Reviews for Candy and Shelley Go to the Desert

The average rating for Candy and Shelley Go to the Desert based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-11-27 00:00:00 Alvaro Alexis I used to have a rule when I argued with my political friends. It was simple enough: the first person to make a comparison to the Nazis generally or Hitler specifically lost the argument. I refer to it as a "rule". I had no clout to enforce it. But you get the idea. People are so quick to make those comparisons and they are almost always ridiculous. In "A Bright Room Called Day" Tony Kushner juxtaposes a group of friends living in Germany as the Weimar Republic falls with a Long Ilsander in the 80s who doesn't care for Ronald Reagan. Yet this title is far more subtle than Reagan = Hitler. I don't agree with most of Kushner's politics but this is a wonderful drama about the despair of individuals in the face of an unstoppable zeitgeist. There's magical realism, warm humor and a cameo by the Devil himself. It's an interesting read and I suspect it would make an engaging evening if you're lucky enough to live in a city where it receives one of its rare productions. And because it's Kushner the theatricality is mesmerizing. Carac

Review # 2 was written on 2020-06-12 00:00:00 Bib Lou I am a huge fan of Kushner's Angels in America, and I'm a gigantic nerd when it comes to the politics and culture of Weimar Era and World War II Era Germany. I can't get enough of it. The abrupt and bizarre shift from decadent liberalism to genocidal fascism, I find it all extremely fascinating. So needless to say when I picked up A Bright Room Called Day and read the back I was immediately interested to read it, something that brought Kushner and Hirschfeld's Berlin together. I find A Bright Room to be an extremely complicated play, even more so than Angels. Angels packs in so much politics into a world of extremely human characters (and angels, and ghosts, and drag queens) and it all works seamlessly. A Bright Room, on the other hand, feels much more metaphorical. The characters, the room, their discussions, their beliefs. They're human, but more abstract than those of Angels. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but I feel like it's difficult as a play. I can think of it as a play that can only be read, but at the same time I would love to see it performed (performed well, of course). I have to say, though, Kushner has to be commended for his presenting an argument about fascism in contemporary society. Reading it, I felt like you could simply replace "Reagan" with "Bush" or "Harper" and it would still feel so true, and so completely sincere. The character of Zillah, the didactic, soapbox preaching (possibly lesbian?) Jewish woman (who, Kushner assures the reader, is not the author) was amazingly written. Another favorite, well written scene was when the devil first arrives in Berlin. I simply adore when Kushner delves into the mystical. Those moments are always my favorites.