"Craig
Calman's unique style, larger than life characters and crisp, witty,
insightful dialogue evokes thought provoking hilarity. His writing is
unpredictable, structurally sound and a gift to the art. I recommend
his work without reservation."
-Sal Romeo, Artistic
Director
Friends & Artists
Theatre, Los Angeles
I love so many
genres and have written works in quite a variety:
The first play I wrote
and directed was in high school entitled "Generation Reformation"
and the performances were enthusiastically received. Encouraged by my
tenth grade English teacher, Mrs. Dorothy Sprungman, bless her, I also
wrote film scripts for my 8mm and Super 8mm cameras and then cast, directed,
edited and screened the results for my high school classes to resounding
success. My documentary "THE CANYON" was a Finalist
in the Teenage Kodak Movie Awards and I was written up in the local
newspapers as an up and coming film maker.
While in Mexico I filmed
yards and yards of footage and when I returned to the States I edited
it all together, wrote a script, narrated it and "LAS TRES CULTURAS
DE MEXICO" was a major factor in my admission to the UCLA Motion
Picture/ Television Department.
My first feature length
screenplay created while at UCLA is "FROGS & LOVERS"
a Ruritanian romp for children of all ages.
"MOURNING DOVES"
is a contemporary and realistic screen drama which I gave to the legendary
BETTE DAVIS. She read it and wrote me a lovely, inspirational three
page handwritten letter including:
I envisioned the lead
roles to be played by Ms. Davis and John Huston, to whom I was also
able to send the script. Despite great praise the project was never
made. But I was only in my early 20s and this enthusiasm from two of
Hollywood's greatest encouraged me to continue writing.
After film school I focused
on writing for the stage. I have attended several playwrighting workshops
over the years including Craig Noel's Old Globe Theatre in San Diego;
Miguel Pinero's workshop at Ralph Waite's The Los Angeles Actors Theater;
Ed Bullins' workshop at The Public Theater, New York City; the 78th
Street Theatre Lab, New York City; and The Playwright/Director Unit
at The Actors Studio West headed by Director Mark Rydell and Playwright
Lyle Kessler.
Ralph Waite's Los Angeles
Actors Theatre, located in a seamy section
of Hollywood, produced vibrant and passionate theatre in the late '70s.
I was a member of the Playwright Workshop there for six months in 1977
where I got to know the notorious playwright Miguel ("Short Eyes")
Pinero, producer extraordinaire Bill Bushnell, and very special actors
Toni Sawyer and Fred Pinkard. Salome Jens, Richard Jordan, Dana Elcar
and Donald Moffat contributed their talents to LAAT and the intense
Philip Baker Hall offered his thespianic services in a memorable play
reading of mine as well. My one-act "Benny & Hope" was
chosen for their First Annual Festival of One Act Plays. Under the guidance
of Bill Bushnell, LAAT expanded to become The Los Angeles Theatre Center,
a Los Angeles cultural landmark.
SCRIPTS
BY
CRAIG CALMAN:
FULL LENGTH STAGE
PLAYS:
"The Turn of the
Century"
"Strangled Nocturne"
"Life Without Father"
"Patterns Woven
In A Park"
"Skidoo Ruins"
ONE ACT PLAYS:
"In Concert"
"September"
"Icy Waters"
"Malagasy Figs"
"Marksmen"
"Longing Lodge"
"Grandfather's
Amber Locket"
"Golden Hair"
"Roommates"
FEATURE LENGTH SCREENPLAYS:
"Frogs & Lovers"
"Mourning Doves"
"The Turn Of The
Century"
"Strangled Nocturne"
"Skidoo Ruins"
NOVEL:
The Turn Of The Century
"THE TURN OF THE
CENTURY" is a mysterious comedy about greed and generosity,
pretense and honesty, stardom, curiosity, sanity, obsessions, valiant
sacrifices and dark and venal doings. You may yet discover other themes
lurking behind the secret panels or within the Victorian shadows of
the legendary Winceworth House. Young LIVVY did, when she innocently
entered the portals of a strange and eccentric household.
The time is shortly before
New Year's Eve 1900 and a centennial celebration of another sort is
about to take place. The surviving relatives are all in attendance for
the inter vivos reading of the will and the 100th birthday of
LADY EULALIA WINCEWORTH, venerable actress of the Shakespearean stage
who is soon to play the greatest performance of her career.
But the celebrations are
marred by MURDER. Was it greet which left the Right Reverend
Archibald W. Winceworth sprawled out on the polo field with a broken
neck? Or was it revenge that sent Cousin Melvin hurtling to his premature
demise from the third story bedroom window onto the mimosa below? What
about the other foul deeds that have this small California town in an
uproar?
Question the wild-eyed
MAJOR-GENERAL fresh from the African War. Question the suspiciously
temperamental cabaret singer ROXANNE and her slippery lover PIERRE.
Question the wistful WISTERIA, whose hold on reality appears to be as
quirky as her delicate demeanor. Question LADY WINCEWORTH herself if
you dare. Enter the heart of the mystery -- knock upon the spellbinding
door to imagination and truth and discovery what really happened
at The Turn Of The Century.
WHAT PRODUCERS HAVE
SAID ABOUT
"THE TURN OF
THE CENTURY"
Dallas Theatre Center:
"Marvelously eccentric
yet believable characters. A good tortuous plot. The author very skillfully
maintains a comic form throughout the whole play...writing shows a lot
of imagination and energy."
-Eleanor Lindsay, New
Play Development
Goodman Theatre,
Chicago:
"Hilarious, outrageous
first-class spoof -- a ripping good night at the theatre. The writer
has crafted his own world and filled it with ordered and hilarious chaos."
-Literary Department
Pennsylvania Stage
Company:
"This is the best
I have read in a long time. It's funny, lighthearted, not sentimental,
fun to read. The dialogue is endearing, the plot is new. The characters
are well written, the story line is quick, never drawn out, never boring."
-Literary Department
International Creative
Management, New York, NY:
"I am quite impressed.
You are extremely talented."
-Audrey Wood,
Tennessee Williams's
long-time literary agent
"The Turn Of The
Century" was a selection of The Old Globe Theatre's Play Discovery
Project performed with Kelsey Grammer. Other highly successful staged
readings include The Actors Studio West and The Marquis Theatre, New
York City.
Two Play versions: one
or two sets, five males, six females
Feature length screenplay
available
MARTHA SCOTT (1914-2003) encouraged
me greatly. Broadway Star, movie actress and theatrical producer of
The Plumstead Theatre Society, she was dedicated to American plays new
and classic. Ms. Scott was especially keen on "THE TURN OF THE
CENTURY" and wrote a wonderful letter of recommendation for me.
"When I discover a writer
as gifted as Craig Calman, I know it is a special occasion."
Other responses
to "THE TURN OF THE CENTURY":
"Outrageous, fascinating
and bizarre."
-Jessica Tandy
"Clever boy!"
-Estelle Winwood, age
100
"I like this play
very much. Craig Calman is a very talented writer. 'The Turn Of The
Century' has every chance of being a great success."
-Bette Davis
"'The Turn Of The
Century screenplay is very interesting and very well written."
-Robert Wise, Director
("The Sound of Music"
etc.)
"STRANGLED NOCTURNE"
is a tale of wild passions, repressed yearnings and hidden crimes.
It is based upon factual history. The aboriginal culture which flourished
on the Fiji Islands before the Second World War was shocking and barbaric,
even by Western standards. Cannibalism was the order of the day, and
savage attacks upon the White settlers were not uncommon.
Amorality East and West
collide one night in 1925 at the island bungalow of DR. RAVEN, reluctant
recipient of an intimate party honoring his final night on the islands.
His native houseboy EUGENE welcomes the guests: FATHER HEWITT, a young
and inexperienced missionary; MIRIAM BENSON, a loud pink woman with
large appetites; her dark, mysterious half-caste daughter LENORE and
the reclusive, enigmatic CONSTANCE CORNETTE, whose unexpected arrival
ignites the drama and propels the characters into a nightmare of confession,
guilt and horrid revelations.
Staged reading by Danny
Glover's Robey Theatre Company, Los Angeles directed by the fabulous
Bennet Guillory.
WHAT PRODUCERS HAVE
SAID ABOUT
"STRANGLED
NOCTURNE"
THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE,
Los Angeles:
"It's a wonderfully-written
piece, exotic and dramatic, with rich language and complex characters."
-Simon Levy,
Producing Director/Dramaturg
ARENA STAGE,
Washington, D.C.:
"I am impressed
with the ambition of Craig Calman's themes and his ability to take the
reader to exotic places and times."
-Lloyd Rose, Literary
Manager
BERKELEY STAGE COMPANY:
"Fascinating and
deals with profound themes."
-Angela Paton, Artistic
Director
CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE,
New York, NY:
"Very well written:
Craig Calman sets up mood well and his characters and dialogue are believable."
-Theodore Mann, Artistic
Director
CIRCLE REPERTORY COMPANY,
New York, NY:
"The literary staff
found much to admire in Craig Calman's in-depth study of evil as man's
undoing."
-Lynn M. Thomson, Dramaturg/Literary
Manager
DALLAS THEATRE CENTER:
The plot and characterizations
are very interesting. The script is ready for production."
-Martha Goodman, Coordinator,
Play Committee
OFFICE FOR ADVANCED
DRAMA RESEARCH:
"I am impressed,
indeed, by this play."
-Arthur Ballet, Director
SAN DIEGO REPERTORY
THEATRE:
"An exciting drama
reminiscent of Strindberg."
-Scott Feldsher, Literary
Manager
"LIFE WITHOUT
FATHER" is a sociopolitical fantasy about the first woman to
run for the U.S. Presidency. Her opponent is her own daughter. Considering
that the star of a 1952 Hollywood comedy called "Bedtime For Bonzo"
managed to become our nation's leader once upon a time, not to mention
our other Presidential escapades past and present, the scenario for
this comedy is not too terribly far-fetched.
Set several election
years from now, when mass hysteria and social chaos have become even
more commonplace, to the point where it is continually interrupting
the television broadcasts of MOTHER's beloved soap operas, this supremely
wealthy and socially prominent widow has reached the end of her velvet
rope. Not only is society in disarray, but MOTHER is unable to control
the chaos of her own household or even keep hold of a lover for any
appreciable length of time, so she decides to run for President Of The
United States.
Horrified at this prospect,
her troubled daughter CYNTHIA, esoteric seeker after Truth, decides
to run against her. Thus begins the greatest political battle of The
New Millennium. Mother's ex-housekeeper and now best-selling tell-all
author MANZANITA PITTSTOP SHELLFISH runs CYNTHIA's campaign, while MOTHER
is aided by ROLLO DERBY, an upwardly mobile African-American roller-skate
salesman, along with handsome stud CHAD DIMPLE, former Senate messenger
boy and frequenter of disreputable polling places. The beloved man without
a country DR. HAMPSTEAD VERST rounds out the cast, who roller-skate
their merry way through several years of American social and political
upheavals.
WHAT PRODUCERS HAVE
SAID ABOUT
"LIFE WITHOUT
FATHER"
BERKELEY STAGE COMPANY:
"This political turn
is refreshing and dramatic....It is a 20th Century Herstory in a series
of surrealistic 'coups de theatre'....The plot turns, characters and
style parodies are very funny and the stage directions are usually hilarious."
-Stephen Weinstock,
Literary Department
CURTIS BROWN LTD.,
New York, NY:
"Very funny, well
written and fast paced."
-Philip S. Menges, III,
Literary Agent
FEUER & RITZER,
New York, NY:
"Craig Calman has
a definite flair for comedy writing and eccentric characters."
-Jeremy Ritzer, Partner
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE,
Los Angeles:
"Poignant and timely.
Craig Calman has created an original world with rich and unique characters."
-Amy Levinson, Literary
Associate
MARK TAPER FORUM,
Los Angeles:
"'Life Without Father'
creates one of the most unusual family portraits I've encountered....the
play rides a thin line between absurdity and hysteria....The scenes
by themselves are delightful."
-Jessica Teich, Literary
Manager
ORGANIC THEATRE COMPANY,
Chicago:
"I think it's very
good -- reminiscent of Kopit at his best....a zany, insubordinate play."
-Donn Gunn, Manager
ROYAL COURT THEATRE,
London, England:
"An original and
vibrant comedy."
-Ruth Little, Literary
Office
SAN DIEGO REPERTORY
THEATRE:
"A very funny, one
might say perverse, comedy."
-Scott Feldsher, Associate
Director/Dramaturg
Staged readings at Actors
Studio West and by Women-In-Theatre.
"SKIDOO
RUINS" is a Rip Van Winkle fable of
two World War II veterans who go off to modern day Hollywood. This is
a comedy in the style of the classic Hal Roach comedies of the 1930s.
This colorful tale told
in high good spirits concerns a bunch of ambitious low-lifes who dream
of success in the brave "new" world of rock music videos.
Two old pals, World War II veterans POTTLE and LEER decide to venture
out into the modern world -- and they find themselves getting up-to-date
in a flash. Egged on by POTTLE's newfound girlfriend RUBY, a nightclub
singer with a passion for Glamour with a capital "G" and her
shifty associate MR. BUMPS, a man with a past that stretches into the
Dark Ages, these characters connive and wrangle their way into the fast-track
world of Hollywood. Or so they think.
Attempting to produce
a rock music video version of the silent screen classic "Greed,"
these nuts, along with their star attraction PEPITO PANDEMONIO POPOTE
(the New Millennium's answer to Rudolph Valentino or a demented version
of a member of 'Menudo'?) and SERGEANT BARRY FITZGERALD O'ROARKE O'MALLEY,
rogue cop extraordinaire, travel to location at Skidoo Ruins, a parched
outpost in the Death Valley desert.
In this seeming wasteland
our heroes encounter the mad genius-hermit UNCLE MORDECAI, spiritualist,
shaman and philosopher, a far from bitter outcast of Hollywood, Broadway
and the culture capitals of the world. With the aid of this divine desert
rat, our heroes come to see the true status of their American republic
early in the 21st century; they come to grips with the Zen of Video;
they discover the undying spirit of Eternal Hollywood. Why, they even
comprehend the meaning of the Cosmos. There's something for everyone
in this charming script -- "a genre is born!"
WHAT PRODUCERS HAVE
SAID ABOUT
"SKIDOO RUINS"
LOS ANGELES THEATER
CENTER:
"I was intrigued....Craig
Calman's language, as always, is entertaining and artfully bold."
-Stephen Weeks, Literary
Co-Manager
MARK TAPER FORUM,
Los Angeles:
"Perhaps the most
interesting play of yours we've read."
-Jessica Teich, Literary
Manager
ORGANIC THEATRE COMPANY,
Chicago:
"Compelling...it
was as though there had been an explosion in the Sam Shepard wing of
the Museum of Theatrical Imagery and into the ruins there struggled
these two guys, picking up bits and pieces of American cultural iconography,
tossing them aside, shaking burnt fingers."
-Lawrence Santoro, Literary
Manager/Dramaturg
THE PLAYWRIGHT'S THEATRE,
Los Angeles:
"Craig Calman's writing
is bright, quick and snappy. The piece really moves."
-Richard Polak, Managing
and Artistic Director
ROYAL COURT THEATRE,
LONDON, ENGLAND:
"A spirited and ebullient
comedy built around the notion of Hollywood as a powerful cultural beacon."
-Ruth Little, Literary
Office
AND FROM HOLLYWOOD'S
PIONEER COMEDY VETERAN:
"This is Rip Van
Winkle profanity!"
-Hal Roach, 1988 Motion
Picture Pioneer, Producer from 1914
"Our Gang," Laurel & Hardy, etc.
Staged reading
The Road Company, North Hollywood.
A wonderful staged reading
of "SKIDOO RUINS" was given by First Stage Los Angeles on
April 4, 2005. The above cast was directed by Bill White to a very appreciative
audience. They are from left to right: Catherine Anne Hayes as Ruby,
Jonathan Amaret as Pepito, Arnie Weiss as Uncle Mordecai, Bob Larkin
as Pottle, Hawthorne James as Sergeant O'Malley, Herman Poppe as Leer
and Lawrence Gaughan as Mr. Bumps.
June 27, 2005: Another reading of "SKIDOO
RUINS" this time with the great Edward Asner as Leer, Charlie
Robinson (far left) as Sgt. O'Malley and Joe Allen Price as Pottle.
Yours truly played Mr. Bumps. Behind Cathie is Dan Roth, the Narrator/Announcer;
to his left is director Bill White and to the far right is Arnie "Dutch"
Weiss, a veritable walking encyclopedia of film and theatre.
Letter of
recommendation from Edward Asner, July 29, 2006:
"I have performed in
a staged reading of Craig Calman's play "SKIDOO RUINS" and
have read the screenplay version. I have also read his play "LIFE
WITHOUT FATHER" and am very impressed by his talent. Craig Calman
has had many years experience as a working actor and knows how to
create roles actors will find a joy to play. I am confident audiences
will have a similar experience when his scripts are produced. I recommend
his work without reservation."
"PATTERNS WOVEN
IN A PARK" Three sets of couples meet in a park separately
and unbeknownst to the others, at noon, late afternoon and midnight;
all their lives are mysteriously intertwined.
The city park in which
this play occurs is a haven for the weary traveler. It is a vast aviary
where pigeons peck the ground for real and imaginary sustenance, where
peacocks vainly strut and show off their dazzling plumage, where primitive,
reptilian-like creatures wing their way to unknowable bourn....
"PATTERNS WOVEN IN
A PARK" is composed of three interrelated scenes, each one taking
place in the same secluded spot in this mythical sylvan oasis at different
times of the day:
(1) "Icy Waters"
begins at high noon, a nasty comical lunch shared by the old, terrified
and cantankerous MR. LIPINSKY and his rather bizarre, porno-loving NURSE.
(2) "Malagasy Figs"
transpires in the late afternoon, an impressionistic pre- or even post-1939
interlude with a shabby GENTLEMAN and a careworn LADY.
(3) "Pterodactyl
Soup" concludes at midnight, a bewitching encounter between a romantic,
freewheeling bachelor (or is it hermit?) and a purple-clad culinary
coquette.
WHAT PRODUCERS HAVE
SAID ABOUT
"PATTERNS WOVEN
IN A PARK"
A.S.K. THEATRE
PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES:
"Pulling the stories
together with a common thread the writer keeps things interesting, building
his stories with expert skill before making their connection known to
the reader."
-Megan Brown, Literary
Associate
CAST THEATRE, Los
Angeles:
"Beautifully written."
-Diana Gibson, Literary
Manager
MARK TAPER FORUM,
Los Angeles:
"Haunting and provocative."
-Jessica Teich, Literary
Manager
SAN DIEGO REPERTORY
THEATRE:
"This play may be
brilliant, I am afraid to deal in superlatives. The playwright has a
facility with words that is most uncommon. Verbal imagery delivered
in a playful, tantalizing flair. 'Patterns Woven In A Park' is all of
life in three acts: the dreams, defeats, depressions, despairs, presented
in allegorical form with satirical yet humorous overtones."
-Suzy Rau, Literary
Department
ROYAL COURT THEATRE,
LONDON, ENGLAND:
"Most ambitious and
formally adventurous."
-Ruth Little, Literary
Office
STOREFRONT THEATRE,
PORTLAND, OREGON:
"Engrossing and well
written."
-Shirley Sutles, Literary
Manager
In 1995 I entered
the new on-line world when I was hired as a columnist for the Internet
cinema magazine "FilmZone."
In my monthly column
"Relix Update" I wrote about the re-discoveries, restorations
and re-releases of classic movies from the earliest days of the 1890s
to the restoration of "Star Wars." I also revealed the efforts
of film schools, museums and motion picture studios to rescue movies
that were deteriorating over time.
Although "FilmZone"
was voted one of the Ten Best Movie Websites of 1995 by "Entertainment
Weekly" magazine, it was gone within two years.
But it was serendipitous
timing for me as 1995 marked the 100th anniversary of the first commercial
public showing of motion pictures in the world. (That occurred in Paris
in April 1895.) What better way to commemorate this milestone than to
be writing a film column? And at this time I had the good fortune to
meet the late great film historian, David Shipman, whose meticulously
researched and entertainingly written works, including The Story
Of Cinema and The Great Movie Stars (in three volumes) are
must-reads for every film lover.
As a playwright myself, it
was quite an experience to portray William Shakespeare as interpreted
by George Bernard Shaw in his "DARK LADY OF THE SONNETS"
Off-off Broadway, 1981
"Craig
David Calman as the funny and outspoken Shakespeare...turned in a comic
virtuoso performance."
-Edward
Rubin, Backstage New York
A few centuries later Anton
Chekhov added his genius to theatrical literature and I was privileged
to portray him in "THE GOOD DOCTOR" by a successful 20th century
playwright, Neil ("Doc") Simon.
Marquis Public Theatre, 1979
"Craig
Calman's performance as
'The Good Doctor,' Chekhov himself, was continuously compelling, his
comedic timing well paced and his understanding of the character's gentle,
ironic humanity clear."
-Milton
Savage, The San Diego Union
"The
Writer was smartly played by Craig Calman with a sense of timing that
both Simon and Chekhov would appreciate."
-Frances L.
Bardacke, San Diego Magazine
In June 2000 I was invited to join
The Actors Studio West Playwright/Director Unit headed by Mark Rydell
and Lyle Kessler. To date I have had five staged readings of my works
presented under their auspices.
PROFESSIONAL
COMMENTS:
"The playwright is that person
who charts the course and maps out the path for us to begin the journey
and tell the story. Craig's strong ability in this area is informed
by his talent as an actor, thereby gaining important insight into
what the director and actor may contribute to his work....Mr. Calman
has an acute talent in storytelling with a profound social consciousness.
His work transcends the ordinary into something aesthetically exciting.
Mr. Calman's graceful contributions
to the theatre are important. We in the community would do well to
cultivate our artists, especially this one."
- Bennet Guillory,
Artistic Director,
THE ROBEY THEATRE
COMPANY
"I feel certain that once Craig
David Calman is given an opportunity to reveal his abilities as a
playwright, film maker, screenwriter and actor, he will be recognized
by the industry as an exciting and enduring talent."
-Martha Scott, Executive
Vice President
PLUMSTEAD THEATRE
SOCIETY, INC.
"The audience reaction to 'The
Turn of the Century' was extremely favorable, his dialog is good,
he has an understanding of the theatre and I am confident that if
he continues in this field he will be successful. Because he is also
an actor and has spent a good deal of time around the theatre, his
scripts are professional and economically feasible to produce."
-Craig Noel, Executive
Director
OLD GLOBE THEATRES,
San Diego, California
"I am not normally
a city bench frequenter on workaday afternoons. I maintain offices.
Offices of philosophy most days of the week. It is to me a round-the-clock
proposition. Something never to be taken lightly. Something requiring
study and research. I maintain liaisons with all the higher centers
of learning. I peruse every available shelf. I attend lectures, hearings
and discussions. I am privy to decisions, councils and arbitrations
of major importance. I do not shirk any obligation nor any nuance. I
pride myself on my thoroughness. I am acknowledged for my thoroughness.
I am esteemed for my thoroughness. I am a philosopher by reputation,
riding on the banner of sober and unmitigated thoroughness."
-Shabby Gentleman,
"MALAGASY FIGS"
My alter ego still uses a quill
pen!
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
"I see the playwright
as the lay preacher peddling the ideas of his time in popular form."
-August Strindberg
"In a play, time is arrested
in the sense of being confined....The audience can sit back in a comforting
dusk to watch a world which is flooded with light and in which emotion
and action have a dimension and dignity that they would likewise have
in real existence, if only the shattering intrusion of time could be
locked out."
-Tennessee Williams
I had the great honor of
meeting Tennessee Williams on February 25, 1977. It was at a small theater
off Melrose and La Cienega. During intermission he asked me what I thought
of the first act of "Two Character Play," another of the many
rewrites he made of a fascinating and complex work. I remember the date
because he died on February 25 six years later.
"There was no renaissance
in the American theatre of the forties, but there was a certain balance
within the audience -- a balance, one might call it, between the alienated
and the conformists -- that gave sufficient support to the naked cry
of the heart and, simultaneously, enough resistance to force it into
a rhetoric that at one stroke could be broadly understandable and yet
faithful to the pain that had pressed the author to speak."
-Arthur Miller
"Great drama is great
questions or it is nothing but technique."
-Ibid.
"[Writing] is a lonely
business. The difficulty comes when you begin to think it isn't. It's
not a social racket at all. It has nothing to do with conversation or
criticism or even compliments. It has nothing to do with family or marriage
or friends or associates or pleasures. It is and should be the most
alone thing in the world. I guess that's why writers are hard to live
with, impossible as friends and ridiculous as associates. A writer and
his work is and should be like a surly dog with a bone, suspicious of
everyone, trusting no one, loving no one. It's hard to justify such
a life but that's the way it is if it is done well."
-John Steinbeck
"The dislike of the artist,
the fear of the artist has been seen in every culture at every age.
It's as if the one kind of person that power fears most is the person
that nobody owns, the person whose voice doesn't stand for anybody except
himself or herself. These voices that are simply themselves and represent
no interest or interest group, represent no polemical tendency. They
simply respond to the world as they see it and try to offer the most
coherent vision of it that they can make. And that appears to terrify
people."
-Salman Rushdie
"Sometimes the public
makes a mistake about what artists think of the society they're in even
when they're criticizing it. Because I think it is an aspect of celebration.
It is an aspect of love to be undeceived and I think it's one of the
things that artists do out of love."
-Ibid.
"I am a comedian, not a liar.
I can afford the luxury of telling the truth."
-Albert Brooks
"Words are sacred. They
deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can
nudge the world a little."
-Tom Stoppard
"A writer never has a
vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about
writing."
-Eugene Ionesco
"A work of art is above all
an adventure of the mind; it is the creation of an autonomous world
introduced into our world from fundamental truths -- which are those
we find in dream and imagination."
-Ibid
"The true writer must write
not the acceptable but the true."
-David Mamet
"And there are an unorganized
few...the immense minority...who sincerely love the arts. There are
those for whom reading, for example, can be an act of love, and lead
to a revelation, not of truth, moral or otherwise, but of lucidity,
order, rightness of relation, the experience of a world fully felt and
furnished and worked out in the head, the head where the heart is also
to be found, and all the other vital organs."
-William H. Gass
"The Test of Time"
"The trivial is as important
as the important when looked at importantly....Even a wasted life is
priceless when composed properly or hymned aright."
-Ibid.
"The world likes humor,
but it treats it patronizingly. It decorates its serious artists with
laurel, and its wags with Brussels sprouts. It feels that if a thing
is funny it can be presumed to be something less than great, because
if it were truly great it would be wholly serious. "
-E.B. White
"Intelligence is so damn
rare and the people who have it often have such a bad time with it that
they get bitter or propagandistic and then it's not much use."
-Ernest Hemingway
"I divide all works into
two classes: those I like and those I don't."
-Anton Chekhov
"As we begin the third
millennium, at just this moment in our expiring high culture, the polemic
against genius has achieved the prevalence of a pernicious ideology."
-Harold Bloom
"Goethe urged the new,
strong writer to have the persistence, will and self-abnegation to acquaint
himself thoroughly with the tradition while retaining enough strength
and courage to develop his original nature independently and to treat
the divers assimilated elements in his own way."
-Ibid.
"The ultimate tragedy
is not the brutality of the bad people, but the silence of the good
people."
-Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"If there's a human race
here in 100 years, and you know, it's a toss up, it'll be our sense
of humor which may save us."
-Pete Seeger
November 2005
"I think we never become
really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead
-- and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought
to start dead, and then they would be honest so much earlier."
-Mark Twain
