Catherine Eaton

Tiny Stories, Tiny Tales

the doll out of the house

Thanks to the discovery of a wonderful site by the name of DailyLit, I have come back to one of my earliest loves. Not novels but plays. My first play was one by Ibsen, the Dollhouse, I think. Sure, I was young but it didn't matter. The dialogue, the black comedy, the pacing set me on fire. I watched every moment of that play and lugged my Ibsen book around, reading Hedda Grabler as well. And then? And then? It was "Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesselring. Later still, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." And then it was over because I was onto college for high school and then more college…well for…college. And no one read plays in Lit. classes except Shakespeare's, and Ibsen, plays, and Arsenic floated to the far back reaches of my mind. Till now.

Now! I've been getting small sections of "Pygmalion" by Shaw in my mailbox each morning. What a better way to start the day then wit and perfectly tuned dialogue? Nothing better.