Customer Reviews

Happy Birthday, Wanda June

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read Vonnegut's first play "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," and thought it was really good. The basic plot of the book is a man who used to be considered a hero, but after an eight year absence from society, comes back and sees that he is no longer seen as he used to be. In this play Vonnegut expresses his protest of the Vietnam War. Vonnegut does this with the character of Harold Ryan and his family. Harold Ryan symbolizes a Vietnam veteran who comes back to the States after fighting. Just like the Vietnam veterans, Harold is seen as a warmongering brute by his wife. She now is interested in a man who doesn't believe in violence and is an intellectual. Vonnegut uses this to represent the protests of the war and the honor draft dodgers received by some Americans. The symbolism of the protagonist reveals Vonnegut's theme of the play: Times changes along with political viewpoints of society and the portrayals of heroes. Vonnegut is able to strengthen the theme by structuring the play in a linear fashion like a timeline. This is a great play that withstands time and can be seen now with the war in Iraq. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Vonnegut's style of writing and viewpoints.

Happy Birthday, Wanda June is an anti-b.s. play. Anti-macho nonsense, anti-abuse, anti-syncophant, anti-war mongering, anti-violence, anti-abandonment. All the "living" characters in it are trying to be someone else....except Harold, who is so much himself (or forgone) that his personality is deadly against the others.

This is a very funny, bizarre, timely play. Now, as America is back in a questionable war, as we were when this was written in 1970, and blatant aggression is somehow acceptable here is Vonnegut standing up to show us all how ridiculous we are, and ridiculous just about everyone in the play is.

Harold is single-minded and aggressive enough to not see its effect on others. Penelope, who is lost throughout most of it, is stuck and needs the borishness of Harold to see the error of her ways. Woodly is patently lost in a field of peace, joy and positivity full of rage, but smitten by the myth of manliness. Shuttle is an idol worshiper and caught in an Americana sport/brotherhood fetish. Looseleaf is in a haze of wonder and awe at his past, shocked by his own inhumanity. Paul is angry, needy for a father, but protective like a fatherless child is of his mother. The three "ghosts" are ironic and a hope for us all. Since this world is ridiculous and stupid, belief that the next one is anything but remains a peaceful possibility.

A good play, full of social commentary, Vonnegut's wit and black humor. Recommended, especially in this day in age, and for Vonnegut fans.

hello there, lovers of vonnegut!! i am currently playing penelope ryan in a high school production of "wanda june," and i simply do not have enough wonderful things to say about this play. to start with, it's absolutely hilarious. and for theater snobs like me, this is quite possibly the most difficult character i have yet come across. vonnegut has mentioned that he has had trouble writing women's roles.....and this is absolutely the most complex and interesting female i have seen in his work. he does a great deal of experimenting here, it's fascinating. not mentioning the vonnegut style brought to my favorite creative outlet...oh joy! oh rapture! i could go on for many more pages, but i suppose i'll just leave with that. go read. now.

Vonnegut is typically bizarre. It's his style. In the books of his I've read I notice a lot of fiddle-diddling around until the last 30 pages of the book. Happy Birthday, Wanda June isn't quite like that. I found it to be a kind of... portrait of the stereotypical Americans. First of all, there's the mother, Penelope, who lives an insipid existence with her son and two suitors -- she doesn't do much, and has little character (as most Vonnegut women do). Her son, Paul, is pressured into growing into a chauvinist, like Herb Shuttle, one of Penelope's suitors. Herb is a prolific athlete who knows nothing of science or any form of literature other than Sports Illustrated. Norbert Woodly is a "hippie-ish" doctor who plays the violin, and is Penelope's other suitor -- to say the least, Woodly and Shuttle despise each other. Penelope's house is filled with animal skins and taxadermy creatures her husband, Harold, killed while scrounging through various jungles (Woodly: Throw out all this junk. Burn it! This room crawls with tropical disease.), along with jungle-theme doorbells they aparently acquired from Abercrombie and Fitch.

It's a short play, quite darling, and full of enlightening perspectives (mainly in the arguments between Woodly and Harold or Shuttle). By the end, it leaves you looking at people in a different light, wondering under which category-of-character-persona they would fit under.

This has to be one of the most interesting plays I've ever read! I am currently doing a monolouge from the play, Wanda June's, and I believe that the characters is this play are absolutely hilarious! What kind of genius would put an happy and slightly dumb half-witted ex-bomber, a dead 10-year old girl who was killed by a drunk ice-cream truck driver, a talented violinist-doctor, and a animal hunting, taxadermy-happy explorer into one brilliant play? I give it 6 out of 5 stars!

This play was a great read, and I would be very interested to see it performed. The only major problem I had was that I thought some of his stage instructions seemed a little difficult to accomplish (especially onstage). For example, how exactly should Penelope show that she has recognized Harold, but is trying to conceal that very fact. TV and movies can show nuance and hint much better than stage. Its just an idea. And I think that Vonnegut's experience as a novelist is the reason for this 'fault'. But my main point is that the play is great. Its a shame that Vonnegut did not persue the genre a bit further. One last problem: this play is difficult to find. I would like very much to have a copy of my own. I was lucky to have found it in my college's library, but I have to return the copy soon which isn't any good at all.

I love Kurt Vonnegut, but I have not been able to procure a copy of Happy Birthday Wanda June. Also, definitely is not spelled 'definately.' Those who live in glass houses certainly should not throw stones.

Happy birthday, Wanda June was an incredible play, worthy of that of Arthur Miller, or Tennessee Williams. A story of love and violence, and the stupidity of it all. Its a pity that Cats is still running, and this play is not!

Learn to spell 'quit' before you go off insulting Kurt Vonnegut's wonderful "Happy Birthday Wanda June". If you are intereted in the opinion of a true die-hard Vonnegut fan, take it from me-this play is excellent. It is everything that one would not expect out of a play by anyone other than Vonnegut.

If you are a theatre person like myself, take my advice that this play has got to be one of the most outrageous and humorous around. It'd be extremely fun to produce (especially in a high school or small community theatre setting). This play is definately worth your time.

On top of the world after the success of "Slaughterhouse 5", Vonnegut decided to try his hand at playwriting. Why not? His able hand at believable character sketching would make this seem obvious. But before the first line has even ended, it becomes obvious where Vonnegut is going: Pretention land. Oh, sure, the play DOES right itself a bit in the second act. But by then, who cares? The laughs a bound as the plot sweeps out of boundaries. Vonnegut may have been a bit hard on the work in future years, rating it a dismal "D-" in "Palm Sunday." But it is one piece that might best be left out of print; it is one experiment that didn't work out