After reading, A Streetcar Named Desire, I have taken a new interest in reading plays. Unlike reading a story, I love the way that the words bring you directly into the scene you are reading, as if you were merely a character in the background, watching everything unfold. It is for this newfound interest that I decided to read ‘A Conversation with Socrates, Odyseus and Hitler’ written by James Scharfen. The title of the piece captured me immediately, mostly because of the contrast between the three men in the title. Hitler, a universal icon of evil, Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers that has ever lived and Odysseus, a symbolic Greek hero; with all of these historical icons, I knew that this was bound to be an intriguing article. Bringing together characters that would otherwise never some into contact with one another in any other circumstances was brilliant. I love the idea of taking things we know so well, and changing them into something new, something we may have not thought possible – for it creates a greater understanding and enthusiasm for the characters themselves.

What James did was truly amazing. My absolute favorite part about the piece, was it’s nonfictional components. Not only did he base the characters in his play off of their real personalities, but he quoted them directly from works such as Plato, the Odyssey, and Mein Kampf. By doing this, the story became not only more intellectual, but it showed the great amount of effort and attention to detail that James instilled in this piece after writing it. I really respect what he has created and would love to see it acted out. His descriptions of the characters feelings were so vivid, that I really felt as if I were watching the whole scene unfold in front of me.

I have not been on School Times before, so I don’t know if this is a one time piece, or if the play will continue in weeks to come. If there were one thing that I could recommend, it would be to carry this play forward. Though it seemed to stop at a logical place, by the end I was itching for more. I do hope that James goes more into detail about the effects meeting Hitler had on the two characters, and perhaps they would meet more iconic figures in weeks to come.