Forward 2004

Until 2002 I wrote mostly lyric poems although sometimes with a bit of narrative. I'd also tried the persona game: changing myself into someone else or even into a chocolate mug. But for a long time I felt I wanted to write something more ambitious. An epic? A poem novel? Nothing has moved me to either form yet. The Odyssey and the The Inferno have been done. Les Murray's poem novel Freddy Neptune couldn't carry me through or even very far despite being often impressive. So verse drama---it worked for Shakespeare. I've no dramatic training, but I've seen plays, read plays, and one learns by doing. Maybe it will be almost all plays from now on.

But as you can see from the {Contents} there are only five plays so far, and only the first three are complete. The first, Federigo, was written in the essentially 8 days: 2002 December 14 to 22. It began as a monologue: Federigo's opening speech of Act~I, Scene~II. Then I added another character to the scene and then a third. Then other scenes and characters grew by themselves seemingly. Then I willed scenes to complete the plot and the meaning. Without boasting, I can say it turned out better than one could have expected. The Muse paid a visit whatever one says of the result.

Next play was Prince Henry: a conscious attempt at playwriting. It seems almost as good to me as the first play. Beginner's luck seemed to hold. Then came Barcelona which is an even more conscious effort. I wasn't been able to finish it or even decide what is happening. Beginners's luck began to fail. Next I started Valentine's Day which is just fragments. Then The Light from Abdera which is the third play since I've finished.

I'll just have to work harder, study the mechanics of playwrighting more.