Let's Read Play Wrap-Up

In November last year Fanda decided to host the Let’s Read Plays challenge. I review at least one live theatre show each week at Stage Write Indy and have been doing so for 8 years. So reading more plays is always high on my list. I think that plays are meant to be seen, but reading them can give you more time to process the text and can give each play more depth.

Fanda selected categories/authors for each month from November 2012 to October 2013. I stuck with the challenge and made it through all 12 of my chosen plays (see all review links below). I read a Greek tragedy, an American classic, a Russian play, a witty piece from Wilde and a lot of Shakespeare.

SHAKESPEARE

Over the years I’ve focused a lot on Shakespeare’s work. I took a class solely devoted to his plays in college. I’ve seen live performances at the Globe Theatre in London and attend an outdoor Shakespeare theatre weekend every year in Wisconsin. I love him more than any other playwright I’ve read. I’ve read all of his major plays, but I wanted to use this challenge to dive into his lesser-known works. I can’t say that these plays are new favorites, they’re called problem plays for a reason, but I’m glad I read them. I think seeing the whole body of his work helps me understand his development as a writer. He uses many of the same themes and devices in these early plays that he does in his more successful plays later on.

CHALLENGE THEME

I realized about halfway through the challenge that many of the plays I read focused on loneliness and rejection in some way. Troilus and Cressida deals with betrayal in love, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is about Brick and Maggie’s mutual loneliness, the three sisters in Chekhov’s play are all lonely in their own way. Oresteia deals with revenge and betrayal. The Iceman Cometh is about loneliness and the disillusionment of the American dream, Coriolanus is about being rejected by the people who once embraced you. I think it’s fascinating that I unintentionally had a theme throughout the challenge.

MEMORABLE CHARACTERS

There are quite a few characters that will stay with me for a long time, but I think Maggie from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the one who comes immediately to mind. I’ve never encountered a character that ached so badly to be loved. I felt myself understanding that desire, but also hurting for her because she couldn’t make the man she loved reciprocate her feelings in the way she needed.   

Here are the plays I read:

Nov '12 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Troilus and Cressida

Dec '12 Shakespeare's Comedy: Love's Labour's Lost

Jan '13 freebie: The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill

Feb '13 Shakespeare's History: Henry V

Mar '13 Greek: Oresteia by Aeschylus 

Apr '13 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Coriolanus

May '13 Shakespeare's Comedy: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Jun '13 Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest

Jul '13 Other author: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

Aug '13 Shakespeare's Comedy: Comedy of Errors

Sep '13 freebie: Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov

Oct '13 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Cymbeline

  

A huge thanks to Fanda and Ngidam for hosting the Let’s Read Plays yearlong event!

Greek Week: The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

★★★★★

Greek mythology, character-driven narrative with an epic story, a heartbreaking love story, these are a few of my favorite things all piled into one beautiful book. I couldn’t put it down; I didn’t want it to end. I finally started reading Edith Hamilton’s Mythology to slow my reading of this one.

Between The Odyssey, The Iliad, Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida and a college course on classical mythology, my knowledge of the Trojan War and the Greek heroes has been shaped and reshaped with different versions. Building on that base is this book, telling the story of Achilles and Patroclus. Throughout those other sources the pair has been painted as friends, brothers, lovers, etc. but one thing never changes: they are inseparable. They are dearer to each other than their own lives.

The first half of the book is the story of how they meet and the beginning of their friendship. The second half is the well-known story of the Trojan War. It’s retold through Patroclus’ eyes, which gives the whole tale a very different spin. All the familiar faces are there: Agamemnon, Odyssey, Hector, Paris, Zeus, Athena, etc., but many of them feel slightly different in this version.

Patroclus himself is a thoughtful, sensitive boy. He’s so unlike the other Greek warriors when it comes to brute strength, but his strength comes in a very different form. He’s willing to love against all odds, even when he knows it will end in a broken heart.

The reason this retelling resonated with me in such a powerful way is because of the characters themselves. Miller makes them so relatable. You feel for them in a way that you usually don't when you read books on classical mythology.

Chiron and Briseis particularly stood out for me. Chiron is a centaur who trains both Achilles and Patroclus for years in his rose-colored cave on a mountain-side. He is wise and kind and his home is a peaceful one, a complete change from the battle driven world they had become accustomed to. Briseis on the other hand is brought into Patroclus’ world in the midst of a bloody war. She is a prize from battle, but their friendship blossoms despite the circumstances and we see the best of Patroclus because of her.

BOTTOM LINE: I loved it. Sometimes a book lives up to the hype and this one did for me. I can’t say that you’d feel the same if you don’t already like Greek Mythology, but it was an absolute treat for me.

“Did he know, or only guess at Achilles’ destiny? Perhaps he simply assumed: a bitterness of habit, of boy after boy trained for music and medicine, and unleashed for murder.”

**One quick note about the kindle version. There was one incredibly helpful feature that really enhanced my reading experience. The character’s name were highlighted and when you clicked on them it took you to a screen with a drawing (see above) and a summary of the character’s part in Greek mythology.

Other Thoughts:

Iris on Books

Fizzy Thoughts 

The Sleepless Reader 

What She Read

Booklust
Book Pairing 
Necromancy Never Pays

Let's Read Plays: Troilus and Cressida

Troilus and Cressida 

by William Shakespeare 
★★★★☆

“She is a pearl, whose price hath launch'd above a thousand ships."

The story of the Trojan War and the beautiful Helen is well-known, but this Shakespearean tragedy about it is not. Troilus and Cressida is the story of two young Trojans caught in the midst of a nation at war. Despite being surrounded by the problems of others they find themselves falling in love. Troilus is the brother of the infamous warrior Hector and the lovesick Paris who ran away with the married Helen, incurring the wrath of the Greeks.

The entire play is filled with passionate declarations of both love and war. The Greeks, like King Agamemnon and the hotheaded Ajax, are itching for a fight. Ajax doesn’t realize until too late that he is only a pawn in the hands of the generals. The Trojans on the other hand aren’t sure how they want to respond. Paris wants to defend Helen’s honor, but his older brother Hector has to decide if she is worth the fall of an entire nation. From his opening scene he has an impossible task. He knows the right thing to do in theory, but the obligations of honor and family loyalty prevent him from doing it.

The play is full to the brim with remarkable supporting characters. From the tragic Cassandra, whose prophetic wails go unheeded to Pandarus, Cressida’s uncle the meddling matchmaker.

I was surprised to find one of the most poignant wooing scenes I’ve ever come across in a play. Usually the man takes the lead in these scenes, but in this one a guarded Cressida finally reveals how much she cares for Troilus. She been attempting to play hard to get, but she can’t hide her feelings any more. She gushes then quickly chides herself, finally begging him to kiss her so she’ll stop talking.  

“And yet, good faith, I wish'd myself a man; 

Or that we women had men's privilege 

Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue; 

For, in this rapture, I shall surely speak 

The thing I shall repent. See, see ! your silence, 

Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws 

My very soul of counsel: Stop my mouth.”

This is a tricky play though because there are so many different plots. There’s the romance between Troilus and Cressida and another one between Paris and Helen. There’s the central story of war between nations. In the midst of all of this the title characters often feel secondary, which can make it hard to become invested in their relationship.

The title may be Troilus and Cressida, but that’s really a misnomer. While their romance is sweet, it’s truly the story of the Trojan War and the dicey decisions that warriors must face in battle. What is a single life worth? For Achilles, his love for one man is enough to make him fight or to stay his hand. For the love of his brothers Hector is willing to pick up his sword. The tragedy of war is that it’s a cyclical game; one death always leads to the desire for vengeance from the other side. Grief and bloodshed fuel only more of the same and this play is a poignant reminder of that

BOTTOM LINE: A powerful story of the destructive force of war intertwined with a doomed love story. A must read for Bard enthusiasts and lovers of Greek tragedy.

I read this as part of the Let’s Read Plays yearlong event hosted by Fanda. She has selected categories/authors for each month. From November 2012 to October 2013 participants will read 12 classics plays throughout the year, at least one each month. I’ve read almost all of Shakespeare’s well-known plays, but I’m looking forward to digging in to some of his other work. 

Here are my choices…  

Let' Read Plays Schedule based on Themes:

Nov '12 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Troilus and Cressida
Dec '12 Shakespeare's Comedy: Love's Labour's Lost
Jan '13 freebie: The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill
Feb '13 Shakespeare's History: Henry V
Mar '13 Greek: Oresteia by Aeschylus
Apr '13 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Coriolanus
May '13 Shakespeare's Comedy: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Jun '13 Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
Jul '13 Other author: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
Aug '13 Shakespeare's Comedy: Comedy of Errors
Sep '13 freebie: Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
Oct '13 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Cymbeline