Letters from Africa Preview

Taken from my introduction to Letters from Africa. All the other excerpts will be italicised. I created a small book on my return home for an extra credit of high school work in creative writing. I am still shocked that they chose to recognize this artistic endeavor as I felt so strongly that my voice was never heard in those halls. Nevertheless, I am grateful and humbled that I was granted this extra room to run with my words.


August 2009:

My Mother and I decided that I was to have monthly newsletters to update all of my friends and family on my adventures in South Africa. From those letters I was able not only to record my thoughts as events took place but to explore a voice in writing that I never knew I could muster. In addition to writing the letters; I wrote at least 30 poems in response to my experiences.

My English teacher in South Africa, Ms. Felton was particularly instrumental in my start per se as a writer. In her class I wrote a lot of assignments and she always encouraged me to write freely and she read much of what I wrote outside of class. She taught me to be fearless with words and a deep respect for the English language. I am forever in indebted to her.

In South Africa, as I came obviously fluent in English, I began to read some of the country’s most celebrated authors like Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee. I also completely fell in love with the English language books of Afrikaans poet Antjie Krog. Through her writings I was able to acquaint myself with Afrikaans society and get a harrowing and personal view of South Africa’s recent history. Because of all of the reading I was doing, my drive to write became a force I just had to succumb to. Through writing this year I was able to preserve a first person account of my exchange year which will be something I can treasure for the rest of my life. I also found I LOVED exploring myself and the world around me in words and images. I became a writer whether I intended to or not.

Letter #1

The Orphanage is seated on a huge hill overlooking savannah like grounds and the town, its magnificent scenery. It’s in that place you can feel the heartbeat of Africa—it’s embodied in those children and their smiles.





It was while playing with all of the children that I realized why I had come. I came to give love and comfort to these little ones. They come up to you with open arms and big smiles. It’s quite unnerving for they have all the reasons in the world to be sad.






Letter #2

I love breathing in Africa’s air it’s so stimulating and makes me feel very alive. There is something so soothing about nature, nature is right. In this country two groups of people are struggling to live together and the natural surroundings are witness to their battles.



I have settled nicely into school. I am with the grade 11 class 1. I have joined choir, debate, and Interact. I really do enjoy school here, the only cons being that there are a lot of rules. We have this thing called assembly every few days. It scares the hell out of me. All of the girls file into the main hall, standing until we are told to sit by the headmaster, “Good Morning, Girls” to which we answer in unison “Good Morning, Mr. Nell.” The teachers line the hall looking at us strictly, then we sing, it’s the most terrifying thing ever especially since some of the songs are in other languages—I’ve taken to mouthing “pink elephant, pink elephant” when I don’t know a word. If one of us is caught talking or doing anything seen as wrong or inappropriate, that girl has to stand. The hall is quite small and when sitting one has to be very fast to sit on her piece of hard wood floor for if you aren’t fast you have to stand. It feels quite military, I asked if yawning was seen as inappropriate and heck can I breathe??



In my time here I have been introduced to a South African playwright called Athol Fugard, he is so lyrical and his country’s hardships seep through every pore of his writing. Two girls in my class performed a piece from one of his plays, as rehearsal for a competition they were entering, I watched and ten minutes later tears where streaming down my face. These girls are the soul of Africa, being African themselves—their words are the reason I came.




Letter #3

The game reserve was beautiful, it’s just that simple, it’s stunning. The land is so vast and open—we as the people are so small compared to the land. The land is a character unto itself, it seems to breathe and swell. It bears witness to the human suffering that occurs on it. When one is driving in the country, one can’t help but notice the black townships. While blacks and whites can live together, they don’t for the most part. It’s still very separate. Poverty is South Africa’s new Apartheid. The land cries….

The Free State is very different than the Eastern Cape, where I live. I could feel in the air the tensions between black and white—the wounds very evident from Apartheid. It’s a very different set of social codes than I am used to it was very strange that’s for sure. I love listening to all of the different languages that are spoken in this country, it’s so interesting—it fascinates me—it’s a gourmet feast for my mind.


Letter #4

On the actual date of Halloween—the 31st I left East London for Durban, South Africa and my two week Cape Tour. The tour was hosted by another neighboring Rotary District (based in Durban) for their district and our districts’ exchange students. I don’t think I have any words for this wondrous two weeks. I am void of all language for my soul and self have been quietly and powerfully expanding. We drove across South Africa in our tour bus—22 students from all over the world bound together by a sense of isolation in our new country. We became a merry band of musicians (we had one guitar and African drums and our voices), writers, artists, budding politicians, photographers, and of course film makers and actors. We learned the South African National Anthem and another African song and sang Beatles songs (“Let It Be” and “Imagine”) ---it was incredible. We all agreed we had to be a bit insane to go on exchange to South Africa.


Isabelle from Sweden


So in our merry bus we drove across the vast space of South Africa. The landscape is stunning, kilometer after kilometer of beauty passing across our fields of vision. Sparkling lakes of deepest blue, vast savannahs, the Klein Karoo’s desolate beauty, and the lush land of the Western Cape—home to South Africa’s vineyards and Cape Town. Once South Africa gets under your skin you never are the same—I am in awe of this land. (As was everyone else—cameras never ‘slept’)
Some highlights of the trip besides visiting Cape Town were riding Ostriches, visiting the Cango Caves, stopping in a town called Graff-Reinet, watching some of our crew dive with crocodiles, pet Cheetahs, and staying at an old farm house in the Karoo.







Letter #5


Amalie and I arrived in Johannesburg with our Rotarian guide, Edric. Our first day of sightseeing had us taking in the Apartheid Museum. Which was such an amazing journey to go on, it made me love South Africa even more, if that is possible. To see how this country has fought out of the darkness of one of the most oppressive regimes into the democracy that it is today is incredible. I left feeling both light and heavy at the same time, happy that I could walk away free



During my time at Kidd’s Beach I “worked” part-time at the Ganes small restaurant called The Mcantsi. I got lots of nice tips and met lots of interesting people. The restaurant is situated on top a large hill overlooking the lagoon which leads out into the ocean. It’s simply breathtaking.
I’ve had a magical and all too short time at Kidd’s beach. Because I was able to spend most of my time with the Gane family (I had no school since November) we’ve become very close and I don’t want to go back to East London. I’ve had endless days of sand and surf and being in the pool. I’ve gotten the most major tan ever and have been losing weight by doing aqua aerobics everyday in the pool—sometimes twice a day!





TBA Letters 6-8 in one more post...

Annie Hall

I am feeling a bit Manhattan happy because of my impending trip to NYC for the summer. I've gone a bit Diane Keaton nuts as I rewatched Something's Gotta Give a fantastic film. But, I am feeling particularly drawn to her most famous role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall . She's a great singer..observe.

Food for Thought: Why I Do Theatre

I thought I must post this video of the teacher I studied with over my Spring Break. She is so inspiring and her thoughts blow my mind. She validates all artists. I will be studying with her again over the summer and cannot wait.

Review of August: Osage County

While we didn't study this play in English, I thought that it was relevant to the class. Theater is continuing and writing is continuing and it is still transforming. So here is my review of the Pulitzer Prize Winning play by Tracy Letts. I had to compose this for my theater course.

A few weeks ago I had the supreme pleasure of watching the national tour of Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County. It was an impressive ensemble led by the divine Estelle Parsons and the brilliant Shannon Cochran playing the principal female roles. After I watched this mammoth play (a three and half hour long drama with two intermissions) my first thought was: the American theater is not dead. Sometimes in the age of pop musicals and movie stars attempting stage work, it seems that progress moves very slowly for serious plays and authors. After watching Tracy Letts’s searing family drama my hope in the future of American theater is a secure once again.
The play opens with the disappearance of the Weston family patriarch Beverly Weston (Jon DeVries) in Osage County, Oklahoma. He sets the tone for the entire play by describing the pact that he and his wife, Violet, have struck: he drinks, she pops pills. Even though Beverly is never seen apart from the opening scene, Jon DeVries delivered a commanding and sorrowful performance; it left me certainly hoping he would reappear.
Enter down the cascading ivory staircases, the matriarch Violet Weston. Sometimes inaudible in her dialogue—she is revealed to have cancer of the mouth—Estelle Parsons is anything but inaudible in her performance. As, an actor just beginning her journey, it’s incredibly inspiring to see a veteran performer at the top of her game. Violet is at once a deplorable character, she verbally attacks the family that has gathered to help her, yet also a terribly lost character. Estelle Parsons gave a pitch-perfect performance and deserves every accolade she has received in this role.
The three tormented Weston Sisters: Barbara Fordham, Ivy Weston, and Karen Weston were played to delicious and tragic effect by Shannon Cochran, Angelica Torn, and Amy Warren. Besides Violet, Barbara is the most fully developed character in the play. It was incredible to see Shannon Cochran play the full arc of the character. I think Barbara’s character hits at the truth of what no daughter likes to admit: she is turning into her mother. Ivy Weston is played perfectly as the middle child trying to push her way in between her older and younger sisters; my heart broke as Angelica Torn played the scene were Ivy found out that the love of her life was indeed her brother. Finally, the least developed of the sisters, but scene-stealing nonetheless is Amy Warren’s performance as Karen Weston. She captured the flightiness of the character but, I would have liked to have seen more of the vulnerability and insecurity the character has by being the youngest.
It was hard to ignore the loud-mouth that is Mattie Fae Aiken (Violet’s sister) and her husband Charles Aiken, whose husband-wife team foil the decay of Violet’s and Beverly’s marriage. While Mattie Fae had some of the funniest lines in the play, I found the relationship between Charles, and she and Little Charles very troubling. I find it hard to believe that Mattie Fae could have lived with the secret of Little Charles’ paternity for most of her adult life. This family unit was superbly brought to life by Libby George, Paul Vincent O’Connor, and Steve Key as Little Charles.
The supporting cast members and characters were all equally well-drawn out roles even if the audience doesn’t see much of them. For example the rebellious pot-smoking granddaughter, Jean Fordham (Emily Kinney), the Native American housekeeper Johnna (played by DeLanna Studi—a very calming presence in an erupting household), and Karen Weston’s fiancé, Steve (Laurence Lau), and last but not least, the very admirable small-town sheriff Deon (Marcus Nelson).
I feel privileged to have witnessed the emergence of a formidable new playwright and a stunning new play. I think even if the actors had not been up to par that the text would have spoken for itself, for Tracy Letts has managed to create a piece of work that reinforces perhaps the only universal truth in this world: we are all fundamentally alone.

Fiona Shaw reading poetry

I actually can't resist posting a video of actress Fiona Shaw reading poetry. There are no words....just listen.

Poetry Unit 3-- Langston Hughes

I really enjoyed the poetry we had to read for this week. But, I was especially drawn to the poetry of Langston Hughes. I’ve had to read many of his poems throughout my academic career but, this time the reading took me on a journey. I read ALL of his poems that appear in the book and really loved The Negro Speaks of Rivers. It not only reminded me of the African experience in America but of Africa and the spirit of that continent. “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (Hughes 974). I thought his imagery was incredible as that line shows. It indeed conjures up the image of humanity that has past. I also think the poem explores the idea of human growth and change and understanding. “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” (Hughes 974). This poem touched me deeply as I feel I am going through a transformative period and where I am deciding what steps to take to move forward. I feel the speaker in the poem really achieved this feeling of deep understanding, I feel the speaker has lived and experienced. “I’ve known rivers: ancient, dusky rivers” (Hughes). This makes me want to read more Langston Hughes poetry—it’s brilliant!

Here is the absolutely wonderful Audra McDonald singing another one of Hughes's poems, Dream Variations. The clip is quite old, so hopefully the sound will hold up...Enjoy!

Gwendolyn Brooks--The Mother

I really enjoyed the poems we had to read this week, not only because they are all written by women but, they address many issues that I feel don’t get explored in poetry like abortion, parents and family, and other literature. I thought all of the poems were very powerful but, I was particularly intrigued by Brooks’ The Mother. I thought it was an effective way to look at abortion (I really felt the horror of the decision) and the consequences of that decision as played out in the poem. It’s clear how the author creates her character (or her own voice) in the beginning of the poem “Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get,” (Brooks 1027). I like that she is so blunt with that statement—it jolts the reader into her head and to her feelings. She is not afraid of the feelings that come along with a life altering decision like this as she goes on “I have heard the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children”(Brooks 1027). I guess that is what struck me most—Brooks, as a writer and as a woman, is not shying away from something as controversial as this issue. I think this issue is also not discussed on the emotional levels that it should be—we are too eager to blame or to pity—I don’t think there is a right answer. I was quite moved by the last two lines “Believe me, I loved you all. Believe me, I knew you well, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you All” (Brooks 1028).

Here is a link to some more information about Gwendolyn Brooks.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=843

Because this poem deals with the deep bonds between a mother and child (in this case children not brought to term), I decided to do a mini-picspam of the mother-child image. Also, it's Mother's Day on Sunday...

















Notice how the behavior is ALL the same? Cross cultures? Species?

Poetry Unit 2--Wilfred Owen and A.E. Housman

It was very difficult choosing a poem to explore for this post as I really enjoyed the ones we had to read for the week. The poem that I really was struck by was Wilfred Owens’s Dulce et Decorum Est. The theme is made quite clear by Owen’s use of imagery and tone from the opening line “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks…we cursed through sludge.” His language is so vivid that he creates the entire scene for the reader and it’s not a pretty one, we can SEE all of the horror he had to endure. “Behind the wagon that we flung him in, and watch the white eyes writhing in his face” is a line that rather stayed with me as I read. He very bravely puts forth the idea that war is not beautiful or courageous because of his experiences. “To children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country).” I think this poem should be read more often because of the all of the on-going wars in the world—we don’t learn do we?

I think this poem might just be imperative for our times with the ever constant Iraq War conflict. I think that some of this years films have been great in highlighting the idiocy of what we are NOT achieving in the Middle East. I actually don't understand how we FAIL to look to the past to help us with the future. I mean did no one learn anything from the last century that was dominated by war?

Here is the trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's 2010 Oscar winning film, The Hurt Locker



And now to change tones completely, I was particularly fond of A.E. Housman’s To An Athlete Dying Young. When I read this beautiful poem I kept thinking: Where have I heard that before? And of course if anyone has seen the 1985 Oscar winning epic Out of Africa one might remember it being read by Meryl Streep. I hold Karen Blixen's book and this film completely resonsible for my decision to go to Africa. For once it is in your blood you can't ever get it out. Here is the scene from Out of Africa, directed by the late Sydney Pollack.

Poetry Unit 1--John Donne's Death Be Not Proud

I will be diving our poetry unit into three separate posts. After our intro to poetry, we studied Shakespearean Sonnets and other poets with who wrote complicated figurative language. One of those poets was metaphysical poet, John Donne, know for his religious and erotic verse. I think some of his images and words are some of the most beautiful in the English language. It seems that with authors like Shakespeare and Donne, that one doesn't have to do any work at all--it's all in the text. I learned the full power of text over my Spring Break at the workshop I attended. So, in actual fact the phrase "sticks and stones can break my bones but, words can never hurt me" is completely wrong. I think words have power beyond any bomb or physical torture. One of my favorite poems by Donne is perhaps his most famous, Death Be Not Proud. I felt such a keen emotional attachment to it that I decided to paraphrase it for our assignment. I think the poem is universal because we all have to face life and death, it's the struggle or acceptance that separates people. Here are Donne's words in their entirety.


DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee, 5
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, 10
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.


I think another source of my attachment to his work stems from a film I saw a few years ago called Wit with Emma Thompson. It is a brilliant film by Mike Nichols about an English Professor dying of cancer whose main focus is John Donne. I'm not going to say too much more about the film as I feel everyone should experience it themselves. But, it's a heartbreaking portrait of one woman's search for truth as she is dying, you will cry.

Here is a scene with Emma Thompson and Eileen Atkins from HBO's Wit.

August Wilson's Fences

I absolutely adored August Wilson’s drama Fences. I don’t think I’ve read a more alive and breathing-on-the-page play in a very long time. The thing that struck me the most about the play was that I SEE and come into contact with characters like the ones portrayed in the play all of the time. All of the characterizations feel real, vibrant, and like they possess a beating heart. While I thoroughly enjoyed plays like A Doll’s House and other plays that are naturalistic; I was always aware that as a reader I was working very hard to lift the play off the page. I felt that this play needed none of that extra labor and that it created itself right in front of my imagination. I guess that is the mark of a wonderful author who is clearly present in his writing and in his characters.
As I read Fences, I was struck by the idea that it was not unlike an African American complement to Miller's Death of a Salesman; both plays are very parallel to each other. Both male leads, Willie and Troy, are chasing after dreams that cannot exist for them i.e. the American dream and baseball. But because they are entirely single mindedly headed in that pursuit, they both become “stuck” and cannot move forward with their lives. Neither of them is able to see the pain of others around them and they bring their families down with them into their fantasies.

I have to admit that this play has stuck with me through the course of the semester. It was the only play I hadn't read and it was such a discovery for me. I've recently been thinking about how this year back home has been as transformative for me as the year I spent abroad. I've come to the rather strange conclusion that I feel alot more a kin to African American identity than to my own Latino heritage. I also just adore the play because of how ALIVE it is. I feel August Wilson was able to capture the soul of his people but, also create a play that is universal. Not only does it deal with the African American experience, but also with the themes of loss, lonliness, marriage, children, and broken dreams. I think August Wilson deserves to be in the company of playwrights like Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neil, and Edward Albee.

I am so thrilled as the revival of Fences has hit Broadway with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the primary roles. Here are some links and a video for the acclaimed production. I am hoping to see this show when I am in NYC over the summer--it would be such a treat! Viola Davis is such an inspiration to me, as a young actress, cause she's a force of nature--do I hear a Tony Award? This production has received rave reviews and I bet it's going to be a heck of a time trying to get a ticket, if they aren't sold out for their limited run in New York.



Here is another link with Viola Davis talking about the character of Rose.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/04/26/theater/1247467708862/viola-davis-on-fences.html

And a link to the Broadway site
http://www.fencesonbroadway.com/

A Delicate Balance in Ibsen's A Doll's House

I was absolutely riveted by Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and the characterizations in the play. I had read it previously just for pleasure but didn’t understand the play nor did I see as much in it as I do now. It’s so clear by the play’s first scenes the balance of power between Nora and Torvald in their marriage. I think this play is not just about Nora discovering her own voice as a woman (much in the same way Kristine Linde demonstrates in her scenes with Nora) but, also about the destruction of a marriage. Nora realizes that she has been living through her father, and then her husband and family. “I mean that I was just passed from Papa’s hands to yours”(1606 Ibsen). While she creates a façade of a dancing ‘squirrel’ and twittery sparrow for Torvald, it’s clear she does have depth. Nora reveals her true self to Dr. Rank and Kristine Linde in their scenes together saying things like “Now I’ll show you that I too have something to be proud and happy about. I’m the one who saved Torvald’s life”(1566 Ibsen). She’s indeed proud of her ability to have provided for her husband in children in a time of need. But she hints of wanting more with “A lot of the time I was desperately tired, but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man”(1568 Ibsen). I think that by those saying those things that she would like nothing more than to tell Torvald her secret and to be validated in her efforts. Yet she has the ability to predict that such an occurrence would upset the delicate balance of her relationship with Torvald “how humiliating and painful it would be for Torvald, with his masculine pride to know that he owed me anything!”(1567 Ibsen). I feel passionate to defend the idea that Nora is without depth because it’s clear from the opening scene that she isn’t. It is also clear that she and Torvald don’t have a relationship even if they ‘look’ as if they do to the outside, yet they don’t communicate with each other on an equal level. Ibsen has created both Nora and Torvald’s characters to examine the idea of finding one’s voice inside a marriage and in life.
I always seem to end with the idea that great literature is literature because of its ability to hold up through time and place. Ibsen’s plays obviously fall into this category and that is why we still study them today. He challenges us to think and to examine everything around us in society—like all good artists.

The main recent production I focused on in my outside exploration was at the Donmar Warehouse, London with Gillian Anderson in 2009. It is from a new adaptation by Zinnie Harris, in this interview she talks about her role of Nora. The above photograph is also from that production, she appears with Toby Stephens as Torvald. I think Gillian Anderson personifies the traditional characterisation of Nora with her looks and intelligence--it's rather perfect.



In 1997, British actress Janet Mcteer took on the role of Nora and created an entirely new portrayal. Having had the pleasure of seeing Ms. McTeer in Yazmina Reza's God of Carnage over my Spring Break, I can say that I would like another time machine to go back and see her as Nora. In this link she talks to Charlie Rose about the play.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/5520

I think the themes in this play are universal. In thinking about the semester, I can't help but be struck by the idea of how a play like this one could inspire many of the women I read about for my research paper. I think, not only Ibsen's play, but others of the same nature could definitely help the emancipation of women in fundamental Islamic societies in the Middle East. While it's not generally viewed, in the West, today as controversial it would be very hair-raising to those women and their communities. Thus, I reiterate my point that theater can change the world!

Shakespeare's Othello

I had the opportunity to read Shakespeare’s Othello last year while on exchange in South Africa--an experience which, given South Africa’s recent history, further elevated a play already filled with racial tension and sexual jealousy. Although given my previous experience with Shakespeare’s text, I still found it incredibly difficult and time consuming reading his words. The first thing that caught my attention was that Iago practically opens the play and within the first few moments has spoken two monologues—which set up his motivations and the play’s action (i.e. he wasn’t given the promotion he wanted by Othello, despite having worked for him for a long time. Therefore he seeks to destroy Othello as repayment). I guess one can say that, as an audience member, one is thrown into the action. I enjoy Shakespeare’s use of language when it comes to Iago’s speeches and his monologues—he’s so vile. For example, as Iago ensnares his second victim, Brabantio, Desdemona’s father “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe (90-93.1251)” he calls to her father’s window. It’s incredible to notice how calculating Iago is (he tells all of his plans to the audience)—he doesn’t waste time in carrying out his plan. He’s rather like an archer, who carefully hits each target accurately in a row (i.e. He ensnares Rodrigo, Brabantio, Cassio, Desdemona, and finally Othello). I guess, for me, reading it a second time is heartbreaking for I see through all of the lies Iago tells Othello and I want nothing more than to tell Othello of them.
Following along those lines I am fully seeing Othello’s own ‘tragic flaw’ as he is so vulnerable to Iago’s plan. He constantly in Act 1 and 2 refers to Iago as “honest” and can’t see what Iago proclaims himself to be: “I am not what I am (67.1250)”. In many ways I can relate to Othello’s ‘flaw’ of trusting too fully and being taken advantage of. I remember in high school one of my friends telling me that I was ‘too nice’ and needed to learn that people weren’t always what they seem; I don’t think I’ve learned my lesson yet. There are obviously other factors that made Othello an easy target for Iago (i.e. race and Othello’s position in society) and Shakespeare fully explores this concept in his character of Othello and in this play.

Here is a clip from the Globe Theater's recent production with Eamon Walker and Zoe Tapper, 2007.



In researching Othello I came across this clip of African American actor Paul Robeson, who was the first black Othello in the American Theater. It's fantastic interview, such a consumate and articulate performer!

Oedipus the King by Sophocles

First of all, I loved Sophocles' play Oedipus the King and found I remembered accurately the events in the story. It was certainly better reading the second time—as I’ve grown so much as a person since the last time I read it. The thing that struck me most as I read was how accurately Sophocles captured human nature (i.e. Oedipus’s response to finding out the truth, meaning the pain of hurting himself physically was easier to bear than the emotional pain he finds himself in. The same logic applies with Jocasta’s suicide i.e. death is better than living with the truth). Maybe it reiterates the fact that we, as humans, haven’t emotionally changed at all as many people still act with those intentions today. I also was struck when Creon most wisely says to Oedipus that no sane man would want to be King but, that the best position to have is second-in-command for you have all of the power and none of the responsibility. A sentiment like that was running through my own head as our own Presidential elections were held not too long ago.
And lastly, I was floored by the sheer power of the play—I definitely had an emotional response as I read it. It’s the epitome of the tragedy, as the audience watches the emotional lives of Oedipus and Jocasta spiral out of control in the course of one day. In that sense it’s an actor’s feast for the character arcs in the story are so drastic. In my Trifles response I mentioned that sometime plays can stand alone as literature, even if they are really meant to be experienced in performance, when the subject matter or the writing is so strong that it transcends performance. I’d say that Oedipus definitely fits that category and that is precisely why we still study it today.

In thinking back on the study of this play in our course, I can't help but remember the discussion. I was so thrilled that the people in the class were as impassioned by the reading as I. I guess, as a theater person, it doesn't shock me that many of the things I love aren't mainstream. I think that discussion will go down as one of the great moments I've experienced in a class room setting. It not only shows the strength of the text, and the fact that it's still palpable today, but it reiterates my desire to dedicate my life to theater.

My last thought is: TRUTH survives and speaks to ALL cultures. I think the Greek Theatrical tradition demonstrates this perhaps more than any other theater type. One just has to watch/listen/experience the pivotal scene in The Trojan Women where Andromache loses her son to understand this. Here's a link to Vanessa Redgrave's performance in the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjgIZOWVRzQ

Here is the trailer for the recent National Theater production in London with Ralph Fiennes. If only I could have a time transport to take me there!

A "Trifle" bit of disfunction

Last semester, I had the pleasure of reading A Jury of Her Peers and found I absolutely adored the characterizations and the themes it explored as a short story. As we discussed in class: plays are meant to be performed—although sometimes if the writing and subject matter are powerful enough they transcend this need and can stand alone as literature. I didn’t think this was the case with Susan Glaspell’s Trifles; it’s definitely a play that needs to be performed. That being said, I do think it’s a very successful piece of writing in its ability to portray the role of women in the early 20th century.
It shows just how far women have come in most Westernized countries in terms of their role in society. The men in Trifles think they’ve got the case of Minnie Wright down pretty solidly as they stride around her home ‘looking’ for the clues they need. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, linger in Minnie’s kitchen discussing their acquaintance as they look for things to bring her in jail. They find that they, themselves, are truly at the scene of the crime as they uncover the clues in the kitchen (the dead bird, the sewing, and other untidy things) to their friend’s breakdown. It is in the kitchen that Minnie has her fairest trial because she is being judged by ‘a jury of her peers’ who because they are women recognize aspects of themselves in her—and recognize the clues.

In re-thinking about this story, I can't help but admire the author: Susan Glaspell. One of the first women to awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her work. She also was a strong supporter of the Arts in her East Coast community. She created her own theater troupe of actors and writers that included Eugene O'Neil.

Here is a link to a society in her honor
http://academic.shu.edu/glaspell/