I saw a play called The Best of Everything at the the HERE Arts Center (145 6th Avenue) in New York City on their opening week. The play is based on the book by Rona Jaffe and was adapted and directed by Julie Kramer.
The book, Best of Everything, was published at 1952 and it was a slightly scandalous 1950s bestseller. The story is about five secretaries in the typing pool at Fabian Publishing dodge. The ladies are seeking thrilling careers and a nice boy to take them out to dinner. But getting the best of everything is never as easy as it seems…
The casting was well done and all the characters were credible. I really enjoyed the play. It was like The Sex and The City from 50′s. The atmosphere was totally from 50′s and the costume design was perfect.
The play was funny but yet it portrayed some serious issues about women rights at the 50′s. A woman without a man was nothing. Men were allowed to be ambitious and build a career but women just had to find a man, get married and have children. It’s hard to understand times when women didn’t have rights and they were expected to forget about their own career and life goals just to support their husbands and family. When you were pregnant you weren’t allowed to work after three months pregnancy, and after you had children you had to stay at home with the or otherwise you were not seen as a good mother nor a good wife in the 50′s. Interestingly, still many women today struggle with the work-family balance and the mommy guilt, even though the times have changed and women’s rights have changed, making this play in a very interesting way relevant still today. It has been 50 years since the book was published. After seeing the play you couldn’t help wondering does 2012 look so much different from 1952 after all.
Catch The Best of Everything at the HERE Arts Center (145 6th Avenu in NYC, playing now, until Oct 20th, 2012. Get tickets and read more here.
Disclosure: I received tickets to the play, but my opinions are my own.
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