Mike Mariano

Are you happy now, Dean? Members Only is now on the site.

This play was known as Fraternity when I wrote it in 2002. I revised it this past summer and changed the title. It’s about penises. Enjoy!

On Sunday night, Dean, Robyn, and I watched the tepid MacBeth makeover Scotland, PA. I found it jaw-droppingly awful. As far as revisionist Shakespeare films go, I enjoyed it less than even Julie Taymor’s Rocky Horror Titus Show.

But it came back to my mind again today during a quick lunch meeting certain McCarter staff members attended with Steven Dietz, author of our upcoming Fiction. He mentioned that after a short stint writing for television (and all the big, dumb action it entails), he was so happy to start a play and just let his characters talk again. Steven Dietz loves dialogue.

My first thought was how different that is from what I’ve been playing with recently; my most recent play on the site barely gives the onstage characters any lines at all. My second thought was how much closer I am to Scotland, PA than I am to Steven Dietz. No one in that film opens their mouth to speak any iambic pentameter; when possible, it seems like the characters try to avoid speaking altogether. This is one of the biggest drawbacks to the film. The creators removed everything from MacBeth but the most bare-boned plot summary and replaced it with seventies fringe and not much else. Dead-end Pennsylvania dialogue may help make the American “Scotland” as dreary as the fair/foul/foul/fair land in the play, but it also kills any supernatural terror or mystery we get from the witches and ghosts. Scotland doth murder suspense.

I’m still drawn to minimal, unsophisticated stage dialogue, but even when my plays consist of nothing but banal “guy-talk,” such as the previously mentioned “Fraternity”, I try to put something in all parts of my work so it doesn’t collapse like the film. Playwrights from William S. to S. Dietz have created solid structures from dialogue alone. I want to use every part of the buffalo.

During my last semester at TCNJ, I wrote a few short plays for our Writer’s Workshop class. So far, none of them are here on the site. However, you may see them soon. Here are their descriptions:

• How to be an Audience — Well that’s what it’s about. It’s basically a gag reel about what you’re expected to do sitting in the theatre. Is it a bit too preachy? That’s why it’s still on the bench.
• Fraternity — Guys talk about, and to, their penises. With that highbrow description, it’s actually the piece closest to seeing this site. The biggest problem I have is that it’s either too long or too trite.
• The Sneeze — This is a more dramatic work, about movie star Reid Collins, dubbing, and either Harvey Keitel or Edward James Olmos, but not both of them. I like the story underneath this story, but I don’t know if it makes its frame worthwhile.
• More Urban Myth — Yes, it’s a sequel to Prometheus’s eternal struggle. This time, the Eagle and the Minotaur learn not to flash their lights at cars without headlights. This play starts out strong, but I’m not sure I like where it ends up.

The biggest reservation I have about any of these is that they might be a little pointless. They all need at least a little bit of work and a whole lot of innovation. We’ll see how it goes….