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Hey

What drama or poem did you read and enjoy. You can say the title of the drama or poem or the author or write a few lines from the work . Whatever you found interesting.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is one of my favorite all time plays. My favorite scene is when John Proctor is about to sign his name confirming that he works for the devil. The officials want to hang the document for all citizens to see, and Proctor resists and explains:
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
This is such a powerful and pivotal scene in the play.

I also love Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling. She is such a talented writer.

One play that really sticks out for me, especially since I am also an actor, was August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. I was in a production of this play a couple of years ago and played the role of Irvin. It is one of those plays that is a bit of historical fiction because Ma Rainey was a real African American blues singer in the 1920s. The play revolves around her recording an album in a white-owned and operated studio in Chicago. There are themes and references to overt racism, which is interesting because we often think of "the North" as non-racism when in reality, racism is more widespread than we've been led to believe. This play also gives a lot of credit to the musicians on these records as they actually weren't given any credit during this era. Nowadays, everybody worked on the album is given credit and we know their names. We can't say the same for these blues musicians in these recording sessions. August Wilson did a great job highlighting these people and gave them a voice as we really learn about these particular characters and their own personal experiences in music, in life, and as Black men. There are also only three White characters in the whole play, all of whom serve a specific purpose and show varying levels of racism.

I highly recommend it and listen to Ma Rainey's music in the process as well. It enhances the full experience of reading the play.

I recently read and very much enjoyed a few of Anton Chekhov's plays. Three Sisters especially was superb.