Plays by Lee Blessing

I should have updated more frequently here, but as I have not, I'll give a quick rundown with this. I've been looking at a lot of plays by a very little-known playwright named Lee Blessing, and so I'll list each and give a quick rundown.

A Walk in the Woods-- This is Blessing's most well-known play. In fact, if anyone has heard of him, it would be because of this play. The play is awesome! It's about two negotiators, one from Russia, one from America, who, over a long period, try to develop agreements for arms reductions. All the scenes take place while they walk in the woods after negotiations, which explains the title. The play was great-- very thinly disguised commentary, but great despite that. Recommended for people who like plays or talk about arms reduction.

Down the Road-- This one is not one of Blessing's well-known plays. This is easily the creepiest play I have read in a long time, but I found it extremely interesting. It's about a couple who interviews a serial killer for a book about him. The play concerns how our writing of such books from the murderers perspective glamorizes serial killing and other such crimes, though, for the most part, the play leads one to see how they might not be as different from serial killers as they might think. Scarrrrryyyyy. If you'd like something to make you really think, go for this one.

Fortinbras-- This was my favorite of all of them. The play takes place right after the death scene in Hamlet, and basically discusses what happens once Fortinbras takes over. The play is hilarious for the first part, and then interesting for the second part. The play flows nicely within the two, and so I found it to be ultra awesome, and I now yearn to play Fortinbras in this production some day. If you want to laugh, read this one.

Cobb-- This play is an interesting look at the first baseball player inducted into the hall of fame, Tyler Cobb. This play is the least distinctive of all of them, since it's mostly biographical, but it manages to tell Cobb's story in a way that really engages the reader (or audience, hopefully). Read this one if you want a quick read for fun and to learn a bit about Tyler Cobb.

Theater, admittedly, is meant to be performed, not read. I think all of these, however, lend themselves to reading, so take your pick. If any of them are performed near you, though, go for it and check it out. You will enjoy.

Measure for Measure

In my Shakespeare class we recently read the "problem comedy" Measure for Measure. The action of Measure for Measure commences with the Duke’s reflection that due to lax law enforcement in the city of Vienna, “liberty plucks justice by the nose/…and quite athwart/ Goes all decorum” (I. iii. 29-31). Believing himself to blame, the Duke decides that he cannot be the one to discipline the citizens, and thus decides to temporarily leave Vienna and appoint the austere Lord Angelo as deputy in his place, to restore order to the city through strict punishment. In fact, the Duke only pretends to leave the city, but remains behind disguised as a Friar. Angelo’s first act is to sentence a young man, Claudio, to death for fornication. When Claudio’s sister, a young postulant nun named Isabella, comes to Angelo to plead for his release, Angelo becomes passionately enraptured by her. I won’t give away more, but suffice to say, this play is full of surprises, including a “bed trick” and a “head trick.” The play is dark and disturbing but excellent, and I had the pleasure of watching it performed by the Reed theatre. I highly recommend it.