Snoo Wilson (1948–2013)

This might be the quintessential 70s play. The plot is almost, sort of linear, and almost sort of makes sense, but it is full of sexual hi jinks, mysticism, strange post-modern play within a play, and, of course, the Bermuda Triangle. Not to mention Nazis, Communists, and lesbians. Many community theaters would be unable to stage some of the elaborate scene changes, but then, I can't imagine many community theaters that would be willing to put this on, at least in middle America. Too much language, a touch of nudity, and the entire town lynches the director, since the playwright is unavailable to them. All said, it's interesting, quirky, but not at the level of a masterpiece. It also defies the standard mantra of the theatre of the need for likeable characters - there isn't any. Some of the characters are interesting, and that is really all you need. Compelling characters. In the end, you don't really care who gets out alive, because all of them are the stuff of nightmares, and the nightmare situation they are in seems almost inevitable in some screwed up universe (like ours?).… (mere)

Strange, surreal plays. The one I was most interested in was Darwin's Flood; I will discuss that here. The play brings together Charles Darwin and his wife, Frederich Nietzsche, who is pushed in by his sister, her husband, and Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Jesus appears as a biker; Mary Magdalene arrives at Down House in a helicopter with a cell phone. Jesus is trying to convince Darwin to accept him as real, but is unwilling to provide any miracles. When Nietzsche is struck by lightning, he uses CPR to revive him, so there still was no miracle. The plot becomes more and more convoluted; some small problems: the phrase, survival of the fittest attributed to Darwin (including by Darwin) but actually not Darwin's. This was coined by Herbert Spencer. Also, the constant harping on the giraffe's neck suggests the author had some acquaintance with evolutionary theory, but had not actually read Darwin (or Lamarck) as this was not an issue that was part of the original work. This is, however, part of many evolutionary textbooks. Overall, not bad, worth reading.… (mere)