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Writers: Retire These Clichés (Version: LADYPARTS)
I know, I know: I write about overused tropes often. (Who said irony is dead?) Maybe one day I’ll compile them all into a self-published e-screed entitled “Melissa Reads Too Many Plays,” but for now,...
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The Problem with the Shakespeare “Translation” Controversy
There has been some fiery controversy around Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s announcement that they’re commissioning “translations” of all 39 Shakespeare plays into “modern English.” It was the rollout...
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White People: Shut Up About Beyoncé
After the release of her game-changing, brilliant video, Formation, and the stir her Superbowl halftime show caused with dancers dressed like Black Panthers, Beyoncé is blowing up everyone’s feeds...
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My Book Is Out!
This image is shamelessly heisted from the TCG website. Link below. And by “my book is out,” I mean Caridad Svich‘s book is out. The ever-brilliant (srsly) Svich has released a collection of essays for...
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Sex, Lies, and Hillary Clinton
In the mid-60s, Jan Kott wrote a truly horrible book called Shakespeare, Our Contemporary, in which he analyzes Shakespeare’s plays according to his specific point of view as a white European male who...
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The Bechdel Test and White Feminism
I keep running across white women saying things like, “I’m never seeing any film or play that doesn’t pass the Bechdel test ever again!” This statement epitomizes the problem with white feminism....
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The “Playwright’s Intent” and the Dangers of the “Purist”
It’s always exasperating to see people scolding directors for “desecrating” a canonical play or a canonical playwright’s “intent” because they cast actors of color, cast a disabled actor, or removed...
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Stop Telling Me to Watch Stranger Things
This post is full of spoilers, so be forewarned. . I know I’m late to this party, but the ongoing cult status of the Netflix Original series Stranger Things (written and directed by brothers Matt and...
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Worldbuilding: Your Secret Weapon
Art by Asia Ellington! I only own this dress in my dreams. I’m giving a workshop in worldbuilding for playwrights! Come play with me! Worldbuilding isn’t something we talk about often in playwriting...
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Ten Ableist Tropes to Jettison in 2021
People with disabilities make up a significant percentage of the population– by some measures, a full quarter– and yet, despite aggressive, ongoing ableism, we are almost always left out of...
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