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Best Spanish & Portuguese Dramas & Plays

Three Tragedies: Blood Wedding, Yerma, Bernarda Alba (New Directions Paperbook)
Here in the authorized translation by James Graham-Luján and Richard L. O’Connell, with an illuminating biographical introduction by the poet’s brother, Francisco García Lorca, are three tragic dramas by the great modern Spanish poet and playwright which have caught the imagination and won the critical acclaim of the literate world. “Lorca is such a virtuoso of the theatre that he can use and control all its resources to present his poetic vision.”. - Kenyon Review.
Reviews
"Pretty fast read."
"Learned a great deal about Spanish culture in 1930s."
"I loved it and I names my new kitty Lorca."
"I had to read this book for a comparative studies class."
"Such a good book."
"Lorca was one of the finest poets and dramatists in the world and I think his tragedies are very fine."
"three powerful plays especiall blood wedding."
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Three Plays: Blood Wedding; Yerma; The House of Bernarda Alba (FSG Classics)
In these three plays, Federico García Lorca's acknowledged masterpieces, he searched for a contemporary mode of tragedy and reminded his audience that dramatic poetry―or poetic drama―depends less on formal convention that on an elemental, radical outlook on human life. “Nimble and wise .
Reviews
"Classic plays by Federico Garcia Lorca!"
"With that being said, two of the three are less than impressive upon a first reading which leads me to believe that either a) they require multiple readings and instruction to be fully appreciated, or b) the plays' critical acclaim is related more to the act of critical acclamation than actual content. The introduction by Lorca's brother attempts to make a case for the former and provides a valuable postscript to the three plays (assuming you read it after the plays, as opposed to before). The first act seems much more immediate than anything in the other two plays and the pacing makes it easy to understand the conflict between the oppressive tradition required by the mother and the cloistered daughter's desire to choose and act for themselves."
"The story is intriguingly similar to Romeo and Juliet and yet very much a story in its own right, due to its social comments, and the fact that, along with 'La Casa de Bernarda Alba' in particular, reveals much about the sexual repression that Lorca himself experienced, given that he was homosexual in a strongly catholic country. About a fatherless household, again in Andalucia, it tells how natural passion overrides the social rules which bind the young women in the house, who ultimately rebel against their matriarch, the tyrannical Bernarda Alba."
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Life Is a Dream (Penguin Classics)
Imbued with highly poetic language and humanist ideals, it is an allegory that considers contending themes of free will and predestination, illusion and reality, played out against the backdrop of court intrigue and the restoration of personal honor. His output lessened in the 1640s, and in 1651 Calderón entered the priesthood, becoming chaplain of the Capilla de los Reyes Nuevos at the cathedral in Toledo, and then, in 1656, head of the congregation of San Pedro in Madrid. A specialist in poetic translation, Racz has published works by the Cuban writer Jose Lezama Lima, the Peruvian Eduardo Chirinos, and the Argentine experimental XUL group.
Reviews
"This is the center of Oedipus Rex, with its fate versus free will theme, and Calderon explores it with humor and compassion."
""What is life?"
"A great comedic play that offers a wonderful (and unexpected) meditation on what dreaming actually is."
"This was a very good transaction, and a classic read."
"Depicting the revolt of a Polish prince imprisoned by his father because of a prophecy that the boy would one day endanger the realm, this three act play has been translated into English more than a dozen times in the last century alone, but this is the first version I have seen that is not only faithful to the letter of the text but to the form and feeling of the play in the pleasure of the reading moment. In a monumental act of poetic ventriloquy, the translator Gregary Racz has miraculously managed to reproduce the exact rhyme scheme of this "Golden Age" masterpiece in an elegantly metrical English that echoes the original Spanish line for line, all 3319 of them."
"I needed to read this because I knew it was the key to understanding El Relato de una Vida Equivocada, which I am teaching in a college course right now."
"This immortal play is an allegory: a tale which illustrates us on some superior truth, employing symbols. Basil is the king of Poland, who hides his son Sigmund (Freud?, just kidding)in a tower, for fear that an oracle may come true. The plot to make Sigmund believe everything was a dream is hilarious, and it is easy to see why it's a classic."
"A brave, drop dead gorgeous dark hero and a resourceful, witty, inteligent heroine. You can enjoy only the story or find a real interpretation of Spain under the Habsburgs. Calderon asks the eternal question WHO ARE WE and wrapped it in a wonderful, rich and manificent dress."
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Best French Dramas & Plays

Art: A Play
The Tony Award-winning play that focuses on the meaning of art (in the form of a solid white painting) as well as the meaning of friendship, to both the man who bought the painting and the two friends who come to see it." “This is not some irrelevant fringe production; it is a major intervention in the cultural debate of the country by people who are keen to keep the reactionary tides running. “ Art , which has been translated from the French by Christopher Hampton, is filled from first curtain to ending with a dazzling array of language.” ― Iris Fanger, Christian Science Monitor. “It's an actor's dream, a nonstop cross-fire of crackling language, serious issues of life and art expressed in outbursts that sound like Don Rickles with a degree from the Sorbonne.
Reviews
"COLLEGE REQUIRED READING - A GIFT..NO COMPLAINTS. Art: A Play."
"I purchased this as a required text for an English class."
"very great and fast shipping A++++ Thank you so much!"
"one of the best playsd i have ever encountered."
"This is one of my favorite plays."
"Engaging and thought provoking."
"Amazing book, you can read it entirely in only an afternoon!"
"I had to buy it because I'm a french major and I had no choice, but if you do, then don't buy the book."
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Best German Dramas & Plays

Faust: A Tragedy, Parts One and Two, Fully Revised
Martin Greenberg re-creates not only the text’s varied meter and rhyme but also its diverse tones and styles―dramatic and lyrical, reflective and farcical, pathetic and coarse, colloquial and soaring. Martin Greenberg’s revised version conveys the outrage yet also shows again and again why the poem does stand with the major works of the western tradition. He has taken a great German work, until now all but inaccessible to English readers, and made it into a sparkling English poem, full of verve and wit.
Reviews
"This translation flows and provides precision to the drama and meaning of this great."
"was satisfied with delivery and item.Interesting addition to my other classics."
"An excellent, very readable translation of the archetypal story."
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Best Italian Dramas & Plays

Julius Caesar (Shakespeare, Signet Classic)
• An overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater. • A special introduction to the play by the editor, William and Barbara Rosen. • Selections from Plutarch's Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans , the source from which Shakespeare derived Julius Caesar • Dramatic criticism from Roy Walker, Maynard Mack, Richard David, and others. • A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions. • Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text. • And more... Often referred to as the Bard of Avon, Shakespeare's vast body of work includes comedic, tragic, and historical plays; poems; and 154 sonnets.
Reviews
"They make all the difference to me, a new student to Shakespeare, at the ripe age of 59 years old....now I can understand and appreciate these amazing works of literature."
"I enjoyed Shakespeare in college (50 years ago) and now I get to attend a class with adults who are reading just for the joy, fun, of learning discussing."
"Great book, easy to understand with the translated version."
"Having read rubbish and technical docs most of my life, I decided to find some "culture"."
"Entertaining and a great example of Shakespeare's incredible strong female characters."
"Although I was generally familiar with the story of Macbeth, it definitely made reading the play more enjoyable and understandable."
"This review is for Hamlet in the Pelican paperback version."
"Love Arkangel productions of Shakespeare plays."
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