verbal intensity. The End of Reality made some very swift gear-changes between trivia and intensity, static action and those fabulous fight sequences. Sometimes it took me a while to catch up with the gear change, which is an interesting experience for an audience.

It might encourage the writers to allow moments of greater verbal density and intensity for the audience (as well as moments of lightness, comedy, and inarticulacy). It was striking too that there was more variation in the tones they adopted. There were some moments of 'real' anger. The moment where Jake 'cried' near the beginning was interesting too. The actors might like to reflect on the options available to them. Directors: I thought the use of awkward silence in the production was very interesting, making some of the most banal exchanges of dialogue seem much funnier but also much more resonant. Stage management and design: the use of 'real' props was interesting and not something I've seen much of before in his work. Perhaps this is something we could think about?

I'd very much like to hear your thoughts and experiences of the show. You might want to respond to one or more of these questions:

1. What surprised you about seeing Maxwell's company live?
2. In what way did it confirm ideas and impressions you'd had before?
3. What kind of experiences did you have? (Was it moving? funny? intellectually engaging? did it feel socially engaged? Psychologically vivid? etc.)
4. I felt that there was, in the text, something about a post-9/11 US being engaged with here, though po-faced commentary is clearly not Maxwell's style. How does he engaged with political and social realities in his work?
5. What did you think the point was of the style?

Dan Rebellato

hello fellow bloggers

I've been reading some of Mr Maxwell's plays, as you do, and it does
seem that the core stories are fairly mainstream. I thought that maybe
we should have a look at the roots of these kind of stories, i.e Greek
tragedy etc maybe by using their simple plots we can then create a more
structured play, and expand on something more solid.
Hope everyone has had a good reading week. This time tomorrow we will
be seeing Maxwell's work for real. Exciting.
Darea xx

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HEY!

yeah, my script still hasn't arrived either, im less than impressed! I
think I will just cancel my order and try somewhere else! grrrr

see you all tomorrow for Maxwell fun!

lauren :)

Hey everyone, hope you had a great reading week. (Apologies for posting
so late but I've been at home with something ressembling flu for a
while) Like everyone else, I'm excited for seeing the Maxwell
production on Monday as I think seeing it in the flesh will give us a
completely different insight compared to watching it on video. I'm also
interested (for no particular reason) in how the audience will react,
and who they will be. People our own age? Random people who thought
this sounded different and wanted a laugh? Watching the audience (as
well as the play obviously) I think will be a great insight into what
his target population is, if he has one. What works humour-wise on
which kinds of people, and what doesn't. And this could definitely help
us with our piece.

Lizzie

PS does anyone else STILL not have their copy of Plays? I've been away
for a week and expected it to be here by now and it's not!

By inspiration of Ohki I’ve been studying the random babbling of Maxwell’s characters.  I believe there is more method in his madness than I had previously.  Although the descriptions are rambling and tangential, they do come out with a position on their topic (be it Capitalist, Socialist or whatever), even if they do not justify it.

Does anyone want to go to the Richard Maxwell thing in Hammersmith on the 18^th?  I think it’s the only way we can find what Rich really thinks when he writes, and whether we’re all reading too much into what is really mindless babble.

Also, does anyone know how/when we find out about our roles in the production?

Have a good rest-of-reading-week…..

Simon

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Hello Everyone!

I'm sure everyone having creative Reading Week!
Since the last class, I am thinking about the length of Maxwell's Play (I
hope it's not out-of-date question.)
Why his play finished in no more than 1hour?
Because of his slightly boring acting style?(to keep the audience's
concentration?)
Because of his somehow classical plot?

And one more thing that I thought is the dance scene of Boxing2000.
When I saw it, it reminded me of the scene where Tony and Maria meets in
the Gym('West Side Story'). Thinking about his homage to classical scene, I
could understand a little why Jo-Jo emphasised phylosophical
term'De-construction' (not 're-construction')in the first scene of
Boxing2000.

Do you think I am thinking too much?? Well, just for some hint.
Enjoy the rest of readong week, and I am looking forward to meeting you!!

Ohki

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Hello all!
 
Well I was really impressed with some of the material that came out of some of the scenes that were written. I definitely found it harder than I imagined to write my scene - at first I thought that his style would may be pretty simple to imitate - simply insert phrases such as ‘yeah’, ‘you know’ and some very random ideas…but really that’s not it at all. The ones that I enjoyed the most were the ones that only really used that as a starting block and had some very witty ideas, just presented in this absurd style…it’s quite hard to explain how it worked, but there were some moments that were very funny and effective.
 
I think that’s all I can really think of mentioning at the moment - I can’t wait to start putting all the song and script ideas together and working at them - all jolly exciting :D
 
Well done everyone, especially the Pledge-to-the-Queen-Group-Massive.
 
x x x naomi x x x

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I don't really have anything else to say than that I thought all the scripts were great and even though we still don't completely get the "acting" side of the Maxwell/NYC players, I think we are getting the hang of the scriptwriting, and who knows, maybe from that the acting style will follow.

I agree with all of the points below such as looking at the end of Maxwell's pieces and his songs for inspiration and some sort of guideline and also about searching for perhaps an archetypal story plot to base this around on (although I do think, even though I don't know if our story is archetypal, the story of a foreigner coming to a new land must be, right?) I might have a little nosy into Maxwell's intentions for writing his work and also if he tries to put any purposeful meaning into them that the audience is meant to take away; and maybe this could help in some way for the structuring and plot, but who knows!

Enjoy your reading week, post again soon!

Heather
xxx

I was very impressed with our piece, I think we have captured the comedy of his pieces. I do agree that the plot needs to be more structured- perhaps a clearer ending though, instead of a total re-working! We don't want it to be too like "Caveman" etc, though we could benefit from looking closely at the endings of Maxwell's pieces.

Great work everyone! I'm really excited about our piece, and I think everyone should learn our "God Save The Queen" song!

Hannah

I thought we did very well in the last lesson, there were definitely some gold moments in those scripts. One thing I did think might be good is if we pick a 'classic' storyline to base our play around. Maxwell's plays are often quite familiar concepts, for example in Caveman where the woman cheats on her husband and is then stuck between two men or House where the son feels he must avenge his father's death. Maybe we should consider a basic, familiar plot and then base our play around it? I shall do some research into the classic 'journey' storylines and get back to you guys. Hope you all have a good reading week!

Jennie x x

hello everyone

I was very pleased to see that everyone had been working hard on their scripts - good job! There were some really good ideas in there that embodied the true Maxwell style and I have a feeling we could really make this work. I loved the Queen song and think it works really well because of its simple structure and amusing concept. I do think that the plot needs shaping a great deal but feel confident that we have a good basis from which we can build.

have a fun and productive reading week!

Lauren :)

Well i am sure we can all agree that we clearly enjoyed writing our scripts in 'Maxwell style' and that there is an air of excitement now with the thought of writing our own Maxwell play. I was really impressed with some of the more difficult scenes, such as the 'love scene'. Although a rather odd story I think we can make this plot work, perhaps after juggling around the genius diet and cheese-stick scenario. I wonder if Maxwell also has such fun in constructing his plays. Also for any of you who are interested the words to our brilliant 'pledge to the Queen song' were as follows:

God save the Queen
Everyone loves the Queen
You love the Queen
I'll save the Queen
God save the Queen.

Darea