Every week, I compose listings about the week's shows for Metromix NY. I'm usually disappointed by the titles that playwrights choose for their work: most of them don't entice me into the theater. So I'm reviewing the titles now. And if you want to read my reviews of full shows, click here.
THE ALIENS
Initially, this terse title leads me to expect a sci-fi show (which I wholly approve of). But The Aliens could just as easily involve undocumented immigrants. Misleading sloppiness or artful ambiguity? No way to know without seeing the show.
BASS FOR PICASSO
This one annoys me 'cause I don't know how to pronounce it: does “bass” rhyme with “ace” or “ass”? In either case, it sounds bad, clashing against the not-quite-echo of “Picasso”'s second syllable. Also, name-dropping Picasso gives it a touch of art snobbery.
CREDITORS
A good word: redolent of a classic capitalist villain, but with an artful sonic misdirection that turns a usurer into a commendable fellow. And it's plural, so there's plenty of debt to go around.
DR. KNOCK, or THE TRIUMPH OF MEDICINE
Like Creditors, this title is actually a translation―the French original lacks the honorific. But I like the doubled “k” & long “o” in “Doctor Knock”; the name really swings. It's also silly, possibly satiric, & adds an echo of “quack”. I enjoy old-fashioned secondary titles separated by “or”: the pompous grandeur of this one reinforces the satiric tone.
EVERYDAY RAPTURE
A Christian connotation to “rapture” is inescapable these days. But if that's a onetime event, then what's an everyday rapture? It's a nice paradox that gives this title a little depth. And on the surface, it's got a warm, world-loving quality that I appreciate.
FENCES
A dull one-word title, Fences hits you over the head with the blunt weight of obvious symbolism.
THE KID
This show appropriates the title of Chaplin's 1921 comedy. But what it lacks in originality, it makes up in terseness: definite article and indefinite noun makes you want to meet this kid. Plus, I like the offhand tone of the slang.
PARENTS' EVENING
Parents' Evening is terrible: it sounds lachrymose. It should be Parents' Night, shouldn't it? That way, it alludes to parent-teacher conferences, even if that's not what it's about. Of course, if it's about parents having a date away from the kids, then use that phrase (like that Carrell/Fey vehicle does).
THE REALLY BIG ONCE
Now that's a title! Unique, colloquial, memorable. “The” & “Big” evokes “The Big Sleep” and other pulp titles; “Really” pours gasoline on. The genius, though, is using “Once” as a noun, giving the play's events historical importance but with a subtle meta-story angle.
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS
An adaptation of CS Lewis' novel about a devil and his protege. Aside from announcing that it's an epistolary drama―the worst theatrical format conceivable―it's not a bad title. That crazy “screwtape” is an Industrial Age parody of neo-Gothic fairy names (like, I dunno, “Glitterbottom”).
THIS SIDE OF PARADISE
You'd figure this show adapts F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel, whose title is a subtle, slightly cynical allusion to Eden & the Fall. But it doesn't: it's a bio-musical about Scott & Zelda. It may not be false advertising, but it's definitely misleading.
THE ALIENS
Initially, this terse title leads me to expect a sci-fi show (which I wholly approve of). But The Aliens could just as easily involve undocumented immigrants. Misleading sloppiness or artful ambiguity? No way to know without seeing the show.
BASS FOR PICASSO
This one annoys me 'cause I don't know how to pronounce it: does “bass” rhyme with “ace” or “ass”? In either case, it sounds bad, clashing against the not-quite-echo of “Picasso”'s second syllable. Also, name-dropping Picasso gives it a touch of art snobbery.
CREDITORS
A good word: redolent of a classic capitalist villain, but with an artful sonic misdirection that turns a usurer into a commendable fellow. And it's plural, so there's plenty of debt to go around.
DR. KNOCK, or THE TRIUMPH OF MEDICINE
Like Creditors, this title is actually a translation―the French original lacks the honorific. But I like the doubled “k” & long “o” in “Doctor Knock”; the name really swings. It's also silly, possibly satiric, & adds an echo of “quack”. I enjoy old-fashioned secondary titles separated by “or”: the pompous grandeur of this one reinforces the satiric tone.
EVERYDAY RAPTURE
A Christian connotation to “rapture” is inescapable these days. But if that's a onetime event, then what's an everyday rapture? It's a nice paradox that gives this title a little depth. And on the surface, it's got a warm, world-loving quality that I appreciate.
FENCES
A dull one-word title, Fences hits you over the head with the blunt weight of obvious symbolism.
THE KID
This show appropriates the title of Chaplin's 1921 comedy. But what it lacks in originality, it makes up in terseness: definite article and indefinite noun makes you want to meet this kid. Plus, I like the offhand tone of the slang.
PARENTS' EVENING
Parents' Evening is terrible: it sounds lachrymose. It should be Parents' Night, shouldn't it? That way, it alludes to parent-teacher conferences, even if that's not what it's about. Of course, if it's about parents having a date away from the kids, then use that phrase (like that Carrell/Fey vehicle does).
THE REALLY BIG ONCE
Now that's a title! Unique, colloquial, memorable. “The” & “Big” evokes “The Big Sleep” and other pulp titles; “Really” pours gasoline on. The genius, though, is using “Once” as a noun, giving the play's events historical importance but with a subtle meta-story angle.
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS
An adaptation of CS Lewis' novel about a devil and his protege. Aside from announcing that it's an epistolary drama―the worst theatrical format conceivable―it's not a bad title. That crazy “screwtape” is an Industrial Age parody of neo-Gothic fairy names (like, I dunno, “Glitterbottom”).
THIS SIDE OF PARADISE
You'd figure this show adapts F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel, whose title is a subtle, slightly cynical allusion to Eden & the Fall. But it doesn't: it's a bio-musical about Scott & Zelda. It may not be false advertising, but it's definitely misleading.
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