•1:01 PM
Have you ever read a play? Well, other than Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller, 1949) or The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams, 1944) ... because we've all read those, haven't we. Don't worry, I didn't make a mistake with the punctuation in my last sentence. It wasn't really a question, but more of a statement.
Have ever read a play, just for the experience ... like a book? Me either, until this past semester. But maybe we should be reading plays for interest because doing so can give you some real insight into theatre and the ways in which a story is told.
For instance, why would a writer choose to tell their story as a play instead of a novel? Or a short story? Or a poem? It's an interesting question ... one that bears some thought, if you are interested in literature.
In my Literary Criticism class, we studied a play called, Heroes and Saints. It is the story of a Mexican-American family dealing with the affects of pesticide poisoning in the 1980s. Although the family is fictional, the story came as a response to the events surrounding the United Farm Workers' grape boycott and 36-day fast of the Union's president, Cesar Chavez, in 1988. It is similar to the Erin Brockovich story, except that those affected by the poisoning were all immigrant farm workers. Children were dying from bizarre diseases, infants were stillborn, babies were born with limbs missing ... the pesticides were gravely affecting the workers and their families.
The opening scene is of a group of children, moving across a field, erecting a cross, and hanging a dead baby on it ... in a mock crucifixion. Not a word is spoken until the silence is broken by a helicopter as it moves across the night, showering the crops (and the nearby residents) with the deadly chemicals. Pretty powerful, huh? The ending is equally as moving and you will come to love the characters in between. Once you know Cerezita, you will NEVER forget her ... I promise you ...
Heroes and Saints is one of three plays in Cherrie Moraga's book, Heroes and Saints & Other Plays (1994). Although we only studied one play, I read all three. All three plays centre around Mexican-American families and the struggles they face. Moraga is described as a Chicana writer, a feminist activist, a essayist/poet/playwrite and a lesbian. Her writing tends to focus on issues faced by the Mexican-American, the family dynamic, Chicanas, homosexuality and the Mexican culture.
I thoroughly enjoyed these plays and wish I could see Heroes and Saints in a theatre. So, if you want to read a play - just for fun and enjoyment - pick up this book ... or you can borrow mine ...
Have ever read a play, just for the experience ... like a book? Me either, until this past semester. But maybe we should be reading plays for interest because doing so can give you some real insight into theatre and the ways in which a story is told.
For instance, why would a writer choose to tell their story as a play instead of a novel? Or a short story? Or a poem? It's an interesting question ... one that bears some thought, if you are interested in literature.
In my Literary Criticism class, we studied a play called, Heroes and Saints. It is the story of a Mexican-American family dealing with the affects of pesticide poisoning in the 1980s. Although the family is fictional, the story came as a response to the events surrounding the United Farm Workers' grape boycott and 36-day fast of the Union's president, Cesar Chavez, in 1988. It is similar to the Erin Brockovich story, except that those affected by the poisoning were all immigrant farm workers. Children were dying from bizarre diseases, infants were stillborn, babies were born with limbs missing ... the pesticides were gravely affecting the workers and their families.
The opening scene is of a group of children, moving across a field, erecting a cross, and hanging a dead baby on it ... in a mock crucifixion. Not a word is spoken until the silence is broken by a helicopter as it moves across the night, showering the crops (and the nearby residents) with the deadly chemicals. Pretty powerful, huh? The ending is equally as moving and you will come to love the characters in between. Once you know Cerezita, you will NEVER forget her ... I promise you ...
Heroes and Saints is one of three plays in Cherrie Moraga's book, Heroes and Saints & Other Plays (1994). Although we only studied one play, I read all three. All three plays centre around Mexican-American families and the struggles they face. Moraga is described as a Chicana writer, a feminist activist, a essayist/poet/playwrite and a lesbian. Her writing tends to focus on issues faced by the Mexican-American, the family dynamic, Chicanas, homosexuality and the Mexican culture.
I thoroughly enjoyed these plays and wish I could see Heroes and Saints in a theatre. So, if you want to read a play - just for fun and enjoyment - pick up this book ... or you can borrow mine ...
