The Vietnam Plays: Volume II: Streamers and The Orphan (Rabe, David)

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Customer Reviews

"Streamers": a powerful glimpse at military life
"The Vietnam Plays, Volume Two," by David Rabe, contains two plays: "Streamers" and "The Orphan," together with a 1992 afterword by the author. The book includes production information on both plays. "Streamers" was produced and staged in 1976, and "The Orphan" was first produced professionally in 1973.

"Streamers" looks at a group of Army soldiers who are facing the possibility of being sent to Vietnam while the war is going on. Rabe focuses on a group of three roommates, all junior soldiers. As these troops talk and argue together with the other soldiers in the play, Rabe shows how tensions within the military can create fracture lines along many axes of difference: race, sexual orientation, educational background, rank. Early on in the play Rabe introduces the theme of homosexuality in the army; this theme plays a significant role as the story unfolds. Also explored is the relationship between younger troops and experienced combat veterans.

"Streamers" is a play that may seem a deceptively straightforward slice of military life, but I found it to be a dense and complex text, rich in irony, that rewards careful reading. It's a powerful play that effectively presents a group of military personnel as a microcosmic world of tension, lust, anxiety, anger, and violence. Particularly piercing is Rabe's look at the intersection of verbal "violence" and physical violence.

I found "The Orphan" far less interesting than its companion piece. In it Rabe melds ancient Greek lore with late-20th century American concerns. Although the play has some strong moments, overall I felt it lacked effectiveness. I felt that Rabe missed a golden opportunity to really use the Trojan and Vietnam wars to shed light on each other. Nevertheless, the presence of "Streamers" in this volume makes the book well worth owning, especially for those with an interest in the literature of war. Recommended companion text for "Streamers": "A Sense of Honor," a novel by James Webb.

2005-03-22 (Pittsburgh, PA USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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The Black Monk and The Dog Problem: Two Plays

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• Notes: Trade name New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• ISBN13: 9781439141885
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The Black Monk has been called a singular "collaboration" between two writers: Anton Chekhov and David Rabe. Based on Chekov's novella of the same name, Rabe's brilliant stage adaptation tells the story of Kovrin, the young philosophy student who returns from Moscow to the estate owned by Pesotsky, where he spent his youth. Kovrin and Pesotsky's daughter, Tanya, soon fall in love and plan to marry. But the appearance of an emissary from the unknown -- the black monk -- threatens to have a devastating effect on all of them.

Trouble starts in when Teresa tells her brother Joey that this guy Ray did something to her with his dog in bed. Nobody seems to know exactly what happened, but they do know that somebody's got to pay. So what is The Dog Problem? It starts with being born into a world where the wrong thing said to the wrong person ignites a chain reaction of misplaced passions and galloping sentences that race to a deadly conclusion. The playful title is revealed to be a wry pun on the Cartesian mind/body problem, as Uncle Mal, the aging mobster, must face his turn to be the dog in this darkly funny play about men, women, sex, betrayal, and ghosts.

Vastly different in their aesthetic, these two recent and highly praised plays embody all of the celebrated hallmarks of David Rabe's writing and art: unflinchingly honest and perceptive themes, starkly luminous dialogue, and the unsettling humor that have made him an icon of the American theater for more than forty years.

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Streamers

Description

Full Length, Drama / 11 m / Int. This volatile, incendiary drama premiered in 1976 under the direction of Mike Nichols, produced by Joseph Papp at New York's Lincoln Center. Revived in 2008 by the Roundabout Theatre, the third in author Rabe's quartet of "Vietnam Plays" is set in the Army barracks housing a group of young men, the "streamers" of the title: hapless parachutists who streak to certain death when their parachutes fail to open. This group includes Billy, a new recruit; Roger, a street-wise refugee from the ghetto; Richie, a sarcastic, bitter homosexual and their sodden, ineffectual sergeants, Cokes and Rooney. Awaiting deployment to Vietnam, they are joined by Carlyle, an angry, psychotic young black man, whose presence sets off an escalating spiral of violence and death. By the author of Sticks and Bones and HurlyBurly "Hard hitting and extremely funny. A masterly drama with humor, power and impressive depths of understanding."-New York Daily News

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Hurlyburly and Those the River Keeps: Two Plays

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Customer Reviews

David Rabe is Awesome
Great plays. Hurly Burly is one of the most character-rich, deeply self-reflective exercises for actors I've seen. Great for young professionals.

2008-11-09 | Zactor (Humboldt, Baby!) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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best play i've ever read
there exitsts are which is good at fourteen. There exists art which is good at eighteen. Then, on a whole new level, there is art which is best read/consumed at after eighteen and before you petter out at 45. That is the really serious art. This is that piece of art. That work which guides the subconscious into a world of beautiful tomorrows and engorging bliss. If this play doesn't inspire you to grab your friends and have a good time, then I don't know what will.

2004-06-22 | el__duderino (chapel hill, NC United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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See the movie!
I guess in all fairness I shouldn't be writing a review because I've never even read the book. Despite that, I've read the screenplay for Hurlyburly which David Rabe wrote starring Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey and I can't help but tell everyone how great it is. I'm a film student at the University of Miami and like most other aspiring screenwriters and directors I am constantly shuffling through feature films for something of substance. Hurlyburly, the movie that is, really blew me away and I can't wait to read the book version. The dialogue and the ensemble cast made for one of the most dramatic black comedies I have ever seen. It depicts a bunch of ambitious Hollywood players who are desperately trying to find meaning in their lives. The words and interaction are so powerful and well crafted that it has made Hurlyburly one of my all time favorites. I'm looking forward to reading more of David Rabe's work. Yes, you've probably never heard of it, but that can only mean one thing...It's great!

2001-07-12 (Miami, FL) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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Wordy, Wordy
I'll limit my remarks to Hurlyburly. Wordy. Way too wordy. Way too long as a play. Maybe two acts too long. With characters that, by act 2, I grew to hate. Their endless droning and complaining was boring and seemingly pointless. I didn't like these characters, didn't find them interesting and didn't find them to be intelligent or insightful enough to hold three acts together. I'll stop right here. I don't want to appear to be too wordy.

2000-07-15 (Niagara Falls, NY) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 2

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interesting play
i found this play to be very interesting. i don't know if i'd call it a comedy, other than the absurdity of the characters. it's one i'd be interested in seeing performed.

2000-01-09 | adead_poet@hotmail.com (Beaumont, tx USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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In the Boom Boom Room: Revised to the Original Two Acts

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Customer Reviews

wholesomeness deconstructed
David Rabes revamped vision of post-war Americana redifines violence as the exaserbation of muddled peacetime social integration.

2000-06-20 (vilnius) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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The Vietnam Plays: The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel ; Sticks and Bones

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• ISBN13: 9780802133137
• Notes: Marque New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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