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May 20, 2019

14

#20BooksOfSummer 2019

by NancyElin

  • I just love this photo from last years’s post #20BooksOfSummer 2018.
  • I’m using it again because it always makes me smile and
  • …I have the urge to make a  Gin & Tonic !

 

Read:

  1. Glengarry Glen RossD. Mamet READ
  2. The Glass MenagerieTennessee WilliamsREAD
  3. Waiting for GodotS. BeckettREAD
  4. Twenty-First Century American PlaywrightsC. BigsbyREAD
  5. The Mueller Report READ
  6. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of FreedomD. Blight – READ
  7. Stamped From the Beginning I.X. Kendi – READ
  8. The New Negro: The Life of Alain LockeJ.C. Stewart  – READ
  9. The ArsonistC. Hooper – READ
  10. HimselfJess Kidd – READ
  11. August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle (13 essays) – editor S. Shannon #20BoS – READ
  12. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  – E. Ablee – READ  (play
  13. Noises OffM. Frayn – READ  (play)
  14. FencesA. Wilson – READ  (play)
  15. Streetcar Named DesireT. Williams – READ
  16. Blakwork – A. Whittaker – READ
  17. James Tiptree, jr. The Double Life Alice Sheldon – J. Phillips – READ 
  18. Ghosts of the Tsunami R. L. Parry READ
  19. Indecent (play) – Paula Vogel READ
  20. The Heart’s Invisible Furies – J. Boyne – READ
  21. The Coddling of the American MInd G. Lukianoff, J. Haidt – READ
  22. Astonished Dice – G. Cochrane (short stories) – READ
  23. We Can Make a Life – C. Henry – READ
  24. Seeing Yellow (poetry) – E. Bourke – READ  shortlist Irish Times Poetry Award 2019
  25. The Weir (1997) by Conor McPherson – READ
  26. The First CasualtyPeter Greste – READ
  27. Max HavelaarMultatuli – READ
  28. 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to WriteS. Ruhl – READ
  29. These TruthsJill Lepore – READ

 

Using this list for #20BooksOfSummer….

#Challenge read 50 Best Plays in the Past 100 Years:     13/50

  1.  Death of a Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller (Pulitzer 1949) – READ 
  2.  Streetcar Named Desire – T. Williams – READ
  3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? E. Albee (Pulitzer 1963 READ
  4.  Long Day’s Journey into Night (1956) by Eugene O’Neill  – READ
  5. Fences – A. Wilson – READ 
  6. Angels in America: T. Kushner
  7. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett – READ 
  8.  Pygmalion (1913) by George Bernard Shaw
  9.  A Raisin in the Sun (1959) by Lorraine Hansberry READ 
  10.  Our Town (1938) by Thornton Wilder
  11.  Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) by Luigi Pirandello
  12. The Glass Menagerie (1944) by Tennessee Williams – READ
  13. Glengarry Glen RossD. Mamet – READ
  14. August: Osage County (2007) by Tracy Letts
  15.  True West (1980) by Sam Shepard READ 
  16.  The Iceman Cometh (1946) by Eugene O’Neill
  17.  Look Back in Anger (1956) by John Osborne
  18.  A View from the Bridge (1955) by Arthur Miller – READ
  19.  The Little Foxes. (1939) by Lillian Hellman
  20.  The Real Thing (1982) by Tom Stoppard
  21.  Master Harold and the Boys (1982) by Athol Fugard
  22.  The Homecoming (1965) by Harold Pinter
  23.  Ruined (2008) by Lynn Nottage (2009)
  24.  Mother Courage and Her Children (1941) by Bertolt Brecht
  25.  Six Degrees of Separation (1990) by John Guare
  26.  Doubt (2004) by John Patrick Shanley
  27.  Top Girls (1982) by Caryl Churchill
  28.  Present Laughter (1942) by Noel Coward
  29. Noises Off – M. Frayn – READ 
  30. Marat/Sade (1964) by Peter Weiss
  31.  The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2001) by Martin McDonagh
  32.  Machinal (1928) by Sophie Treadwell
  33.  The Norman Conquests(1973) trilogy by Alan Ayckbourn
  34.  The Bald Soprano (1950) by Eugene Ionesco
  35.  M. Butterfly (1988) by David Henry Hwang
  36.  The Dybbuk (1920) by S Ansky
  37.  Saved (1965) by Edward Bond
  38. Topdog/Underdog (2002) by Suzan-Lori Parks 
  39. The Front Page (1928) by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
  40. Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970) by Dario Fo.
  41. Picnic (1953) by William Inge
  42. Journey’s End (1928) by R.C. Sherriff
  43. The Odd Couple (1965) by Neil Simon
  44. The Orphans Home cycle – 3 one act plays by Horton Foote (masterpieces!)
  45. The Women. (1936) by Clare Boothe Luce
  46. What The Butler Saw (1969) by Joe Orton
  47. Awake and Sing! (1935) by Clifford Odets
  48. The Piano Lesson (1987) by A. Wilson
  49. Uncommon Women and Others (1977) by Wendy Wasserstein
  50. The Weir (1997) by Conor McPherson- READ

 

14 Comments Post a comment
  1. May 20 2019

    Some great plays on there Nancy – thanks for taking part x

    Reply
    • May 20 2019

      Summer is the best time to read a play
      Research about playwright 1-2 hr…during morning coffee in the sun
      Reading time: you can finish the play before your ice melts in a Gin and Tonic!
      …and you don’t feel tied down to an epic novel for days on end!

      Reply
  2. May 20 2019

    This is quite a list of plays. I was in a School Production of ‘Our Town’ many moons ago – a load of Glaswegian kids with fake American accents all styled on Starsky and Hutch and Kodak!!!! What a joy for the poor bloody audience that must have been!!! Hope it reads better than we staged it!!!

    Reply
    • May 21 2019

      Every theatrical performance (high-school or regional playhouse) is a delight to see.
      If The Glass Menagerie is ever in your neighbour theatre….don’t miss it!

      Reply
  3. May 20 2019

    That was of course meant to say ‘Kojak’ but Apple’s autocorrect isn’t old enough to remember ‘Kojak’!!!!!

    Reply
  4. That’s a great that leaves you with some room to choose and skip. I’m too scared to commit to 20 books but it will be fun to watch others. Good luck!

    Reply
    • May 21 2019

      I have NO opportunity to see plays in English here in NL…so I depend on scripts and try to buy a DVD of the play! Just ordered 1987 version with Joanne Woodward and John Malkovich!
      Scared? “Stop being scared of the unknown and start being scared of not-knowing”! 🙂

      Reply
  5. May 28 2019

    How fun to read plays! So excited to see Noises Off listed here…I saw it when it was first on Broadway. And I am also excited to see a fellow challenge reader in NL! 🙂 Good luck with the challenge!

    Reply
    • May 28 2019

      A kindered spirit in NL reading #20BooksOfSummer…I’m overjoyed!
      Reading plays is my only way to enjoy the genre because
      there are no opportunities to see great drama in English in NL.
      Today I start E. Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
      I wantto order dvd of the E. Taylor-Richard Burton iconic film version.
      Thanks for your comments!

      Reply
      • May 28 2019

        Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is fantastic, both the play and the film. And I hope you’ll enjoy the Mamet as well!

  6. Michael
    May 29 2019

    So many excellent playwrights! Hope you enjoy making your way through these. Albee’s a favorite playwright, and the film version is wonderful.

    Reply
    • May 29 2019

      I just received the DVD with Taylor and Burton….
      I’ll watch it this weekend.
      Yes, I’ve decided to push through this list of 50
      because there are so many more playwrights I want to read.
      But first these classics!
      Thanks for you comments!

      Reply
  7. Jun 2 2019

    I never thought about putting non-fiction on my list! A mistake 🙂
    Happy Reading!

    Reply

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