Writing Existentialism

[Genkai]

This conversation is from a play... It's mostly one person, but I think there's a break The context is that they're discussing on of Andrea's stories. This scene pretty much expresses my views of existentialism. Some may recognize many of the ideas as being in Waking Life..... I just threw in the responsibility thing to narrow in on because that was in Waking Life, too.

[CENTER]
ANDREA
Hey, what do you mean by "faux existential"?

RACHEL
Well, I could see you going for what is widely considered existentialism.

ANDREA
So it's not existential?

RACHEL
Right. See, I can't take existentialism as just another French fashion, or historical curiosity. I think that when you read that stuff, it's giving an important message, important for this new era of life. It feels like we're losing what it is to live life passionately, the virtues in the sense of taking responsibility for who you are, and the ability to make something of yourself. It, existentialism, that is, is often talked about like it's an idea of sadness, but I think it's not, I think it's just the opposite. Sartre once said he'd never had actually felt a day of despair in his life. When you read these guys, though, you don't feel sad, you feel excited, you have this active sense of exuberance.

ANDREA
Well, in this story I'm talking about this idea of responsibility, because it's just out there, like when I say ?

RACHEL
(interrupts)
When Sartre talks about responsibility, he's not talking about something abstract. He's not talking about the sort of self or soul that the theologians would rant and rave about. It's something really solid, like, it's very concrete. It's just like, you and me, talking, making decisions, taking action and accepting the consequences. It might be true that there are 6 billion plus people in the world, but whatever an individual does, it makes a difference. What existentialism's message is, well, one of them, at least, is that we should never simply think of ourselves as a victim of a bunch of different forces, like leaves blowin' around in the wind, without any free will. It's our decision who we are. Always, you know?

ANDREA
Okay... (looks off into space, going over what RACHEL just said in her mind.)

RACHEL
Sorry, man, I just sorta ranted there. I went to a lecture on this stuff about a week ago and I couldn't help myself.[/CENTER]

Just thought about sharing it, since there are many different ideas about existentialism. Once I get my play back with comments and such, I'll put up the whole revised version and such.

[Lady Asphyxia]

[font=Verdana][size=1]Wow. Um, very heavy, especially in a play. [/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=1]I also found that I had to actually look up existentialism [the meaning of which I've put down the bottom of the page, in case anyone else would like to know it], because I didn't know what it was. If you want to have this on stage, perhaps you could add a bit to explain it to some extent. The veiwers wouldn't have a dictionary, and it's possible some of the audience wouldn't know what it meant.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=1]I don't mind the piece, really, but the big chunks of monologue mean that it would be hard to use it in a two person assesment, because the work load is uneven. [/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=1]It's very hard to read through it all, I suppose. I think perhaps if, instead of having Rachel 'teaching' and Andrea 'learning', you had them both contributing their ideas -- if it fits the characters -- so that the long parapgraphs were broken up a bit, it would be a lot easier to read.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=1]That being said, it isn't a bad piece. It has some good ideas in it. But with the amount that Rachel says, it does get very heavy. So...I don't know. I think this is a great piece idea wise. [/size][/font]



[b][font=Verdana][size=1]existentialism[/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=1][i]n [/i]: a 20th-century philosophical movement; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves[/size] [/font]

[Genkai]

Yeah, in re-reading and revision, I've been thinking of modifying Andrea's character. She's intelligent enough that she shouldn't have to learn so much, but should be able to contribute.

I should've posted the whole play, so people could get a better idea of context, but it's really in it's beginning stages.