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Dog Lady and The Cuban Swimmer.
Dog Lady and the Cuban Swimmer plays
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 14, 2020
As part of a theater class, I read and later directed “Dog Lady”. Working with members of a Chicano theater group in Southern California on the project really brought it to life, for the play is set in the LA barrios. Thus my experience with it was ideal, and I had a lot of fun with it.
The play a fun, brief, and whimsical story which is great for new actors. It’s a easy text to play around with and learn the theater space. Or if you’re just looking for a light read, this is a fine script; nothing especially hard hitting but engaging nonetheless.
The play a fun, brief, and whimsical story which is great for new actors. It’s a easy text to play around with and learn the theater space. Or if you’re just looking for a light read, this is a fine script; nothing especially hard hitting but engaging nonetheless.
May 8, 2015
In “The Cuban Swimmer” by Milcha Sanchez-Scott, we see how a family of Cuban/Americans unite and support daughter Margarita Suarez as she intents to win a race that seems almost impossible to win. Margarita is a nineteen year old girl that is participating in a race that involves swimming from San Pedro to Catalina Island through the Pacific Ocean.Swimming in the open water can be extremely dangerous yet we see how all her family especially her father encouraged her to swim and finish the race. Margarita Sanchez-Scott used this play to emphasize the dangerous and difficult journey Cubans go through as they try to enter America by crossing the ocean.
The play takes place in the midpoint of San Pedro and Catalina. Margarita is swimming as her father yells at her through a megaphone so she can keep a pace. Soon a helicopter appears and we find out that margarita is being recorded for an American TV channel. The reporters refer to Margarita as an amateur which makes all of margaritas family angry specially her father who more than anyone wants for margarita to finish the race. Margarita hits an Oil spill and is extremely tired to the point of hallucination yet her father never lets her get out of the water. While all of Margaritas family are arguing with each other,Margarita disappears. With no sign of Margarita anywhere her family fear the worst. At the end the TV reporters announce that a winner was arriving to shore and for everyone's surprise it was Margarita.
For many Cubans the only way to get into America is by sea. For them leaving everything behind in Cuba like their homes and belongings is no problem, because they think that none of that would matter ones they get to American. Cubans come in small boats or swimming just like Margarita did, and just like Margarita these people get tired and put their lives at risk. Just like all of Margaritas family was there to support her during the race, many of Cuban families encourage their young family members to leave Cuba in search of a better life in America.
It is crazy how people can put their life at risk just to get a better living. I can just imagine how much courage and hopes all these people have to be able to embark such a difficult journey. I know that i wouldn't have the courage to ever do anything like that. This Play made me think how lucky some of us are but yet we are never happy with what we have. I would encourage everyone to read this play, it is short but the meaning behind it is an eye opener.
The play takes place in the midpoint of San Pedro and Catalina. Margarita is swimming as her father yells at her through a megaphone so she can keep a pace. Soon a helicopter appears and we find out that margarita is being recorded for an American TV channel. The reporters refer to Margarita as an amateur which makes all of margaritas family angry specially her father who more than anyone wants for margarita to finish the race. Margarita hits an Oil spill and is extremely tired to the point of hallucination yet her father never lets her get out of the water. While all of Margaritas family are arguing with each other,Margarita disappears. With no sign of Margarita anywhere her family fear the worst. At the end the TV reporters announce that a winner was arriving to shore and for everyone's surprise it was Margarita.
For many Cubans the only way to get into America is by sea. For them leaving everything behind in Cuba like their homes and belongings is no problem, because they think that none of that would matter ones they get to American. Cubans come in small boats or swimming just like Margarita did, and just like Margarita these people get tired and put their lives at risk. Just like all of Margaritas family was there to support her during the race, many of Cuban families encourage their young family members to leave Cuba in search of a better life in America.
It is crazy how people can put their life at risk just to get a better living. I can just imagine how much courage and hopes all these people have to be able to embark such a difficult journey. I know that i wouldn't have the courage to ever do anything like that. This Play made me think how lucky some of us are but yet we are never happy with what we have. I would encourage everyone to read this play, it is short but the meaning behind it is an eye opener.
May 8, 2015
When I first read “The Cuban Swimmer” by Milcha Sanchez-Scott I was amazed of how with all the detail that she gives she was able to create films of it into my mind. This story shows that with religion a family was able to stick together.I believe this novel is very enjoyable for the fact that it gives a message and hope that no matter how hard something is as long as you have faith and believe you can accomplish it.
Margarita Suarez was a cuban girl competing in a swimming race and supporting her behind in a boat was her family. Margarita Suarez had to swim from San Pedro to Catalina Island. On the boat was her father who was also her coach and mentor. Her mother, younger brother and grandmother were also on the boat. In a helicopter came a newscast that just made the family feel less. The mom and the grandmother where praying to God for help. Margarita had to swim through the rough currents, oil spills and try to ignore the distraction of her family. After a while, Margarita felt that she could not continue and her father pressured her to continue. Her mother, grandmother and margarita herself were praying so she could advance. It was dark at night when Margarita got lost and her family could not see her anymore. Her father blamed himself the reporters thought she was dead and her grandmother continue to pray with faith and hope. Margarita was later found in Catalina Island; she had won the race.
I believe that the message that Scott is trying to give is that everything is possible as long as you have faith and hope. When the story mentions that Margarita wanted to give up and she was nowhere to be found I knew it could not end there because I saw a lot of faith on God from all the family specially the grandmother as stated in the story “I don’t feel the knife in my heart … my little fish is not lost”. It really surprised me that the news cast gave up on Margarita and believe she was death, but all the family was still praying. I believe that Scott did this in order to demonstrate how the family stick together with hope on finding her as well as that she was going to win the race with the help from God. What happen to Margarita was a miracle thanks to the faith and hope her family carry.
I think the fact that the family was always together and strongly believe in God was used to get the message through. That way people could see that as long as one has faith and hope everything is possible. By the way that they portray the characters as spiritual gives this play a big suspense that makes it even more interesting.
Margarita Suarez was a cuban girl competing in a swimming race and supporting her behind in a boat was her family. Margarita Suarez had to swim from San Pedro to Catalina Island. On the boat was her father who was also her coach and mentor. Her mother, younger brother and grandmother were also on the boat. In a helicopter came a newscast that just made the family feel less. The mom and the grandmother where praying to God for help. Margarita had to swim through the rough currents, oil spills and try to ignore the distraction of her family. After a while, Margarita felt that she could not continue and her father pressured her to continue. Her mother, grandmother and margarita herself were praying so she could advance. It was dark at night when Margarita got lost and her family could not see her anymore. Her father blamed himself the reporters thought she was dead and her grandmother continue to pray with faith and hope. Margarita was later found in Catalina Island; she had won the race.
I believe that the message that Scott is trying to give is that everything is possible as long as you have faith and hope. When the story mentions that Margarita wanted to give up and she was nowhere to be found I knew it could not end there because I saw a lot of faith on God from all the family specially the grandmother as stated in the story “I don’t feel the knife in my heart … my little fish is not lost”. It really surprised me that the news cast gave up on Margarita and believe she was death, but all the family was still praying. I believe that Scott did this in order to demonstrate how the family stick together with hope on finding her as well as that she was going to win the race with the help from God. What happen to Margarita was a miracle thanks to the faith and hope her family carry.
I think the fact that the family was always together and strongly believe in God was used to get the message through. That way people could see that as long as one has faith and hope everything is possible. By the way that they portray the characters as spiritual gives this play a big suspense that makes it even more interesting.
May 8, 2015
How many times have we let our mind take over our actions and important decisions to make in life? Every day isn't it? From something very simple as thinking that we are not capable of going through a complicated situation to something more complex as making a dream come true. We know the power that our brain has over our lives but sometimes we don't stop to think about it and let its power govern our activities.
This story narrates what a nineteen-year-old swimmer and her family had to go through in order to win a long distance race from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island in the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. Margarita, the swimmer, was always supported by her dad and coach, Eduardo. Her brother, Simon and her mom and grandmother, Aida and Cecilia, make appearance in the story too. In my opinion, the characters that have an important role are Margarita's dad and Margarita along with the press. This is a very good story that makes us think about how sometimes we need to force our mind into positive thoughts to accomplish our goals. Throughout the whole story Margarita's father was always trying to keep her focus to overcome the tiredness of her body for being swimming a long distance. In contrast the other family members and the press were being negative and tried to put her down even before trying. Aida, Simon and Cecilia were constantly asking Eduardo to stop Margarita and take her out of the race, but Eduardo never listened to them. The press even said she was not going to make it and called her "amateur". To me this is the important role of the press, even though they only appear twice in the story, their comments gave courage to Margarita and made her stronger than she was before. Towards the end of the story something happened that caught up my attention. Margarita lost her concentration after listening to an argument between her family and (apparently) started to surrender. Nobody knew what happened to her and they all lost their hopes, even Eduardo thought they wouldn't find her alive. The story ends up leaving us a good taste and an important advice to never surrender and being focus to be able to govern our brain and accomplish our goals, just how Margarita did to win the race.
This story narrates what a nineteen-year-old swimmer and her family had to go through in order to win a long distance race from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island in the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. Margarita, the swimmer, was always supported by her dad and coach, Eduardo. Her brother, Simon and her mom and grandmother, Aida and Cecilia, make appearance in the story too. In my opinion, the characters that have an important role are Margarita's dad and Margarita along with the press. This is a very good story that makes us think about how sometimes we need to force our mind into positive thoughts to accomplish our goals. Throughout the whole story Margarita's father was always trying to keep her focus to overcome the tiredness of her body for being swimming a long distance. In contrast the other family members and the press were being negative and tried to put her down even before trying. Aida, Simon and Cecilia were constantly asking Eduardo to stop Margarita and take her out of the race, but Eduardo never listened to them. The press even said she was not going to make it and called her "amateur". To me this is the important role of the press, even though they only appear twice in the story, their comments gave courage to Margarita and made her stronger than she was before. Towards the end of the story something happened that caught up my attention. Margarita lost her concentration after listening to an argument between her family and (apparently) started to surrender. Nobody knew what happened to her and they all lost their hopes, even Eduardo thought they wouldn't find her alive. The story ends up leaving us a good taste and an important advice to never surrender and being focus to be able to govern our brain and accomplish our goals, just how Margarita did to win the race.
May 9, 2015
Right after reading "The Cuban Swimmer" I was filled with many emotions. The Suarez family reminds me a lot of many Latino family including my own.
In the beginning we see how Margarita Suarez "The little Cuban swimmer from Long Beach, California" who is just nineteen-year-old is battling her way through the Pacific to reach the Island of Romance so she can be the winner of the gold cup and two thousand dollars. Margarita is not an ordinary teenager.
In the beginning of the play her family seems to be very close and encourages her in many way just like any family would. Throughout the story we see how many obstacles get on their way but faith overcomes it all.
This play shows us the power faith and a strong family bond can overcome many things.
In the beginning we see how Margarita Suarez "The little Cuban swimmer from Long Beach, California" who is just nineteen-year-old is battling her way through the Pacific to reach the Island of Romance so she can be the winner of the gold cup and two thousand dollars. Margarita is not an ordinary teenager.
In the beginning of the play her family seems to be very close and encourages her in many way just like any family would. Throughout the story we see how many obstacles get on their way but faith overcomes it all.
This play shows us the power faith and a strong family bond can overcome many things.
October 9, 2021
THE CUBAN SWIMMER REVIEW (4 stars):
A beautiful story about the reality many people face. It’s so short but the characters are loveable and you feel for what they go through. I wasn’t entirely riveted until I was, if that makes sense. It had captivating moments, and the end will probably keep me up at night.
Okay. Originally had three stars for this play but I have been converted after script analysis class today. Playwrights are so good. This is my new favorite non-realistic play, which obviously means it just takes a bit of brain power to truly appreciate this work. This is a beautiful and profound play about immigration that runs so deep, especially the Cuban immigration crisis in the late 20th century. Like I said before, I will be thinking about this play for a long time.
(PG rating)
A beautiful story about the reality many people face. It’s so short but the characters are loveable and you feel for what they go through. I wasn’t entirely riveted until I was, if that makes sense. It had captivating moments, and the end will probably keep me up at night.
Okay. Originally had three stars for this play but I have been converted after script analysis class today. Playwrights are so good. This is my new favorite non-realistic play, which obviously means it just takes a bit of brain power to truly appreciate this work. This is a beautiful and profound play about immigration that runs so deep, especially the Cuban immigration crisis in the late 20th century. Like I said before, I will be thinking about this play for a long time.
(PG rating)
May 4, 2015
After reading, "Cuban Swimmer," made me realize that it was not easy making a trip to Long Beach to Catalina Island swimming. It is amazing that Margarita has the support from her Cuban-American family. In the text alone was kind interesting since the author switches from English to Spanish.
August 7, 2012
I had to read these two plays for a Drama class I took. I really liked the Dog Lady. Its a very quick read if you ever get a chance to pick it up.
December 8, 2008
I only read the cuban swimmer
August 21, 2015
Read "The Cuban Swimmer" to consider teaching. Won't.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews