Related to

closet drama A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...

, a closet screenplay is a

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, ...

intended not to be produced/performed but instead to be read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. While any published, or simply read, screenplay might reasonably be considered a "closet screenplay," 20th- and 21st-century Japanese and Western writers have created a handful of film scripts expressly intended to be read rather than produced/performed. This class of

prose fiction Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

written in screenplay form is perhaps the most precise example of the closet screenplay. This genre is sometimes referred to using a romanized

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

: "Lesescenario (レーゼシナリオ)" or, following Hepburn romanization, Hepburn’s romanization of Japanese, sometimes “Rezeshinario.” A

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

Critical interest

Brian Norman, an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and gene ...

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations in Meridian, Idah ...

, refers to

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; ...

's ''

One Day When I Was Lost 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

'' as a "closet

." The screenplay was written for a project to produce a movie, but the project suffered a setback. After that, the script was published as a

literary work Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

. Lee Jamieson's article "The Lost Prophet of Cinema: The Film Theory of

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

" discusses Artaud's three Lesescenarios (listed below) in the context of his "revolutionary film theory." And in ''French Film Theory and Criticism: 1907–1939'', Richard Abel lists the following critical treatments of several of the Surrealist "published scenario texts" (36) listed in the example section below: * J. H. Matthews, ''Surrealism and Film'' (U of Michigan P, 1971), 51–76. * Steven Kovács, ''From Enchantment to Rage: The Story of Surrealist Cinema'' (Associated UP, 1980), 59–61, 157–76. * Linda Williams, ''Figures of Desire: A Theory and Analysis of Surrealist Film'' (U of Illinois P, 1981), 25–33. * Richard Abel, "Exploring the Discursive Field of the Surrealist Film Scenario Text," ''Dada/Surrealism'' 15 (1986): 58–71. Finally, in his article "Production's 'dubious advantage': Lesescenarios, closet drama, and the (screen)writer's riposte," Quimby Melton outlines the history of the Lesescenario form, situates the genre in a historical literary context by drawing parallels between it and Western "

," and argues we might consider certain instances of closet drama proto-screenplays. The article also argues that writing these sorts of "readerly" performance texts is essentially an act of subversion whereby (screen)writers work in a performance mode only to intentionally bypass production and, thereby, (re)assert narrative representation's textual primacy and (re)claim a direct (re)connection with their audience. The comments section of Melton's article also has an ongoing discussion of the Lesescenario cano

The list of examples below is based on "Production's 'dubious advantage,'" that discussion, and Melton's "Lesecenario Bibliography" at Google Docs. The bibliography contains additional critical works concerned with individual Lesescenarios and/or the canon at large.

Examples

''Alphabetical by author last name. For a full list, please se
Melton's aforementioned Google Docs bibliography
''

A

*'' The House (closet screenplay), The House'', ''

Man's Fate ''Man's Fate'' (French: ''La Condition humaine'', "The Human Condition") is a 1933 novel written by André Malraux about the failed communist insurrection in Shanghai in 1927, and the existential quandaries facing a diverse group of people associa ...

,'' '' Dedication Day'' (by

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time Magazine'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. ...

) *''

Asakusa Park is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History Th ...

'', '' The Life of a Stupid Man'', ''

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette ...

'', and ''

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

'' (by

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa , art name , was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He committed suicide at the age ...

) *''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

'' (by Haruhiko Arai, based on

Kyojin Onishi was a Japanese novelist and critic. He was born in 1916 in Fukuoka Prefecture and dropped out of Kyushu University. He was a Marxist throughout his life. Works * Divine Comedy (novel) See also * Shoichi Watanabe – He and Onishi argued about ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

of the same name) *''France America, or the Interrupted Film'' (by Robert Aron) *'' Eighteen Seconds, a screenplay'', ''

The Seashell and the Clergyman ''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' (french: La Coquille et le clergyman) is a 1928 French experimental film directed by Germaine Dulac, from an original scenario by Antonin Artaud. It premiered in Paris on 9 February 1928. Synopsis The film fo ...

'', '' Thirty Two'', '' The Solar Plane'', '' Two Nations on the Borders of Mongolia'', '' The Master of Ballantrae'' (after the

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

novel of the same name), '' Flights'', and '' The Butcher's Revolt'' (by

) *''Lost Children'' (by

Marcel Aymé Marcel Aymé (29 March 1902 – 14 October 1967) was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote screenplays and works for children. Biography Marcel André Aymé was born in Joigny, in the Burgundy region of France, the youngest of six ...

)

B

*''The Reader from Ames'' (by André Berge) *''The Initiation (A Story of Adventure)'' (by

François Berge François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King o ...

) *''The Second Departure'' (by Maurice Betz) *''Le Dernier Empereur'' (by Jean-Richard Bloch) *''Beautiful Weddings in the Street: A New Scenario on a Banal Theme'' (by Jacques Bonjean) *'' One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' (by

) *"Une Girafe" (by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

) *''

Mozart and the Wolf Gang ''Mozart and the Wolf Gang'' is a 1991 novel by Anthony Burgess about the life and world of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Published in the U.K. under this title, in the U.S. it was published as ''On Mozart: A Paean for Wolfgang, Being a Celestial Col ...

'' (by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire '' A Clockwork ...

) *'' The Last Words of Dutch Schultz'' (by

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

)

C

*'' Secrets on the Island'' and '' Arletty, Young Woman from Dauphine'' (by

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( , ) was a French novelist, polemicist and physician. His first novel '' Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the '' P ...

) *''The End of the World, Filmed by the Angel of Notre Dame'' and ''Atlantis'' (by

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European mo ...

) *''A Broken Foot: A Documentary'' (by Hendrik Cramer)

D

*"The Reefs of Love," ''Midnight at Noon: A Study of Marvelous Modernity,'' and "There Are Bugs in the Roast Pork" (by

Robert Desnos Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day. Biography Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' H ...

) *''Pierre, or The Demon Unmasked'' (by André Desson and

André Harlaire André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French language, French-s ...

) *''Savoir Vivre'' (by Jean-Paul Dreyfus and Bernar Lahy-Hollebecque)

F

*"Eyes Wide Open" ("Paupières mûres"), "Horizontal Bar," and "Mtasipoj" (by Benjamin Fondane)

G

*''News'' (by Paul Gilson) *''Figures'' (by Ramon Gomez de la Serna) *''Descent to the Lower Depths'' (by

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

)

H

*''For Rent''　( Sakutaro Hagiwara) *''Slaughterhouses of the Night'' (by Maurice Henry) *'' The Girl in Harmagedon'' (by Kazumasa Hirai) * '' Ape and Essence'' (part II: "The Script") (by

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

)

J

*'' Negrophobia'' (by Darius James ka Dr. Snakeskin

K

*'' Lom Long'' (by

Chart Korbjitti Chart Korbjitti ( th, ชาติ กอบจิตติ; ; born 25 June 1954) is a Thai writer. He first came to prominence with the publication of his novel ''Khamphiphaksa'' (''The Judgment'') in 1981. Named as Book of the Year by Thailan ...

) *''

The True Story of Ah Q ''The True Story of Ah Q'' is an episodic novella written by Lu Xun, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first short story collection ''Call to Arms'' (吶喊, Nàhǎn) in 192 ...

'' (by Fuyuhiko Kitagawa, based on

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

)

L

*'' The Escape of Mr. McKinley'' (by Leonid Leonov)

M

*Trial of the warlock (by

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

,based on " La-bas" by

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel '' À rebou ...

)

N

*"L'Amazon des cimetières" (by Georges Neveux)

O

*''The Revolutionary Woman'' ( Kenzaburo Oe)information about a book of Oe's essays titled "The Last Novel" including the work in Kodansha book club
/ref> *'' The Birth of the Emperor/Record of Ancient Matters'' (by

Hideo Osabe Hideo (ひでお) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hideo Den (田英夫, 1923–2009), Japanese politician and news presenter * Hideo Fujimoto (藤本英雄, 1918–1997), Japanese baseball player * ...

)

R

*''Donogoo-Tonka, or The Miracles of Science'' (by

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play ''Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cycle ...

) *"La Huitème Jour de la semaine" and ''The Banker, or Fortune is Blind'' (by

Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes (June 19, 1884 – July 9, 1974) was a French writer and artist associated with the Dada movement. He was born in Montpellier and died in Saint-Jeannet. In addition to numerous early paintings, Ribemont-Dessaignes wr ...

)

S

*''The Evening Murder'' (by Haruo Sato) "A Thought on Junichiro Tanizaki's Whispering Moon - from aspects of writing/reading a film -" by Mioko Sato
（

Doshisha , mottoeng = Truth shall make you free , tagline = , established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920 , vision = , type = Private , affiliation = , calendar = , endowment = €1 ...

National Literature Vol.83 ） *''Don't Put a Dog Outside: A Film without Words'' (by

Claude Sernet Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

)

T

*''Whispering Moon,'' (by

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work ranges from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle port ...

)　 *''The Unconquerable People,'' ''The Doctor and the Devils,'' ''Rebecca's Daughters,'' ''The Beach of Falesá,'' ''Twenty Years A-Growing,'' ''Suffer Little Children,'' ''The Shadowless Man,'' and ''Me and My Bike'' (by

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Unde ...

)

W

*'' Reality Is What You Can Get Away With'' and '' The Walls Came Tumbling Down'' (by

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilso ...

)

References

External links

* Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, ''Asakusa Park'' (Trans. Seiji M. Lippit. nycBigCityLit.com, February 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20080820223841/http://www.nycbigcitylit.com/feb2004/contents/longerdraughts.html 0 May 2009. * Antonin Artaud, ''Les Dix-huits seconds'' (Google Books, n.d. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdhR9dmPah0C&lpg=PP1&dq=antonin%20artaud%20selected&pg=PA113#v=onepage&q&f=false January 2011. * Louis-Ferdinand Céline, ''Secrets dans l'îsle'' (Trans. Mark Spitzer. Cipher Journal, n.d. http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/celine.html 0 May 2009. * Seiji M. Lippit, “The Disintegrating Machinery of the Modern: Akutagawa Ryunosuke's Late Writings” (''Journal of Asian Studies

58:1 ebruary 1999 27-50). * {{cite news, first=David, last=Peace, title=Last words, work=

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

, date=2007-09-08, url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/sep/08/featuresreviews.guardianreview13, access-date=2009-05-10 * Hiroo Yamagata ( esescenarioTranslator, ''Negrophobia'' and ''The Last Words of Dutch Schultz''), Interview (SCRIPTjr.nl 1.2.

une 2010 Une is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located at an altitude of at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Chipaque in the no ...

http://scriptjr.nl/issues/1.2/hiroo-yamagata-interview-1-2.php

1 January 2011 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

.
Lom Long as a Lese-scenario
A professor of

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution. History The Uni ...

,Seiji Udo’s paper on

's Lesescenario Literary genres Screenplays Film Drama eo:Legdramo#legscenaro