The Farnsworth Invention

Despite having been a fan of Sorkin since watching The American President and later The West Wing, I'd somehow not managed to encounter his 2007 stage play The Farnsworth Invention until recently. Originally meant to be a feature film directed by his West Wing creative partner Thomas Schlamme, it instead made its way to the Broadway stage. Reading it just as the script on the page, how does it hold up?The script is the story of the clash over one of the twentieth century's defining inventions: television. Specifically, its creation and the battle in court between the two leads: the inventor, the titular Mr. Farsnworth, and the media mogul, David Sarnoff, who wanted to control and exploit it. In a way, it's hard not to look at the play as almost a prototype for Sorkin's Oscar-winning screenplay for The Social Network just a few years later. Both are tales of technologies that changed the world, the stories behind which are framed by lawsuits and unreliable narrators.More than that, it seems tailored to the author. The dialogue is brimming with wit and intelligence, something which makes hearing or reading it just on the page. The script too has his non-stop pace, clicking along through both acts with only enough of a pause for an intermission. In that regard, it's quintessential Sorkin.And yet, those are precisely the problems with it as a stage play. Sorkin's delightful dialogue obscures the characters into cut-outs, a large cast playing dozens of roles who don't so much inhabit them as delivering his lines. The pacing gives it the feel not of a work of theatre but of what it began its life as - a screenplay. It's full of short scenes which often, both on their own and in the sum, don't feel as though they amount to much as subplots arise and fall with little or no payoff. To his credit, Sorkin has owned up to the fact that story is his Achilles Heel and, ultimately, The Farnsworth Invention is no exception to that.On the whole, however, if you're a Sorkin fan, then this is well worth checking out. In many ways, it is everything one would like from one of his scripts with its dialogue and pacing, even if they are also contributing factors in its shortcomings. Plus, let's be honest, even anything less than successful by Sorkin is better than nothing.

As with other Aaron Sorkin dramas, the Farmsworth Invention is a wall-to-wall action packed dialogue of witty, quick repartee. It's fast-paced and ever so forward moving. The drama is constructed well where you are rooting for Farnsworth to break through and find success over his competitors.This is a quintessential Sorkin that fans will enjoy just as much as his other acclaimed works of writing.

I had seen this show during its brief run on Broadway, and it was great. It's a good read, as all of Sorkin's scripts are.

There were a few mis-steps (despite the opening monologue, comic books did not exist in the 1920's) and Sorkin seems very bitter about the atmosphere of the television industry. But the history that is told within this play, the characters and that amazing dialogue of his makes this an excellent read and I am sure an amazing show to see.

I bought this because I saw the play in New York a few years ago. As with all other Sorkin creations, the play was great. I collect everything I can find of Mr. Sorkin's but I was not able to find anything on the play until now. The product was in perfect shape and arrived quickly. I am very happy to have the dialogue of this work.

Great story about a great man. It's a must read for any scientist or anyone who loves TV.

just received today...thank you.

Read the play, then read what actually happened with this because it will spoil it for you to know the inaccuracies first.

brilliant, pure sorkin 'music is what mathematics does on a saturday night'. ah! a great play about the man you maybe have never heard of who invented television

I took it from the postman's hand, unwrapped it and sat down to read (there's so little Sorkin, you have to consume new examples immediately). It's astonishing. Pure, slick, smart, emotional and it restores your faith in modern writing excellence. The fact that it's in script form makes it harder to access at first, but then you get the tempo and understand the lovely complexity of Sorkin's work.