Mike Mariano

I’m trying to give the red pen treatment to draft two of Philosopher Kings. But I find I’m completely rewriting the first five minutes. Perhaps this is more effective to write on the computer, not in the margins of a printed manuscript.

Whatever gets it finished, I suppose.

Our left-coast pals The Hunger Artists are preparing for their Tenth Anniversary production of Madame Guignol’s Macabre Theatre. But instead of new material, they are reviving past Guignol plays—based on your votes. One of the past plays in the running? My very own Muggled.

Think before you rush the ballot box. Are you even in California to see these plays? There are other considerations, too. Let’s take this pro/con:

Vote for Muggled!

1. A new Harry Potter novel comes out in July. And a new Harry Potter film will be released soon after Macabre Theatre. The timing couldn’t be better!
2. Apparently Americans torturing foreign nationals is still popular!

Don’t Vote for Muggled!

1. Muggled may have been appropriate for a Christian Hellhouse-themed Guignol, but does it really represent the Guignol as a whole? I don’t think so.
2. Muggled isn’t bloody enough! No one gets dismembered or cannibalized or anything! Harry gets whacked with his own broomstick; that’s not gore.
3. Muggled isn’t funny enough! Once you get past the schadenfreude, it’s kind of miserable.

Personally, if I was a Hunger Artists audience member, I would vote for blood. And nudity. Bloody nudity. What else is Halloween for?

A trip to the farmer’s market this morning has inspired the following added line for Menage a Sartre:

Cody And don’t eat any asparagus.

Think about it.