this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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That's true, but I think quite a few get what it's trying to do and hate it for the same reason I hate Pathologic, or most Brecht play productions. They're just not fun.
got any good brechtian plays to recommend, by any chance?
Oh, I like Brecht as a playwright, but his thoughts on "epic theatre" and keeping the audience emotionally detatched from the characters and constantly aware they're watching actors on a stage requires a deft hand and a great sense of comedy, or it all falls apart.
The best productions I've seen are the ones that ignore the stage directions and treat them as straight plays with suspension of disbelief.
That said I dont like Mother Courage, and I think the Threepenny Opera is worse than the source material of the 18th century Beggars Opera.
Ah I see. Do you like the work of Dario Fo?
This was my entrance into his work, good bit of explicitly leftist theatre: https://youtu.be/TqKfwC70YZI?si=QG4Zi1vCda7tatws
I love Fo. His rework of commedia dell arte techniques brings an immediacy and fluidity to his work.
I'll be honest, I'm blagging my way through a stagewriting degree right now as someone who's seen 1000 films and read/watched about 30 plays, and that observation you just made has given me some much needed material to work with.
If you've got any anti-imperialist playwrights or even plays to recommend, I'd really appreciate it. I'm in the process of writing Operation Gideon by way of Dario Fo/Monty Python, and the writings coming along fine, but a chunk of the degree is justifying why I wrote what I wrote and who/what influenced it, which is what's giving me a headache. Can't art just be art for the sake of being, because it just feels right??? Ah well.
No worries if not. I don't mean to outsource my work.
I'm more familiar with pre-20th century stuff and tend more towards musicals and opera than straight plays, but I'm a big fan of the great 18th century Bourgois revolutionary operas William Tell (Rossini) and La Muette di Portici (Auber). The first was the trigger for the 3 days in July, the latter for the Belgian Revolution.
There's also the ballad musical Reedy River, about the aftermath of the Australian 1891 Miner's strike that triggered the formation of the Australian Labour Party, the first Social Democratic Party to take power in the world.
If your looking for Socialist Operas/Plays/Ballets, the Maoist era plays (often filmed before staged, but they're all quite stagey in scripting) are better than their reputation suggests. The Red Detachment of Women is a particular favourite, though I prefer the ballet to the other adaptations.
For 20th-century straight plays, I recommend John Crawford, particularly his "Rocket Range" which examines the effect of the Woomera Rocket Range opening on local Aboriginal Communities.
Ah - the only one I really know from that era was the 1831 Spartacus - which actually with all the historical context of the time was quite bold. I got to see Il Trovatore done in the classical style a few months ago and it was also pretty amazing, even though according to my opera inclined friends the story is rubbish.
Those are all great recommendations. I was looking into old Australia the other day learning about "Swag men" so that's all up my alley.
It's a shame there's no theater com on hexbear. As much as I shit on it for being filled with libs these days, it's general disposition especially historically is very radical.
Anyway, thanks again.
The game is clever and well written but I'm not convinced the gameplay is generic on purpose. I've heard that before but never bought it.
Now yeah the devs put in things to make you uncomfortable, like the white phosphorus thing or how you can accidentally shoot civilians. And the game mocks you. But the gameplay is otherwise kind of typical for the time. It does get needlessly difficult at certain parts, and that's probably an aspect of the narrative, but the gameplay itself was probably intended to be functional and engaging.