I've read the letters concerning the "blog" posted by
Greg Springer as well as the "blog" itself (the most recent one,
which was titled "You're Either With Mark Roberts or the Terrorists" or
words to that effect, I could not read, as my Spanish is limited to
such phrases as "Chinga su madre" and the like!), and while I probably
have no business inserting myself into this discussion, I am going to
do it anyhow.
First off, while I disagree, dramaturgically, with his assessment of Rantoul and Die, I can see where he was coming from. Of the five reviews of this play that I have read (including the blogged [
is that really a verb] on and the one I wrote myself (the remaining being written by Trisha Stiller for the News-Gazoo, Phil Strang for The Hub, and Michelle Stephens for The Rantoul Press)
the bogged one is the only negative review in the lot. So, with
an 80% approval rate, I think the play (and the playwright) are not in
too bad of a shape. Wouldn't G.W.B. kill for such approval
ratings (bad choice of words -- he's killed for a lot less!)
Anyway,
the main objection seems to be with Mark's writing. I'm not so
sure the attack is geared toward Mark as a person, although I may be
overly generous in this belief. Is he making fun of an
underclass? Maybe -- but how can you not make fun of
someone when you are writing comedy? I live in Rantoul, and I
felt that the reason the name was chosen was as a play on words
concerning Callie's victim (who she accidentally did in. Once the
deed was done, then she lost control.) Was he making fun of
perennial losers like Rallas? I've done the same thing in my
plays. The play that I have written that has earned me more money
than all the other seventeen or so combined (How The West Was Fun)
has, as its protagonist, a character who is such a natural loser, he
not only sacrifices all his worldly belongings while pursuing a girl
who doesn't love him, but ends up going off to die with Custer at the
Little Big Horn because of it. The anti-hero in this play, a
totally amoral being, ends up the only one to survive better off than
he was when it started. So I have a hard time seeing this as a
problem. Rallas didn't die at the Little Big Horn, but he was
such a lousy shot that he had to shoot himself twice, and even then
couldn't get the job done!
First
acts are always exposition. And in the two-act format, the second
act is denouement. Consequently, I can see no problem with Mark's
script. The fact that it was not plot driven matters
little. It is a slice of life -- a rather moldy slice of life,
but a slice of life, none the less. (I love what Jim Dobbs said to me
before the play opened, "It can best be described as "White Trash Noir!)
Each
of the reviewers in his/her own way let their readers know that the
language was pretty gamy. It has been a long time since Rhett
Butler "didn't give a damn." It has taken me a little time to get
used to the Australian Verb used on stage, but now I realize that in
the current parlance, it is a wonderful word that can be a verb, a
noun, an adjective and. in some cases, even an adverb. I became
used to its use while spending 12 years in the U.S. Air Force -- and at
that time realized that it was nothing more than an interjection (I
refrain from saying an "ejaculation" as that term might be sexually
misunderstood!) I recall, while serving in the Far East, I came
upon our Catholic chaplain who was in paroxysms of laughter. I
asked, "What's so funny, Father?" to which he answered, "I just had a
G.I. come into my office with a brand new rosary his mother has sent
him, and ask, 'Father, will bless these fucking beads
for me?'") I'm sure my late Mother-in-Law would not have
appreciated the language in Mark's play, but her daughter (my wife) can
use the Australian Verb with even more verve than I can!
And
are we not creatures of our nature? And does not our
environment develop our nature more (well, at least as much) as
our genetic code? And don't we see interesting comparisons in the
script? While Rallas is, and remains, a "porch dog," is Gary
really a "Tiger" or is that self-delusion? And what about
Callie? Is she Miss Goody Two Shoes (reminds me of a short play at last
year's Humana Festival -- Goody Fuckin' Two-Shoes") -- or is
she, as one critic described her, a"hyena?" Actually, I think,
she is both -- as aren't we all? Whether we call it "Id" and
"Super Ego" or whether we call it "Yin and Yang" writers have been
exploring the duality of their characters (and of us) since Thespis
first jumped into the circle and did his imitation of God.
My
own personal feeling is that Mark is a very talented playwright.
I feel (and he knows I feel this way) that his main danger is being
seduced by television. I agree with whoever wrote the Blog (I
really don't know if it was Greg Springer or not) that Rantoul and Die is not the best or the worst play that I have seen. Let's face it, it's not King Lear (what is?), but, at the same time, it's not
[Sic], either (thank God!)
There,
I've had my say. Mark, if you read this, like I said, consider
the 80% approval rating, and continue on. You got a lot more
laughs than just mentioning Rantoul Township High-school (which,
admittedly, can be a laugh) and the Rantoul Dairy Queen (which really
isn't much like it was described in the play), and they weren't all
laughs to cover embarrassment. I'm looking forward to your next
play -- what about Trouble in Thomasboro or The Pesotum Perplex or maybe even Stompin' at the Savoy?
Jim Seay
James L. "Jim" Seay
Playwright, Drama Critic, and Director
1507 Collier Avenue
Rantoul, IL 61866-3405
Ph. No. 217-893-0320
Fax No. 217-893-1221
e-mail:
james_seay31@xxxxxxxxx
"When power leads man to arrogance,
poetry reminds him of his limitations."
--John Fitzgerald Kennedy __________________________________________________
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