Official Review: Five One-Act Plays on Ideological Fanati...

[Scerakor]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Five One-Act Plays on Ideological Fanaticism" by Marvin Perry.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Extremist views, unfortunately, are as much a part of human culture as the contrary. Throughout the ages, fanaticism of all kinds has propelled human beings to do some atrocious things. Five One-Act Plays on Ideological Fanaticism by Marvin Perry is a unique glance into a few instances of this dark corner of our psyche. This isn't a book about why some people are motivated to perform horrendous acts of violence against others, but parts of this book do touch on that. This isn't a history lesson about the Holocaust, although real-life events are described. This is simply a collection of five short plays showing how irrational ideas and ideologies can lead to dangerous extremes.

This relatively short compilation of five plays deals with ideological fanaticism in three main settings. The first three plays take us back to the overarching theme of World War II. The first play has German veterans dealing emotionally with the roles they played during the war. The second deals with the deportation of Jewish Germans in mixed-religion relationships; the individuals who were originally exempt from the first iteration of deportations. The third story touches on the concept of Holocaust denial and how this belief comes part and parcel with some extremist views. Finally, the last two plays bring radical extremism closer to home. They deal with Islamic terrorism as well as white supremacy.

Do not let the fact that these are plays deter you from picking up this book. They were extremely easy to digest, and they read almost exactly as a novel would. The real force behind this book, however, is the difficult subject matter that it deals with. I loved how the plays were able to both inform the reader of historical events and give a glimpse into how individuals were able to commit these atrocities. What I liked the most was how, despite being fictitious conversations written for the stage, the narrator chimed in to tell the reader/viewer when an event actually happened. This provided additional weight to the message being passed along. One last thing I'll mention is that Perry approaches these plays with the respect they deserve. Understandably, the book's main themes can be very touchy subjects, but he expertly treads the fine line between providing his important message and respecting the values of his readers.

There were only a couple of things that I disliked about this compilation of plays. First, there were a few too many grammatical and formatting errors in this piece for my liking. I found several instances of missing spaces and line breaks, hyphenation problems, and comma issues. The final issue, and what I disliked the most, is how some of the conversations in the plays seemed a bit forced and unnatural. I acknowledge that writing for the stage is much different than for literary fiction, but I still believe that some parts of the book lacked a natural flow. For example, a character considering extremist actions in one of the final plays states, "My excitement mounts. I never killed anyone. But your father's right..." On the stage or off, I don't believe that this is a natural way of speaking.

For the book's powerful message and its excellent delivery, I have no issues giving this book a solid 3 out of 4 stars. I'm forced to take one star away for the editing issues alone, but I also considered the awkward phrasing that I mentioned above. If you are the kind of reader that enjoys historical fiction or delving into the psyche surrounding extremist views, I wholeheartedly recommend this book for you. Even more so, if you are a director looking for some powerful plays to highlight the importance of understanding ideological fanaticism, this is an essential addition to your bookshelf. If you would prefer not to read about the difficult topics surrounding World War II, the Holocaust, jihadism, or white supremacy, you can comfortably pass on this book.

******
Five One-Act Plays on Ideological Fanaticism
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Maríe Wamakima]

I would have hoped to understand why some people develop fanatic and extremist ideas. This is a really great review. I enjoyed reading it!

[Smmwallace]

The book's issues are exceptionally touchy, so I appreciate that the author was careful and respectful to the subject matter while still relaying his views. Thank you for your great review!