“Our priests and wise men are ruining the tales they tell us,” the people say, “those old stories we heard as children, so beautiful and profound. “No, now the priests and wise men insist that these are not Tales, but Fact. “That is how they ruin them.” [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“Actors All Speak at Once” / Memorable Fancies #19
16 July, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The actors all speak at once. Plays are shorter that way. The audience is pleased, because they never liked the plays this troupe produced, anyway. [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“The Playwrong” / Memorable Fancies #1558
13 June, 2016 by Leave a Comment
She claimed to be a serious playwrong, a dramatwist, an intermissionary and a hacktress too, though seldom scene; but she was just a drama queen. [Book ad: The year’s hottest new TV series is a reenactment of a famous murder trial ... but was there more involved than murder? A plot to take over the U.S. government? Read Try Try Again.] … [Read more...]
“Relic” / Memorable Fancies #1488
6 March, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It is said that whatever touches a holy relic becomes itself a relic, and holy: a saint’s robe, for instance. And then a hanger the robe was hung on. And the closet that held the hanger. The house that held the closet that held the hanger that held the robe that clothed the saint. The contagion spreads ... the world ... Everything but us? <END> Buy it at amazon.com/author/terencekuch: Four Christian Plays, available for church or other non-profit production without … [Read more...]
“Wouldn’t you…?” / Memorable Fancies #1290
13 August, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Hypothetical questions are a kind of verbal terrorism beloved of courtroom lawyers and politicians. Wouldn’t you say so? <END> Buy it at amazon.com/author/terencekuch: Four Christian Plays, available for church or other non-profit production without fee. … [Read more...]
“Aside” / Memorable Fancies #748
20 June, 2014 by 1 Comment
In the theater, the playgoers hear the players speak with each other, sometimes also listen to their thoughts as they speak them aside, pretending that the other actors do not hear. Back home, a couple who had enjoyed the play speak with each other. Each imagines speaking aside, addressing their own imaginary audience. Each imagines that the other is listening. <END> THE FRIDAY PITCH If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment … [Read more...]
“A Problem with Outdoor Matinees and 84-Word Sentences” / Memorable Fancies #470
25 September, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As any Athenian, I am partial to the theatre, especially to those final scenes where a god saves the day and resolves all those knotty plot problems. Any of the multitude of gods may appear, but for only one do we post a warning in advance of the show: Phoebus Apollo. If we were to look directly at him we would be blinded. At least, some people think so. That is why in our dramas the custom is to look away and hear only his voice. Ah, but this is surely just some old superstition from long … [Read more...]
“Prediction” / A Memorable Fancy #387
2 July, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Tronn returns home from seeing a play. He takes off his shoes and creeps up the stairs in his stocking feet. There is a voice: “How was the play?” Tronn answers, “There is a scene where the male lead takes off his shoes and creeps upstairs in his stocking feet. Then a voice calls out: ‘How was the play?’ The actor replies ‘dull and predictable.’” Tronn realizes that the play was dull and predictable, too. As is his life. <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends. … [Read more...]
“The Playgoer’s Dream” / A Memorable Fancy #059
12 March, 2013 by Leave a Comment
There is a prop or two on stage: perhaps a stool turned backward. Mist rises from under-stage machines. Experts have assured the theatre manager that no toxic chemicals are involved, or at least that none will, under normal circumstances, reach the audience. Nonetheless, physicians are in attendance. At last the house is full. The audience shifts uneasily in its seats. Coughs ring out from those who suppose, vainly, that by coughing at this permitted time no coughs will issue from them … [Read more...]
“The Actor Dreams – I” / A Memorable Fancy #055
5 March, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The actor dreams: The audience files in and finds their seats. The play begins. Every word the heroine says brings forth gasps of appreciation, wild applause. When I speak, there is coughing. <END> ... If quoting or reprinting, please credit www.terencekuch.com. See www.terencekuch.net for a profile of the author, publications, reviews, etc. His speculative fiction novels * may be purchased in paperback or Kindle formats via his Amazon author page, … [Read more...]
A Memorable Fancy #47b: Unseeing a Play
1 February, 2013 by Leave a Comment
They attend the famous theatre and see the play. It begins. It ends. Months later, they still cannot get the play out of their heads – like a song but longer, more intense. Each audience member feels – knows – that the play was about him, his flaws, the miserable cheat he’s been, the sins he thought no one knew.... Finally, they return to the theatre. They demand to unsee the play, to take their fear and pity back. They are permitted this indulgence. Then they look at each other, … [Read more...]
“The Audience Acts” / A Memorable Fancy #022
9 January, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The actors are very still. At first, the playgoers are patient. But then there are coughs, and wheezings and whisperings, shouts of disparagement, shifting and shuffling in the seats. The actors begin to move. They imitate the shuffling and shifting. They hear the whispering and shout the words. Someone in the audience gets up to leave. An actor exits right. <END> . NOW PUBLISHED from Ink Smith Publications, available on Amazon: Terence Kuch’s second novel, See/Saw - a sci-fi … [Read more...]
“Actors All Speak At Once” / A Memorable Fancy #019
3 January, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The actors all speak at once. Plays are shorter that way. The audience is pleased, because they never liked the plays this troupe produced, anyway. <END> ... Read Terence’s Kuch’s At All Adventure: An Alternative Gospel – for Kindle at Amazon.com. Review Copies Available. … [Read more...]
“Act II” / A Memorable Fancy #099
7 September, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The playwright knows: If there is an audience in Act I it must be used in Act II. The problem is that most of the audience has not stayed for Act II. … [Read more...]
Memorable Fancies 