Discussing Cuba By Liz Lochhead Essay Example

Discussing Cuba By Liz Lochhead Essay Example Discussing Cuba By Liz Lochhead Essay Discussing Cuba By Liz Lochhead Essay Cuba, which tells of a short period of two young girls lives, is set in the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, however the play itself was written in 1997. Barbara and Bernadette are best friends living in England, whose familys come from different classes. The play shows how they react to the situation at hand. The Cuban Missile Crisis started because of disagreements over Communism. America was against Communism and wanted to rid the world of it, but Cuba, supported by Russia, wanted to stop America doing this. When, on October 22nd, 1962, Kennedy informed America of nuclear bases being set up on Cuba, just 90 miles from the coast of Florida, everyone believed it was going to be the end of the world. Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba to prevent Russian ships taking additional missiles to Cuba. In response to this, Khrushchev ordered his Soviet field commanders to launch the missiles in Cuba if invaded by U. S forces. If either side pressed the button to launch their missiles on the other country, that country would do the same, causing the end of the world. Deadlocked in this manner, the two leaders of the worlds greatest nuclear superpowers stared each other down for seven days until Khrushchev blinked. Khrushchev ordered all Soviet supply ships away from Cuba and agreeing to remove missiles from Cubas mainland. After several days of teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief. The author of the play, Liz Lochhead, is more widely known for her poetry. Because of this style of writing, her play uses many dramatic, poetic affects, which catch the audiences attention. Lochhead brings the characters of the two girls, Barbara and Bernadette to life on stage through various ways, which are typical to teenage girls. Theyre alone, bored and browsing a pile of magazines. It is a mainly teenage girl thing to flick through magazines, make toreador pants, dye their hair and other such things. Rock Hudson finds home cooking great fun and has a gang of his friends over once in a while to try out his speciality. Barbeque Spare Ribs. Another of typical girl things that . The writer does this so it is made clear to the audience how these girls are. The two girls dont fully understand the situation that is going on around them The Cuban Missile Crisis. Bernadette Cu-ba Li-bre. Barbara Whats that?