theatre (4)

an episodically published poem
link to beginning

history

many of Shakespeare’s plays
were based on the history
or the monarchy
so: take a known story
use the characters
without having to love them
then you can kill them off
at leisure without being
a sociopath

Kill a cruel dictator
without danger
without sin
without fear of revenge
kill a lover
kill a saint
be a serial murderer
on paper
on the stage
run with it
the is no retribution

find a nice all-
round person who never
harmed anyone
say Job
and ruin his life
but that’s been done
but you can do it again

no remorse
just fun
touch a nerve
watch the audience howl
that’s what playwrights do
just look into history
for real fun.

About riverwriter

Poet, playwright, duplicate bridge player, website designer, cottager, husband, father, grandfather, former athlete, carpenter, computer helper for my friends, theatre designer, backstage polymath, retired teacher of highschool English, drama, art, a baritone singer in a barbershop quartet, who knows what else? wordcurrents is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wordcurrents/ Doug also has a Facebook page, "Incognitio", related to his novels.
This entry was posted in Creative writing, On the process of Writing, Poetry. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to theatre (4)

  1. drewgold says:

    i really liked the third stanza, but i liked it all around. goodjob as always..

  2. riverwriter says:

    drewgold: thank you for commenting. This theatre project is fun for me. I was not certain that anyone would want to read it, but what the heck: blogs can be as self-indulgent as the blogger wants. I really like the ability that this format gives me to explore any themes I want to; this theatre project, for example, is an intriguing opportunity to take a desultory look at a world that has always fascinated me from my perspective in community theatre, with some tentrils into the professional realm. I think today’s poem is going to be a dramatic interior monologue by an actor in rehearsal. Having said that, I wonder if I can pull it off: I have to make hay while the sun shines: today is going to be sunny, and I have a deck to finish planking . . . .

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