It goes without saying that plays are written to be performed. And yet, there's a certain enjoyment to be had in reading a play's script for yourself, rather than viewing it as a performance. When you read a play, you become, in a sense, the director -- casting the roles, choosing the pacing, and finding your own interpretation of what the story has to say.
Here are four recommendations of plays that -- in my opinion, at least -- have a particular magic all of their own ... even when they're only on the printed page.
Inherit the Wind
Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized version of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial. Bertram Cates, a small-town high school teacher, is placed on trial for teaching the theory of evolution in violation of state law. His lawyer is Henry Drummond, a famous defense attorney who finds himself pitted against his former friend and fellow lawyer, Matthew Harrison Brady, in a courtroom battle that rocks not just the town, but the entire country.
Loosely based on real-life lawyers Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, the play takes place primarily in the courtroom. Though the themes focus on family, politics, and intellectual freedom, the ending makes it clear that the moral of the story is that science and religion are not only conflicts that can co-exist peacefully -- but that they don't have to conflict at all.
-- Click here to request Inherit the Wind
The Miracle Worker
When Helen Keller was not quite two years old, she contracted an illness that left her both blind and deaf. This fictionalized (though well-researched) account by William Gibson shows Helen's struggles as a six-year-old child cut off from communication to the outside world.
Enter Annie Sullivan, a twenty-year-old governess who suffered herself from problems with her sight. Hired by Helen's parents, Annie was determined to teach the little girl not only discipline and self-control -- but also how to "speak."
Annie taught Helen the American Sign Language alphabet, in order to spell words into Helen's palm. It was, initially, an arduous task, as Helen did not understand the concept of objects each having their own individual name. Angry at her teacher for imposing discipline and structure, Helen fought off Annie's attempts to reach out to her -- until the powerful moment when the idea of words finally clicked into place for Helen, and opened the world to her.
-- Click here to request The Miracle Worker
Waiting for Godot
First performed in Paris, Waiting for Godot has become a classic of modern theatre -- despite being so unusual and irrational that many audience members attending those early performances left before the play was over. And, in many ways, it's not hard to understand why. The dialogue is oddly patterned. The set is nearly bare. The structure of the play has none of the usual dramatic beats (the second act has a plotline nearly identical to the first); the action is almost nonexistent.
The play itself concerns two older men, Vladimir and Estragon, who are, as the title suggests, waiting for the arrival of Mr. Godot, who they know is going to save them. At the end of each act, they are reassured by a passerby that Mr. Godot will be coming the following day.
Not much on action. But the waiting characters spend their time ruminating on the nature of suffering, salvation, repetitiveness, and time itself. Part character study, part philosophical reflection, Samuel Beckett's bleak, stark examination of life is open to a wide variety of interpretations. As Beckett himself said: "I don't know who Godot is. I don't even know (above all don't know) if he exists. And I don't know if they believe in him or not – those two who are waiting for him. All I knew I showed. It's not much, but it's enough for me, by a wide margin."
Amadeus
Peter Shaffer's Amdeus first premiered in London in 1979, to glowing reviews and box office success. (A year after its initial release, people were lining up at six in the morning to buy tickets for that day's performance.) The play offers a fictionalized account of the life of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with particular attention paid to his real-life rivalry with Antonio Salieri, the court composer for the Emperor of Austria.
Shaffer first became interested in the two musical rivals after he learned that the circumstances around Mozart's death are a bit murky. Delving into extensive research, Shaffer found no evidence that the real Salieri had murdered his incorrigible (and undeniably more talented) rival -- but the idea for the story wouldn't go away.
The play opens with Salieri as an old man, who makes his confession to the audience about his role in the death of Mozart. He then presents the story as a "flashback" to the audience, in an attempt to fully confess his side as the story. What follows is a tale of jealousy, rivalry, and the best and worst of human nature. As Peter Shaffer himself put it, "The conflict between virtuous mediocrity and feckless genius took hold of my imagination, and it would not leave me alone."
-- Click here to request Amadeus
-- Post by Ms. B
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