Mexico: A Play

by Gertrude Stein

The first single-volume appearance of one of Stein's most accessible plays.

Genres: Drama

71 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Gertrude Stein was an American writer who spent most of her life in France, and who became a catalyst in the development of modern art and literature. Her life was marked by two primary relationships, the first with her brother Leo Stein, from 1874-1914, and the second with Alice B. Toklas, from 1907 until Stein's death in 1946. Stein shared her salon at 27 rue de Fleurus, Paris, first with Leo and then with Alice. Throughout her lifetime, Stein cultivated significant tertiary relationships with well-known members of the avant garde artistic and literary world of her time.

Reviews

[Nate D · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny that this is described as "one of Stein's most accessible plays", but I've not read her others, so that may be. Entertains with the arbitrary, absurd euphony-logic of Tender Buttons, without being so magical as that work due to its less alien dialogue format. Maybe it's the accessibility getting in my way. Would be fun to stage, though.

[Jack Rousseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

SCENE I

Ernestine.
Have you mentioned tracing out California.
I have.
How big is it.
As big as a boat.
What boat.
The city of Savannah.
Have you succeeded in tracing the origin of the word ugly.
I have.
It means crab.
It certainly means crab.
Crabbed is an instance.
We learn about rocking chairs from them.
Kites are an example.
We learn about peaches from them.
They learned them too.
Were you dreaming badly. No. Then go to sleep again little sweetheart.
Ernestine.
It is easy to see four boats. Boats are a ship. There are English and Danish and other boats. It is hard to tell the Italian flag. Hard almost impossible.
I do not mean to be discourteous.
Ernestine.
Come in.
John.
Did you meet him.
I did and I believed in him.
Did you go away.
No I stayed a long time.
Did you go to another country to earn your own living.
I did not I stayed here for some time.
I am going away.
I have finished everything.
I will expect a selection.
I have dreams of women.
Do dream of me.
I will come to see whether.
I understand what they mean by dirty weather. It's the colour.
Act so that you will be spared the necessity of deceiving anyone.
I do.
I will.

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found the poetic lines and linguistic tricks interesting but that boat only sailed so far. First work I’ve read by Stein, won’t give up on her but definitely an arduous 70 pages to get through for the uninitiated. At least for me anyways.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm easily bored by Sound Poetry which may make my devotion to Gertrude Stein perplexing because it's hard to imagine enjoying her theatrical mix-blends of conversational fragments and stray thoughts a la "Mexico" if you can't appreciate an awkward found couplet like "Mexico tied water I meant not to tell it so" and "Mexico tied water... I love the letters m and o." Yet like it I do. Side note: There are no characters listed in this anti-play but people do arrive.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poetic little play. There are so many lines I'd love to quote, but I think I'll end with "Rice and everything."

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting