The following is an excerpt from a roundtable discussion held October 14, 2015 at the Dramatists Guild. It has been edited with the participation of the panelists.
Joey Stocks: Do you begin specifically wanting to write a verse play? If not, how does verse find its way into the play?
David Hirson: I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and said, “I’m going to write a verse play” or “I’m going to write a prose play.” Plays are very insistent about the form in which they will allow themselves to be written, and the language that’s appropriate to them.
I was certainly aware, from an early age, of verse plays as a category. And, given the allure of their specific challenges, not to mention their scarcity in the modern age, the prospect of writing one had its appeal.
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