Donald Margulies - The Play That Changed My Life

00:04:17
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0EW60lEcuc

摘要

TLDRThe author recounts their personal journey with spiritual father figures in the theatre industry, beginning with childhood experiences and leading to significant moments in their career. Initially exposed to Broadway through a play by Herb Garder, the author reflects on early feelings of exhilaration and familial connections discovered in works like Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." As their career flourished, they found mentorship and surrogate fatherhood in Joe Pap, whose support was transformative. The narrative culminates in an understanding of the author's own father and reconciling with his silent presence. Through playwriting, the author found a path to connect with and comprehend their father's complex persona.

心得

  • 🎭 The author explores the theme of spiritual fathers in theatre.
  • 👦 First exposure to drama was through a Broadway play with their father.
  • 📚 Arthur Miller's work deeply resonated and reflected their family life.
  • 🎭 Joe Pap served as a surrogate father in the author's professional life.
  • 👪 The author gained insight into their own father through playwriting.
  • ✨ Playwriting provided a medium to understand unspoken family dynamics.
  • 🎉 An off-Broadway debut marked a significant milestone for the author.
  • 🙂 Theatre experiences brought joy and clarity to familial relationships.
  • 🗝 Understanding one's heritage and personal fears through storytelling.
  • 👥 Mentorship plays a critical role in personal and professional growth.

时间轴

  • 00:00:00 - 00:04:17

    The speaker reflects on a piece he wrote 17 years ago for the New York Times arts section, centered around spiritual fathers, coinciding with Father's Day. He recounts childhood memories of cultural experiences with his family, particularly attending Broadway shows instead of synagogue, which left a significant impact on him. The first non-musical play he saw, Herb Gardner's 'A Thousand Clowns,' introduced him to complex father-son dynamics, a recurring theme in his life and plays. This exposure continued with Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman,' which resonated deeply with him, drawing parallels to his own family dynamics and fears about his father. Later in life, his involvement in the New York theater scene introduced him to Joe Papp, a surrogate father figure to many in the theater community, who appreciated his work and supported his career. Reflecting on his father's struggle with silent retreat due to his own lack of a father figure, the speaker found playwriting as a tool to understand him better.

思维导图

Mind Map

常见问题

  • What inspired the author to write this piece?

    The author was asked to write for the New York Times arts and Leisure section, coinciding with Father's Day, leading them to write about spiritual fathers.

  • What was the author's first exposure to drama?

    The author's first exposure to drama was seeing "A Thousand Clowns" by Herb Garder on Broadway when he was around nine years old.

  • Who are some of the spiritual fathers mentioned by the author?

    Herb Garder, Arthur Miller, and Joe Pap are mentioned as spiritual fathers.

  • What play by Arthur Miller had a significant impact on the author?

    "Death of a Salesman" had a significant impact on the author, making them relate it to their own family.

  • Who was Joe Pap and what role did he play in the author's life?

    Joe Pap was a surrogate father to a generation of theatre people, including the author, who felt supported and validated by him.

  • How does the author describe their father's influence on them?

    The author reflects on their father's lonely abdication and silence, realizing later that playwriting helped them understand their father's thoughts.

  • What was significant about the author's off-Broadway debut?

    The off-Broadway debut of "Found a Peanut" was significant due to Joe Pap's influence and the author's father witnessing it.

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  • 00:00:00
    the piece that I I've rather hastily
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    edited that I'm going to read to you uh
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    I wrote about I think it was about 17
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    years
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    ago uh when I was asked to write a piece
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    for the New York Times arts and Leisure
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    section and it it uh the deadline
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    coincided with Father's Day and the
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    theme became a a Father's Day theme so I
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    wrote about spiritual fathers okay so
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    that's where this comes from um sometime
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    in the early 60s when I was around nine
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    years old my parents told me and my
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    older brother that we would be spending
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    my father's one week summer vacation
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    seeing Broadway
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    shows we were cultural
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    Jews we didn't go to synagogue we went
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    to
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    Broadway herb Garder A Thousand Clowns
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    was the first non-musical play I ever
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    saw and I remember how the muscles in my
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    face hurt from grinning and pleasure for
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    two hours for a boy like me whose father
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    worked all the time it must have been
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    invigorating to see you play about a man
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    who preferred being home to toiling at a
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    to toiling at a demoralizing job in
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    retrospect it seems fitting that my
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    first exposure to drama was a play about
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    a complex Father Figure and his
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    surrogate son for the theme of Fathers
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    and Sons has long figured in my uh in my
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    plays in in my
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    life uh herb Gardner may have been my
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    earliest spiritual father but Arthur
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    Miller came into my life not long after
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    I was 11 years old when I read Death of
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    a Salesman and I remember the guilt and
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    shame I felt for recognizing in the
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    loman's truths about my own family that
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    my mother shared Linda's chauvinism and
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    most frightening of all that my father
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    then barely 40 might turn out to be a
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    Willie
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    himself but the play's uncanny
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    reflection of my life at worst fears
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    also exhilarated me and made me feel
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    less alone I studied it with great
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    Fascination as if it were a key to
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    understanding what was happening to the
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    people I loved years later in the Lan
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    family picnic I took that notion and
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    made a play out of
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    it my entry into the real world of New
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    York theater in the early 80s eventually
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    brought me into contact with the man who
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    was the surrogate father to an entire
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    generation of theater people Joe
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    Pap when Joe loved you he loved you
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    extravagantly when he loved you less you
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    could feel the drop in
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    temperature at the peak of his affection
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    I'd run at him in the lobby of the
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    public theater and he'd ask how's my
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    Jewish
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    playright and I'd stand there in kibbit
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    with Joe Pap and have the exciting
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    feeling that there in Joe's nurturing
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    hands under his approving eye at the age
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    of 29 I had somehow
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    arrived my father lived to see Found a
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    Peanut my off Bradway debut at the
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    public in 1984 the opening and I party
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    was pure Joe Pap a bar mitzvah boy's
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    dream come true complete with brisket
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    potato pancakes hot dogs egg creams and
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    and Loud rock and
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    roll I brought my father across the
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    crowded room to introduce him to Joe
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    there was something Exquisite in the
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    meeting of these two men my father the
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    workingclass lover of theater meeting
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    the self-made empresario you got a quite
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    quite a son there Joe said as he shook
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    my father's hand my father said thanks
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    to
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    you what do you mean thanks to me Joe
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    Pap yelled at my father thanks to you
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    that's exactly how he
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    said
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    uh not until I was an adult uh did I
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    understand that in his lonely abdication
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    my father sought Refuge from his demons
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    from the fear that not having had a
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    relationship with his own father he
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    wouldn't know how to be a father himself
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    rather than try and fail he simply
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    retreated into silence years after I
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    became a playwright I realized that
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    playwriting the craft of dramatizing the
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    unspoken provided me with the tools I
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    needed to get inside my father's head
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    and finally figure out what he what it
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    was he was thinking thanks thank
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    [Applause]
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    [Music]
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    you
标签
  • Father's Day
  • spiritual fathers
  • Broadway
  • Herb Garder
  • Arthur Miller
  • Joe Pap
  • theatre
  • family
  • playwriting
  • self-discovery