Lots of folks are talking about the fact that the shooter at Virgina Tech was a writer, and that he wrote really bizarre, violent plays. (Which you can read here.) This conversation is worth following.
As a writer, I regularly explore areas in my psyche that I would never actually want to manifest. I may write about a killer, for instance. That doesn't mean I want to murder. For those who believe art is cathartic, writing about such things could be a sign of health.
Well, the wingnuts will have someone else to blame besides immigrants and atheists for the VT massacre... playwrights.Dan Trujillo's Woody Allen parallel is especially astute.
After several e-mails this morning, (along with an inquiry from a co-worker who knows I am a playwright,) asking me if I had read "the plays," it didn't take me long to realize they weren't concerned with the recent Pulitzer Prize contenders.Honestly, I don't know if I've ever written anything as violent as Seung-Hui's plays, but I've certainly read worse. I directed short student pieces in the basement of our theatre building in college, and at least one-in-ten of the plays that passed through my hands were akin to Seung-Hui's stuff. I know Sean from The Working Group has been teaching playwrighting during his time out there in Iowa. I've heard about a lot of sex and partying in those plays. I wonder if the violence quotient has been anywhere near as high.
And, on a note that could open-up another corner of discussion, the weirdest plays I ever read were by Zowie Bowie. Twisted like Seung-Hui's, but with real intelligence, too, and therefore far more disturbing, in and of themselves.
I'll update with more links as they become apparent.
