Getting Dramatic

 

At the beginning of each year I set reading goals. Among the goals for this year is to read a couple of plays. 

Being in the mood for some theatrical works, I stopped by the library and picked up a couple of plays I'd wanted to read because of their reputations as "plays one should read".

The first play was The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. I had just read his The Picture of Dorian Gray, so it was a natural choice.

The play was light, amusing, and witty. I enjoyed it in part because I dd not have high expectations of it being something profound.

Then I read Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill. I knew it would be a much more serious play. Indeed, it was. I found it dark and sad. 

After finishing it I thought I needed something a bit lighter and brighter.

Chesterton.

I dug out my copy of Volume XI of the Collected Works, the volume that contains Chesterton's plays and writings about George Bernard Shaw.

I had already read Magic, The Judgement of Dr. Johnson, and The Surprise. I looked at the other play titles, and one jumped out: The Turkey and the Turk. It drew my attention in part because of the current war with Iraq.

I quickly discovered it was a short play, and his version of a mummer's play. Being a professional Santa, I found the inclusion of Father Christmas as a character appealing.

Okay, it's not a "serious" work - certainly not in the sense of O'Neill's drama. But he does deal with some more serious issues. Yes, there is the conflict between Christians, represented by St George and Father Christmas, and militant Muslims, represented by the Turk. But there seemed to be some mutual respect between these antagonists. The Germanic Doctor with his penchant for replacing body parts with mechanical devices seems to be the real point of mockery and satire. Hey, maybe he's the "turkey".

I found the Doctor a prophetic character: I see the same impulse active today as science and the culture seek to replace the real and the natural with the artificial and mechanical. IVF, pills to enhance male "performance" in older men. AI. and more. 

Ah, Chesterton the prophet!