House of Bernarda Alba

I wonder if Thomas Cullinan, the writer of The Beguiled, read this play. I actually liked it just as much as Lorca's Blood Wedding. It concerns a controlling widow whose husband has just died and her household of repressed spinster daughters. Eventually a few of them go crazy about a guy in town and it eventually leads to tragedy. It took me a while to get into it but I found the play entertaining. Lorca was a pretty good playwright whose life was cut short by an assassination. It's terribly tragic since the man was so talented. I need to give his poetry a chance now.

Robinson Jeffers

When my twin sister was in the sixth grade her class was doing a poetry unit. She had a poetry phase for a while. My sister had to memorize a poem and she chose a poem by Robinson Jeffers. His poetry is mostly about nature and how people should stop what they are doing and look at its wondorous nature. My favorite poem here was Roan Stallion about a woman in an abusive marriage and her relationship with a horse.

Yerma

This was an ok play by Federico Garcia Lorca. It means barren. It's about a barren woman whose desperation leads eventually to tragedy. It's her obsession and the only function in society she can think of. She resorts to witchcraft, pretty much anything. It's sad because the ending was nearly a happy one.

Blood Wedding

I first read this Spanish play when I was 12. Yes I was a cute precocious kid. It's still good. A bride runs away during the wedding with her ex-lover, the man she really loves who is an enemy of the family. From there violence and death ensued when the bridegroom catches up with the lovers. I need to watch the Carlos Saura version as this would be a good artistic movie. I'm looking forward to reading more from Lorca.

Banshees, werewolves, vampires and other creatures of the night

Ventura's book on vampires and werewolves was better than the one on mermaids. She improved. The stories inside were better for example acclaimed writers like Bram Stoker and William Butler Yeats. It was fun reading the tidbits she provided. This one was a bit eerie but then I am a wuss. I was hoping for more on other werecreatures than werewolves. The back made me think there would be more discussed.

The Witch of Edmonton

This was an ok play written by three playwrights together William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford. It's about a witch, one who sells her soul. There's also other stories going on about like one about a bigamist who murders the wife he didn't care for, who was forced into the marriage by his father. This play was just acceptable. It wasn't a play that made me think I've discovered a lost artificat. Thomas Dekker and John Ford did better work.

The Wizard of Oz

After watching Wicked I decided to go back to the original source. As cute as Wicked is it doesn't hold a candle to The Wizard of Oz. I think it ranks right up there with Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan in imagination and originality. There is something so magical about Dorothy and the three pals and their journey. Plus the phony Oz is hilarious. L. Frank Baum was a genius.