Dream of a common language

by Heather McDonald

Drama / 2m, 3f, 1m child / This intriguing work produced at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and in New York was inspired by an actual women were banned from the artists' dinner to plan the first Impressionist painting exhi in 1874, even though works by women were to be shown. In the play, the dinner is at the home of Victor, a successful artist, and Clovis, an artist who no longer paints. After helping with the preparations and being excluded from the dining room, Clovis devises a "women only" dinner to be held outdoors. Winner of three 1995 Helen Hayes Awards including Best New Play.

99 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Ellie]

As someone who has never really read poetry, this was an interesting read. I choose it because it was mentioned in the book Wild, and I wanted to read the words that were powerful enough to boost Cheryl Strayed's moral and get her through the toughest days. I did love the power poem that she cited. However, while some of the poems were beautifully crafted, most of them were a mystery to me because I couldn't get past the confusing wording and organizational structure. I guess I need to read more poetry? There were also many poems that were pretty bold and had almost politically charged implications that I found confusing. So, while I appreciated the creative liberty and the unique language of these poems, I found them difficult to understand and not extremely interesting or relatable.

[Karilyn Ro]

Utterly remarkable and still all too relevant.

[Sherry]

It was a little disoreinted to me. I finally figured it out but it was just a bit too weird.