Reviews of Plays »

An Inspector Calls - nineteenth century immorality

Advantages: well written, good on social history, nice twist at the end, atmospheric
Disadvantages: could be seen as a bit old fashioned, not relevant to modern life

...I'm not too sure because times have changed with regard to the class system in England but as a look back at social history and those authors who tried to change things by writing about them, this play is certainly an interesting one and human nature does n't change. ...

janinbow 17.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley

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Importance? To Whom?

Advantages: Ideal for group reading,
Disadvantages: background knowledge is almost essential

A Woman Of No Importance was written in a time when women had little or no place in the world, politically. Lord Illingworth, a womanising politician demonstrates this through his tendancies to leave women 'fallen'. The tale of Rachel Arbuthnot, a single mother in the 1890s, trying to teach her son, Gerald, of the evils of the world has her life torn apart when Lord Illingworth throws the ultimate spanner into the ultimate works. Thus leaving the ...
...the themes of the play. A Woman Of No Importance is ideal more as a project rather than night-time reading as research on the late nineteenth century and on Wilde himself, is highly recommeneded in order to fully understand the deeper meanings of Wilde's work. Despite being written to be viewed by 19th century middle class women, the play still continues to entertain a wide variety of audiences, both as reading and as a play. Wildes choice of characters, ...

chris213west 14.07.2006 · Read full review
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Review of A Woman of No Importance - Oscar Wilde

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Alfie - The Real Story

Advantages: Originally written, dark, packs a punch
Disadvantages: Of its time - not a modern tale

Alfie is a cheeky chap, with an eye for the ladies. And the ladies have more than just an eye for him (lucky scamp). So far, so bleeding obvious. However, if you are like Charles Shyer, Director of the recent remake of the classic Michael Caine film, this is apparently all you know about the book. Well, ladies and gentleciaoers I am here to tell you this book is not simple. Its not a fun little jaunt into the world of a fun little man who kissed ...
...of the pieces of advice Alfie gives to the reader during the tale. You are treated to several pearls of wisdom from 'our hero' all of which are fine in their own right, but only serve to show how Alfie is much happier dispensing with advice than following it. The true genius of the book is that it is written using Alfie's voice as spoken to the reader (The original film was ground-breaking in its use of Alfie speaking direct to the camera, but credit ...

Bill_Oddie 03.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Alfie - Bill Naughton

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A View From The Bridge

Advantages: Gripping and true to life
Disadvantages: May keep you up at night

...admit that reading is not a frequent pass time of mine so when I do find a book that I don't want to put down I have very high regard of the book and its author. The reason I started reading the book is I basically wanted something to read before I went off to the land of nod as I find reading at night generally helps me get off to sleep. Finding this around the house was great and actually kept me up reading on many an occasion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...
...of this book immigration was a very taboo subject and immigrants were looked down on by society, you could argue not much has changed... Arthur Miller being a social playwright makes a conscious effort to challenge these views with 'A View from the Bridge'. ~~~~~~~~~ Synopsis ~~~~~~~~~ In the play we find the character Eddie Carbone. Playwright Arthur Miller tells the story of the New York longshoreman who allows his misguided feelings for ...

coco_pixie 08.08.2009 · Read full review
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Review of A View from the Bridge - Arthur Miller

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The Ultimate Gay Fantasia

Advantages: Packed with magnificent ideas
Disadvantages: The needless political statements towards the end

Angels in America: Parts One and Two, by Tony Kushner Described as a gay fantasia, Angels in America tells the story of a thirty year old homosexual man living in USA in the 1980's. The misery begins when this man is diagnosed with AIDS, for his Jewish lover who cannot live with ill people deserts him. The other picture is that of a married Mormon man who knows he is gay, and yet he got married simply because he cannot accept it. The third main ...
...focuses. The fact that the angels chose an ill gay man as their prophet remains to be one of the best things in the play. Along with that, the book discuses the hypocrisy of some gay men and their refusal to accept their sexual trend to the point of destroying their lives and the lives of the people around them. As the title indicates, the play discusses themes, though some of them are universal, yet they are mainly about and from the United States; ...

sottovoce82 04.01.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Angels in America: Parts One and Two - Tony Kushner

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