What I Read/Saw in 2010

I've been doing this for a few years, it seems. Here' s list of the plays and books I read this year (along with plays/theatrical events I attended).

2010

Books Read:

1.       Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (novel)

2.       A Director Prepares by Anne Bogart (non-fiction)

3.       Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (novel)

4.       Unincorporated Persons of the Late Honda Dynasty by Tony Hoagland (poetry)

5.       The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (non-fiction)

6.       The Play That Changed My Life ed. Ben Hodges (non-fiction)

7.       Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner (non-fiction)

8.       Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (novel)

9.       Cruel Shoes by Steve Martin (short stories and poetry)

10.   If You Lived Here You’d Already Be Home by John Jodzio (short stories)

11.   Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (novel)

12.   The Song is You by Arthur Phillips (novel)

13.   The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender (short stories)

14.   Summer Blonde by Adrian Tomine (graphic stories)

15.   The Magicians by Lev Grossman (novel)

16.   Training of the American Actor ed. Arthur Bartow (non-fiction)

17.   Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (novel)

18.   The Art of Recklessness by Dean Young (non-fiction, poetry criticism)

19.   The Best American Non Required Reading 2010 edited by Dave Eggers (mix of non-fiction, fiction, lists, comics, etc – skipped a few stories, may come back later)
20. Skippy Dies by Paul Morris (I'm not quite finished, but I'm 450 pages in. It's about 630 pages long, so it's definitely a 2010 book rather than 2011. I make these official rules up).

Plays Read:

1.       Death and the Ploughman by Johannes von Saaz (re-read)

2.       John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen (re-read)

3.       White Lies by Peter Schaffer

4.       Black Comedy by Peter Schaffer

5.       Parfumerie by Miklos Lazlos

6.       Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin (re-read)

7.       An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

8.       Blasted by Sarah Kane

9.       Marisol by Jose Rivera

10.   The Violet Hour by Richard Greenberg

11.   The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice

12.   Two Gentlemen of Verona by Shakespeare

13.   King John by Shakespeare

14.   The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

15.   The Crowd You’re In With by Rebecca Gilman

16.   The Retreat From Moscow by William Nicholson

17.   As Bees in Honey Drown by Douglas Carter Beane

18.   The Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher

19.   Moonchildren by Michael Weller

20.   Love’s Labour’s Lost by Shakespeare

21.   The Odyssey by William Randall Beard

(I totally failed my "Shakespeare in a Year" challenge. I may revive it this year. Who knows. I'd like to be more well-read in more contemporary "canon" though. So we'll see....I don't feel too guilty about this.)

Plays Attended:

1.       Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage (Torch)

2.       Rock ‘n Roll by Tom Stoppard at the Park Square Theatre

3.       Hughie by Eugene O’Neil at the Goodman Theatre

4.       Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett at the Goodman Theatre

5.       Macbeth at the Guthrie

6.       Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl with the Prospero Theatre Company

7.       Brief Encounter Kneehigh Theatre Company at the Guthrie

8.       The Comedy of Errors at the Great River Shakespeare Festival

9.       Enchanted April by Matthew Barber at the Commonweal Theatre Company

10.   The Sweet Stuff with Chased by an Elephant Theatre Co. (world premier)

11.   A Streetcar Named Desire at the Guthrie

12.   Titus Andronicus at the Great River Shakespeare Festival

13.   Blue Collar Diaries at the Commonweal, presented by Michelle Myers Berg

14.   The Scotsboro Boys at the Guthrie

15.   Mother at the Commonweal, presented by Bente Borsum

16.   The Passion of the Hausfrau, presented by Bess Welden

17.   The Turn of the Screw at the Commonweal Theatre Company

18.   Is He Dead? at the St. Croix Festival Theatre

19.   Tartuffe at Concordia University, St. Paul

20.   La Bete on Broadway

21.   Brief Encounter on Broadway (some of the cast was different)

22.   A Little Night Music on Broadway

23.   Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera (not really “theatre” per se, but still goes on the list in my book)

24.   Little Women at the Commonweal

Here's my list from last year. I didn't read nearly as much, but I saw a lot more theatre (lots of different kinds). I suppose that's what happens when the Theatre/English degree isn't nipping me in the bud.