Customer Reviews

Fifth of July

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While I am not typically a play reader, I do love to go to the theatre. Growing up, my father exposed my brother and me to a wide variety of plays, from musicals to dramas, one-acts to Shakespeare and Wilde, Miller and Williams, but I have a hard time reading them. Maybe it's the lack of description, although I would hate to think I disliked something because it actually forces me to think for myself, to create the set and the costumes, the props. With novels and short stories, even biographies, the backgrounds are usually detailed so completely, the visions pop into my head without a second thought. That said, 5th of July by Lanford Wilson, allows an easy interpretation for the reader. I didn't expect to be able to get through it so quickly. I feared that I would be bogged sown by the dialogue, but instead was happily surprised, discovering a relatively easy read, both harmonious and moving in scope.

Set in a farmhouse in Missouri, the play depicts a scant cast of characters, each of whom holds his or her lost dreams, misconceived notions about the world and buried resentments. The unlikely mix of characters includes the following: a handicapped, gay Vietnam veteran; his gardening-obsessed lover; his elderly aunt (and her dead husband's ashes); an eccentric husband and wife; a musician. A simple plot allows Wilson to develop each of these characters fully, engrossing the reader in their twisted world.

While I would still rather see a play than read one, I'll now blame that on the atmosphere at the theatre, the buzz in the air, the majesty of the sets and the costumes, the sometimes brilliance of the actors. I won't shy away from reading plays any longer; I'll read others by Wilson, I'll be fascinated by Wilde (I'm positive), and I'll even give Shakespeare another shot.

First Edition, with Original Broadway cast of William Hurt, Nancy Snyder and Jeff Daniels! Also includes slightly later case, starring Christopher Reeve. In the usual playbook format, with bright red covers, of course.