A Doll House

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

This play was a lot better than I remember it in high school. Nora is a ditzy materialistic housewife. She seems very excited about the promotion to bank manager her husband Torvald is about to receive. He chastises her for plotting to spend it before he has started to receive it. She has three kids, but likes to have the hired-help take care of them. She likes to buy presents for others, but just presents for herself. An old friend comes to town. She has been divorced and needs a job. Nora pulls some strings with her husband to secure a job at the bank. However, this ends up causing things to unwind for her. To give a job to her friend, her husband is letting Krogstad go. Nora had received a loan from Krogstad with a forged signature from her dying father. Krogstad holds this against her. (Nora had taken out the loan to help her husband convalesce in the south.) Nora doesn't want her husband to find out. However, he reads the letter from Krogstad and flips out. He is more concerned for himself than for Nora. Then when he receives the paid off note, he is happy again. It is Nora's turn to flip out and decide she will leave them to be independent.

Nora is quite unreliable and is prone to take things to extreme. I wasn't sure that she had really taken out the loan. Was she just exaggerating to feel better with her friends? When it appeared she did take out hte loan, she went to extremes to hide it from her husband and prevent it Krogstad from doing negative things. There was a lot of toeing around issues to try to get what was needed. Then when it came to that she did it, she flipped out and decided to drop her life and not live in a "Doll House". They both seem to delight in controlling each other. There seemed to be some love in the relationship, but also some mutual manipulation. They both were most interested in caring for themselves. Nora also came from a family with some not-so-good characters. Is the rash behavior and familial abandonment just another case of this behavior? The L.A. Theater Works production was well done with some great actors. This helps the play come alive.

The School for Scandal

The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

The LA Theatre Works dramatization includes an insightful interview at the end that discusses the art of radio acting as well as the career of the playwright. Sheridan had a very short but influential career penning plays. He did not view himself as a playwright and moved on to politics after a short time writing plays. 

The play itself is a comedy of manners. People spend a lot of time poking fun of and criticizing others. These people are primarily gossips who hatch plans to ruin others. The bad behavior backfires and eventually everyone seems to get their just rewards. The humor is such that it can be easily grasped without understanding the plot.

Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days adapted by Jules Verne, adapted by Anna Lea

I had a bit of trouble figuring out what this actually was. It credits an "adaptor", but not a translator. I'm assuming that this was adapted from some English translation of the original French. There were multiple characters and the pace was perfect.

Phileas Fogg is an eccentric British aristocrat. He places a bet that he can get around the world in the unheard time of 80 days. A new assistant, Jean Passepartout, happened to join him just before he makes this bet. They journey together to complete the quest. They have to deal with steamers, trains, and even elephant travel. Fogg is willing to throw vast sums at solutions due to the money that he has at stake. His assistant gets into a bit of trouble (for things such as not taking his shoes off at an Indian temple). They are also chased by police who mistake Fogg for a thief. They have many adventures, including the rescue of a woman from ritual suicide. They make it back in what they think is just a bit too late. Later they realize they forgot to take into account the date change and rush to make it back just in time. It is a fun adventure that has been well adapted to movies and other media.

Drama: A Graphic Novel

Drama: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier

This graphic novel is set in middle school, but feels much more like high school. It centers around a drama production at the school. The protagonist, a seventh grade girl, is in charge of set design. She likes a baseball player, and kisses him when he says that he broke up with her girlfriend. But, then he doesn't want to have much to do with her. For the play, a set of twins come to try out for the play. They are both good singers. One is outgoing and willing to try out. The other is shy and ends up on crew. The outgoing boy is out gay, The girl gets a crush on both of them. She hopes the other will invite her to the 8th grade formal. The protagonist spends a while trying to get a cannon to work on stage. The performance seems to go well until the final show. The lead female broke up with her boyfriend and got tripped up on stage in the middle of the performance. The alternates are nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the shy twin ends up in drag in the leading lady role. (He had practiced the female parts with his brother when trying out.) He completes the part, even kissing the leading man at the end. Later at the formal, the girl goes with the boy, but he ends up ditching her to go with another boy. She later finds another drama boy that really likes her. It can be difficult keeping the characters apart. Some of them look and act quite similar. It does feel like way to much relationship drama for middle school.

Who's the Dupe?

Who's the Dupe? by Hannah Cowley

This is a short two act play from a few centuries ago. The Librivox recording does have a full cast. However, the style of reading by each reader differs enough to make it a challenge to understand. (One reads extremely slowly, while others are much faster.) It is a comedy that deals with marriage. There is some conflict with the desires of the daughter and the father. One suiter ends up spewing out a large amount of pseudo-erudite drivel in an attempt to appeal to the others. There are some random expressions like "zounds" that would feel at home in 20th century camp.  This feels like it would be hilarious to watch performed.

To Marry or Not to Marry

To Marry or Not to Marry by Elizabeth Inchbald

Women talk about getting married. Men talk about getting married. The play feels like a combination of a Jane Austen book with British commedy.

William Tell

William Tell by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller

When I think of William Tell, the first thing that comes to mind is Rossini's Overture. Then I see an apple shot off a head. And that is about it. This play is based on the William Tell legend. Rossini's opera was in turn based off this play. In it William Tell does shoot an apple off of his son's head. He was promised that doing so would be the only way to preserve his life. However, the leader that made the promise then realizes that he is too dangerous to have around, so he imprisoned him. However, he is asked to guide the ship over rough seas. He does so, but then uses the opportunity to escape. He later uses a well-placed shot to kill the leader as he is traveling. This foments a revolution. At the end, the emperor his shot by one of his relatives. Tell does not agree with this, but does talk with him as he visits and asks him to atone for his action. I got lost in some of the convoluted parts, but the apple scene was quite clear.

A Raisin in the Sun

 A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

An African American family in Chicago get an inheritance and want to decide what to do with it. Grandma wants to get a house in a nice neighborhood. One of the adult sons wants to invest in a business. They decide to do a bit of both. Alas, somebody runs off with the business money. They do have the house. However, the neighborhood does not want them there. In a nice way, they offer to buy them out to keep the neighborhood white. The family thinks about it, but decides not to.

The play explores the subtle challenges of race and class in society. The family is concerned about how they will be seen by others, judging both those above them and those below them. Money may cause a change in material circumstances, but you are still left with your internal character.

In Search of Lost Time (Dramatized)

In Search of Lost Time is an extremely long, multi-volume novel. This dramatization distills it down to a few hours. It seems to focus on the romantic endeavors. It was not very engaging. Maybe it isn't worth going through the long original.

The Magus

The Eagles "Hotel California" was loosely based on The Magus. The novel is fairly long, but the BBC dramatization keeps it manageable. The protagonist has knack for "using" people in relationships. He ends up involved in some elaborate psychological experience where people manipulate him and control his experience. The relationship with a woman takes some weird turns and a mysterious man seems to be heavily involved. 

The Master and Margarita (Dramatized)

The dramatization of Master and Margarita is a quick introduction to the story. The focus is primarily on the story of Pontius Pilate and the writer and poet. The "cat" makes a brief appearance. The short version skips over a lot of details that make the novel "weird". There is a bit of absurdity involved, but not nearly as much as in the book.

Dracula: Starring David Suchet and Tom Hiddleston

A BBC adaptation of a play based on the original Dracula book seems as good way as any to get introduced to Dracula. I was surprised at how little I knew of the original story, but how much I understood of the characters. Many of the "vampire" themes are present in this original book. There is also a distinct "vampire romance" involved. No wonder Twilight and the like of gone so far on the romance. Dracula spreads vampire-dom on other unwittingly. Some people also have managed to discover some of the defenses. The "happy" ending only occurs after great challenge.

And Then There Were None (Dramatised)

And then there were none is a sanitized version of Agatha Christie's popular mystery novel. Ten people that have caused the deaths of others are together on an island. There is a poem about 10 little soldier boys in each room. (In previous editions, there were other terms that would be offensive today.) Each one suffers death in a strange way. In the story, each of the people suffers death in a similar way. It turns out somebody was seeking "revenge" in this way. People may think they can escape their misdeeds, but they find the way back to them.

Faust Part 2

In Faust Part 1, Goethe stuck pretty closely to the Faust legend. In Part 2, he goes off the deep end.

The story delves heavily into Greek mythology. Faust even gains Helen of Troy. The language (even in translation) shows a great, well thought out complexity. I could see it as an elaborate science fiction movie driven by powerful music and impressive imagery. However, even there, I probably would not have a clue as to what was happening.

The librivox recording has generally well done vocals. However, the "choruses" are horrid. It seems obvious that the different members recorded their lines separately. When combined, the different speeds of speech make it quite difficult to understand the words. However, even when I did understand most of the other words, I had trouble understanding the story. Faust 2 is supposedly a very difficult work in its native German. An English translation does not make it easier.

The School For Wives

This was the best performed play on the Moliere collection. The acting was lively and even the American accents fit the roles perfectly.

In the play, an older man returns from a long absence. He had been supporting a young lady that he had been sheltering in a nunnery. She took her out and brought her to one of his houses and was occupying it under a new name. She is naively innocent. However, through a chance encounter with a young man, she fell in love. The young man confesses this love to the older man (not knowing that he is also the overbearing governor of the lady.)

The old man plots to have the girl marry him. The young man was also in pursuit of her. However, he gives it up after learning that he has been promised to somebody else. The old man sees this as the opportunity he desired. However, it turns out that the lady to which he is promised is the same one he had fallen in love with. Everybody ends up happy - except for the old man.

Confusing, eh? Luckily, it is the characters that are important here.

This play has all the trademarked Moliere doubled-talk and double meanings. The older man is the buffoon here. Everybody is chasing their emotions. However, he is trying to manufacture the perfect girl for himself (with disastrous results.) His attempts to manipulate others end up resulting in himself being the one manipulated. He seems totally clueless as to what everyone else is saying and feeling. The girl is played with a perfect innocence. She has learned with the help of the older man what it is to be "good" and attempts to follow it - even if it ends up being different than what he intended.

The School for Husbands

School for Husbands was Moliere's first full length play. The plot deals with two men who have opposite views of women. One believes that women should be strictly controlled and refrain from excess social activity or flashy dress. The other believes that women should do whatever they want. They each have girls to which they are engaged and want to point out that there way is right. The "controller" thinks that his girl his the perfect angel. However, she is just humoring him in an attempt to get with her true love. We get some hilarious double meanings where she launches into a soliloquy with both her betrothed and lover present. Everyone (except the fiance) knows exactly who she is talking about. Eventually, she tricks him into "forcing" her to marry her lover. Freedom wins over forced obedience.

The language in the Richard Wilbur translation is masterful, and helps to convey the humor and double meanings of the play. The humor also beings up the debate of appropriate freedoms. Too much freedom without concequences can lead to a persons downful. However, preventing people from making choices can often lead to people making a rebelling and going even further away from what is desired.

Tartuffe

Tartuffe was one of Moliere most popular - and most banned - works. It centers around a pious charlatan, Tartuffe. He has ingratiated himself with a well-to-do family. They have taken him in after seeing his difficult circumstances. They grant him all of his material needs and respect his opinions. However, the younger generation does not share this respect. This is especially bad after the father promises his daughter to Tartuffe (even though she is already planning on marrying somebody else.) They eventually plot to uncover Tartuffe in making advances to the woman of the house. The plot works and they throw Tartuffe out. However, Tartuffe gets the last laugh as the family has given him a strongbox and signed away the house to him. (This was in part to escape a possible difficult situation.) Tartuffe attempts to evict the family. Luckily, some officials are aware of Tartuffe's activities and arrest him, thereby rescuing the family.

Like many other Moliere comedies, this deals with the comedy of different people communicating on different levels. There is also a wedding and the shenanigans that almost result in the breakup of the wedding. Luckily, everything works out in the end.

Jungle Book

The BBC produced a radio-play of some of the best stories in Kipling's Jungle Book. It was also distributed free in Britain (and is available at archive.org, with a claim that it is in the public domain.)

It tells some of the stories of a boy that was adopted by wolves and lives his life in the jungle. He does not fall victim to the trappings of wealth as do most other men. There are also other moral teachings in the book. (Modern Cub Scouts adopt some of the characters are teachings of the Jungle Book.)

The production is well done, and provides another adaption of popular stories.

Faust Part 1

References to "Faustian" bargains abound in popular culture. But who was Faust? Both Goethe and Marlowe have created plays that tell their versions of the story.

The Faust story is akin to the story of Job in reverse. Faust makes an agreement with the devil and gets to enjoy the good life for a while. At the end, the debt becomes due and he becomes the devil's property.

I listened to the librivox recording which suffers from inconsistent sound quality, making some of the voices difficult to hear and understand. Add in the fact that Faust is notoriously difficult to translate and it got even harder to follow.

In spite of the difficulty, you can still tell why it is such an acclaimed work. The story itself has been told many times, from Marlowe to Brendan Frasier (in Bedazzaled). Goethe's seems to probe deeper into the psychology. I only wish I understood German better.

Six Characters in Search of An Author

This is a play about a play. Characters talk with the people that they are playing and with others. Who has the real existence? Are the characters more real than the people. It is an interesting, fun play. The libravox recording was quite well done.