Are plays literature?

[Anonymous No.13322881]

Or are they only worth seeing acted? Pic related is my favorite playwright.

[Anonymous No.13323023]

This used to be a slow board

[Anonymous No.13323897]

>>13323023
it's summer now

[Anonymous No.13323980]

>>13322881

I like Shepard too. True West and Buried Child are fantastic. Plays are definitely literature, I would almost rather just read them and not see them performed because when I get a picture in my head of how I think it should look the real thing often disappoints me

[Anonymous No.13324874]

Shakepeare was a playwright. Do you consider him literature? Most scholars of western lit do

[Anonymous No.13324875]

>>13324874
Tennessee Williams is often considered part of the canon, also. Plays are /lit/. I mean, is /tv/ going to discuss them? Of course they aren't.

[Anonymous No.13325334]

>>13322881
I had no idea he was a writer and no idea he wasn’t hack a la Tom Hanks and other “crossover” artists. Just ordered “seven plays”. Good lookin dude too, how can one man be so based?

[Anonymous No.13325339]

Is Homer literature? Those were meant for performance too.

[Anonymous No.13325357]

Is there a difference between plays and novels? I understand that plays are intended to be acted out but it’s still the product of the authors imagination as unless he intends to act it out himself he can’t fathom anyone else’s contribution. The story and dialogue is still in his head and thus it seems a play is simply a more restricted form of a novel. I guess the big question is, is a play a complete work unless it is acted out, or is the production the actual product (or just an adaptation?) it would seem the play is more it’s own work versus a screenplay for instance, which is much more a prerequisite for the finished piece of art, although it’s obviously a matter of degrees.

[Anonymous No.13325371]

>>13322881
I think plays are almost always better read, unless they're bad plays that are only good for a laugh. It takes talented actors, set designers, costume designers and directors to do justice to a great script. Corny homos don't have the taste or talent.

[Anonymous No.13325372]

Are comics literature?

[Anonymous No.13325589]

>>13325372
No

[Anonymous No.13325602]

>>13325589
what about manga?

[Anonymous No.13326040]

>>13325602
Yes

[Anonymous No.13326218]

yes

[Anonymous No.13326228]

>>13326040
tight!

[Anonymous No.13326356]

>>13322881
The script is literature while the play itself is the work of actors and directors. A great script doesn't make a great play by itself.
However since all plays are temporary things the script is all we have to judge them beyond thier time. This means that regardless of all other elements that contribute to the complete work, it's the script that will determine the legacy of the play.

[Anonymous No.13326568]

>>13325357
The play is the performance, the script is the script. The script is an important part of the play, but only part. The performed play is a collaborative artform between the playwright, director, actors, costume designers, etc. It's never a 'finished' thing like a novel or a poem is.
Compare it to jazz, where the original songwriter is important, but so are the musicians, and the live improvised performance, even the audience plays their part.

[Anonymous No.13327008]

>>13326568
But the script is finished. So there’s no inherent difference between a finished script that may or may not be produced and a novel that may or may not be adapted.

[Anonymous No.13328480]

>>13327008
>But the script is finished
No, the script will be constantly changed and adapted as rehearsals and performances continue. To continue the Jazz metaphor, pic related is right there like Cole Porter wrote it. Doesn't mean Night and Day is finished, it's a different song every time it's played

[Anonymous No.13328501]

>>13325589
>>13326040
Lone wolf and Cub is the greatest thing to come from Japan.

[Anonymous No.13328505]

The stupidity of the questions posted on this board baffles me.

Just kidding, it's a legitimate question. Yes they are literature, but you need to know how to read plays, which requires a lot of going to see them. After all the play that you see is, most of the times, the version a director conceived while reading the play himself, it's an extension of his imagination, which implies that a thorough and full imagination of a play can occur during a reading.

[Anonymous No.13328527]

>>13328505
Direction doesn't always work like that. It can be the opposite, where a director has a world he wants to bring to life, and finds a script to slot into that vision, the same way he'd find costumes

[Anonymous No.13328539]

>>13328480
>the script will constantly be adapted

So can a novel, but the author is imagining a singular portrayal that can never be realized as it exists only in his imagination. Therefore, the play/script is a finished piece of literature separate from the production and without further input from the author. As a work of art can only have one auter, there play is simply a work of literature that lends itself to adaption and with the production a completely different work of art in the form of the adaptation. You’re right about the jazz metaphor but it’s the same concept- two works of art- the performance and the original piece- exist separately. The music does not have to be played to be realized likewise the play does not have to be produced for the authors vision to be complete.