Word: playwrighting
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...Playwright Janusz Glowacki, 48, understands these frustrations all too well. After his novel Give Us This Day, about the birth of Solidarity, was banned by the Polish censor in 1981, Glowacki arrived in the U.S. as a virtual unknown. Hunting Cockroaches, which opened off-Broadway last week, transmutes his struggles into vibrant farce devoid of self-pity. During an emblematic sleepless night, as nightmare figures ranging from an immigration officer to condescending liberals pop out from beneath their bed, the pragmatic couple never complain of life's unfairness. They accept having to prove themselves. They just wish it would...
...this hilarious rendition of Strindberg's drama, Prascak takes us on a surreal two-hour journey through the playwright's inner dreams--into a sort of Emerald City in Hell. Prascak makes use of everything from green fishnets to Pine-Sol Spray to create his narrative of life-on-earth. But remember, this is the fantasyland of dreams. Here, as Strindberg admitted, "anything can happen; everything is possible and probable. Time and space do not exist. Characters can split, double, multiply, dissolve, float apart, condense." This ain't gonna be no night at the opera...
...characters are named not as individuals, but as archetypes, each representing a different figure in the movement. There's the "Woman who writes plays," portrayed by playwright Sargent, who says she's writing the play even as it unfolds before us. She is joined by six other women representing a range of experiences: the single mother, the women's studies teacher, the anarchist, the anti-imperialist, the nun and the activist...
...from this kind of play, and any injustices done by the characters is minor compared to those suffered by them. The play's raucous tone often leaves us free to choose what to take seriously and what to read as self-parody anyway. This self-protective stance allows the playwright and her company to plead "just kidding" to any protestation, but it also drives home the absurdity of rigid sex roles and sexism...
...IRISH Playwright Graham Reid understands the importance of being earnest, but he hasn't quite grasped the importance of being compelling...