Reviews for The Best American Short Plays 1996-1997

The average rating for The Best American Short Plays 1996-1997 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-07-28 00:00:00 Stephen Wong Another eclectic volume of one act plays, but this one curiously lacks an introduction to each work. The anthology opens with Bellyfruit by Maria Bernhard, Susannah Blinkoff, and Janet Borrus, which portrays the teenage pregnancies of three girls of differing backgrounds. This cautionary tale relays to readers (viewers) that teenage pregnancy is certain to ruin your life. The play seems trite in its display of this message, perhaps because it is a story we have all more-than-likely seen played out multiple times. While I would be interested in seeing this acted out (mainly in order to see the entire cast singing together at the conclusion of the play) from a reading standpoint, it is not the best opening to a Best Of anthology. Steve Feffer's Little Airplanes of the Heart turns the reader in an entirely new direction, telling the story of Uncle John, whose dream of building an airplane in his basement and flying it to Montana is stunted by his untimely death caused by his crash landing in Grassy Butte, North Dakota. Sam, Uncle John's nephew, wants nothing more than to continue his Uncle's legacy and build a new airplane, despite his family's realistic protestations. Dead Uncle John imbues additional originality into the play by partly narrating the goings-on in a makeshift airplane suspended from the ceiling. Madeleine George's The Most Massive Woman Wins takes place in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic where a group of women relay to the audience why they ended up there. Each character takes a turn presenting a monologue. It's certainly saddening, but not striking. Stephen White's The White Guy is one of the strongest plays. It's basically a monologue that is split into multiple times during the main character's life when race has divided him from others. This play culminates with him marrying an African American woman, even though interpersonal tensions run quite strong between the two during the O. J. Simpson trial. The play starts out comical, and maintains a thread of this throughout the play. Here are the opening lines: "OK, I'm a white guy. I know it. It's obvious, right? You probably think I'm this domestic beer drinking, red meat eating, USE Today reading, ESPN watching, normal, perfect home-owning kinda guy! And you'd be surprised, how long I went before noticing that I'm actually this Bass Ale drinking, sushi eating, khaki-shorts wearing, Bravo-Channel watching, New Yorker reading emotionally-arrested kind of renter!" The one act impressively explores the limitations people put upon connecting with each other because of fear of offense or simply by being outside of one's comfort zone by associating with someone who appears different. White doesn't demonize the protagonist as racist, but explores subtler aspects, like when the protagonist refuses an invitation to go out for a beer with a South African co-worker, citing work in the morning, but realizing the refusal runs deeper: "In my own way, I said, This is my house. You can't come in." The emotionally impact of this play is surprising, considering its lighthearted start. David Ives' Time Flies lightens the tone of the anthology with a play about two mayflies quickly discovering their daylong mortality via a David Attenborough narrated documentary. The two buzz around the stage, panicking at this realization, then quickly becoming embittered toward each other: May: Oh Horace, I had such plans. I had such wonderful plans. I wanted to see Paris. Horace: What's Paris? May: I have no fucking idea. You get it. In an attempt to be quirky, the play ends up being an eye-rolling bore. The Confession of Many Strangers by Lavonne Mueller is a nice change of place. The audience plays a role in this one act as an audience for an exhibit at The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum watching the pilot of the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima) relay his story. Interestingly, despite building a significant background for himself, the pilot's name is never given, demonstrating just how overshadowed it has become by the weaponry. Oedi by Rich Orloff lightens the mood again, presenting an alternate version of the story of Oedipus where Teiresias and Creon break the news of the prophecy (Oedipus will--unwittingly--kill his father and sleep with his mother) manifesting during a desperate fight to raise Oedi's approval ratings. When Oedi breaks the news to his wife/mother, she reveals that she's known all along. This piece is tongue-in-cheek from start to finish, but works in a way that Time Flies did not, perhaps due to the already overwrought nature of Oedipus' story: Tiresias: Oh, right. It's time for me to practice my musical instrument. Jocasta:: Lyre? Tiresias:: No, honestly. There's even a play-on-words Oedipus Complex joke so cringe-worthy that Jocasta breaks the fourth wall to provide "apologies." Creative Development by Jacquelyn Reingold tells the story of a creative director for a film company attempting to win over playgoers by making them enjoy trite, overdone films over the theatre. He is punished by a goddess posing as a playwright who learns of his plan. Full of social commentary, this quick witted play is certainly a highlight. Murray Schisgal's The Man Who Couldn't Stop Crying is about exactly what you would expect, but you could add ...and Who Was in Denial About It to the title. The male lead, Marcello, cries at just about anything, including the obituary of a stranger that reminds him of his own mortality. His incessant, daily crying jags drive a wedge between him and his wife, forcing her to deliver an ultimatum: cease crying or divorce. The descriptions of physical comedy beg performance, making this another highlight of the book. Shel Silverstein's The Trio tells the story of an orchestra leader out on a date with one of his musicians which quickly turns into a critique of her performance as the two watch a trio of musicians serenade them. The ending might be predictable, but is handled well by Silverstein. Overall, the comedic pieces stick out the most, but there is plenty here worth investigating. Nothing was flat-out dull.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-05-14 00:00:00 Stanley Morrill Good collection of stories. Good read.