An appreciation of Lanford Wilson

Playwright Wilson died this week. Whether or not you're familiar with his work, this piece by Jack Viertel is fascinating. 'He loved the human voice, though, and would repeat phrases that people spoke to him as if he was turning them over in his mind for rhythm and cadence, then filed them away for future reference. And when his characters talked, it was immediately clear that his most remarkable capacity was for taking those kinds of collected phrases and turning them into the everyday poetry of the lost, the invisibly heroic, and the unheralded. He believed that everything – love, moral action spiritual redemption – existed at the margins of life as often as at the center.' More...