Theater: Title Bout (July 27)

Every week, I compose listings on the week's new plays for Metromix NY. I'm often disappointed by the titles that playwrights choose for their work, so I'm reviewing their titles now. Not the shows (I haven't seen them yet) just the titles. To read about the content of each show, click through its link to my listings on Metromix NY.


ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BIG GAY DANCE PARTY
Generally, you see this sort of overelaborate, comically titillating title at festival shows, especially the Fringe. I admire & commend the impulse to stand out, to communicate the show's tone, and to describe precisely what it delivers―it's the sort of audience consideration that most playwrights ignore (and thus this column!). Maybe one's trying a little too hard, but damn it, it does sound like fun!

THE PIED PIPERS OF THE LOWER EAST SIDE
Now this is a great title: memorable, descriptive, and specific to the show. “Pied Pipers” has a touch of whimsy & makes you wonder who the pipers are. “Lower East Side” has a specific set of attributes―a cool balance of classic NYC ethnicity & 21st-century gentrification―that suggest a rich backdrop. It's even free verse pentameter!

SECRETS OF THE TRADE
What sort of trade? It could be plumbing or prostitution, a swap of athletes or stocks. This title doesn't quite tell you enough to be tempting, but the promise of secrets are always good.

WIFE TO JAMES WHELAN
A clunky one, with no syncopation. The odd grammatical structure guides the attention away from the named character to an unnamed one & to the status of the marriage itself. It's trying to be clever but not quite succeeding.

TV: Mad Men, season 3

The serial nature of TV can act on a show like wind resistance. Mad Men, like The Sopranos, had a great debut season partly because it could stand alone. The second season, on the other hand, spent so much time rebooting, its open-ended climax—Don's return to Westchester, Betty's pregnancy—felt like further set-up. But the third season sidesteps this issue with a spectacular season finale that revitalizes the show's plot engine. Don's identity, always Mad Men's core, is simultaneously stripped and souped up. He fights to keep his workplace family, but surrenders his home life without a fight. In the final scene, his colleagues literally move into his (hotel) room! Every strand of plot comes into play this final episode, possibly the show's strongest so far.

But even before the finale, season three displays tight writing and a growing integration (pun intended) between the characters' personal lives and the period's social change. The creators realize how superb Christina Hendricks is, adding substantially to her character's arc. Joan's dubious marriage and love of work acts as a foil for Don's while deepening the male/female dichotomy that's another central theme. A fine character is added to the cast (earnest, concise Lane Pryce) and another gets elaborated well (daughter Sally). Okay, #3 isn't perfect: as with season 2, Don's mistress is a wan character who won't be missed.

The bigger misstep is the forfeiture of Pete & Peggy's stature as secondary protagonists to give Betty a larger role. January Jones embarasses herself: there's no gap between the actor's emptiness and the role's. In a few scenes, she's outacted by 10-year-old Kiernen Shipka as Sally! It's especially frustrating since the universe of Mad Men bends around Betty like gravity. Hopefully, the upcoming season will readjust to its new status quo by giving Betty less screentime. The finale cut away much of the larger cast; ideally it'll pursue the intimacy that a newer, leaner firm affords the show!

Theater: Title Bout (July 20)

Every week, I compose listings on the week's new plays for Metromix NY. I'm often disappointed by the titles that playwrights choose for their work, so I'm reviewing their titles now. Not the shows (I haven't seen them yet) just the titles. To read about the content of each show, click through its link to my listings on Metromix NY.

4PLAY
Very postmodern and Y2K to mingle Arabic numerals with Roman letters. But the number opens space for a puns on sexual foreplay while suggesting that the show is simply playful (“for play”). I wonder if there are four performers in this juggling extravaganza? Hope so.

TRUST
Elvis Costello called an album Trust, and Hal Hartley did the same with a movie, and Wikipedia lists plenty of other songs, TV shows, political parties, etc. Even if this play deals ingeniously with a business monopoly, an arrangement of property for a minor, and the concept of confidence in a person or idea, its title implies lazy thinking.

Theater: Title Bout (July 13)

Every week, I compose listings on the week's new plays for Metromix NY. I'm often disappointed by the titles that playwrights choose for their work, so I'm reviewing their titles now. Not the shows (I haven't seen them yet) just the titles. To read about the content of each show, click through its link to my listings on Metromix NY.

EAST TO EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
There's a sense of adventure to the phrase “East to Edinburgh”. The Scottish capital is world-famous for its theater festival, which lends its excitement and quality to this one. And there's an implied definite article: East to [the] Edinburgh Festival. Not bad, though not great.

THE MIDTOWN INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL
“Midtown International” sounds like a hotel. It's the sort of corporate-speak that, on analysis, is a stupid paradox (it's local & it's global!). And who goes to midtown for theater? There's no style called “midtown theater”, it's either “downtown” or “uptown” in NYC. An ugly, utilitarian title that kills the celebratory connotation of “festival”.

PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS
It's hard to believe but this title is strictly descriptive, no metaphor involved. And aside from the alliteration, it's not very poetic: “penis” isn't the most euphonic Latin word, & its long “e” and sibilant “s” jar against the spritely “puppetry”.

SEE ROCK CITY & OTHER DESTINATIONS
This title's playful imperative and allusion to old US postcards (“See beautiful Niagara Falls!”) makes it work. “Rock City” implies a mythic Jerusalem of rock'n'roll where drugs are cheap, sex is cheaper, pants are tight, and the girls are either skanky or androgynous (or boys!). It makes me want to visit, and to find out what the other destinations are.
 

Theater: Title Bout (July 6)

Every week, I compose listings on the week's new plays for Metromix NY. I'm often disappointed by the titles that playwrights choose for their work, so I'm reviewing their titles now. Not the shows (I haven't seen them yet) just the titles. To read about the content of each show, click through its link to my listings on Metromix NY.


BACHELORETTE
This one-word title is surprisingly okay. The sole context for the word “bachelorette” is, of course, the rave-up thrown for a bride on the eve of her wedding. This writer implies the party by its omission while bringing focus to the protagonist. Clever!

FALLING FOR EVE
Writers, take note: gerunds add a sense of dynamism. This title spells out the arc of the play: a love story (“falling”, lamely, has no secondary meaning here). The biblical allusion builds the love-object up nicely, suggesting she'll be strong-willed, possibly even an antagonist or at least the instigator of plot complications.

LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL 2010
A utilitarian title, pretty dull. The works in the festival do better: the retro style of the Blind Boys of Alabama, the conceptual oddity of A Disappearing Number, the promise of spectacle in The Battle of Stalingrad. Worst title: the postmodern punctuation of Varèse: (R)Evolution.

PTP/NYC FESTIVAL
What does PTP stand for? Knowing that might entice me to catch this festival; not knowing alienates me. Maybe that's deliberate, since the festival includes work like Plevna: Meditations on Hatred (the prickly Howard Barker, natch). The best title in this fest, no contest, is Lovesong of the Electric Bear.

SWEET SWEET MOTHERHOOD
I'm ambivalent here. The “motherhood” gives off a saccharine flavor of Victorian sentimentality, but the repetition of “sweet” suggests that it might be meant ironically.

UNDERGROUNDZERO FESTIVAL 2010
Of this week's three festivals, this one's got the best name. Okay, so collapsing a phrase into one word is dubious. But I do enjoy the ambiguity: is it “under ground zero” or “underground zero”?

WITH GLEE
Even if it's not intentionally capitalizing on the popular musical TV show, this title should catch a few more eyeballs―which should be one of a title's goals. Actually, I like With Glee more than Glee, since the preposition implies the tenor of actions rather than a simple emotion.