Resurrection Blues: A Prologue and Two Acts
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Resurrection Blues: A Prologue and Two Acts Details
Review A funny, pertinent and sharptoothed satire aimed at the materialist maladies of modern America ("The Guardian", London) Read more About the Author Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1963), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) and The American Clock. He has also written two novels, Focus (1945), and The Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), Chinese Encounters (1979), and In the Country (1977), three books of photographs by his wife, Inge Morath. More recent works include a memoir, Timebends (1987), and the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1993), which won the Olivier Award for Best Play of the London Season, and Mr. Peter's Connections (1998). His latest book is On Politics and the Art of Acting. Miller was granted with the 2001 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Read more
Reviews
In the mold of Monty Python's "Life of Brian", "Resurrection Blues" is a biting satire that mocks American materialism through the exploitation of religion and less industrialized countries. Although readers may not laugh out loud at this satire, they are certain to smile at how clever Arthur Miller was in composing this work.Civil war has destroyed a fictitious Latin American country for years, with little interest from the outside world. A Guerilla leader, who many believe to be the returned Jesus Christ, has been captured by General Felix Barriaux's army. For the profits gained in television rights, the general plans to have the alleged deity crucified on a live broadcast. Yet as the time of the crucifixion draws near, mysterious occurences mount, and the general begins to have second thoughts. Is it really profitable to crucify this illusive guerilla leader?Some may find the portrayal of the deity to be offense. One must remember that this is fiction and a satire. It is not intended to mock religion or Jesus. Yet the indecisiveness of the character in the story may run contradictory to one's values. Even religion is not off-limits from satire. I would suggest that religion is not being mock so much as the exploitation of religion in this clever work. In this respect, I suspect "Resurrection Blues" would not offend most readers.
