Trick or Treat?

Planning on a trip to San Francisco?
Before you hit the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum, check out their holdings at their web site. You won't find much detail there (although you can get directions and check their hours), but you can get a general idea about what type of material they have (books, plays, videotapes, periodicals, and miles of files) in their Theater and Musical Theatre collections.

What the heck?
Ever come across a site and you just can't figure out what it's about, what they're pitching, what the heck is going on? Well, I had that woozy feeling the first time I visited the Peter Barnes site. A site with pages titled as helpfully as "toc" and "TextOpening," and links like "order the play click here" and "2. Red Noses Study Guide," — it's pretty easy to find yourself becoming dizzy and disoriented. But, what the hey, I figured, I'm here. So downing some Dramamine and strapping on a pair of SeaBands I set out to find out the what's what.

First of all, it helps to know (as I eventually uncovered) that Peter Barnes is a playwright/screenwriter, best known as the author of the films The Ruling Classand Enchanted April. He also teaches acting (and presumably writing). With a little digging you'll be able to unearth a list of his credits, a list of his writings, details about his credits and writings and acting classes and reviews and criticism, lectures and essays, and more details.

At every turn you'll be implored to "order the play click here."The site also offers a "Play of the Week" which is supposed to be a new play weekly, although it was the same for both of my visits (perhaps it had cycled back?). There's audio and video and images galore, but you can't tell how you got where and what it all means. Maybe I misunderstood and it was some kind of performance art site?

You'll constantly be confounded about what it is you're looking at, but you'll end up with an appreciation for a talented writer. And if you "order the play click here," I suppose you'll end up with a lot of plays by that writer. Created by Technofilm (who?).

Teatri di Vita
Oddly enough, at the other end of the clarity spectrum is a site for an avant garde theatre, the Teatri di Vita, founded by and housing The :riflessi Company (the name is from the title of a 1908 novel by "Futurist" Aldo Palazzeschi). Although this site is done bilingually in Italian and English, it is an example of simplicity and clarity (at least if placed next to the Peter Barnes site!), and you'll find extensive details

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