Play of the Week: Desire Caught by the Tail

This week's feature is one of the stranger plays by an unlikely playwright, Pablo Picasso. Written as a response to the Nazi occupation of Paris during the second World War, to say that this play is a surrealist work may not be going far enough. The cast of characters include Curtains, Big Foot, the Tart, Fat Anxiety, and many other strange characters. The plot is almost indiscernible, but it deals with loss, hunger, and loneliness.

While the play has had only limited exposure on the stage, it seems to go over well when produced. It has made it's bread and butter, however, in public readings, including its first presentation back in the 1940's.

This will be a difficult script to get your hands on, but it is well worth the effort as an exercise to expand comprehension of obtuse writing. While there will be a wave of new productions of this piece any time soon, it is a work that more people need to be more widely read so that more people can digest this truly unique text.