July Plays

It's the Fourth of July, and I try to take a break each year from barbecues and baseball for history. It started when I lived in Pennsylvania: history is so palpable there that I wanted to engage with it. Independence Hall of the Fourth is a truly inspiring thing, ragardless of your political affiliation.

So: "Born On The Fourth Of July".

July 6: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Unless I am counting wrong, this celebrates the midpoint of the journey: twenty-six down, twenty-six to go. So we'll celebrate with witch hunts and paranoia. I know it's a hoary old High School chestnut .... so's Our Town. "Hoary Old High School Chestnuts" are getting a second look from me.

July 13: Civil Sex by Brian Freeman

About activist Bayard Rustin. I first heard about the script while working with San Francisco's Thick Description, and was pleasantly surprised when it turned up in an anthology I had purchased for a completely different reason.

July 20: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
July 27: Angels in America: Perestroika by Tony Kushner

It's been a long time since I read these, and its growing status as one of the masterworks of the 20th century makes me want to read and re-evaluate. (Is it cheating to call this two weeks worth of plays? I think not.(And I need to establish precedent for The Coast Of Utopia.))


(July's gonna be the real test, as I'm kinda busy. Please pre-excuse any lateness.)