Reviews for Plays and Playwrights 2008

The average rating for Plays and Playwrights 2008 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-02-01 00:00:00 Courtney Lee TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH: A deftly-handled family melodrama. Being Arab-American is essential to the family's identity, but there are universal themes of family and religion and love and...just basically existing in this world. With dream sequences. And interesting staging (such as the symbolism of the furniture/cleanliness of the family room in which much of the action takes place). Definitely an intriguing read (particularly since reading it allowed me to appreciate and quote from what gets said more than watching/hearing it might). But also noticeably a screenplay. some of my favorite bits: "...you can't really know the person until you enter into that very thing that changes the both of you. That's when you really begin to see the other person. Do you see what I'm saying? Which is why some people never get married, because they know it changes everything." (Huwaida to Murad. He does not see what she's saying.) "It's not okay when we buy into our own oppressions. It's not okay that we take on the prejudices of one gender and make them our own. So that we women end up being the gatekeepers of our own oppression, to the point that we make our manacles things of pride and even become vain about it." (Pauline to Huwaida) "Unshackle me from my manacles. Help me be a better feminist. Or am I not a feminist wearing this? Should I let my underarm hair grow? Is that it? Let it all hang out. Burn my bra. Put a little jiggle in my breasts as I march down the street, declaring my womanhood. Is that the standard?" (Huwaida's response to Pauline) "Maybe God is something that happened to people long ago because they didn't have television. Something to amuse themselves in the desert, and God is a pretty good story, so why not." (Aziz to Tawfiq) "if not believing gives you that same excitement, then, maybe, you and I can end up believing in the same thing" (Aziz to Tawfiq, still...it's a good monologue, okay?) THE BLACK-EYED Beckett-like (see my status update?). Unlike Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, I almost don't want to see this play staged. Reading it and imagining it allows for the starkness of the empty room to be absolute, and for the anonymity/authorial role of The Architect to be more poignant. I liked it and was amused by the juxtaposition of Greek high drama and colloquial/modern/humorous issues, but would probably be frustrated by anyone's interpretation of those aspects but my own. The more conventional Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith doesn't present the same kinds of issues in interpretation... some of my favorite bits: Tamam: What was this monkey god's name? Delilah: 'Oo-oo-oo' is what he called himself. Delilah: Don't worry, Tamam. I can handle her. I like men and all the different flavors they come in. And trust me, when they do come, it is in different flavors. Chorus (Delilah, Tamam, and The Architect): 'Come to Pal-rael. / It's safe / because the Palestinians and Israelies are now real pals.' The Architect: I stare at you, Half-Breed. / And from the time it takes you to lift your eyes / from the page to mine, / this is what I think on: / 'Will our children have your doe eyes or my black ones?' / I think of how I will stop making drafts on subways, / because I want our youngest son to recite for me his ABCs and 123s / 'Our daughter is so arrogant already. / Just like me.' / Arrogance is confidence that is snuffed out, / resuscitated, / and is never quite the same again. The Architect: I think to myself, / 'Why are you talking to me? / Can't you see I'm in the middle of envisioning our future together?' The Architect: This can't be Heaven. / Heaven is not a place where people segregate themselves / according to religion or race.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-06-09 00:00:00 Rodrigo Cunha What I learned from this book: editing as a profession is truly going straight to hell. reek=/=wreak. You absolutely DO NOT "reek havoc". And I wish that were the only mistake the editor didn't catch. Anyway, the stories were also mostly pointless or dull or predictable, given the nature of the anthology. I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to run into any good short stories this year.