The Writing Game

By: David Lodge

Narrated by: Ian Abercrombie, Michael Brandon, Christine Estabrook, Jeremy Geidt, David Hunt, Melanie Van Betten

Length: 1 hr and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a rickety, converted 17th-century farmhouse in Dorset, England, a group of authors teaches a creative writing seminar. One of them - a brash American novelist - finds he's got more to learn about writing and romance than he ever dreamed possible.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring Ian Abercrombie as Jeremy Dean, Michael Brandon as Leo Rapkin, Christine Estabrook as Maude Locket, Jeremy Geidt as Henry Locket, David Hunt as Simon St. Clair, and Melanie van Betten as Penny Seawell.

Original music by Raymond Guarna.

Directed by Michael Bloom and recorded before a live audience.

©2012 David Lodge (P)1994 L.A. Theatre Works

Comic version of the “ugly American”?

At the risk of sounding prudish or being accused of it, the obnoxiousness of the American writer, whose forte was spewing vulgarity and rudeness, was irritating and nearly took away from the play. However, the superior performances of the rest of the cast made up for the pompous American writer’s barns of criticisms. Somewhere within, there was some helpful advice on what writing is and a last minute attempt of the brash America to redeem himself (but never admitting it as such) with a a slightly human comment. Overall I say “bravo to the Brits”.

The great 1990s

Would you listen to The Writing Game again? Why?

Yes

Who was your favorite character and why?

Simon St Clair. Wait till you reach that part of the play when Simon describes his latest novel, Instead of a Novel. Having chosen this character, I would like to add that I adore the other two as well: Leo Rapkin and Maude Locket.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Charming

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed all the way through.

Any additional comments?

David Lodge forayed into playwriting only three times in his life and this is one of the best attempts. It's totally hilarious and helps us to see academia through the lens of tutors as well as successful writers. How funny the world of academia can be as one has to be chummy to one and all in order to survive. LA Theatre company has done a very good job with it.

A slight but enjoyable play

Not Lodge at his best, but still fun. His fans and other English majors will enjoy it.

Nowhere near as good as his novels

I don’t understand why Audible doesn’t offer any of David Lodge’s wonderful comic novels and instead includes this stagey, badly acted play with artificial sounding dialogue. Some of the accents, like Penny’s, are unlistenable. Where is ‘How Far Can You Go’ or ‘Small World’, both of which won literary awards?

very enjoyable

very amusing and enjoyable play, good characters, good delivery, great performances, apart from the person who plays Jenny Sewell. The accent was awful and very distracting. couldn't work out where she was meant to come from.

Gamey

If an attendee at a writing workshop had submitted this to David Lodge I wouldn't have blamed him if he dismissed it as cliched and unconvincing.

as a writer I found this great fun

witty, well acted, and true to what I know from writing and from other writers

Hilarious "English" accent!

I enjoyed the play. One of the English accents was hilarious - at first I thought she was playing lots of different characters however it was just one character but the accent roamed the whole UK.

Ok

Good play but one of the English accents was so bad it put me off a bit