But Gald\u00f3s isn\u2019t easy and my Spanish level was quite advanced when I started to tackle his novels (having said that, I remember moments of desperation when faced with different terms for lace in Fortunata y Jacinta<\/strong>!) So I\u2019d feel quite wary recommending a novel by Charles Dickens<\/strong> or Viginia Woolf<\/strong> to many students due the difficulty and often the density itself of the book in question. Students often want to read a classic they\u2019ve heard about or maybe seen a film adaption of, but feel that the challenge is too much for them. And often it is!<\/p>\n One suggestion I have for these students is to consider reading a play. The fact that you\u2019re only reading the spoken word tends to make them less complicated to read than straight prose with its descriptive writing. It means that you are focusing on communicative language that has been created to represent drama \u2013 this means that in a relatively short amount of time, you\u2019re taken on a journey the aim of which is to entertain and\/or move the audience \u2013 in this case, you!<\/p>\n Apart from the text itself, plays will also contain stage directions which, for the reader, helpfully set the scene. The language tends to be quite direct, practical and not too difficult to understand.<\/p>\n For this post I\u2019ve chosen four texts that all have an important place in the history of English-speaking theatre in the early and mid-twentieth century. I\u2019m sure that you\u2019re familiar with some, most or all of them!<\/p>\n The first play we\u2019re going to look at is George Bernard Shaw\u2019s Pygmalion<\/strong>, the world-famous story of how Professor Henry Higgins<\/strong> transforms cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle<\/strong> into a duchess at ease in polite society. Pygmalion<\/strong> is a witty and entertaining read which looks at class conflict and the battle of sexes, themes that were as topical at its time of writing one hundred years ago as they are today. \u00a0A recommended read without a doubt, but you\u2019ve also got the spectacular adaptation, My Fair Lady<\/strong>, to enjoy if you fancy something a little more musical. The film, starring Audrey Hepburn<\/strong> and Rex Harrison<\/strong>, is a Hollywood classic that has entertained generations.<\/p>\n Our second text is a Pulitzer Prize winner, regarded as one of the twentieth century\u2019s finest plays and its creator\u2019s greatest achievement, A\u00a0<\/strong>Streetcar Named Desire.<\/strong> Written in 1946, Tennessee Williams<\/strong> takes us to post-war New Orleans and Blanche Dubois\u2019 quest for love and some kind of security. At times a heart-breaking piece of theatre, the play deals with the universal themes of fantasy and reality, and leaves us with unforgettable characters and scenes. A perfect example of Williams\u2019 rich, powerful use of language which lets us ponder over lines such as \u201dI have always depended on the kindness of strangers\u201d. <\/em>Streetcar Named Desire<\/strong> was famously filmed in 1951, earning Oscars for its stars Vivien Leigh<\/strong> and Marlon Brando<\/strong>. Tennessee Williams<\/strong> wrote other remarkable plays like The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof<\/strong> and Sweet Bird of Youth, <\/strong>all of which you can discover and enjoy by reading the printed plays or, if you prefer, by watching the wonderfully filmed versions of the 1950s and 1960s.<\/p>\n Another vitally important mid-century American playwright is Arthur Miller<\/strong> and here we\u2019re going to take a brief look at his 1953 play, The Crucible.<\/strong> The play is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials of Massachusetts at the end of the seventeenth century.\u00a0 Miller wrote The Crucible<\/strong> as an allegory for McCarthyism<\/strong>, when the United States government, through Senator Joe McCarthy\u2019s House of Representative’s Committee on Un-American Activities<\/strong>\u00a0set about identifying those suspected of being communists. The sense of persecution, the mass hysteria and the betraying of others to save yourself are all elements that link these two historic episodes and make The Crucible<\/strong> fascinating reading. Three years later, Arthur Miller<\/strong> himself was ordered to appear at the Committee and was convicted of contempt of congress for refusing to name other suspected communists.<\/p>\n Finally, let\u2019s consider something a little lighter: Noel Coward\u2019s Private Lives.<\/strong> Noel Coward<\/strong> was one of the most well-known personalities in Britain for much of the Twentieth Century, as playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, infusing much of his work with a particularly British wit and style. Private Lives<\/strong> is typical of this, showing us in elegant pre-war Deauville, the war of words between sophisticate divorcees, Amanda<\/strong> and Elyot<\/strong>. At the time of its opening thought too risqu\u00e9, it may seem a little tame for modern audiences. However, if you want to experience quick-fire dialogue full of witty asides, then this is for you. Maybe not a book for great analysis; as \u201cthe Master\u201d once said himself: \u201cmany years ago an earnest young man wrote a book about my plays. It was very intelligent and absolute rubbish<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/virtualcampus.kingstraining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/pygmalion.jpg\")
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