"Or,"

Saw "Or," at Caffeine Theatre, which features Aphra Behn as its heroine. She was one of the first women to make her living by her pen. When I was in college, in the dawn of time, she was a footnote in English Restoration literature, but now she is a big deal in the academic world. I admit I haven't gotten around to reading her.

The play got rave reviews here, and is well acted and cleverly produced, and even includes stretches of rhyme and iambic pentameter. But I wasn't quite crazy about it. I guess the plot resolution didn't do it for me, above all.

And somehow the celebration of sexuality felt... too unmotivated, which is a strange thing to say about a primal drive, I suppose. But it felt programmatic to me.

Here's a negative review, by John Simon, of the 2009 New York production.

I suppose now I will break down and try to read something the lady wrote. I can sometimes become quite enthusiastic about writers who are usually regarded as footnotes.

Will I like her, or,
will I find her a bore?