So I wrote this play last year. A modest short one acter and
entered it into a competition, where it came runner up. It had a title, of
course it did. A boring, simple title – or rather I thought it was boring and
simple. But when I sent to a group for a possible rehearsed reading In London,
I rather reluctantly kept that title. That was until they offered a rehearsed
reading. Then I started to get second thoughts. I played around with titles. So that when I sent the play to another
company for judging, I changed the title. Whilst that was happening, the
company who had done the rehearsed reading wanted to do it as a double bill in
London. So that’s when I changed the title yet again.
Are you keeping up with me? –So that now the play has its
original title – somewhere in the annals of something (or rather as the runner
up of the original competition). It has another title for the double bill run
in London – and now surprise, surprise the company with the third title make it
a winner of yet another competition and want to perform it in August. They were
offered the other titles but went with their title, the one that I used for the
competition. So now I am completely
confused.
What I ‘m trying to explain is that the play, a simple short
one act comedy, is now masquerading under three different titles.
Well, Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights used to give
some of their plays two titles – Twelfth Night, or What You Will; Volpone, or The Fox etc. So there is a
precedence. But three titles?? That is a bit excessive.
I have this strange idea that a company approaches me to do
all three “Plays” in a triple bill. Boy, are they in for a surprise.
So after this summer I need to settle on one good title –
and if there’s anyone out there with a suggestion, then these are the three
titles it currently masquerades under.
THE DINNER PARTY – that was the original. It has a kind of
Pinter ring to it (The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter – sort of thing).
Then there was the imaginative leap of poor French but a
witty pun –or so I thought MANGER A TROIS.
Ok, so what’s the third? THE GUEST WHO’S COMING TO DINNER.
That’s from a film which starred Spencer Tracy, Kathleen Hepburn and a young
Sydney Poitier. But who remembers that? – So the pun may not work. The original
title of the film - GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?
So that’s it. Never have been very good at titles; but have
found the simple ones are probably the safest. So back to THE DINNER PARTY –
Or is there out there in the creative ether a fourth title -
something which finally and irrevocably pins the whole thing down??
