"Blue Lias-or the Fish Lizard's Whore" by Sophia Galano

Dear Ms. Claudia Stevens,
I recently attended your performance “Blue Lias-or the Fish Lizard’s Whore,” and would like to thank you for traveling to Scripps College. I would also like to commend your incorporation of various educational fields, as you successfully blended literature, music, theatre, science and gender studies together in your play. You also addressed important questions pertaining to women’s roles in science and psychology. I was overall very impressed with the unique style and subject matter of your play.

The style and form of “Blue Lias-or the Fish Lizard’s Whore” was both unique and intriguing. First and foremost, I must applaud your acting skills, as you brilliantly performed two very different characters. I loved how you often shifted between the two characters, and changed voice and narration. It was interesting how I found myself questioning the reliability of your narrator, and if she was in fact mentally unstable or simply eccentric. The different tones, narration and voices used throughout the play brought forth questions pertaining to the central character’s emotional state and larger societal issues, such as the gender divide in the scientific world.

Along with the shift in tone and narration, I was compelled by the central character’s poetic interpersonal dialogue, diction and use of music and song. The narrator’s inner thoughts were expressed with a consistent rhyme scheme and evenly distributed intervals. The accentuation and repetition of certain words also established a specific form and emphasized themes of pain and death. Furthermore, I was absorbed by the intervals between dialogues, as they were often divided with music and song. This was a powerful tool that allowed a viewer such as myself to feel sympathy and sadness for the central character.

I found the songs and music to be a fascinating way of handling themes of sadness, grief, pain and death. You addressed these themes in non-traditional methods, as you used theatre as well as audience interaction and interpersonal dialogue. I found that a method such as audience interaction exaggerated and created irony within sadness and grief. Instead of leaving physical and emotional pain in words on a paper, you diligently chose to act, dress and show specific feelings.

One of the most important and absorbing assets of your work was its intersection of various educational fields. I was further intrigued by how the play dealt with issues of gender, psychology and the scientific experience, yet was portrayed through poetry, song and theatre. Your utilization of these different methods fully showed your talent and ability to contrast content and form. I credit you for successfully blurring the boundaries between performance and literature, while still addressing science and psychology.

Overall, I was captivated by your performance of “Blue Lias- or the Fish Lizards Whore.” The work was written in an unusual, yet compelling manner and was remarkably performed. I was also interested in the style and form as well as the themes and questions within your play. The central topic of women’s place in the scientific world was nicely incorporated into various other issues, such as mental stability. Your play addressed pertinent issues in today’s society, was historically accurate and addressed in a unique style. Thank you again for performing this intellectual and unusual work of literature.
Yours truly,
Sophia Galano