When you mail a letter, you can send it anywhere...

I don't remember this play (or this letter). Mom found it in her archived email. I'm sure the letter was for a class assignment, but I like to think that I was a pretentious teenager who constantly wrote to playwrights telling them how they could improve their plays. And I still agree with my 16-year-old self. Poe is creepy.


85 Farragut Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45218

October 20, 1999

Professor George Branigan, Ed.D.
c/o Chamber Theatre Productions, Inc.
2 Park Plaza
Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Dear Dr. Branigan:

I had the opportunity to attend a production of “Encore” on October 18, 1999 and found it very enjoyable. It has inspired me to pursue writing my own stories. I especially liked the different types of writing, from comedy to horror.

The stories were told almost word for word. This was very helpful because I could watch stories I wouldn’t necessarily read. For example, I’ve never read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” but I might now because the play piqued my interest.

Having a plethora of stories, each by different authors, helped me in deciding on future books to read. I will be inclined to read more by Mark Twain because I like his style. I don’t think I will ever enjoy Edgar Allen Poe’s creepy style.

I think you could improve the show by gearing it toward a different age group. I am in high school, and I felt some of the acting was for younger children. It would be great if you had two versions, one for younger children and one for older children.

I think the range of the types of stories could be broadened. There were five short stories and three of them were horror. I don’t know if it was because it was around Halloween or if you just like those stories. However, different styles could be used. For instance, you could have one comedy, on historical fiction, one mythical story, one science fiction story and one horror story. You could even have two horror stories since so many people seem to enjoy that style, but not one right after the other.

As I mentioned previously, I really enjoyed this production and hope you will consider my suggestions. I look forward to being able to attend some of your other productions.

Sincerely,


Beth ------