Customer Reviews

Where the Pavement Ends: Five Native American Plays (American Indian Literature & Critical Studies)

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This collection of plays is highly accessible, and they cry to be staged__especially The Star Quilt, which I found to be the most moving, insightful, and powerful of William J. Yellow Robe's collection of plays. Through two women characters__one American Indian and one white__the playwright eloquently delineates the profound lack of understanding and awareness of American Indians on the part of the "white" American society ( which, in my opinion, is still in the throes of narcissicisstic adolescence as a society). Through this four-scene play about the relationship between two women__ one Assiniboine Sioux and the other of WASP heritage__the story of a tenuous friendship unfolds. Every time I read The Star Quilt I weep at the tragedy of non-Native Americans who have objectified, defied, and betrayed American Indians (and many other "alien" cultures) to this very day. The miracle is that many American Indian tribes today are growing stronger in their cultural practices and beliefs in the wake of "white" American society's shallow materialism. William S. Yellow Robe communicates this through realistic dialogue in a play that ends with humanity and insight. The other plays in the collection, Where the Pavement Ends, hold powerful messages of American Indian values such as respect for and preservation of all life. They are told with humor, whimsy, creativity__and a vein that runs through all of William J. Yellow Robe's works: humanity.

This book is a nice collection of plays by Mr. Yellowrobe; often addressing serious cultural issues, sometimes with a comical twist. Mr Yellowrobe's plays should be seen; his work is talented along with the actors chosen. You will walk away with something to think about when reading his books or attending a play written by him.Where the Pavement Ends: Five Native American Plays (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series)