Reading plays isn’t everyone’s favorite, but I’m here to advocate giving them another shot. For many of us the last time we read or saw a play was Much Ado About Nothing in high school, and I promise there are plenty of newer works that will catch your fancy and, even better, expand your imagination.
The much barer bones of a script force you to see the story more broadly and give you the chance to picture the story taking place however you like. While you can choose to picture a stage, why not go bigger? Place the characters in your childhood home and set the time period to the 1960s. Reading a play allows you to collaborate with the playwright in a way it can be difficult to find in a traditional novel, and I promise you it’s worth it. It may take a little practice, the style of thinking can feel jarring, but once you get used to it you’ll find it enriches all of your reading, traditional novel or not.
Here are a few selections from my favorite playwrights, but you can also check your local theatre’s past productions to help find more. Or you can always ask your favorite librarian or indie bookseller for recommendations :)
Escaped Alone, Caryl Churchill
The end of the world approaches, but there’s still time. A cup of tea, three friends, and catastrophe. This play is at once a beautiful summer afternoon’s chat and an intimate picture of how one must go on while the world seems to be burning around them.
Red, John Logan
An artist, Rothko, and his apprentice, Ken, work in the studio to finish a huge commission. But what’s the point really, if the art is just to hang above drunk restaurant patrons, and never to be truly seen? What is artistic integrity and how does a young apprentice glean meaning from a demanding mentor who seems to have lost touch with why he creates?
The Boys, Ella Hickson
Four boys, about to graduate college, stepping into a world that doesn’t want them. Set in the kitchen of their flat, this piece perfectly captures the feelings of a generation becoming adults at a time where their future feels anything but secure.
H Rooker is the Assistant Store Manager at Still North Books and Bar, and a lifelong New Englander.