100 years of Attitude approaches the theme of execution, imperialism, invasion, and colonialism making several explicit references to the war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, and the official discourse of the US president George W. Bush’s administration regarding the role of the United States in the international context. The play talks about the end of the world as a subjective experience, that is captured in the following sentence: “When everybody around you is dying… that’s the end of the world.” In the piece, a Christian executioner prays before killing and an American family comes to live in town taking over the local homes. The people of this fictional lesbian town are executed several times, always coming back to life; the life of a community prevails over that of the individual.
Review of 100 Years of Attitude
Cook’s play touches upon some of Marquez’s themes using the same magic realism and political bite. What I enjoy most about Cook’s parody is her raw, in your face, political rants. How could you have an evening of lesbian theatre without one or two good diatribes? On this score Cook does not let us down.