Again and Again and Again

I love editing things. Looking at material and finding the holes, the plot flaws, the character inconsistencies, everything that is just - but not quite - there. I love making pages bleed... but I don't really like to make my own stuff bleed. I know there are scads of problems in my writing. Such and such character would never say something like that, or this plot point ruins the play, or "Wow Claire... grammar much?" So I really respect Peter Shaffer for going back and looking at his play. For one thing, it shows me how invested he is in the play. For another I think it really explains a lot about why the play is SO good. All this time and emotional energy is channeled through to a good play that has been so well thought of it can't be left alone. I like that. In high school I used to do a lot of revisions between competition. My district monologue was rarely what I presented at nationals (in fact... I don't think it ever was the same) and those I competed with who didn't change and revise and adapt never did well the second time around. There is always something to change. While my getting a medal or a special award at a high school history competition does not even come close to the awards and genius of Amadeus I feel that I (and again to a very very lesser extent) understand where Shaffer is coming from in thinking that, sure the thing did very well, but it can - slash MUST - improve. There is always something that can be better and sometimes you just have to fix it. If you put in all your efforts into researching and analyzing and writing your characters you become fixated with them. If I really invest myself into a play I tend to develop slightly split-personality disorders where I actually become my characters for awhile... not very healthy but very good for revising. Which actually makes me wonder just how far Shaffer went into the mind set of Salieri and Mozart. I mean... did he have Mozart days and then Salieri days where he just sat around thinking like them? Because I feel like, if he did, that would explain a lot about the play.

Going back to the idea of revision itself, I think that sometimes too much revision can be a bit of a bad thing. I respect and admire Shaffer's belief that the ending is just never quite right. This makes sense because such a monumental play HAS to have the perfect ending. But there is no such thing as perfection. So then what? Shaffer's answer seems to be writing and rewriting the ending... but I think he ended up straying from a good ending. Salieri putting on the mask himself is absolutely brilliant and I was really sad to see it go. Sure, it isn't historically accurate, but this is one case where I say, "Screw history." (and I very rarely say something like that). The scene where Mozart dictates the Confutatis to Salieri is one of my all time favourite scenes (despite the horror I experienced with that particular scene during Music Theory my freshman year) and it not being in the play almost broke my heart. Yes, yes, Shaffer was trying to make the play more dynamic and theatrical for the screen to really pop... but does theatre really have to shy away from that? I know that theatre can get away with a lot more then the screen can (and vice versa really) but I really love that scene and I really love the ending. I feel like there is more malice and depth there. That said, I love reading Shaffer's thought process as to why and how he reached his fifth and sixth versions. He knows these characters SO well. He can think with them, breath with them, and thus creates the ending he feels they would create for themselves. How he is able to actually do that... by which I mean more along the lines of how he can bring himself to change his ending knowing how wonderful it is, yet still needing it to be more... well it is simply astounding.

I guess the main points of all this gushing is that
A) Shaffer is the embodiment of those who walk the line between genius and insanity
B) Revision is very good, very hard, and can be taken too far... but that is ok-ish
C) Loving what you are working on is a blessing and a curse.
D) Did I mention how much I love this play?
E) The play is good, revision makes it amazing