Happy Thanksgiving!

And check out my previous blog entries， especially designed to help students get an A the honest way:

If you look at the more recent writing credits of David Lindsay-Abaire， you would think the guy is just a standard feel-good Hollywood hack (and I mean that in the kindest regards -- I would love to be a feel-good Hollywood hack). Lindsay-Abaire has written screenplays for animated films such as Robots， and he also penned the book for the Broadway musical Shrek.

So remember when you are using any of the Plays/Drama study guides available at About.com， feel free add a sentence or two in your essay. And definitely feel free to add your own point of view.Heres a useful guide to incorporating quotes from dramatic literature， both modern and classic.

Although I have never been an enormous fan experimental theater， I value the unique live experience the avant-guarde offers.

The latest comedic monologue is delivered by a disgruntled elf. The following scene takes place in Santas workshop. Inspector Brumbly the Elf is delivering his routine orientation speech to several newly hired elf-recruits. Break out the eggnog and enjoy reading the complete monologue: Brumbly the Elf.

Of course， if you are looking for some one-on-one help with a dramatic literature essay， you can always post a question in our Plays / Drama Forum. Teachers and theater-lovers (myself included) are happy to share tips and advice.

The artists who consider themselves Avant-garde (French for vanguard or a forefront movement) have been reinventing new ways to connect with audiences. (Though sometimes they alienate more than they connect.) Love them or hate them， plays that are written for avant-garde or experimental theater can certainly stimulate conversation.

Or if you are in the mood for something very silly， check out Pat Cooks one-act comedy: The First Thanksgiving... According to Dwayne. When a teacher asks her sleepy， slacker student to retell the history of Thanksgiving， Dwayne finds himself standing in front of the class， unleashing a bunch of turkey-tainted tales. The story he tells winds up being a hilariously re-telling of the pilgrims.

Study guides to plays and literature come in handy when it is time for a student to write an essay. However， I always warn my pupils (and sometimes my readers) that an online synopsis is a poor replacement for the real thing. To write a great paper for your English Lit class， you really do need to read the play. (And there are so many great plays -- who wouldnt want to read them? Thus spake the Drama Geek.)

My daughter recently borrowed a theater book from her school library. The text is aptly titled Everything About Theatre! If you are a drama teacher lookPlays / Drama!drama playing for a book that covers all of the fundamentals of the stage， I recommend this little volume. Robert L. Lees book is very straight-forward， well-organized and offers just the right amount of visuals to keep younger readers attentive.There are thousands of books on the theater -- some excellent， some drivel. Theater books range from practical textbooks filled savvy， professional tips to biographies of actors， directors， and playwrights. Many of these books are designed to make you a better actor， singer， set-designer， and so forth.

Plays / Drama!drama play，In addition to the historical background of the puppet theater， the website also offers an informative four-minute video showcasing the artistry of the puppeteers. You also catch a glimpse of just how much young children enjoy this imaginative style of storytelling.

Poor little Holly Hock. Orphaned， she has inherited a gold mine with no gold and a hotel with no guests. Her aunt， Rose Bush， has taken both her and the failing business under her wing. When handsome Redmond Wood rides into town， the future suddenly looks promising for Rose and Holly， but the villainous Mayor William Z. Lucifer has other plans.

That said， once a student has read the material， reading a synopsis， review， and/or scholarly journals can enhance the students essay， so long as she properly quotes the outside sources. But speaking as a teacher， I have always enjoyed essays that challenged well-established interpretations. For example， in my summary of Act One， Scene One of A Streetcar Named Desire， I claim that the character of Stanley Kowalski is charismatic. But thats just my opinion. The question is: do you agree with a critics views? Or do you see the characters and the themes in a different way?

But look what he wrote in the mid-2000s: Rabbit Hole. Its a Pulitzer Prize winning drama about a wife and husband who struggle to with grief， eight months after the tragic death of their son. If that sounds like a downer， you are partly right. But the play infuses melancholy with hope， and the occasional sparkle of irreverence in just the right places.

Writing a study guide is not an easy task. One must combine summary， analysis， and historical context， all the while keeping the reader awake -- maybe even a little entertained. More to the point， there is an ethical dilemma facing the writer. Will the student read the plot summary instead of reading the actual play? Unfortunately， the answer might be yes. As much as I admire the literary analysis of websites like Sparknotes， I dont care for the way that lazy students flock to the site hoping for an easy way out.

Because emotions run high during Christmas time， the holiday season is often used as part of the setting for many melodramas. For example， check out the plot summary of Misdeeds at Mistletoe Mine from Pioneer Drama Service:

I still remember being shocked and mesmerized by the incredible performance of B. D. Wong， the actor who so convincingly played Song Liling， a male opera singer who disguises himself as a woman and (supposedly) entices a straight French diplomat into a long-term sexual relationship. The play was based upon actual events， but the play is staged more like a poetic memory-dream rather than a mirror of reality.

When I write a study guide， I do my best to create supplemental material that will enhance the students learning experience -- not allow the student to shirk his responsibility. Thats why I was pleased to discover that Shmoop.com has evolved into a wonderful learning resource. Unlike Sparknotes， their writing offers a fun style filled with humor and pop-culture reference to inspire the most embittered high-schooler. Perhaps best of all， their introduction and character analysis sections encourage students to actually read the original material. But if a student is stuck for an essay topic， Shmoop asks adrama play lot of great study questions to help generate that A quality essay. Check out their analysis of Tom Stoppards Arcadia and youll see how they make a complex literary work easy to understand.

Coming in January， the theater will be presenting a world premiere: A Secret History of the Swedish Cottage. This newly commissioned marionette show is a fantastical retelling of how the theater arrived in Central Park， combining history with a bit of magic -- and if its anything like their previous shows - a lot of interactive fun for the kids. Read the complete press release in the Plays / Drama forum.

Mrs. Claus Dumps Santa

What is a melodrama? It is an over-the-top play (often set in the old West or in rural North America) filled with exaggerated characters and situations. Typically， a melodrama plot involves a ridiculous villain with a dastardly scheme， a damsel in distress， and a virtuous hero. They great thing about performing in a melodrama is that you dont have to worry about delivering a Tony-award winning performance. The more you chew the scenery， the happier the audience will be.

I guess I have started a new holiday tradition. During the last two Christmas seasons， I have added new comedic holiday monologues to our growing collection of original scenes and sketches. Previous Christmas monologues have included:

Santas Reply

There are dozens of plays that take place during the Thanksgiving holiday. Perhaps not surprising， most of them are cynical， darkly-comic dramas about awkward family gatherings. Plays such as Home Front by James Duff or The House of Yes by Wendy MacLeod use Thanksgiving as occasion to bring together dysfunctional family members along with a whole lot of social commentary and politically charged symbolism.

There is a great little editorial in Atlantas Creative Loafing magazine. Drama critic Curt Holman laments the fading of avant-guarde theatre， arguably due to the economic downturn. During times of recession， theater managers are less likely to take risks on strange (and sometimes disturbing) experimental plays that thwart traditional forms of story-telling. Holman brings up a good point， When art is concerned， understanding can be overrated. If experimental theater becomes extinct， if playhouses stuck to musical theater and Neil Simon plays， would artists continue to break new ground? Or would theater as an art form become stale?

The Swedish Cottage is a quaint little puppet theater located in world famous Central Park. But it wasnt always nestled in NYCs forest hideaway. It was originally built for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia; the cottage was transported to New York the following year. According to the NYC Parks and Rec Website: In 1947 it became the headquarters of Parks Traveling Marionette Theatre， and in 1973 it was remodeled to include a permanent stage. Since then this small wooden lodge has hosted daily marionette shows that bring fairy tales alive for enchanted audiences.

But thats a bit too heavy for me -- at least this time of year. The holidays can get gloomy enough without the help of bleak existentialism. Instead， I prefer something happy. Maybe something like the stage version of Miracle on 34th Street， the Santa Claus courtroom drama that begins on Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas Day.

But do these books work? Do they provide useful instruction or diva-molding inspiration? Write a review of you favorite / least favorite theater books and share your opinions with the rest of the world.

David Henry Hwang has a knack for lyrical eloquence. In recent years， he has written not only plays but librettos and operas. Check out more of his work:

When I was 16 years old， I visited Broadway for the very first time. I took in as many musicals as possible (because I have always been a huge Phantom and Les Miserables drama geek) but I also took in one drama: M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. It turned out to be a great choice.

Cynthia Nixon (of Sex and the City fame) earned a Tony Award for her portrayal of Becca， the protagonist of the play. A film version， scripted by the playwright and starring Nicole Kidman， is due in theaters next week. As you can expect， the serious subject matter， the realistic performances， and the very down-to-earth dialogue have already generated Oscar buzz. It will be interesting to see if David Lindsay-Abaire continues to write family-fare or if he will return to his darkly dramatic roots. (Or perhaps he will continue to hop back and forth between the two genres.)

Classic melodrama at its corniest! Read more about melodramas and where to find melodrama plays for drama students.