Department of English
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
Misreadings
(1997)
Neena Beber
( – )
Misreadings Notes
This short play by Neena Beber was commissioned by the Actors Theatre of Louisville. The original cast was Maryann Urbano as Ruth and Jennifer London as Simone.
5 Anna Karenina: a novel by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. It was published in installments from 1875 to 1877 and released in book form in 1878.
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Photo: Sokolnikov |
6 amortize:
7 Dr. Ruth: Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a psychosexual therapist and media personality in the United States. She is known for her syndicated column "Ask Dr. Ruth," her The Dr. Ruth Show (first called Good Sex with Dr. Ruth Westheimer) running from 1984–1991 on the cable TV channel Lifetime, and her radio program "Sexually Speaking." People call in or write to ask her about sex, love, and relationships. You can see from the video clips below that Dr. Ruth has a very ebullient quality. She has a friendly, frank, and cheerful manner of speaking and listening that invites people to share their problems with her and to feel as at ease as possible expressing the difficult issues they have. This is a marked contrast from the character Ruth in this play who seems dismissive and unfeeling, though Simone calls her Dr. Ruth.
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Dr. Ruth.com (her official page)
Nisreen Hasib, "Dr. Ruth Speaks on Sex" (2007)
7 waltz: especially
in the expression "you/he/she/they can't just waltz + prep.": to walk or
move in a blithe or inconsiderate manner, or with such an attitude
8 Drew Barrymore: American actress known for her bubbly personality.
8 L-Seven: Note that in the Humana Festival '97: The Complete Plays collection this line is Simone's:
RUTH. [...] you might not be so behind in class if you spent a little less time watching television.
SIMONE.
Drew is a film star, she’s in films. Don’t you even go to
the movies? Probably only the ones that are totally L-Seven. And I know
you don’t know what that means. (She makes an ‘L’ and a ‘7’ with her
fingers.) Square? Anyway, Drew was on TV because she was being
interviewed. […] (56)
8 square: to be
square or to be a square is to be a boring, old-fashioned person who is
out of touch with current trends
8 coiffed: having carefully and attractively styled hair
9 blue book: a blue booklet commonly used for written exams in US high schools and universities
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10 All happy people...in their own way: Simone's rewriting of the opening line of Anna Karenina: "All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
10 Any world that I'm welcome to is better than the one that I come from: beginning words from the chorus of the song "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)" in the 1975 album Katy Lied by the American rock band Steely Dan.
Study Questions
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Sample Student Responses to Neena Beber's Misreadings
Study Question:
Response 1:
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Neena Beber |
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Reference
Beber, Neena. Misreadings. The Best American Short Plays 1996–1997. Ed. Glenn Young. New York: Applause, 1997. 1–10. Print.
Last
updated
February 4, 2016