5 comments about An Enemy of the People (Penguin Plays).

1. took a litttle longer than i expected but recieved evrything a ok



2. In his own words, Arthur Miller never intended to rewrite "An Enemy of the People", Miller only wanted to revise or Americanize what was lost in the original translation. Ibsen is often verbose to a point where readers may lose a relevant point. In overcoming this problem, Miller may have perfected this play.
   
   When Dr. Stockmann discovers a poison in the town's water supply, he believes he will be seen as a hero. However his brother Mayor Peter Stockmann sees things differently. Seeing the potential for an unpopular tax hike, Peter rallies the people against Dr. Stockmann's "irresponsible research". This comes to a climax at a town meeting at which Dr. Stockmann is labeled an enemy of the people. Even with seemingly factual research, the majority of the population spurns Dr. Stockmann as a liar.
   
   Dr. Stockmann has one last chance to "clear his name". With a donation, the newspaper believes they can clear his name. With a family that suffers the same label as him, Dr. Stockmann begins a new life. Yet his new beginning is somewhat unexpected.
   
   Much of the plot must be creditted to the work of Isben. In its original form, "An Enemy of the People" was not one of Isben's better known works. With Miller's polish, this work of Isben now shines.



3. This adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play is great. Probably relevent at any time in history, it seems to directly corrolate with current situations world wide.



4. If you're looking to discuss ethical issues, this is an excellent book to read!



5. This play is surely not Ibsen's most well-written play. Of course, the language is superb, but at the same time, that is not what makes this play memorable. Ibsen's characters, theme, and satire are truly what makes this play a worthwhile read. This is not his best, but it is still a truly exceptional classic read. Buy this play, you will not be disappointed.

5 comments about Patterns for Theatrical Costumes: Garments, Trims, and Accessories from Ancient Egypt to 1915.

1. This is a good basic costume pattern book. Easy to use and patterns are easily redrafted and understood. Good historical references. I recently used it for Ancient Greek costumes (easy), as well as Medieval (good ideas). I know that I will be reaching for this book over and over again whenever I need to costume a historical play.



2. A book for someone who is wanting to begin exploring theatrical costume design or production.



3. I found this book around 25 years ago. At that time it didn't have any explinations, only the designs and some general info in the front. I do pre 1660 re-enactment and still use and teach from my well worn copy. I put it in a notebook and lend out sheets to explain how pieces go together. It isn't totally accurate, but it is a starting place for new costumers. It is easier to explain changes to make it accurate from there.



4. I am a costume designer and have had this book for many years. I
   recently purchased a copy for one of my student workers who has
   gone on to pursue a degree in costume design. It is a great book
   for fashion history overview. It is full of basic period patterns
   that are simple to draft and then use your own details.
   It accessible to beginners but a wonderful resource for professionals
   as well.



5. I bought this hot off the press 22 years ago, and wouldn't be without it. This dog-eared book has been borrowed many times! I copy pages, draft patterns. Now, I'm going to get a copy for my son's drama teacher. It is a wonderful, basic reference, with enough patterns to get started. Really valuable for getting an idea of historical silhouette. I can't wait to see what changes have been made from my edition!

5 comments about Play Director's Survival Kit: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Producing Theater in Any School or Community Setting (J-B Ed:Survival Guides).

1. This book is a good buy and actually gives you sample forms. The only thing it lacks is a fundraising guidance and that's really important in the formation of a good community theater. Still for the price, it's a good start.



2. Very nelpful in organizing a sucessful play. Eliminates or reduces the 'fine art of forgetting something'.



3. This book is very practical and easy to understand. Parts might be a little basic, but they're definitely helpful. This book was recommended for a Directing 2 class in which Directors in Rehearsal (Cole), The Open Door (Brook), and A Director Prepares (Bogart) were all required. Which one do you think I read first, AND w/ the greatest of ease? Great for those just beginning to direct as well as teachers.



4. I wish someone had recommended this book before I directed half a dozen musicals and learned its contents the hard way...trial and error. While the information is largely common sense, the organization saves the time of having to figure it out yourself. I recommend it highly...especially for school and community theatre.



5. I discovered this book through a fellow theatre professor and was immediately impressed with its scope of information. So impressed, in fact, that I'm planning to adopt it as the textbook for an advanced directing course I teach that culminates with the production of a one-act play.

   The authors have covered everything a director needs to know, from selecting the play through rehearsals, peformances,and marketing. This book would be especially helpful for high school/community theatre directors, or those in similar situations where the director is expected to assume some of the responsibilites usually handled by a producer. (The sample forms are especially good for these organizations.)

   Although not a substitute for a more thorough book on the pure basics of directing (blocking, composition, etc.), this is an excellent supplement that reviews those basics and enhances them with elements that often aren't covered in directing classes but are faced in production (putting together program copy, for example). Although I've been directing professionally for over 12 years, I immediately ordered a copy for myself after examining it.

2 comments about Blackbird: A Play (Faber and Faber Plays).

1. Fifteen years ago, Una and Ray had a relationship when Una was 12 and Ray was 40. They haven't set eyes on each other since. Now she's found him again.
   
   I bought this play after seeing it performed. It's the kind of play that follows you around for days after you've seen it.
   
   I think it's a valuable play to have on the bookshelf if you are interested in writing plays. You can learn a lot about sub-text in reading this play.
   
   
   It's a very brave play and I really feel that David Harrower spent the time to really get into his characters skins. Both characters seem very authentic in an amazing, yet in a very disturbing way.
   
   This play in essence I think is about the hold a pedophile can have over his victim and the complex relationship the victim can have with her perpetrators memory.
   
   Although disturbing I thought the structure of the play was brilliant. If you love plays you need to have this on your bookshelf.



2. Although the formatting of the text threw me off a bit (it read like a free verse poem at first) after the first page I got used to it and the story and characters totally gripped me. Very powerful, very naturalistic dialogue, and a lot of brilliant subtext. The story deals with two very damaged people trying to get on with their lives in their own way. I wish I had the chance to see the stage production, but reading it is almost as good.

5 comments about Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s.

1. This book brings together more information about more comedians than any other book I've ever read. It is a collection of short biographies, not a comprehensive history of the 50s and 60s. Even so, the 50s and 60s came alive for me as I encountered in quick succession Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Steve Allen, Bob Newhart, Woody Allen, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, and a score of other comedians who hit it big during that time.



2. This is an interesting book, a chapter per comic on "sick" comics of the 1950s and 1960s such as Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Shelley Berman, as well as other groundbreaking comics of that era such as Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Jonathan Winters, Dick Gregory, Stan Freberg, Jean Shepard etc.
   
   It's a great overview and gives you a good thumbnail sketch of each comic's talents and personal style. However, it could have been much better edited, much of the information is repeated again and again in chapters that relate to certain comics, such as chapters on Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Woody Allen, who all shared certain experiences, but they are all relayed again in each comic's individual chapter.
   
   And, due to the format, little depth is provided in terms of analysis or the particulars of any one comic or style of comedy. In sum, I would recommend if you would like to learn a little about many of these great comics, but you would need to look elsewhere for substantive analysis or a deeper understanding of the era or the comics in question.



3. After reading this book, and RAISED ON RADIO I'm convinced... Nachman is a brilliant chronicaller of generations, passioniate and on such a mission his enthuisiasm gushes through with each Peabody Award waiting to happen phrase whether or not you share his enthuisiasm. - - Like RAISED ON RADIO, the book is neither definitive nor wishy-washy either. The chapters simply paint portraits of the people. In fact, the book goes a bit DEEPER into the subject manner than RAISED ON RADIO though not too deep. Further, though Nachman did interview subjects and did research, a lot of the information isn't exactly new (atleast if you're a nerdish comedy album collector and already into what the book is about.) - - And although yes, sometimes he goes on and on to make a point, especially in the way he breaks down the personalities of the comics he analyzes, I have to say, Nachman's writing is so delightful its forgivable (whether or not some of the chapters could have been cut in half.) Also what I like about this book is the choice of comedians go well beyond the obvious and really make you think... recognizing not just the Lenny Bruce's and Mort Sahls, but radio and TV comics that paved the way... (Bob and Ray, Ernie Kovacs and Steve Allen included !)
   
   All in all, this is a great book presented through the mind of a brilliant columnist... and yes NACHMAN definitely is a columnist... a master storyteller who can schpiel by the column inch and hold your attention all the way. The only danger of reading this book is that after each chapter you want to go out and get the CDs... but with so many comedians covered, that's a lot of bread !
   
   Though I happen to be a fan of the topics covered in this and RAISED ON RADIO, I have to say, whatever Nachman decides to write about next, I'm fair game for it !



4. I began flipping through this excellent book in a moment of boredom and just kept reading. Though I'm a fan of a few of the comedians covered in the book, many of them are of no particular interest to me -- moreover, I don't even care for most stand-up comedy (preferring sketch comedy), and the majority of the stories told here are stories of great stand-up comics. But the author is so good at describing the talents, contexts, and events that made these individuals important comic entertainers, that the book really grabbed and held my interest. I recommend it for anyone interested in glimpses into some brilliant comic minds from the heyday of sophisticated comedy, and in concise yet adequately detailed accounts of why and how these people evolved from unknowns to household words.



5. I was looking forward to this book; I had grown up with the comedy of Sahl, Lehrer, Freburg, Cosby and the others. I was unable to finish the book, primarily because of many egregious errors of fact that Nachman and his editor allowed to pass into print. I list here a few of the problems that I found with the chapters I read:
   
   In the Introduction, re: Allan Sherman, Nachman mistitles "Shake hands with your Uncle Max", calling it "Shake hannds with your Uncle Moe"; he also erroneously attributes the original tune of the parody as "McNamara's Band"; it is actually a parody of a tune called "Dear Old Donegal", also called "Shake hands with your Uncle Mike"
   
   Re: Tom Lehrer, he titles the song "MLF (Multi-lateral Force)Lullaby" as "MFL Lullaby"; and later claims that Lehrer "set his `Elements' to the tune of [Kurt Weill's song from Lady in the Dark] `Tchaikovsky'"; in fact "The Elements" is set to Sir Arthur Sullivan's song "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" from The Pirates of Penzance. In addition, Nachman
   incorrectly transcribes and alters the order of the lyrics he quotes to "National Brotherhood Week":
   
   It's national Brotherhood Week
   National Everyone-smile-at-one-anotherhood Week
   It's only for a week so have no fear
   Be nice to people who are inferior to you
   Be grateful that it doesn't last all year (Nachman's text)
   
   Actual lyric:
   
   But during National Brotherhood Week,
   National Brotherhood Week
   It's National Everyone-smile-at/One-another-hood Week
   Be nice to people who/Are inferior to you
   It's only for a week, so have no fear
   Be grateful that it doesn't last all year.
   
   Re:Stan Freburg, he attributes the source of Freburg's parody of "Rock Island Line" to Johnny Cash; actual source is a version of the song recorded by Lonnie Donnegan and His Skiffle Group, a popular English band
   
   Re: Freburg's parody of "Sh-Boom"; Nachman calls Freburg "an engineer [presumably the recording engineer of the faux-recording session at the heart of the piece] screaming for more mumbling"; in actuality, Freburg's character on the recording is that of the lead singer of the group making the record
   
   Re: Freburg's parody of "Rock Island Line", he states that " `Rock Island Line'. . . ridicules the whole precious folk-song craze ("Are you going to sing this or read it?" asks an irritated Freburg) [Nachman's italics]." In the parody, this question is actually asked by a character played by the actor Peter Leeds, a Freburg "repertory company" member for many years, who in this case is, in all likelihood, supposed to be either the producer or the recording engineer for the "session."
   
   Re: Freburg's Lawrence Welk parody, "Wun'erful, Wun'erful"; after describing the confrontation Freburg claims to have had with Welk over the piece (where Welk denies ever having said "Wun'erful, Wun'erful"), Nachman states: "Decades later, to Freburg's everlasting joy, Welk titled his autobiography Wonderful, Wonderful." Which misses the entire joke, of course, since Welk's autobiography is actually titled Wunnerful, Wunnerful: The Autobigraphy of Lawrence Welk.
   
   How any book, presumably edited and published by professionals, could have this many errors (and who knows how many more in the sections on comedians whose lives and careers I was not as familiar with) is beyond me.

3 comments about Pat Green's Dance Halls & Dreamers.

1. Outstanding photography is half the fun of reading this book; the other half comes from the words of the musicians who have played in these ten legendary Texas dance halls, and the owners who tend them. There is something unforgettable about each of these places.
   
   The Cabaret in Bandera has a hump in the dance floor. According to the owner, the hump is "kind of like a speed bump at the Indy 500." The dancers use it to turn themselves around, and newcomers trip over it. At the Coupland Inn and Dancehall it's the upstairs Bed & Breakfast, dressed like an old-time bordello, that makes the place unique.
   
   At Luckenbach, it's the song, of course, and the laid-back attitude of the people who frequent the matchstick buildings that comprise the town. Gruene Hall, Texas' Oldest Dancehall, was a hay barn in the middle of a ghost town when it's owner found it and restored it in the 1970s. The roll call of acts that have played there reads like the Country Music Hall of Fame. Just a piece up the road from Gruene is lesser-known Saengerhalle, which lays claim to being haunted. Holes in the dance floor there are covered by old hammered-down Texas license plates.
   
   Stubbs Bar-B-Q in Austin attracts a little bit different crowd, a little louder, a little more rocking. The barbecue is pretty good, too. And then there's Billy Bob's Texas, the World's Largest Honky Tonk, with it's wall of shellacked autographed burger buns, and its hallway of hand prints, like an upright version of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
   
   John T. Floore's Country Store in Helotes is where Willie Nelson got his start, and continues to return for his July 4th Picnics. The 6,000-square-foot, puke green building "has all the ambiance of a bomb shelter." A collage of oddball signs adorn the exterior entrance. Inside, hats and boots left by customers, ropes and saddles and anything else that can dangle, hang from the ceiling over the dance floor.
   
   The Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas is remembered for having the "load-in from hell," a steep stairway outside the building up which roadies and musicians must carry their equipment to the second floor stage. An amplifier or two has taken a fatal tumble down the near-vertical flight of metal stairs. But so far nobody has died.
   
   And then there's Schroeder Hall -- it's the Second Oldest Dance Hall in Texas, built in 1890. "To get there, drive to the middle of nowhere ... and take a left." Pat Green says, "You have got to want to get to Schroeder Hall." Everybody from Merle Haggard to the Marshall Tucker Band to Willie has played here. The trademark gold and silver tassels are on display in one of the photographs, the strings of lights in another, as is the after-dance, bottle-littered floor.
   
   As I read this book and lingered over the pictures, I realized that I had personally been to all but three of the ten featured dance halls. And when I closed the last page, I had the urge to pull on my boots, jump in my car and make the drive to visit those last three.



2. This book is a great look into the life of Texas country music. The book is very pleasing to eye with great photos and the stories are entertaining. I've loved Texas country music for years and was glad to add this book to my collection. It makes a great coffee table book and is very high quality. Worth every penny!



3. I loved the pictures and the stories that the musicians told. I am a huge Texas Country music fan and this was a very good book depicting those artists.

5 comments about Naked Playwriting: The Art, The Craft, And The Life Laid Bare.

1. A little context -- I studied playwriting in college several years ago and had productions of a couple scripts. Recently I've had a play germinating inside me, and I decided to give it a try. I discovered this book on a casual browse through a bookstore.
   This book is not only the best imaginable resource, it also serves to inspire and give you a chance to believe in yourself. Yes -- I was rusty and this book reminded me of the styles of plays available to draw on (I'm a bit into alienation and absurdism.), and it demonstrates clearly the difference between vague and uninteresting dialogue with that which contains dramatic tension.
   He is also the most practical of teachers. He makes regular suggestions for writing a play that has the best appeal for being produced. (Don't write a play with 50 characters and six scene changes, including a snowstorm in Siberia!)
   I would think this book is most useful if you too have decided to embark on the challenge of writing a play; otherwise I'm not sure what the appeal would be. It is not a great tome on dramatic theory. At every step of the way it is practical -- right there ready to help you express yourself and, one hopes, to write a successful play.



2. Okay, maybe its attractive title did draw this reader's attention to the book, but Naked Playwriting proves to be, as one other reviewer stated, not just a great one amidst so many How-To...books. Naked Playwriting is the best book I've read on writing, as well.
   
   I finished this and thought (yes, exhilarated) that every writer could benefit from this one. No matter what genre. No matter what style. Naked Playwriting is, incredibly, written by two voices, Downs and Russin, and yet it speaks so fluently, so masterfully, and so concisely--with this humor throughout--that I just trusted these writers were actually writers from the first line.
   
   That it speaks so smoothly to the reader, guides the reader, without pompous self-glorifying stories of their own past careers, speaks of the closeness these two writers stayed on course with the subject--and it speaks of the dedication to playwriting that Naked Playwriting follows.
   
   A well-crafted ship is, as the authors describe, the beauty of a stage play, carefully crafted, going somewhere, with purpose, and capable of taking others along on a tremendous ride--that is what the great ones do--and that's what Downs and Russin have offered us.
   
   Read this, then reread, and continue to reference it--Naked Playwriting will become a manual to hold onto.



3. There is an entire industry in publishing books about writing. Writers, especially aspiring writers, are very insecure about their work, and seek reassurance that they're on the right track from others. Most of the books produced to ameliorate writers' self-doubt are crap. But I can say with confidence that Downs and Russin's NAKED PLAYWRITING is not only the best playwriting book I have ever read, it is the best book I have ever read on any kind of writing, from the beginning of the process to the end.
   
   It's easy to talk about how to tell a good story, but how many books actually break down ideas point by point to determine which ones actually have a future? This one. Many would-be writing mentors talk about sitting down and writing, but how many have actually given instructions on how to create a style sheet on Microsoft Word so that you can create a perfectly formatted manuscript on your first try? This one. Everybody knows that the creative process isn't complete until the work is seen by an audience, but how many books demonstrate how to comparison-shop theatre companies, give you balanced pointers on how and when to get an agent, and show how to evaluate a contract to tell if it serves your interests? This one.
   
   The light conversational tone that obtains through most of this book makes the information contained between the covers very approachable. The authors are aware that many of their readers will be beginning writers, but they also incorporate more intermediate and advanced information, so young writers can follow through to the end on what they've already begun. This book is not some compendium of lukewarm exhortations to write now and write more; it's an actual plan to turn your writing into a vocation and a life.
   
   Young writers buy a lot of books to get them started on the art and the craft. This is one of the few books those writers will actually keep on their desks through the years as they write.



4. This is an excellent book to get you on your way towards fulfilling your dream of writing plays.



5. The authors have a great sense of humor and tons of information. There are a lot of books out there on playwriting but this one really opened my eyes. Naked is a good way to write.

1 comments about Renzo Piano Museums.

1. I love Piano's work, it's elegant and functional. This book is fantastic, it is well researched and the images are very well presented. Though Piano designs all kinds of buildings for all sorts of functions, he is most famous for his museums. I am most familiar with his amazing buildings for the Menil Collection and his Nasher Collection, the are both quenticential Renzo Piano. The two builds at first glance, look little alike, but if you tour them, the are actually quite similar, Piano uses his amazing understanding of light to make the buildings come alive. This book includes these buildings of course, but also other musuems he created, all so different on the surface, but still so Piano. I saw him lecture at the Menil last summer and he was amazing, very funny and charismatic, he had the whole outdoor pavilion in the palm of his hand. He of course talked about his obsession with how light is going to play in his buildings and he discussed Mrs. Menil, and you realized why his clients love him so much. I dont usually call somebody a genius, but when it comes to architecture, Piano is indeed a genius, he is without question one of the most inventive and most admired architect of his era. As for this book, if you love Piano or just appreciate beautiful architecture, I cant imagine you not loving this book.

5 comments about Nureyev: The Life.

1. Nureyev: The Life
   This is a page turner of a book- not only for the unusual life of Nureyev but also for a look into the world of dance. As great a dancer as he was, even he struggled repeatedly to find his place in the world. As he aged, he needed to change his repertoire, and, eventually, his career. Julie Kavanagh is a dancer who understands the politics of dance and builds in enough detail to make us feel the frustrations and struggles of Nureyev as he tries to find a company which fits his personality.



2. Rudolf Nureyev, flamboyant dancer with the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), began life on a train to the Eastern Russian front. He was the son of Tatar parents from a remote part of the Soviet Union. His father was a soldier who was rarely home. The family was extremely poor and often hungry, but his mother managed to sneak them into a performance of a ballet when Rudolf was five. He was determined from that time on to learn to dance and perform on the stage. He had the talent, determination and perseverance to succeed.
   
   Julie Kavanagh has documented the life of this dancing man in this encyclopedic volume. She includes information about Nureyev's early training in his hometown, Ufa, his extensive training with mentor Pushkin and Pushkin's wife, Xenia in St. Petersburg. She details his defection to the West in Paris that read like a spy novel - complete with KGB operatives.
   
   Nureyev passion for dance and for learning propels him to work with choreographers from the Paris Opera Ballet to West Side Story. Kavanagh includes titillating factoids about Nureyev's personal life - hobnobbing with the rich and famous, his womanizing, his homosexual lifestyle, and his final battle with HIV/AIDS. She also talks about his dancing.
   
   Nureyev is first and foremost a ballet dancer and she documents his transition from the formal classical ballet style to the avant-garde modern dance styles he helped to create.
   
   This tome, and it is a tome of nearly 700 pages without counting the extensive footnotes, acknowledgements and index, is an extensive account of a fascinating person. It is quite readable, with the caveat that there are multitudinous Russian names, ballet terminologies, and musical references. These kept me reading somewhat slower than usual.
   
   The book also has three large sections of photographic illustrations.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Anyone with a strong interest in ballet history or in Nureyev himself will find this to be a very satisfying book.



3. I have been buying books my entire adult life and off Amazon since its inception, however never have I before felt compelled to review until now, which speaks to the brilliance of Julie Kavanagh's book. I try to read outside categories I know, and this one was no exception, no absolutely nothing about ballet or dance. But this book made me feel and appreciate both, as well as the epic life of Nureyev. Passionately told and incredible well researched, this is a biography worthy of its subject.



4. Kavanagh's "Nureyev" is another first-rate dance biography, fully matching her marvelous account of Frederick Ashton. Nureyev was more a great star than a great dancer, yet his impact on male ballet dancers worldwide was transformative. Before Rudi, they were mostly earthbound dullards, either crudely straight or mincingly effeminate; after Rudi, men in ballet became nearly as turned out, pulled up, and extended as ballerinas, with a protean animalism that enabled them to live gay yet seem to love their women onstage.
   
   Unlike her predecessor Richard Buckle, whose dance bios read like transcribed engagement books, Kavanagh offers a nearly perfect balance of details and distillation, compellingly tracing arcs in her subject's life. She pays extra attention to Rudi's first years in the West, richly detailing his two key relationships--with Margot Fonteyn, whom he ignited just as she was about to retire, and with Eric Bruhn, the one dancer he would learn from and the love of his life--plus the recasting of his dancing into a fusion of Russian and Western. Rudi's restless gay life is all there, yet without prurience. Eventually he settled down, for a time, with Wallace Potts, an all-American gay boy whose goodness and devotion shine through quite attractively (other acolytes followed). In these pages, Rudi lives just like a coddled star athlete: no matter how beastly his conduct, somebody always satisfies his needs and keeps his ego fully inflated. A fine biography and a great read.



5. 
   He was born on a train as his mother and sisters journeyed to be with his soldier father. Of this unusual entrance into the world, Nureyev was to say "...it was the most romantic event of his life, symbolic of his future statelessness and nomadic existence."
   
   His was a life lived from place to place from humble beginnings in a Russian village to the most luxurious surroundings the world could offer. He was an icon, libidinous, both men and women were drawn to him. The great love of his life, according to this author, was the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn. One reason for his defection Nureyev is quoted as saying is because he wanted to learn to dance like Bruhn and "to study with Bruhn's teacher, the Russian born Vera Volkova, a childhood friend of Pushkin's."
   
   Many were to play a part in Nureyev's life and career, They helped him in numerous ways, introductions, opportunities, advancing his talent. However, once these people had served their purpose they "became dispensable."
   
   A trained ballet dancer Ms. Kavanagh brings insightful commentary to this stunning biography, which abounds with quotes from letters, diaries, and interviews. All of these bring an immediacy to her narrative, an accessibility, if you will, to Nureyev's thoughts and ambitions. He was, of course, a superstar, an idol who lived a flamboyant life and brought a spectacular aura to the world of dance. Nureyev the man was unparalleled, and so is his biography by Julie Kavanagh.
   
   - Gail Cooke

5 comments about Dutchman and The Slave: Two Plays.

1. LeRoi Jones, now known as Amiri Baraka, wrote Dutchman in 1964, but its themes of racism and fear still resonate today. A must for anyone studying African American literature and contemporary drama -- it is a seminal work. The Slave is less successful -- its message is muddled and the dialogue stilted -- yet it is worth reading to get a complete view of Baraka's work.



2. "Dutchman offers a very realistic study in terms of how "Liberal White American", not racism, is murdering the Black American.



3. This play is written beautifully in a style that resembles some very late American Dadaist poetry. However if you take the play as a whole, this play lacks any didactic purpose. Baraka is hypocritical in that he has become the hate-monger that he despises. Other than wonderful banter and a powerfully angst-ridden diatribe, this play offers nothing but hate and intolerance.



4. Wow. I think this play portrays an aspect of the black community that cannot be felt by any other community without some feelings of disingenuity. The rage present in the play is overwhelming. The sense of danger and loss is also present, but more subtly so. This play is also very ambiguous and wanting interpretation. I say "wanting interpretation" because Dutchman seems to call for the reader's own interpretation purposefully... the criticism around it is enough to spark a debate, but still the critical aspects are not overwhelmed by the immediacy of emotion and action.



5. A great representation of race relations in america (in the revolutionary '60's as well as representative of today), man's relation to woman, and the irony and tension that is comes package in. For no other reason, the mythology and theological references are delightfully handled. Sadly, this work is one of the most underrated and underread works of the 20th century.