2017 in Books

Before I put the past year (and this blog) to bed, time to do one more year-in-reading round-up.

As usual, this is split into two lists, one for plays/screenplays and one for everything else. I count plays only if they are published and available for general consumption. Works that were rereads for me this year are marked with an asterisk. Works that I read for my book club are marked with a dagger.

Non-Plays:

1.  † The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton
2.  Lunch Poems, by Frank O'Hara
3.  * The Fountain Overflows, by Rebecca West -- some thoughts in this post from 2010
4.  Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation, by Judith Mackrell
5.  † Autobiography of Red, by Anne Carson
6.  Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot, illustrated by Edward Gorey -- my thoughts
7.  † The Bell, by Iris Murdoch -- my thoughts
8.  Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
9.  * Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
10.  The Painted Gun, by Bradley Spinelli
11.  † Chéri, by Colette
12.  † The Last of Chéri, by Colette
13.  The Dwindling Party, by Edward Gorey -- my thoughts
14.  * Complete Short Fiction, by Oscar Wilde
15.  The Suitors, by Cécile David-Weill -- my thoughts
16.  † Selected Stories, by Lu Xun
17.  * A Time of Gifts, by Patrick Leigh Fermor -- my thoughts
18.  Between the Woods and the Water, by Patrick Leigh Fermor -- my thoughts
19.  Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere, by Jan Morris
20.  * Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays, by David Ball
21.  † How to be both, by Ali Smith
22.  The Broken Road, by Patrick Leigh Fermor
23.  * The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman -- in 2007 I wrote about what this book means to me
24.  † Howards End, by E.M. Forster
25.  * The Subtle Knife, by Philip Pullman
26.  Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure, by Artemis Cooper
27.  † On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
28.  * The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman
29.  † * Love in a Cold Climate, by Nancy Mitford
30.  * The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford
31.  * Emma, by Jane Austen -- here's something funny I wrote inspired by rereading Emma while on the bus
32.  Record Collecting for Girls, by Courtney E. Smith -- my thoughts
33.  The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman
34.  † Barry Lyndon, by William Makepeace Thackeray
35.  * Act One, by Moss Hart -- when I read this in 2014, I wrote a little something about it for the SF Theater Pub blog
36.  Young Romantics: The Tangled Lives of English Poetry's Greatest Generation, by Daisy Hay
37.  † The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz
38.  * The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
39.  * A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
40.  * A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
41.  * Lyra's Oxford, by Philip Pullman
42.  The Power of Style, by Annette Tapert and Diana Edkins 

These books, by the numbers:

• 26 British, 9 American, 3 French, 2 Canadian, 1 Irish, 1 Chinese
• 22 books by 16 different men, 20 books by 17 different women
• 26 new reads, 16 rereads
• 20 adult fiction, 11 nonfiction, 7 kids' fiction, 2 adult poetry, 2 kids' poetry
• This is a 25% increase over last year in volume of books read -- I'm proud that joining a book club has seemingly made me read more, and introduced me to some terrific books that I might not have read otherwise. (especially The Bell, On Beauty, and The Man Who Was Thursday.)

Plays/Screenplays:

1.  Honor Bright, by Lue Morgan Douthit -- my thoughts
2.  Speech & Debate, by Stephen Karam -- my thoughts
3.  Reckless, by Craig Lucas -- my thoughts
4.  Small Tragedy, by Craig Lucas -- my thoughts
5.  In the Red & Brown Water, by Tarell Alvin McCraney
6.  The Brothers Size, by Tarell Alvin McCraney 
7.  Marcus, or The Secret of Sweet, by Tarell Alvin McCraney -- my thoughts on McCraney's trilogy
8.  * Macbeth, by William Shakespeare -- my thoughts
9.  The Trip to Bountiful, by Horton Foote -- my thoughts
10.  Vietgone, by Qui Nguyen
11.  The Lion in Winter, by James Goldman -- my thoughts
12.  Les combustibles, by Amélie Nothomb -- my thoughts
13.  * Lady Windermere’s Fan, by Oscar Wilde
14.  * Salomé, by Oscar Wilde
15.  A Woman of No Importance, by Oscar Wilde
16.  * An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde 
17.  A Florentine Tragedy, by Oscar Wilde
18.  * The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde -- my thoughts on the Penguin edition of Wilde's plays
19.  * Assemblywomen, by Aristophanes
20.  * Cariboo Magi, by Lucia Frangione -- my thoughts
21.  His Dark Materials, adapted by Nicholas Wright -- my thoughts
22.  Kiss, by Guillermo Calderón
23.  Ironbound, by Martyna Majok -- my thoughts
24.  Rhinoceros, by Eugene Ionesco
25.  The Leader, by Eugene Ionesco 
26.  The Future is in Eggs, by Eugene Ionesco -- my thoughts on these 3 Ionesco plays
27.  * Arms and the Man, by George Bernard Shaw
28.  * Candida, by George Bernard Shaw
29.  The Man of Destiny, by George Bernard Shaw
30.  You Never Can Tell, by George Bernard Shaw 
31.  Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Emma Thompson (book also included her production diaries)

These plays and screenplays, by the numbers:

• 11 American, 10 Irish, 3 British, 3 French-Romanian, 1 Belgian, 1 Greek, 1 Canadian, 1 Chilean
• 26 plays by 13 different men, 5 plays by 5 different women
• 22 new reads, 9 rereads
• This is a 50% increase over last year in volume of plays read, and, while the male:female ratio is still pretty terrible, at least it's 5:1 instead of 19:1! 

Previous Years in Reading lists: 2016, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007

Theatergoing 2017

In 2017, I saw 39 fully staged theater productions; here they are all in chronological order:

1. Six Eleven, by E. Hunter Spreen, produced by San Francisco University High School 
2. Belleville, by Amy Herzog, at Custom Made 
3. Fun Home, by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, at the Curran (my review)
4. Sunday in the Park with George, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, on Broadway 
5. Sleep No More, by Punchdrunk, at the McKittrick Hotel 
6. Where All Good Rabbits Go, by Karina Cochran, at Faultline 
7. Isaac’s Eye, by Lucas Hnath, at Custom Made 
8. Eclipsed, by Danai Gurira, at the Curran 
9. Kilgallen/Jones, by Allison Page, at the EXIT 
10. Putas Asesinas, adapted by Carlos Barrera from Roberto Bolaño, at Third Cloud from the Left
11. Pint-Sized Plays (March 2017 edition), by various authors, at PianoFight 
12. The House of Yes, by Wendy MacLeod, at Custom Made 
13. The Baltimore Waltz, by Paula Vogel, at Magic Theatre (my review)
14. You’ll Not Feel the Drowning, by Marissa Skudlarek, at Custom Made 
15. John, by Annie Baker, at ACT 
16. Breeders, by Dan Giles, at Faultline 
17. Spell Eternity, by Alandra Hileman, at Quantum Dragon Theater 
18. Twins, by Stuart Bousel, at PianoFight 
19. The Events, by David Grieg, at Shotgun Players 
20. Grandeur, by Han Ong, at Magic Theatre (my review)
21. ShortLived 2017 (Round 1), by various authors, at PianoFight 
22. Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, on tour 
23. Mother Night, adapted by Brian Katz from Kurt Vonnegut, at Custom Made 
24. A Life on the Ocean Wave, by Carson Beker et al, at the EXIT 
25. Shortlived 2017 (Finals), at PianoFight 
26. MacBitch, adapted by Oren Stevens from Shakespeare, at the Breadbox 
27. The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence, by Madeleine George, at Shotgun 
28. A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Part 1, by Taylor Mac, at the Curran
29. Myth Mouth, by Dandy Darkly, at the Fringe 
30. Clickshare, by Lucas Kavner, at ACT’s MFA program 
31. How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel, at Custom Made 
32. Hamlet, by Shakespeare, at ACT 
33. The Mineola Twins, by Paula Vogel, at Cutting Ball 
34. Junk, by Ayad Akhtar, at Lincoln Center Theater 
35. The Lion in Winter, by James Goldman, at Custom Made 
36. Bag of Dickens, by various authors, at Killing My Lobster 
37. Ageless, by Bridgette Dutta Portman, at Quantum Dragon Theater 
38. Small Mouth Sounds, by Bess Wohl, at ACT 
39. The Secret Garden, by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, at 42nd Street Moon (my review)

This is slightly fewer shows than I saw in 2016, but the exciting news is that I saw slightly more plays by women than by men! (The grand total is 17 plays by female writers or all-female teams, 16 by male writers or all-male teams, and 6 mixed-gender collaborations or anthologies. Okay, if my own play hadn't had a workshop in April, it would have been a 16-16 male-female tie.) While this did take some conscious effort on my part, it was by no means difficult to achieve this ratio. Without even intending to, I started 2017 with a streak of 3 plays (plus 1 staged reading) by women; I finished the year with another streak of 3 plays by women, too.

My advice to anyone who wants to undertake this experiment is that it's not only about seeking out plays by women that you may have overlooked; it's about not going to see plays by men if you think they sound mediocre or boring. Having started the year with an all-female streak, I decided that when I broke the streak, it'd have to be for something really special. The penultimate Broadway preview of Sunday in the Park with George starring Jake Gyllenhaal definitely qualified -- especially because I got the tickets after taking a red-eye flight to New York and getting in line for rush seats at 7 AM! But I might not have broken the streak for a less exciting show.

I also saw a baker's dozen of staged readings (5 by solo women, 2 by solo men, 1 by a nonbinary playwright, 5 anthologies):

1. Las Pajaritas, by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, at Custom Made New Works 
2. The Mourner, by Bridgette Dutta Portman, at Custom Made New Works 
3. Siesta Key, by Jonathan Spector, at Custom Made New Works
4. Erinyes/Eumenides, by Rebecca Longworth, at Custom Made New Works 
5. River Protectors/Desert Dwellers, by various authors, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival
6. The Sorrows, by Carson Beker, at Custom Made New Works 
7. Abzu by Megan Cohen and Tiamat by Stuart Bousel, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival
8. Ishtar in Syria, by Barry Eitel, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival
9. Shamash / Enlil / Hadad / Nanna-Sin, by various authors, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival
10. Attendants of Grove and Field, by various authors, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival 
11. Queens of Temple and Hall, by various authors, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival 
12. You’ll Not Feel the Drowning, by Marissa Skudlarek, at Custom Made's NYC reading series
13. Token, by Lisa Marie Rollins, at Crowded Fire’s Matchbox series 

And five broadcasts or streams of theater productions that took place elsewhere:

1. The Encounter, by Simon McBurney, produced by Theatre de Complicité
2. Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, by Tony Kushner, National Theatre 
3. Angels in America: Perestroika, by Tony Kushner, National Theatre 
4. Present Laughter by Noel Coward, Broadway 
5. Indecent, by Paula Vogel, Broadway 

(one of the best things about 2017 for me is that it was a Quadruple Vogel Year, what with 3 very good productions of her work here in SF and the broadcast of Indecent)

Finally, I also saw 2 live operas, 1 streamed opera, 1 live ballet, and 1 "immersive live art event". Appropriately enough, this includes the first opera I've ever seen by a female composer:

1. Laughing and Crying, by Repulsive Women, at Z Space
2. La Circe, by Pietro Andrea Ziani, at Ars Minerva
3. Manon, by Massenet, at San Francisco Opera
4. The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky, at Cardinal Ballet
5. Cinderella, by Alma Deutscher, at San Jose Opera (streamed)

Previous year-end theatergoing reports: 2016, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010

I wear black on the outside 'cause I'm in mourning for my life

Okay, am I seriously the first person on the Internet to propose that the Smiths' "Unloveable" is inspired by Chekhov's The Seagull?

Consider: the song does not have a lot of lyrics, yet two, possibly three, of its phrases echo memorable lines in The Seagull.

"I don't have much in my life, but take it, it's yours" = "If you ever need my life, come and take it" (Nina's message for Trigorin)

"I wear black on the outside 'cause black is how I feel on the inside" = "Why do you always wear black? / I'm in mourning for my life." (first lines, Medvedenko & Masha)

"And if I seem a little strange, well, that's because I am" (possibly) = "I really liked your play, Konstantin Gavrilovich. Oh, it's a little strange, and I didn't hear the end, but even so it made a deep impression on me." (Dr. Dorn to Konstantin. This one is more of a stretch than the other two, but credit to my friend Alan C. for suggesting it!)

And it is well-known that Morrissey quotes from plays in some of his other songs -- I don't envy anyone who gets cast in A Taste of Honey these days, now that so many of its lines are more familiar as Smiths lyrics.

C'mon. I googled "the smiths unloveable seagull" and nothing like this post came up, but I can't be the only sensitive soul who appreciates both 1890s Russian drama and 1980s jangle pop and is equipped to notice this lyrical connection...

42nd Street Moon makes a “Garden” grow

"I Heard Someone Crying": Katie Maupin as Mary, Sharon Rietkirk as Lily,
Brian Watson as Archibald. Photo by Ben Krantz Studios.

42nd Street Moon has made a shrewd choice in selecting The Secret Garden, Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved novel, as its holiday show. Like A Christmas Carol, it offers English charm, a story of redemption and rebirth, cute kids, and even a few ghosts—but isn’t so familiar to San Francisco audiences. Furthermore, The Secret Garden was the first Tony-winning musical to have an all-female writing team, but it often gets overlooked in conversations about women’s contributions to Broadway history. In a season when we’re all hearing a lot about the structural forces that make it hard for female artists to succeed, how nice of 42nd Street Moon to revive Norman and Simon’s work – under the guidance of a female director, music director, and choreographer to boot.

This version of The Secret Garden emphasizes the Gothic aspects of the source material – I never before realized how much Burnett lifted from the Brontë sisters. Mary Lennox, a British child raised in India, comes to Yorkshire to live with Archibald Craven, her uncle-by-marriage, after her parents die of cholera. But Archibald is haunted by the death of his wife Lily, and can hardly relate to Mary—or, worse, to his own son Colin. (In a kid-friendly version of Jane Eyre’s “madwoman in the attic” plotline, Colin is an invalid whose existence is kept secret from Mary until she stumbles upon his sickroom.) The first musical number that stands out is a trio for Mary, Archibald, and ghost-Lily, awake in the middle of the night in this mansion on the lonely moor.

Norman and Simon also emphasize Mary’s time in India, which can register as the kind of well-meaning early ‘90s “multiculturalism” that nowadays seems a little naïve. When Mary sings an incantation in an Indian language and does gestures from Indian classical dance, I found myself hoping that everyone involved in the production had done their research and was handling things with sensitivity. The Indian characters do seem to be played by actors of South Asian heritage (Michael Mohammed and Anjali Blacker), though it grates somewhat how much time they spend moving furniture and how little time the show actually focuses on them.

Lily is a tricky role: a beautiful, endlessly loving ghost who sings in a soprano as high and pure as the wind on the moors. Sharon Rietkirk—unamplified, like all the performers—is everything the part requires, but I was a little surprised to find this figure of Victorian “angel in the garden” purity in a female-authored musical.

Scott Hayes as Ben and Katie Maupin as Mary. Photo by Ben Krantz Studios.

Fortunately, not all the female characters are so one-dimensional. As played by 12-year-old Katie Maupin, with a clear voice and impressively thick pigtail braids, Mary is an entirely believable little girl. The wild tantrum she throws to avoid being sent away to school garnered spontaneous audience applause. But Maupin, and the writers, also capture Mary’s softer side, the way she gradually blossoms like one of the flowers in her garden. (As you might imagine, this show is big on horticultural metaphors.)

At first, the casting and costuming of the brothers Archibald and Neville Craven seems a bit odd: Archibald, the older brother, is played by a younger-looking actor, and although the script makes a big deal about Archibald’s hunchback, it is barely noticeable. But all doubts are removed when Brian Watson (as Archibald) and Edward Hightower (as Neville) begin to sing the famous duet “Lily’s Eyes”: Watson’s tenor and Hightower’s baritone blend beautifully.

I was less impressed with Keith Pinto as Dickon, who helps lead Mary to the secret garden and teaches her how to coax the plants back to life. His Yorkshire accent often sounds more like Southern American, and, especially in his first solo “Winter’s on the Wing,” his singing style is too contemporary and “pop” for Simon’s classically-influenced score.

Not so Heather Orth, who plays Dickon’s sister, Martha. Her Yorkshire accent is precise, she handles the charm song “A Fine White Horse” and the stirring ballad “Hold On” with ease, and, more than anyone else onstage, remembers that great acting is reacting.

The holidays are a time for connecting with family, for practicing kindness and generosity, for honoring the past while looking forward to the new year. The Secret Garden, with its fable-like story of a beautiful garden that redeems three lonely people, suits this mood and this time of year perfectly. It asks, what will you work to make blossom in your life come spring?

The Secret Garden, presented by 42nd Street Moon, runs through December 24 at the Gateway Theater in San Francisco. More info here.