When I placed this play on my reading list I did not know anything about it. Actually, I thought it was a book. Imagine my surprise when I picked it up from the library and saw written on the cover of the diminutive book "three-act play".
I opened the book and almost immediately became enraptured with the small New Hampshire town. I tried to recall as much as I could from my Creative Writing class nearly four months ago. Some of the plays I read there (student works) were barely tolerable.
Wilder cleverly reveals information about the town and the characters a piece here and a piece there. Even though the stage manager simply states seemingly random information, Wilder has a purpose. Coming off of several Gilbert Morris books this sort of plot/character/and etc this was definitely refreshing.
An example of something that struck me and lured me deeper into the play was the Stage Manager's aside about a character whose name escapes me at the moment. This young newspaper-delivering boy would grow up get a great eduacation but just when he was poised to do great things in the world he dies in France in WWI. By so abruptly introducing this information Wilder jerked my heartstrings and lured me deeper into his profoundly moving play.
Once I reached then end I wanted to go back to the days of innocence just like Emily as and after she revisited her twelfth birthday.
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1 comment:
OK, now I want to read this book.
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