Aesop's (Oh So Slightly) Updated Fables
Loading...
Authors
Aesop
Wylie, Kim Esop
Issue Date
1998
Volume
Issue
Type
Book, Whole
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Here are six fables as engaging contemporary plays. In each case the drama takes a playful approach to the fable. Thus DS can engage in good irony when it has the narrator speak of the butcher trying to have a sincere and calm conversation with the dog while both run across the stage (9). In fact the narrator's introduction to this dog had run through a list of negative qualities--including dirty fingernails and unbrushed teeth--but then pronounced him a great dog. This piece is especially strong on narrator-audience interaction as the latter must pronounce the dog's name each time the narrator comes to it. TH revolves around love (the narrator becomes infatuated with both tortoise and hare) and aerobics; the race emerges as a possibility only in the last few paragraphs and comes to a conclusion only at the end of the last playlet, MM. LM is about the mouse's notoriety and humor, FG about seduction and Olympics-like games. MSA deals with political correctness and activists; it features a butcher, who seems to have wandered into the story from nowhere, and the coffee-guzzling hare from TH. The protagonist in MM has not milk but two perfect eggs. As with all comedy, some of the elements of parody are time-bound. How long will Mission Impossible themes be recognized by audiences?
Description
Citation
Publisher
Baker's Plays
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
Identifier
3982 (Access ID)