Pulling Apart Pulitzer Prize-Winning Dramas

Description Lynn Nottage is the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama more than once. What an accomplishment! This play revolves around the fallout blue-collar workers in Reading, Pennsylvania experience as the economy crashes. Tracey and Cynthia both vie for the same promotion to a management position at their factory; Tracey believes Cynthia receives the promotion simply due to her African-American heritage. Brucie, Cynthia's husband, responds to his unemployment by taking drugs. Oscar, the custodian at the bar, receives severe backlash for pursuing the new job opportunities at the factory which are only advertised to Spanish-speakers. Stan, the bartender, watches the whole ordeal unfold and tries to deescalate the emotions as best he can. Ultimately, Tracey's son Jason and Cynthia's son Chris engage in a punishable act that will haunt them, but perhaps lead them into a more empathetic future. Here is a CBS special on the show. The show did not win the 201...

Description I'm fairly certain this reading marks my third time encountering this text. I cannot recall the first time I read it, but I must admit that each reading unveils different treasures. The tragedy surrounds Willy Loman's demise. His salesmanship has weakened as he struggles to escape both the warm memories and cold demons from his past. Willy's wife, Linda, yearns for Willy to face reality and reconcile with their son, Biff. Biff and his brother Happy try to self-actualize in the midst of painful realities crashing into their lives. The play is one of the most-read American plays, and I am content with that. The most recent Broadway revival took place in 2012 starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Andrew Garfield, and Finn Wittrock. I can't imagine how spectacular that must have been! Here is Playbill.com's summary: " Salesman Willy Loman finds his career crumbling and his relationships with his wife and sons severely tested in Arthur Miller's dre...

Description There are certain literary works that dumbfound me due to excellence. When I think of works that left me speechless at the sheer genius of the author's pen, I think of the following: East of Eden by John Steinbeck 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut Sunday in the Park with George by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim I am adding Angels in America to that list. Tony Kushner's ability to not lose control of the scope of the play while intertwining narratives seamlessly is a true feat. I don't know how some humans can be imaginative and calculating to this height.  His employment of the word "fantasia" in the subtitle is perfect. What is a "fantasia"? Check out m-w.com's definition .  In the case of this play, the secondary definitions are both most appropriate: "2a: a work (such as a poem or play) in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted" and "2b: so...

Description Eugene O'Neill is the winningest playwright of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with 4 wins. Edward Albee would have tied the record, had the committee not retracted his win for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- a true slight, and entirely separate conversation. O'Neill's Anna Christie was the second play of his to win the award and its feminist spirit may surprise you. At least, it surprised me. The titular character returns to her father, Chris Christopherson, in New York where he works on a barge. Although she is merely 20, she has lived a long life. Her father had abandoned her in Minneapolis where she slogged through the life of a farmhand. She left the farm and went to nursing school; she was a nanny and then became a prostitute. All of this is to be blamed on the unfairness of life she experienced caused mostly by men. When she reunites with her father, he sees her as an innocent child. He does not like that she falls for Mat Burke who demands to see ...

Description Read Playbill.com's summary and try to convince me that you didn't think about President Trump: " An idealistic millionaire is selected to run for president, despite the fact that he is estranged from his sharp-tongued wife and involved with another woman, in Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy."  The entire play centers on Grant Matthews' non-campaign/campaign for the presidency. His relationship with his wife Mary gets further complicated as Kay Thorndyke, James Conover, and Spike Macmanus advise him. He wants to run a campaign on honesty, but allows his ego to get swollen by the celebrity-fication of politicking. Ultimately, Grant must decide if he can balance his true beliefs with his campaign presence.    Candid Reaction I think that the Foreword should be required reading. Thomas L. Stokes, author of the Foreword, exclaims, "It is good if we can see ourselves so plainly that we can smile understandi...