lan_string's review against another edition
5.0
Goated. This man is a god of premise and they’re always too short to mess up the execution
liralen's review against another edition
5.0
Goodness. What a ride. I read the six-play version, not the fourteen-play version, as part of an ongoing set of pandemic-style table reads. We lucked out and read these over two weeks when attendance was low, which was perfect for plays with only 2–4 characters.
Let's see:
"Sure Thing": So many bells. I'd love to see a modernised version of this—not because I think it doesn't stand up to time, but because I'd be interested to see what would change and what could stay the same.
"Words, Words, Words": Monkeys and typewriters and can you guess where this is going...? Probably my favourite of the plays.
"The Universal Language": Probably the best part of this is that someone compiled an Unamunda dictionary.
"Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread": Okay, apparently it helps if you know who Philip Glass is, and also if you realise that there's a full score for this play at the end. Definitely allowed for some chaos in the table read, but I'd love to see this performed for real, with actors who know what they're doing.
"The Philadelphia": A close second for favourites. Begs the question of what it feels like to wake up in a Tokyo, or a Berlin, or a Middle of Nowhere...
"Variations on the Death of Trotsky": One that sent me straight to Wikipedia for context. This seems like one that only works in this very short form, because the variations are often so slight, but quite entertaining as it is.
Let's see:
"Sure Thing": So many bells. I'd love to see a modernised version of this—not because I think it doesn't stand up to time, but because I'd be interested to see what would change and what could stay the same.
"Words, Words, Words": Monkeys and typewriters and can you guess where this is going...? Probably my favourite of the plays.
"The Universal Language": Probably the best part of this is that someone compiled an Unamunda dictionary.
"Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread": Okay, apparently it helps if you know who Philip Glass is, and also if you realise that there's a full score for this play at the end. Definitely allowed for some chaos in the table read, but I'd love to see this performed for real, with actors who know what they're doing.
"The Philadelphia": A close second for favourites. Begs the question of what it feels like to wake up in a Tokyo, or a Berlin, or a Middle of Nowhere...
"Variations on the Death of Trotsky": One that sent me straight to Wikipedia for context. This seems like one that only works in this very short form, because the variations are often so slight, but quite entertaining as it is.
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