THINGS WE WANT, PLUS A NOTE ABOUT SKINNY AND FATTY

I went to see Jonathan Marc Sherman's play Things We Want partly because of Scoboco's write-up, and I think I wound up with a similar general impression, though it differs in the details. I liked most of the acting, but I also found the play to have more of an "emotional core"—something conveyed not only by the spoken words but by non-verbal actions, including some interactions involving the set and the costuming. This was of special interest to me because of how close it was to things I've been working on in my own playwriting. (Oh, I hope I don't jinx myself here!) Maybe it has something to do with Sherman and me sharing the same middle name...and our having first names that are linked in a Biblical sense. Even the layout of the set was close enough to something I've been envisioning that I could use it to imagine how my set might or might not work out. Oh yeah—the use of music and pop culture references was also right up my alley. Funny how those things happen—I've noticed other "connections" in other things for weeks and weeks, too.

I've read a couple of complaints that the play seems like a playwright's internal monologue conducted by different characters, but I don't see how that's necessarily a problem.

One of the pop culture references in the play is an allusion to a Japanese movie called Fatty and Skinny. I'm sure Sherman means Skinny and Fatty, which was a big favorite of mine when I was but a lad. The short movie about a boyhood friendship used to show up on The CBS Children's Film Festival, hosted by Kukla, Fran and Ollie. It's remembered fondly here, and possibly available on video here. It's kind of amazing that it's not more available, considering that it rates a whopping 9.2 at IMDB. Anyway, that's Fatty and his family on the right.

My sister liked it too, but she really went for Hand in Hand, by Philip Leacock. Girls!