Reza de Wet plays have drawn on Russian author Anton Chekhov as inspiration. DRIE SUSTERS TWEE (THREE SISTERS TWO) have the characters of Chekhov's THREE SISTERS moving to the structure and rhythm of THE CHERRY ORCHARD. The shadowy undertow of UNCLE VANYA, so carefully concealed behind Chekhov's lively dialogues, became the expressionistic spirit in the award winning YELENA. This year, opening at the National Arts festival, de Wet's ON THE LAKE borrowed from THE SEAGULL, recalling the life of the actress Nina, who longs for freedom; Madame Arkadina, losing the battle against the passing of youth; and Polina, whose life consists of dashed
Plays of Three Decades "The threat of war began to overshadow the reality of want." It was in response to this threat, motivated especially by the exigency of the Munich Agreement, that Ardrey wrote "Thunder Rock." In his introduction to "Plays of Three Decades" Ardrey writes that he conceived of the play in New York following a long vacation to Nantucket. He wrote the play in New Orleans during the winter and spring of 1939. "Thunder Rock" concerns a journalist, Charleston, who, distraught at the state of the world, withdraws into isolation as a lighthouse attendant. Amid the solitude he conjures in his imagination