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Review

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful. A necessary but mediocre bookBy Matthew CheneyI have completely mixed feelings about this book. Part of me wants to celebrate anyone who brings more attention to writers such as Mac Wellman; Len Jenkin; and Suzan-Lori Parks -- some of the most exciting playwrights in America -- but another part of me is deeply uncomfortable with the clunky; jargon-filled sentences and often obtuse ideas herein.The best element of this book is the exercises sprinkled through each chapter. In fact; its tempting to say: Get the book for the exercises; read nothing else. They wont make you a great playwright; but they will get you thinking about the possibilities of the theatre in ways that no other handbook will.There are some good ideas within the text itself; too; but there are far more ideas which are either unnecessarily "academic" or so reductive as to be humorous. Castagno doesnt seem to understand that the theatre is a fundamentally pragmatic art form -- he ends up trying to explain far too many things which are self-evident if you dont view them through the distorting lens of postmodern literary and cultural theory. Why do Jenkin and Wellman; for instance; use various levels of language? Not because theyre trying to prove a theory of Bakhtins; but rather because its fun. Anyone who has seen a good production of a Len Jenkin play knows that it is first and foremost a lot of fun. Castagno is like an analyzer of comedy who is more interested in trying to explain how jokes work than in simply enjoying that they do.The fundamental premise of the book is; in many ways; false. These are not new strategies -- most are variations on ancient strategies; and the most radical can be traced back to the early modernists (Gertrude Steins plays are more radical than any mentioned in the book) -- the plays mentioned are; rather; new manifestations of strategies which have been around for quite a while. The idea that the writers discussed are the theatrical version of the Language Poets is also flawed -- though Wellman and others certainly value language and use it in a different way from more traditional playwrights; there are so many other elements to even the most basic theatrical production that "language playwrights" is a misnomer.For someone who proclaims to know so much about "new" strategies; Castagno seems amazingly ignorant of a lot of current theatre -- the playwrights he discusses are all ones he apparently met at a conference. For a book such as this to ignore the techniques of writers like David Greenspan and Erik Ehn; to mention only two; is a tremendous shortcoming. Another problem is Castagnos strong desire to apparently create rules and guidelines for what is or isnt "new"; which leads him to miss the most interesting thing about contemporary theatre: the grey areas. Writers use whatever techniques meet their needs; and this has led "traditional" writers to try various innovative techniques and writers known as "experimental" to write plays which are more or less traditional. In his haste to label and box the works he discusses; Castagno frequently simplifies magnificently complex writings.At the moment; this is the only book which really looks at playwrighting from a perspective other than the tired and cliched tenets of what Mac Wellman calls "geezer theatre". I hope that more books for playwrights will explore innovative writing techniques with a bit more subtlety and nuance than this book achieves; but for the moment this is all there is. With any luck; some actual playwrights will soon decide to publish their own books. Perhaps the best thing to do right now is not to read this book; but rather to read the plays themselves.8 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Useful but SlantedBy Kevin L. NenstielOkay; lets clarify the title. "New Playwriting Strategies" does not mean "New Strategies for Playwriting." It means strategies for what author Paul C. Castagno calls "New Playwriting." What an awful name. Like "New Math;" "New Left;" and "New Jersey;" its a title that will quickly age and become its own worst parody. Unfortunately; the techniques described in this book risk following the same path.Castagno starts with an overview of the philosophy of the Russian Formalist critics; and goes into how the writings of the playwrights he profiles have supported this philosophy. Then he tells the reader to imitate this pattern. This is putting the cart before the horse--criticism follows literature; not vice versa. An author seeking to emulate a critics view of what literature should be is bound to create a ho-hum piece. The author also spends a lot of time on an armload of technical terms introduced early in the book. I fear for this kind of by-the-numbers writing; as it will inevitably produce a disspirited final product. And why must the same narrow handful of playwrights get the nod for use as examples? Len Jenkin and Mac Wellman in particular keep coming up often. Whats the deal with this near-religious fervor for such a small number of writers?On the other hand; the book is broken up with a few useful exercises; which shift the emphasis from the theories Castagno wants to propound; into the arena of practice. Most of the exercises wont produce anything that will actually be useful in your play; but theyll help you cultivate a creative mindset outside the commercial realism favored by too many.The strategies in this book arent actually new. Many were used by classical greats like Shakespeare and Sophocles; and they enjoyed a renewed popularity in the 20th century; due in part to the late writings of August Strindburg. However; theyre not widely used in America; and perhaps this book will give some of them the better airing they deserve.Youll have to work around Castagnos demeaning attitude to playwrights who dont use the techniques he espouses. His condescencion to realism; to integrated characters; and to linear narrative are almost self-parodizing. Many good playwrights pick and choose; sometimes going more realistic and sometimes less; and that includes many of the playwrights Castagno favors in this book.This is not the best possible book on the playwriting techniques described herein. However; its the only one out there right now. Most of the playwrights who use the style Castagno describes eschew writing books of theory; so it may be a while before a better book comes out. Until then; using this book with a clear head and careful hand will help break down the walls that may surround you as they surround most of us.9 of 11 people found the following review helpful. An important new approach to playwritingBy David A. CrespyFor those who are interested in exploring the technique of the language playwrights; Len Jenkin; Mac Wellman; Constance Congdon; Suzan Lori-Parks; and Eric Overmeyer; Paul Castagnos book offers a hands-on; informative approach that is useful to working playwrights and to dramaturgs who work with new forms of playwriting.Prof. Castagno bases his technique on important theoretical approaches (using the ideas of thinkers such as Mikhail Bahktin and Russion Formalists) that inform the work of these new playwrights. I am currently using this book in my graduate seminar in playwriting; and my students are using the language-based model that Castagno has developed to create some very interesting and exciting new plays.One of the more interesting aspects of the book is Castagnos expertise in the field of commedia; which he brilliantly ties into the post-modern formalist technique of writers like Len Jenkin; who subvert archetypal characters and stage figures in their plays.In a field that is dominated by cookie-cutter "how-to-write-your-play" texts; New Playwriting Strategies offers a refreshing; subversive; and exciting new approach to writing plays. For those who are interested in adding more dramaturgical tools to their dramatic technique; I highly recommend this text.