Have you entered a reading rut? Our Reading Circle Monday Recommendation is to pick up a play to jumpstart or reignite your reading life. Because most plays are short, they can be read in one sitting. Perhaps checking out one of these favorite dramas selected by faculty in English and our friends at the Calvin T. Ryan Library will get you back into the habit of reading.
· The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PG3456 .A19 1945) Part comedy, part tragedy, the play is set among the literati (writers, actors, and artists) in late nineteenth-century Russia.
· Alcestis by Euripides (translated by Ted Hughes or the one by Herbert Kynaston available at the Library 2ndFloor: PA3973 .A5 1906) First performed in Greece around 400 BC, the play tells the classic story of Alcestis, who selflessly offers her own life to save her husband, King Admetus, and the ensuing over-the-top funeral preparations that are made for her.
· A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PS3515.A515 R3 1959a) Set in Chicago, the 1959 play follows the Youngs, a multi-generation African-American family, as they try to move out of a tenement apartment into their own house in the suburbs.
· Othello by William Shakespeare (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PR2829.A2 M69 2017) Shakespeare’s 1603 play is set in Venice and follows the machinations of Iago as he takes his revenge on the his general, Othello.
· Richard II by William Shakespeare (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PR2754 .E9 1997b) The first part of a four-play sequence known as the Henriad (Richard II, Henry IVPart 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V) represents the “uncrowning” of Richard II and the ascension of Bolingbroke to the English throne.
· Buried Child by Sam Shepherd (available at the Library 2nd Floor: ) Actor and playwright Sam Shepherd won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his play that depicts the transformation of rural life in late-twentieth century U.S.
· The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PR3680.A5 R4 1962 ) Sheridan’s 1777 comedy lampoons British high society as the wealthy Sir Oliver considers which of his nephews, Joseph or Charles, should be his heir.
· The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PR6069.T6 I66 1998) Set in late Victorian England, Stoppard’s 1997 play represents the English poet and classics scholar A. E. Housman as he reflects back on his life and, in particular, his unprofessed love for Moses Jackson.
· The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde (available at the Library 2nd Floor: PR1105 .K4) Several folks at UNK consider this their favorite play. It includes many of Wilde’s most famous bon mots as it unfolds a satirical portrayal of Victorian London.
· A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (available at the Library 2nd Floor: S3545.I5365 S8 1980) Williams’s play (1947) depicts the aging Southern belle Blanch DuBois as she moves in with her sister’s family in New Orleans.
**************************
Check back every Monday for reading suggestions from the Reading Circle. For more book ideas, see these past Monday posts:
· Recent scholarly books on revolutionary movements HERE
· A Literary Mystery: Who wrote The Woman of Colour (Olivia Fairfax) HERE
· Foreign language films to watch this summer HERE
· Fun summer books recommended by friends at the Calvin T. Ryan Library HERE
· History and Literature of Spaceflight reading recommendations HERE
· Memorial Day reading recommendations HERE
