5 comments about The Color Purple: A Memory Book.

1. I gave this beautiful coffee table book as a souvenir to my mom when we returned home from seeing the play. It was a perfect surprise since she had admired it for sale in the lobby (at$40). It made the bargain I got at Amazon even better.



2. I got this book to give as a birthday gift but it was so beautiful I wanted to keep it for myself. It includes pictures and writtings from the original cast as well as the full libretto. The cover is 3 dimensional and I could not have been happier. I may have to buy another for myself.



3. GReat!!! - Quick shipment - book is beautiful - I love it!! no problems at all.



4. I actually bought this book as a gift. However, I loved it so much I kept it. The writing is beautiful and the illustrations to. The book also contains the script to the show "The Color Purple". Also, should you like Oprah. She has a foreward that is very moving pertaining to the story. It is very touching and moving.



5. Our family saw The Color Purple on stage in New York and my daughter has become obsessed with the music and the story, We bought her this gorgeous memory book for Christmas and she has spent hours reading the script, looking at the pictures and reliving the play. We will be returning to New York in 2 weeks to again see this wonderful show.

3 comments about The Origin of German Tragic Drama.

1. I found this book interesting. But my book, like that of a previous reviewer, completely fell apart upon the first reading. Frustrating to have to treat my NEW book like some loose sheaf of sibylline leaves bound together with rubber bands.



2. Benjamin has written a highly valuable book here. My concern is with Verso's treatment of it. The binding is horrible -- my edition literally fell apart on the first read. There are no annotations which, in a book as wide-ranging and dense as this, is a gross oversight. In short, a horrible edition of a great book. Find another version.



3. While it concerns baroque Trauerspiel (literally, "mourning play" or "lamentation play," not "tragic drama") this book is necessary reading for students of critical theory who don't have literature as a primary field of interest. In it, Benjamin develops his critique of allegory (which he later amended in his work on Baudelaire and would play a major role in The Arcades Project) as well as his method of philosphical history, which would decisively influence Theodor Adorno (see, for example, Adorno's book on Kierkegaard and his lecture "The Idea of Natural History"). Don't let the notoriously opaque prologue dissuade you from reading beyond the opening pages--the rest of the book has more stylistic and conceptual clarity (which doesn't mean it's easy!). In fact, you may want to skip the prologue and return to it after reading the body of the text. In any case, this book will give you a solid grounding for understanding the foundations of Benjamin's work--it should not be slighted. I deduct a star not because of Benjamin but because of the translation (less than sterling) and Steiner's introduction which, despite correcting the title's translation, restricts itself to literary concerns.

5 comments about Junk.

1. "Junk" is an immensely difficult book to review, simply because it's so many different things to different readers. One reader may find it enlightening, sobering and realistic; another will find it dated and irrelevant. The subject matter tackles such a weighty issue that it's almost inevitable that readers would be divided. Admittedly, I have very little experience with the world of drugs, addition and rehabilitation, so it is impossible for me to deem the book's authenticity. What I can say is that Burgess's award-winning novel (winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, to be precise) had me engrossed from start to finish. What drives a person to take drugs? Why do they let themselves become so helplessly addicted? What goes on in an addict's mind? Why do they go to such lengths to get their drugs? Before reading, I had very little of idea as to what went on in the minds of people like those found in "Junk". By the end of the novel (though I don't confess to being any sort of expert on the subject), I had some inkling as to why some people do the things they do for drugs.
   
   Told in first-person narrative by a wide range of characters, the novel mainly focuses on David "Tar" Lawson and Gemma Brogan, two teenagers who run away from home to Bristol. Finding a place amongst a group of anarchists, the two eventually move in with Rob and Lily, two fellow teenagers who get them hooked on heroin. From there, it is a downward spiral into desperate addiction, as Tar turns to shoplifting and Gemma becomes a prostitute in order to fund their need for heroin. There is some truly heartbreaking stuff in here, as the teens first try to convince themselves (and the reader) that they are completely in control of their lives, then justify their illegal actions, and finally find that they're unable to break their habit when a friend gets pregnant. An especially harrowing passage describes Gemma's feelings after a failed attempt at going cold turkey: "I knew I was really a junkie this time because, what's a junkie scared of? Not Aids, not overdosing, like you might think. We were scared because there might be no more smack at the other end."
   
   What is apparent to everyone but the ignorant teenagers is that the much-celebrated freedom from their parents is only temporary - soon enough they make themselves prisoners of a far more restrictive lifestyle, one that eventually strips away all their opportunities for a decent life. Their joy at their initial independence gradually gives way to a de-habilitating desire for heroin, and watching their world shrink down to a dismal cycle of drug abuse is (in my opinion) vividly portrayed by Burgess.
   
   Tar and Gemma's stories are closely intertwined, and it's hard to place blame on just one of the teens for the predicament they find themselves in. Tar is the first to run away, (understandable considering his abusive father and drunken mother) but he encourages Gemma to join him. Gemma runs away simply because she is not getting on with her strict parents, but her loud and stubborn personality (which often slips into obnoxiousness) is the reason Tar gives up the relative safety of the anarchists squat for the home of the drug-addicted Rob and Lily. Surrounding them are chapters devoted to others in their immediate circle: Richard and Vonny, the anarchists who do their best to help the teens, Rob and Lily, the hopeless addicts who live each day to the fullest, and even the teenagers' parents, who recount their devastation and sense of failure. These chapters help round out the point-of-view of the main narrative (for instance, Vonny recounts how spoilt Gemma is, a trait that Gemma certainly doesn't recognize in herself), as well as reveal information about grey characters - the storekeeper Skolly for example, seems like a helpful guy at first, though several chapters on we realize that he's unknowingly part of the cycle of addition that entraps Gemma.
   
   The book was first published in 1996, and so many may feel that it has dated. However, it's worth saying that even though it was written in the 90s, Burgess sets it in the 1980s - as such, many components (such as the song lyrics that head several chapters) are intended to be old-fashioned. Whether this upsets your reading pleasure or not depends on how well you can relate to teenagers of an older generation.
   
   As I said at the beginning of the review, "Junk" is a book that you'll find meaningful or worthless. The controversial subject matter means that audiences will have widely different opinions on how effective it is as a reading text, probably depending on their own experience (or inexperience) with drugs. There's really no way to tell until you've read it. For what it's worth, I found it a worthwhile read, and would particularly recommend it to parents who want to share the subject with young teens (thirteen to sixteen year olds, possibly) as Burgess describes drug-use, sex, prostitution, violence and unwanted pregnancy without ever resorting to gratuitous descriptions or by abandoning everything to despair, despite the ambiguous ending.



2. Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal, the novel Junk by Melvin Burgess successfully allows readers to gain insights into what teenage drug life was like in Bristol during the mid 1980s. The characters in the novel go through many struggles and the biggest struggle is the challenge to get off `junk', or heroin.
   Throughout the novel, Burgess focuses on four characters in particular: Tar, Gemma, Lily and Rob. Lily and Rob are senior users of junk. Partying, taking drugs, even prostitution is nothing new to them. Tar, the protagonist, is sensible and responsible but unlucky. Unlucky to be born into a family with alcoholic parents; unlucky to have met Gemma, his girlfriend, who introduced him to drugs' unlucky to be the only one caught. He represents the typical teenager: confident to say `no' to drugs but slowly being dragged in due to peer-pressure. `The thing I have to remember is that I'm weak and that they're weak' said Tar after being in the `detox' centre for a while. Is he strong enough to stand firm and quit drugs or is the temptation towards heroin too strong for him to handle?
   The novel Junk is easy to understand and is suitable for people of all ages. I would strongly recommend this novel to teenagers who are curious about drug-taking. It is a fast-paced book that depicts the daunting reality of drugs. What I find fascinating is the way Burgess describes the characters and the settings which provide the readers with an image that is very real. `As for the people here... some are pure invention, some are seeded from real people and then fictionalized, some are fictitious with bits of real people stirred in,' commented Burgess in the introduction of his novel. Burgess, using the style of a teenager, writes his novel in the form of diary entries by different people. Furthermore, his style includes conversations and slang words which help make his fictional characters more realistic.
   To conclude, Junk is a compelling novel of truths about drug-use and certainly a must-read for teenagers.



3. Burgess's "Smack," written a year before his short novel "Junk," is a terrific novel that captivies and evokes emotion. "Junk," however, is a poorly written screen-play version of that novel. The point of creating such a thing is beyond me. He should have stopped while he was ahead with "Smack."



4. I find it interesting that the writer has gotten away with such terrible writing and such a lack of understanding of heroin addiction simply by aiming this poor attempt at a novel at "young adults". Is it because he could not get published if he tried to write for grown ups?
   I picked up this book in an airport about to leave Los Angeles for London, 9 days after detoxing cold turkey from heroin and the Burroughs aping title and cover imagery made me think it would be an interesting read. I was wrong.
   Written by a man who obviously has never experienced heroin use or addiction first (or Im guessing even second) hand, this woeful book patronises it's "teen" readers with old-guy-trying-to-be-hip teen speak (newsflash Burgess, no-one.... NO-ONE calls heroin "junk" anymore) and it's linear plotting.
   
   Honestly, I was amazed that this book got published and then relentelessly promoted by a bunch of wannabe "hip" english teachers and social workers who again had no clue as to what the heroin scene was all about, as a book that could tell the kids "Drugs are, you know, bad and stuff."
   
   Steer your teens to Trainspotting or even Junky if you want them to know what heroin is all about. Or, if you want them to think you are an out of touch old fool, give the a copy of this book.



5. one of the best books i have read in a long time, "junk" by melvin burgess delivers everything i look for a in a young adult novel, but its believable and relatable characters make this a superb choice regardless of your age.

   the story is really about gemma and tar, though the plot unfolds through the voices of seven or eight people, each voicing their view on living a drug-filled life in london's squats. "junk" is a subtle love story that is harsh, warming, and always... real.

5 comments about The Complete Professional Audition: A Commonsense Guide To Auditioning For Musicals and Plays.

1. I don't know how I auditioned before this book. For any high school or college student going through program or emphasis auditions, this book is essential. And even better, for professional auditions, this book is a handbook on how to do everything you will need to know.
   I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to be enlightened.



2. As a student of Music Theatre, this book is a fantastic guide to the well rounded audition. This book even landed me the audition! This book is well worth a read for ANYONE who is autioning in Acting, Singing and Musical Theatre.



3. My son plans a career in musical theatre and this is the fourth book that I have read on the topic. The others included the book by Shurtleff and the one by Silver. They were all good but I liked this one best because it covered all of the practical aspects of performing songs and monologues for auditions. It guides one through all of the details. Since this is the most current of all the books the frames of reference are more appropriate.



4. Actors, whether seasoned or new, who regularly audition for musicals and plays should not omit taking at least a peek at the advice in The Complete Professional Audition: A Commonsense Guide To Auditioning For Musicals And Plays: it's a 'must' for would-be pros and provides an edge over the competition in both musical theater and regular play auditions, from locating the right music or monologue to demonstrating unique talents in a mere 2 minutes. An added bonus: chapters which discuss the realities of a working actor's life beyond the audition, from union regulations and the roles of agents to further reference tips, including web sites. Simply invaluable.



5. If you plan on a career in theatre, this book is a must. Not owning it, is like a hairstylist not owning scissors. It is a necessary item in really owning and excercising one's craft. I have had the pleasure to work with Darren Cohen personally, and can only describe it as an actor's dream. This book is the next best thing. Everything is simple and down to terms that agree with an actor's mind and allow us to understand the delicate creature that is "the audition." I only wish this was around when I was still in college. A Must!!!!

4 comments about The Beatles (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers).

1. It is nice to see that along with Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Peter Tchaikovsky that author/illustrator Mike Venezia is also looking at 20th century types like Duke Ellington, George Gerswhin, Igor Stravinsky, and the Beatles for his Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers series. In case the young readers who come across this book do not know, Venezia points out that from 1964 to 1970 the Beatles were the most popular musical group in the world. Unlike most of the other great composers Venezia looks at the Beatles never had any real musical training and were pretty much self taught. Venezia talks about the origins of rock 'n' roll and the influence of particular artists on the Beatles. He then provides early biographies for John, Paul, George and Ringo, with each of the Fab Four getting their own cartoon, before providing a brief history of the band.

   The actual compositions of the Beatles are dealt with in only general terms. The only songs that get mentioned are "She Loves You," because of the cheery "yeah, yeah, yeah" part, Hello Goodbye" because there is a photo of them performing it, and the 40-second final piano chord of "A Day in the Life" from the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. Venezia does provide some basic music appreciation lessons talking about the Beatles experimentation with different kinds of instruments, bringing in musicians from symphony orchestras, and such. However, this is no substitute for actually listening to the group's music. Of course, once you start talking about great Beatles songs, where do you stop? Just have your young reader put on a Beatles album while they read the book.

   The biographical sections on the early years of the four Beatles and their early days trying to make a name for themselves will prove of most interest to young readers. My only real complains about this volume would be that it really does not talk about the impact the Beatles had on popular culture, which was immense, and that except for the difference in Ringo's nose you cannot tell the Fab Four apart in Venezia's cartoons. I was sort of looking forward to better caricatures than this, to be honest.




2. This book is a terrific, entertaining, concise history of the Beatles that is easy for children to read. Being a huge Beatles fan myself, I found the book covered all the bases without leaving too much out. I would recommend this book for any aspiring elementary music teacher.



3. This is a book I would have given ANYTHING (within bounds of reason) for as a child. I love it! This is a delightful read that will hopefully introduce this next generation to the Beatles and the social and musical impact they had on the world. It is an excellent teaching tool for parents and educators.

   I have always believed, from the time I was a very little girl, that the Beatles have set new standards in music. I think this book does an excellent job of introducing the act you've known for all these years to the next generation. The Beatles are timeless.




4. A stunning revelation -- indeed, the time has come for our culture to embrace the meshing of education with fun! Thank you, Mike Venezia for engaging us in this clever strategem which challenges the mind by simultaneously making light on the fringe and exerting a powerful exactitude on the mainframe.

5 comments about My Name is Rachel Corrie.

1. This young lady brutally murdered by an Israeli soldier, was very aware of what was truly going on in "The Palestinian Holocaust" that still is ongoing today. This book is a book of a true "American Hero." Her heroic death must not be in vain, but give courage to all to stand up to the racist atrocities being perpetrated in the world today. The brutal savagery and humiliation against the women, children and men of Palestine is one such, present day "Holocaust." Rachel Corrie had incredible foresight for someone so young. Her cause is now proven and backed by some of the greatest human beings and scholars on this earth: Former President Jimmy Carter has gotten the same message Rachel was getting out to the world in his present best-seller: "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." In another new best-seller "THE ISRAEL LOBBY, AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY," by John J. Mearsheimer (of U. of Chicago) and Stephan M. Walt (Harvard), clearly shared young Rachel's view that the savage and horrific treatment of the Palestinian People and "their" lands, was not good for Palestinians, Israeli's, and Especially for America's Safety and Reputation to the World. The list seems endless, especially today, proving and backing Rachel's heroic mission. May she rest in peace. Her parents must be so proud that Rachel tried to help the oppressed and brutally occupied people of Palestine. Rachel Corrie, be proud as your message of justice is being carried on by the great authors mentioned and many more.
   
   Just something to think about readers: Be careful or take great caution with amateur reviews that try to distort Rachel's pure and humane message. Whose words do you give more weight to, a reckless, insensitive, amateur reviewer, or some of the notable icons and scholars mentioned. Yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion,(that's what makes AMAZON the best) but some spend years researching specialty topics and are more up to speed - weigh everything. Do Former President, and probably todays greatest humanitarian, Jimmy Carter's words have weight and substance? What about other great and acclaimed scholars such as Professor John J. Mearsheimer, who is the Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the Univ. of Chicago. Add, Professor Stephen M. Walt, who is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Who do you believe? I leave that rhetorical question to you.
   
   Rachel Corrie and her beautiful messages in her writings, this book, and her heroic and tragic death keep her lagacy and message of justice alive. Now, more than ever, notable people and scholarly authors are writing an array of necessary books supporting Rachels cause and, important message. A message that, finally, is getting to Americans,i.e., The horrific plight of the Palestinian peoples. Rachel, the world will not forget that you died for the justice of the Palestinians. Rachel's life should be a academic course in and of itself. Rachel was a true martyr. Read Rachel and be inspired and moved forever....



2. This is a tough review to write.
   
   As to the book, it deserves five stars.
   
   But as to Rachel Corrie, who was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who traveled to the Gaza Strip during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, she brought about her own death when she was defending the wrong side.
   
   The Al-Aqsa Intifada was started by Yasir Arafat when he refused to take the 99% of the West Bank that Ehud Barak offered him.
   
   Arafat had to start the Al-Aqsa Intifada because if he did not, people would comes to terms with his own incompetence, arrogance, and greed. Which has all been documented since.
   
   First off, Fatah, Hama and others, who Rachel defended, besides being anti-Israel, are anti-American.
   
   Second off, these two organizations have killed innocent people, including many Americans.
   
   For Rachel Corrie to defend these people is criminal at best, immoral at worst. Rather than defending terrorists, Rachel should have been defending the innocent Israelis.
   
   She was killed when she tried to obstruct an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Caterpillar D9 armoured bulldozer operating in Hai as-Salam, a Palestinian area of Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, an area the IDF had designated a security zone.
   
   Why was the bulldozer there? For security operations designed to uncover the network of smuggling tunnels connecting Egypt to the Palestinian side of Rafah - tunnels used by Hamas and other groups for smuggling weapons from Egypt in Gaza strip.
   
   Let's see, illegal weapons are imported to kill innocents and Corrie wants to defend such people?
   
   She brought about her own death.
   
   Rachel Corrie was a beautiful person with a good heart. She was also misguided. That mistake took her life.
   
   This is a sad tale about a good heart, who defended evil people.



3. I think that this book has the ability to capture a person's attention on an emotional level as well as a political one. Rachel Corrie was a very profound writer, even as a teenager. In this book you get to experience her life the way that she did. She was a very special person and you can see that as you read this book. It was a tragedy the way she died, and I think that this book kind of does her memory some justice.



4. She stood with a bullhorn and a bright orange vest in front of a doctor's home protecting the children who lived there, unarmed.
   
   The invader's armoured tank kept on coming, hitting her, and backing up over her to make certain she was dead.
   
   But she wasn't. Her spine snapped, she died painfully hours later as she was stopped at the invader's "security" checkpoint.
   
   As any decent human being she stood unarmed and defenseless to protect children's ancient homes from destruction and land grab, even to the ultimate consequences. Such morality and courage is very rare today and shines in such great fellow American heroes as Jean Donovan, Sister Ita Ford, Sister Maura Clark and Sister Dorothy Kazel.
   
   But they were in the last millenium, raped and murdered by other US allies and organs. Rachel is now, a hero for our new millenium. Our only American hero.
   
   Please read her words and weep, not for her, but for all the children who loses homes and lives to faceless, relentless immoral military aggression.



5. I read a lot of political websites and was very familiar with the story behind this book when I decided to catch the play at the Minetta Lane Theater.
   
   What surprised me about this book was the quality of Corrie's writing itself. A lot of Corrie's detractors hate her passionately because of their support for Israel's policy against the Palestinians in Gaza but they should give this book a closer look.
   
   "My Name is Rachel Corrie" is not strictly a piece of anti-Israel agit prop, although it is certainly that. It's also a very personal story of an American confronting the effect of her government's foreign policy in a part of the world most of us will never see, an emotional travelogue to the heart of the darkness of the American Empire.
   
   Nobody, of course, would compare Rachel Corrie to Joseph Conrad (who hadn't even learned English by the age of 23). But the process of exploring the self by traveling to the margins of the empire is the same. Corrie feels a sense of dread and purposelessness in Olympia (a first world city, one of those "whited sepulchers" Conrad mentions) that becomes more and more urgent after 9/11 so she decides to travel to the Gaza Strip and become a partisan for one group of people the American and Israeli governments would simply like to see disappear.
   
   To argue that she should have become an objective witness instead of an openly partisan activist is to miss the point. An objective witness stands above the people stuck in a war zone (think of Eddie Adam's famous photo of the VC guerilla being executed) and this wouldn't have allowed her to confront the power relationship that exists between Americans and people like the Palestinians. By getting involved, she was able to free that part of herself that all Americans feel closed off to by our hostile relation to the rest of the world.
   
   And the remarkable thing is that she was quite aware of this. Compare the surrealistic little vignette about her time as a volunteer at a mental health center where she's accused by her clients of putting herself above them to the way the older Palestinian woman argues against taking money from rich Americans. "We're not a hotel." Rachel Corrie struggles to let these people speak for themselves, even while she's using them to explore herself.
   
   In other words, even if you're opposed to Corrie's politics, this book is still worth reading. Maybe the writing itself should get 3.5 stars. But I gave it 5 simply because I was touched by the fact that this book allowed so villified a woman to speak for herself from beyond the grave.

5 comments about Fuddy Meers.

1. More beautiful, whimsical, touching, absurdist fare from David Lindsay-Abaire--in the vein of another terrific young playwright, Napoleon Ellsworth. It seems as though these two writers (along w/ perhaps Padriac Duffy) are spearheading a revolt against the dead, naturalistic world of theater. And it couldn't've happened a moment too soon! BRAVO!



2. I hadn't read anything else by this author and I wasn't sure what to make of the descriptions I read but after receiving the play and giving it a read I knew I was going to want to direct or be in this show. It does read a little clunky at times and it feels as though the speaking traits of a couple of the characters may wear thin but that doesn't happen. I'd suggest getting some friends together and having a read through. That's what we did and we had a blast. The story is complex but not very deep. I can't say that this is a show that will answer any questions of the universe for you but I bet you will enjoy the ride.



3. This is a fun play, with several very creative and funny components that keep this from being a standard series of "ah ha's". Definitely a fun night at the theatre and also a fun read. Without giving anything away, this is about a woman whose life is skewed and the necessary occurances that bring it back into perspective for her, and us too. Featuring an imposter-brother, a foul-mouthed pot-smoking kid, an almost-schizophrenic husband, a tongue-tied stroke-victim grandma, and a not-too-bright schizophrenic puppeteer-kidnapper. Yes, all of them and more make Fuddy Meers a good, creative, enjoyable time.



4. This script keeps you on the edge of your seat--each line is a new discovery. The characters are touching, well-defined, and certainly amusing, and through them Lindsay-Abaire explores humanity with much insight. After reading, I can't help but imagine all the potential this script has to become a great production.



5. "Fuddy Meers", there's no denying, is a vastly diverting stage piece, but upon reflection, except for its perception that amnesia may be the American drug of choice, it's pretty void of meaning. Yet at its premiere, its author was unduly proclaimed a playwright of genius for merely demonstrating considerable skill in stagewriting. Happily, Lindsay-Abaire comes into his own, fulfilling his promise in his most recent work, "Kimberly Akimbo," which does to the contemporary American family what perhaps should be done to the contemporary American family. Existing outside of time or history, devoted to adolescent board games, SUV's, Frosted Flakes, and wished-for visits to kiddy theme parks, the family is presented as a collection of unwittingly solitary individuals who maintain for as long as possible the pretense of "caring" for one another. The heroine of this work, a kind of maimed Nora from "A Doll's House," hilariously and movingly finds she too at the end must walk out (though here accompanied by a geeky boyfriend) if only to an uncertain and precarious future. The "comic genius" said to be in evidence in "Fuddy Meers" is in fact clearly and happily realized in this work, which just received its world premiere at South Coast Rep in Southern California.

1 comments about Jazz Dance Class: Beginning Thru Advanced (A Dance Horizons Book).

1. This is really a brilliant book. It has everything you need to know about jazz from basic to advanced. No matter if you are a student, dancer or teacher.
   A.Gaarden,dancer,teacher& choreographer

No comments about The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks.

5 comments about Travesties.

1. This is probably my favorite Stoppard play. Everything about it is raised to such a level of excellence that it's difficult to imagine how it can be surpassed.

   Stoppard showcases his linguistic talents at their most dazzling and expects the reader to keep up intellectually. Not to sound daunting, but in order to enjoy "Travesties" properly, it helps to know some rudimentary German, French, and Russian; be well familiar with Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" and James Joyce's "Ulysses"; and also to have a good factual knowledge of the Great War and the Great October Revolution. If you do not have this background knowledge, you risk missing out on most of Stoppard's witty insight and leaving the theatre/closing the book confused and disappointed.

   The most important thing to remember about Travesties is that it is essentially Stoppard arguing with himself. This really shines through in his "derailed" scenes, where the characters have to abort a scene half-way through because it's obviously going in a wrong direction. Basically, it starts out with the characters being themselves, but as it progresses, one can see that they are simply two sides of Stoppard's own mind speaking to the audience through masks. And then it's as if the author remembers to keep his distance from the audience and steps back into the shadows. The effect is rather mystical; it's as if we are granted a brief glimpse beyond the fabric of what we take to be reality. What remains unclear is whether we are now looking into the "true" reality or yet another scene setting.

   In short, buy the book, read it outloud, amuse yourself, alarm your neighbors.




2. Zurich 1917, a marvellous subject. The meeting point of the Bolsheviks and other revolutionaries on one side, and of the new « revolutionary » artists, be they James Joyce and the stream of consciousness writers, or Tristan Tzara and the Dada movement.

   The first interest of the play is to situate the dynamic of each revolutionary movement very well. Lenin is the figurehead of the revolutionary politicians, James Joyce and Tzara of the modern literature movements.

   Then Stoppard makes them meet. In Zurich it is more or less an artificial meeting though they share most of their ideas (the files that are unknowingly exchanged at the beginning and exchanged back at the end show how identical their ideas are) and yet they have styles, general postures that make them unable to have a real dialogue.

   Tom Stoppard goes even further by tracing along Lenin's positions on art. He shows the perfect contradiction contained - as Walt Whitman would say - by the man. On one side (Tolstoy), he understands that a work of art is a reflection (hence not a purely identical image) of social contradictions and therefore of society, and also a reflection of the contradictory artist (all artists contain contradictions) and his contradictory position in society (hence in the social contradictions of this society). On the other side, once in power, he condemns, at first, then wavers on the subject, Mayakovsky and the Futurist mocement, and definitely considers intellectuals as bourgeois individualists. But the artists of 1917 represent exactly a similar contradiction between the absolutely nihilistic approach of the Dada movement, and the mentally realistic movement represented by James Joyce. The former rejects all heritage. The latter rearranges the full heritage within a modern man's consciousness, hence within a revolutionary or disturbing consciousness.

   The play is at times funny, at times realistic, at times dramatic, according to the points of view, but the essential one of these is the recollections two (minor) characters have of the period sixty years later. We are forced to accept that historical perspective : what it was then and what we can do of it now.

   The conclusion of the play is typical perpetual movement, here perpetual syllogism : « Firstly, you're either a revolutionary or you're not, and if you're not you might as well be an artist as anything else. Secondly, if you can't be an artist, you might as well be a revolutionary... I forget the third thing. » Unfinished of course, like any historical achievement. History is always unfinished, in spite of Marx's dream of a contradiction-free communist society. This is the biggest sham of western philosophy ever dreamed of by a man of the amplitude and intensity of Karl Marx. You can be a genius but reality is more real than philosophy. The proof, as Marx liked to say, of the pudding is in my eating it. Full stop. Period.

   Dr Jacques COULARDEAU




3. i spent over 2 months working as assistant director of this play and it took my the entire course of which to believe that i had understood all of the jokes. Of course i then went on to read more of Joyce and Wilde and the play took on whole new volumes of meaning. Its that complex. Another review advised to curl up with it for an afternoon...fun, perhaps, but not nearly as rewarding as it could be having done the background needed to get this play. "Halfway to Finland Station with V.I. Lenin" seriosly folks, how many of us would get that reference off the bat? still, diffilculty aside, this play is so amazing and funny that one can spend the entire time chuckling with only the most cursorary of readings/viewings. There is an absolutly fantastic scene done entirely in limerick form where Stoppard stretches his poetic legs (which prove to be quite well muscled). Acadamians and ignoramouses alike, READ IT! IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!



4. Tom Stoppard was clearly showing off when he wrote "Travasties". In his research he cleverly discovered that V.I. Lenin, James Joyce (then young and in the midst of writing Ulysses), and Tristan Tzara, one of the leaders of the dadist movement, were living in Zurich simultaneously. Teamed up with Gwendolen and Cecily, two characters from Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest", and Henry Carr, a former member of the British Counsular Service, Stoppard wrote a theoretical account of their interactions in 1917. The result is "Travasties", a wildly intelligent and humorous play.

   The play is set in the faulty memory of Henry Carr as he reminices about his experiences in Zurich (yes, he was there too) during "The Great War". As it was, Henry Carr, a non-fictional historical figure, played the role of Algernon in "The Importance of Being Ernest" in a play company owned by James Joyce. When James Joyce refused to reimburse Carr for the few hundred pounds he spent on his trousers in his overzealous attempt to "become" Algernon, a lawsuit ensued, which Joyce ultimately won. Indeed, Joyce indeed attained total victory by writing Carr into Ulysses as a drunken soldier. So, as one might imagine, the play is full of small stabs at James Joyce, namely by the elder Carr (at present during the play it is 1972).

   The integration of Lenin and his wife, as well as Cecily, Gwendolen and Tzara, is fantastic and extremely immaginative, and the experience would, no doubt, be enhanced by first reading all of the works alluded to in the play.

   Despite Tom Stoppard's obvious attempt to promote his own genius in "Travasties", the outcome is so fantastic, so interesting, and so, honestly, funny, that all is forgiven. Travasties is 71 pages long, and a reasonably quick read... spend one afternoon curled up with it, see it if you can, and muse over the connections (but not too loudly with the "aha!"s) you find... and I hate to end a review so blandly, but enjoy.




5. A witty and comic two-act play involving characters from history: Lenin, the leader of the Russian Communist Revolution; James Joyce, an Irish poet; Tristan Tzara, the Romanian founder of Dada; and Henry Carr, a man who had associations with Joyce. The play is told from Carr's point of view when he is an old man, and because memory often fails him in his old age, he has to retell certain parts, meaning that we get to see different reenactments of the same scene. Although it may sound repetitive, it not in the least dull, as each retelling is a little bit different. We see Carr's confusion as he struggles to retell the past correctly. Highly amusing. It helps to have some historical knowledge of Stoppard's characters in order to find the humor in the play.