First: The how? How does she do it. I think I would need to see this work in action in order to appreciate the full magnitude of what is being performed. How does one slip from one character to another? How do the characters differ? It's quite a challenge to perform one complex character but to create and perform nine different distinct people from one body and soul...now that is an accomplishment.
Second: The When? Many of the plays this semester have caused us to think. But none have provoked or been written about current affairs. Will this play still have meaning 50 years from now? Or will it simply become an interesting museum piece? It speaks to us now and is not only powerful because of the writing but because our feeling on the this region of the world, nuclear warfare, bombing of Baghdad, 9/11, and of course Bush. It begs questions that are on everyone's mind. Do the Iraqi people look at liberation from Saddam as a blessing or a catastrophe? We don't know we only know what we see on TV. So even if these arent' the views of every Iraqi they are something that we can see and understand. Does that make sense?
Third: Is anyone thinking of doing this as a thesis? I think it would be a wonderful thesis role for a woman.
Fourth: The best thing I think about this play is that it gives us (Americans) some idea of what the other side is thinking. When we look at the media (Medea, meh!) all we see are the negative consequences of foreign intervention. (Now i sound like a republican) It educates those of us who are not familiar with the politics and history of the Saddam's reign. It puts things into perspective for us Bush haters.
Fifth: Maybe its my inner feminist but it's refreshing to see a piece written by a woman about woman, but not necessarily for women. When I first heard about the play I was thinking that I would have very little in common with the action being that I have not experience trials and hardship from a female point of view. But I found myself thinking of each character as a I would view a niece, wife or daughter. I found my empathy in this form.
Sixth: This play inspires people into realistic discussion that takes place long after the play has been finished. In short: It inspires us to talk.
1 comment:
Good questions and points, here. I think it's very true that through all of these characters' various perspectives one gets a more complex picture than usually represented in media reports. And this form also lends itself to a more empathic and human response. And when one empathizes with so many different people, it's unsettling but also very moving. That's where I think this play is successful in ways that more didactic plays may not be. It also brings home more completely the difficulty of these women's situations, and their remarkable resilience in the face of all that's happened/happening to them.
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