Notes from the Field - by Anna Deavere Smith (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 192Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Anchor BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: African AmericanAuthor: Anna Deavere SmithLanguage: English About the Book "Notes from the Field--originally performed as a one-person play--portrays a host of real-life figures who have witnessed, experienced, and fought the system that pushes students of color out of the classroom and into prisons. (As Smith put it in a recent interview: "Stuff that for middle-class kids or rich kids, it'd be considered mischief; for poor kids, it's really that road to prison.") We are introduced to these figures one by one: Sherrilyn Iffil, president of the NAACP; Rev. Jamal Harrison Bryant, who spoke at the funeral of Freddie Gray; Niya Kenny, a high school student who was arrested for defending a classmate against a teacher's overzealous discipline; Bree Newsome, the activist who made headlines when she removed the Confederate flag from the state house grounds of South Carolina; and many others. Taken together, these voices bear powerful witness to a great injustice of our time--and inspire us with their accounts of perseverance, resistance, and progress"-- Book Synopsis Smith's powerful style of living journalism uses the collective, cathartic nature of the theater to move us from despair toward hope." --The Village Voice Anna Deavere Smith's extraordinary form of documentary theater shines a light on injustices by portraying the real-life people who have experienced them. One of her most ambitious and powerful works on how matters of race continue to divide and enslave the nation" (Variety). Smith renders a host of figures who have lived and fought the system that pushes students of color out of the classroom and into prisons. (As Smith has put it: "Rich kids get mischief, poor kids get pathologized and incarcerated.") Using people's own words, culled from interviews and speeches, Smith depicts Rev. Jamal Harrison Bryant, who eulogized Freddie Gray; Niya Kenny, a high school student who confronted a violent police deputy; activist Bree Newsome, who took the Confederate flag down from the South Carolina State House grounds; and many others. Their voices bear powerful witness to a great iniquity of our time--and call us to action with their accounts of resistance and hope. Review Quotes "Invaluable. . . . Absorbing. . . . Dazzling." --The New York Times "Deeply moving. . . . Dazzling stagecraft meets dazzling spectacle. . . . Magnificent. . . . Wonderful." --Newsday "Moving. . . . Smith is an effective and supremely talented conduit." --Los Angeles Times "Anna Deavere Smith has created one of her most ambitious and powerful works on how matters of race continue to divide and enslave the nation." --Variety "Devastating. . . . Astonishing. . . . Unquestionably great theater." --Vulture "Brilliant. . . . Anna Deavere Smith may be the most empathetic person in America." --HuffPost "[A] masterpiece. . . . Smith's powerful style of living journalism uses the collective, cathartic nature of the theater to move us from despair toward hope." --The Village Voice "Urgently timely. . . . Audacious and mind-opening." --Time Out New York "This is captivating political theatre, a devastating document of racial inequality and the most rousing of rallying calls. Everyone should watch it." --The Guardian "A tour de force. . . . A coruscating indictment of the school-to-prison pipeline." --Financial Times "Stirring. . . . Powerful. . . . The scope is almost Shakespearean: the voices range from policy professionals to people on the street. If there's an overarching thrust . . . it lies in the suggestion that the struggle for civil rights is ongoing: the legacy of segregation, its trauma too, endures and reasserts itself." --The Telegraph (London) About the Author Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, teacher, playwright, and the creator of the acclaimed On the Road series of one-woman plays, which are based on her interviews with diverse voices from communities in crisis. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President Obama and two Obie Awards, her work also been nominated for a Pulitzer and two Tonys. Onscreen, she has appeared in many films and television shows, including Philadelphia, The West Wing, Black-ish, and Nurse Jackie. She is University Professor in the department of Art & Public Policy at NYU, where she also directs the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue. In 2019, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Trade Book - by Jerome Lawrence (Paperback)
Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing CompanyAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Jerome LawrenceLanguage: English About the Book The American naturalist's life and philosophy are revealed in a dramatic work which focuses on his symbolic act of civil disobedience in 1846. "A superior play, a literary work as well as a theatrical experience".--"Newsday". Book Synopsis A reissue of a now classic American drama. If the law is of such a nature that it requires you to be an agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. So wrote the young Henry David Thoreau in 1849. Three years earlier, Thoreau had put his belief into action and refused to pay taxes because of the United States government's involvement in the Mexican War, which Thoreau firmly believed was unjust. For his daring and unprecedented act of protest, he was thrown in jail. The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is a celebrated dramatic presentation of this famous act of civil disobedience and its consequences. Its poignant, lively, and accessible scenes offer a compelling exploration of Thoreau's philosophy and life. Review Quotes "A superior play, a literary work as well as a theatrical experience. Thoreau would illuminate any season." --George Oppenheimer, Newsday "Absolutely fascinating." --Richard L. Coe, The Washington Post "There is a great deal to enjoy in this play." --Clive Barnes, The New York Times About the Author Jerome Lawrence, formerly master playwright at New York University, and Robert E. Lee (1918-1984), who was a professor of playwriting at UCLA, collaborated on thirteen plays, including Inherit the Wind and Auntie Mame.
Greek Tragedy - (Penguin Classics) by Aeschylus & Euripides & Sophocles (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 305Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalSeries Title: Penguin ClassicsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultAuthor: Aeschylus & Euripides & SophoclesLanguage: English Book Synopsis Three masterpieces of classical tragedy Containing Aeschylus's Agamemnon, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and Euripides' Medea, this important new selection brings the best works of the great tragedians together in one perfect introductory volume. This volume also includes extracts from Aristophanes' comedy The Frogs and a selection from Aristotle's Poetics. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. About the Author Aeschylus was born of a noble family near Athens in 525 BC. He took part in the Persian Wars and his epitaph, said to have been written by himself, represents him as fighting at Marathon. At some time in his life he appears to have been prosecuted for divulging the Eleusinian mysteries, but he apparently proved himself innocent. Aeschylus wrote more than seventy plays, of which seven have survived: The Suppliants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon, The Choephori, and The Eumenides. (All are translated for Penguin Classics.) He visited Syracuse more than once at the invitation of Hieron I and he died at Gela in Sicily in 456 BC. Aeschylus was recognized as a classic writer soon after his death, and special privileges were decreed for his plays. Euripides, the youngest of the three great Athenian playwrights, was born around 485 BC of a family of good standing. He first competed in the dramatic festivals in 455 BC, coming only third; his record of success in the tragic competitions is lower than that of either Aeschylus or Sophocles. There is a tradition that he was unpopular, even a recluse; we are told that he composed poetry in a cave by the sea, near Salamis. What is clear from contemporary evidence, however, is that audiences were fascinated by his innovative and often disturbing dramas. His work was controversial already in his lifetime, and he himself was regarded as a 'clever' poet, associated with philosophers and other intellectuals. Towards the end of his life he went to live at the court of Archelaus, king of Macedon. It was during his time there that he wrote what many consider his greates work, the Bacchae. When news of his death reached Athens in early 406 BC, Sophocles appeared publicly in mourning for him. Euripides is thought to have written about ninety-two plays, of which seventeen tragedies and one satyr-play are known survive; the other play which is attributed to him, the Rhesus, may in fact be by a later hand.Sophocles was born at Colonus, just outside Athens, in 496 BC, and lived ninety years. His long life spanned the rise and decline of the Athenian Empire; he was a friend of Pericles, and though not an active politician he held several public offices, both military and civil. The leader of a literary circle and friend of Herodotus, he was interested in poetic theory as well as practice, and he wrote a prose treatise On the Chorus. He seems to have been content to spend all his life at Athens, and is said to have refused several invitations to royal courts.Sophocles first won a prize for tragic drama in 468, defeating the veteran Aeschylus. He wrote over a hundred plays for the Athenian theater, and is said to have come first in twenty-four contests. Only seven of his tragedies are now extant, these being Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes, and the posthumous Oedipus at Colonus. A substantial part of The Searches, a satyr play, was recovered from papyri in Egypt in modern times. Fragments of other plays remain, showing that he drew on a wide range of themes; he also introduced the innovation of a third actor in his tragedies. He died in 406 BC. E.F. Watling was educated at Christ's Hospital and University College, Oxford. His translations of Greek and Roman plays for the Penguin Classics include the seven plays of Sophocles, nine plays of Plautus, and a selection of the tragedies of Seneca.
Three Greek Plays - (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 240Genre: DramaSub-Genre: GeneralFormat: PaperbackPublisher: W. W. Norton & CompanyAge Range: AdultLanguage: English About the Book Three classic Greek tragedies are translated and critically introduced by Edith Hamilton. From the Back Cover This book presents three of the greatest Greek tragedies translated by Edith Hamilton.
Happy Birthday, Wanda June - by Kurt Vonnegut (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 208Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Dial PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Kurt VonnegutLanguage: English About the Book At the center of Kurt Vonnegut's first play, which premiered in New York in 1970 and was then adapted into a film in 1971, is big-game hunter and war hero Harold Ryan. For eight years, he has been presumed dead, lost in the Amazon Rain Forest while hunting for diamonds. Now he's back, only to find his wife engaged to a hippie doctor and his son transformed into a pampered sissy. Though his hunting trophies remain, an inexplicable birthday cake sits in the living room bearing a strange icing inscription: Happy Birthday, Wanda June. Can the household bear the returning force of Harold's machismo? And who on earth is Wanda June? Book Synopsis "Richly and often pertinently funny [with] a sure instinct for the carefully considered irrelevance . . . a great deal of incidental hilarity [and] inspired idiocy."--The New York Times Happy Birthday Wanda June was Kurt Vonnegut's first play, which premiered in New York in 1970 and was then adapted into a film in 1971. It is a darkly humorous and searing examination of the excesses of capitalism, patriotism, toxic masculinity, and American culture in the post-Vietnam War era. Featuring behind-the-scenes photographs from the original stage production, this play captures Vonnegut's brilliantly distinct perspective unlike we have ever seen it before. "A great artist."--The Cincinnati Enquirer About the Author Kurt Vonnegut's black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America's attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as a "true artist" (The New York Times) with Cat's Cradle in 1963. He was, as Graham Greene declared, "one of the best living American writers." Mr. Vonnegut passed away in April 2007.
Love's Labor's Lost - (Folger Shakespeare Library) Annotated by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Edition: AnnotatedNumber of Pages: 352Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Folger Shakespeare LibraryFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Simon & SchusterAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis At first glance, Shakespeare's early comedy Love's Labor's Lost simply entertains and amuses. Four young men (one of them a king) withdraw from the world for three years, taking an oath that they will have nothing to do with women. The King of Navarre soon learns, however, that the Princess of France and her ladies are about to arrive. Although he lodges them outside of his court, all four men fall in love with the ladies, abandoning their oaths and setting out to win their hands. The laughter triggered by this story is augmented by subplots involving a braggart soldier, a clever page, illiterate servants, a parson, a schoolmaster, and a constable so dull that he is named Dull. Letters and poems are misdelivered, confessions are overheard, entertainments are presented, and language is played with, and misused, by the ignorant and learned alike. At a deeper level, Love's Labor's Lost also teases the mind. The men begin with the premise that women either are seductresses or goddesses. The play soon makes it clear, however, that the reality of male-female relations is different. That women are not identical to men's images of them is a common theme in Shakespeare's plays. In Love's Labor's Lost it receives one of its most pressing examinations. The authoritative edition of Love's Labor's Lost from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes: -Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play -Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play -Scene-by-scene plot summaries -A key to the play's famous lines and phrases -An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language -An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play -Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books -An annotated guide to further reading Essay by William C. Carroll The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu. About the Author William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England's Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children--an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare's working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death. Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Research emerita at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Consulting Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare's Romances and of essays on Shakespeare's plays and their editing. Paul Werstine is Professor of English at the Graduate School and at King's University College at Western University. He is a general editor of the New Variorum Shakespeare and author of Early Modern Playhouse Manuscripts and the Editing of Shakespeare and of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare's plays.
Medea (Translated with an Introduction and Annotations by Gilbert Murray) - by Euripides (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 64Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Digireads.comAge Range: AdultAuthor: EuripidesLanguage: English Book Synopsis The influence of Euripides on the development of the dramatic genre cannot be overstated. Along with Sophocles and Aeschylus he is regarded as one of the three great Greek tragedians from classical antiquity. One of the most important of Euripides' surviving dramas is "Medea", the story of its title character, the wife of Jason of the Argonauts, who seeks revenge upon her unfaithful husband when he abandons her for a another bride. Set in Corinth sometime after Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece, the play begins with Medea raging against her husband's plans to marry Glauce, daughter of Creon, King of Corinth. Jason tries to explain his intent to marry Glauce as an effort to improve his status and that afterwards he intends to unify the two families taking Medea as his mistress. Medea however is unconvinced and pursues a path of murderous revenge. The play is controversial for its depiction of Medea murdering her own children as part of her revenge. This depiction was unconventional and not well received with the contemporary Athenian audience who expected the more traditional depiction of Medea's children being killed by the Corinthians after her escape. Regardless of this unfavorable initial reaction, "Medea" has come to be regarded as one of the most important tragedies of classical antiquity. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and is translated with an introduction and annotations by Gilbert Murray.
Heathers the Musical - by Laurence O'Keefe & Kevin Murphy (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 164Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Laurence O'Keefe & Kevin MurphyLanguage: English About the Book "Based on the classic 1989 film, Westerberg High is ruled by a shoulder-padded, scrunchie-wearing junta: Heather, Heather and Heather, the hottest and cruelest girls in all of Ohio. But misfit Veronica Sawyer rejects their evil regime for a new boyfriend, the dark and sexy stranger J.D., who plans to put the Heathers in their place - six feet under. ."--Publisher's description. Book Synopsis 2014 Lucille Lortel Award NominationsOutstanding Choreographer, Marguerite DerricksOutstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Barrett Wilbert Weed2014 Drama Desk Awards NominationsOutstanding Actress in a Musical, Barrett Wilbert WeedOutstanding Music, Kevin Murphy and Laurence O'Keefe2014 Off Broadway Alliance Awards NominationBest New MusicalHeathers The Musical is the darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather's aerobicized ass... but J.D. has another plan for that bullet.Brought to you by the award-winning creative team of Kevin Murphy (Reefer Madness, "Desperate Housewives"), Laurence O'Keefe (Bat Boy, Legally Blonde) and Andy Fickman (Reefer Madness, She's the Man). Heathers The Musical is a hilarious, heartfelt and homicidal new show based on the greatest teen comedy of all time. With its moving love story, laugh-out-loud comedy and unflinching look at the joys and anguish of high school, Heathers will be New York's most popular new musical. Are you in, or are you out?
A Doll's House and Other Plays - by Henrik Ibsen (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 448Genre: DramaSub-Genre: EuropeanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Henrik IbsenLanguage: English About the Book Pillars of the community translation of: Samfundets sttter; Doll's house translation of: Dukkehjem (Nora); Ghosts translation of: Gengangere; Enemy of the people translation of: En folkefiende. Book Synopsis Four of Ibsen's most important plays in superb modern translations, part of the new Penguin Ibsen series. With her assertion that she is "first and foremost a human being," rather than a wife, mother or fragile doll, Nora Helmer sent shockwaves throughout Europe when she appeared in Henrik Ibsen's greatest and most famous play, A Doll's House. Ibsen's follow-up, Ghosts, was no less radical, with its unrelenting investigation into religious hypocrisy, family secrets, and sexual double-dealing. These two masterpieces are accompanied here by The Pillars of Society and An Enemy of the People, both exploring the tensions and dark compromises at the heart of society. About the Author HENRIK IBSEN (1828-1906) is often called 'the Father of Modern Drama'. Born in Norway in 1828, he enjoyed successes with the verse dramas Brand and Peer Gynt, before embarking on his great 12-Âplay cycle of society dramas, which included A Doll's House and Ghosts. After twenty-Âone years of self-Âimposed exile in Italy and Germany, Ibsen died in Norway in 1906. DEBORAH DAWKIN and ERIK SKUGGEVIK, are freelance literary translators. TORE REM is a professor of British literature at the University of Oslo.
Dead White Writer on the Floor - by Drew Hayden Taylor (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 112Genre: DramaSub-Genre: CanadianFormat: PaperbackPublisher: TalonbooksAge Range: AdultAuthor: Drew Hayden TaylorLanguage: English About the Book A funny yet thought-provoking play about identity politics in which Pocahontas, Tonto, and other native characters rewrite their stereotyped roles. Book Synopsis Dead White Writer on the Floor uses two literary conventions--theatre of the absurd and mystery novels--to create one of the funniest and thought-provoking plays ever about identity politics. In Act One, six "savages"; noble, innocent, ignorant, fearless, wise and gay, respectively; find themselves in a locked room with the body of a white writer, which they stash in a closet. None of them can figure out how he died or which of them might have killed him. They realize as they point fingers at each other, however, that they are all profoundly unhappy with their lives as they've been constructed over the past four hundred years: Old Lodge Skins wants to know what it feels like to be a young man; Billy Jack wonders what spreading healing rather than pain would feel like; Injun Joe is desperate for an education; Kills Many Enemies is exhausted by his deadly seriousness and yearns for a sense of humour; Pocahontas seeks to feel respected as a woman rather than lusted after as a child sex object; and Tonto wants to "come out of the canyon" and be the one wearing the mask for a change. Gradually, they figure out that the latest iteration of Gutenberg's invention buzzing like a beehive on the dead writer's desk is actually a dream-catcher, which they can use to rewrite their lives in the image of their own inner beings. Imagine their surprise when they reappear in the same locked room in Act Two as Mike, Jim, Bill, John, Sally and Fred--attending an A.A. meeting and bickering among themselves about reserve politics, unmanageable family relationships and whether Bingo has a place in their new air-conditioned casino--and realize the white writer must still be very much alive in their community; his body in the closet is still warm! Review Quotes "Abstract theatre is not generally associated with comedy ... but judging by the laughter issuing from the packed house at Magnus' opening night of the show, it is also drop-dead hilarious."-- The Argus About the Author Drew Hayden TaylorHailed by the Montreal Gazette as one of Canada's leading Native dramatists, Drew Hayden Taylor writes for the screen as well as the stage and contributes regularly to North American Native periodicals and national newspapers. His plays have garnered many prestigious awards, and his beguiling and perceptive storytelling style has enthralled audiences in Canada, the United States and Germany. One of his most established bodies of work includes what he calls the Blues Quartet, an ongoing, outrageous and often farcical examination of Native and non-Native stereotypes.
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea - by Nathan Alan Davis (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 78Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Nathan Alan DavisLanguage: English Book Synopsis Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones the Third decides that it is his duty and destiny to venture into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage. But his family is not at all ready to abandon its prized son to the waters of a mysterious and haunting past. Blending poetry, humor, wordplay, and ritual, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea is a present-day hero's quest exploring the lengths and depths we must go to redeem history's wrongs.
Death of a Salesman - (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Arthur Miller (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 113Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanSeries Title: Penguin Twentieth-Century ClassicsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Arthur MillerLanguage: English About the Book "First published in the United States of America by The Viking Press, 1949"--T.p. verso. Book Synopsis The Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy of a salesman's deferred American dream A Penguin Classic Since it was first performed in 1949, Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about the tragic shortcomings of an American dreamer has been recognized as a milestone of the theater. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, has spent his life following the American way, living out his belief in salesmanship as a way to reinvent himself. But somehow the riches and respect he covets have eluded him. At age 63, he searches for the moment his life took a wrong turn, the moment of betrayal that undermined his relationship with his wife and destroyed his relationship with Biff, the son in whom he invested his faith. Willy lives in a fragile world of elaborate excuses and daydreams, conflating past and present in a desperate attempt to make sense of himself and of a world that once promised so much. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Christopher W. E. Bigsby.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. From the Back Cover Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, has spent his life following the American way, living out his belief in salesmanship as a way to reinvent himself. But somehow the riches and respect he covets have eluded him. At age sixty-three, he searches for the moment his life took a wrong turn, the moment of betrayal that undermined his relationship with his wife and destroyed his relationship with Biff, the son in whom he invested his faith. Willy lives in a fragile world of elaborate excuses and daydreams, conflating past and present in a desperate attempt to make sense of himself and of a world that once promised so much. Review Quotes Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for DramaWinner of the National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater. --Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it. --Time About the Author Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1963), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) and The American Clock (1980). He also wrote two novels, Focus (1945), and The Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), Chinese Encounters (1979), and In the Country (1977), three books of photographs by his wife, Inge Morath. His later work included a memoir, Timebends (1987); the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994), and Mr. Peter's Connections (1999); Echoes Down the Corridor: Collected Essays, 1944-2000; and On Politics and the Art of Acting (2001). He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Miller was the recipient of the National Book Foundation's 2001 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Prince of Asturias Award for Letters in 2002, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003. Christopher Bigsby is a professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia. He edited the Penguin Classics editions of Miller's The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, and All My Sons.
Coriolanus - (Dover Thrift Editions) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 128Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Dover Thrift EditionsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Dover PublicationsAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English About the Book A military hero of ancient Rome attempts to shift from his career as a general to become a politician -- a disastrous move that results in his leading an attack on Rome. Book Synopsis A highly political play, Coriolanus concerns a military hero of ancient Rome who attempts to shift from his career as a general to become a candidate for public office -- a disastrous move that leads to his collaborating with the enemy and heading an attack on Rome. Despite his battlefield confidence and accomplishments, Coriolanus proves psychologically ill-suited as a candidate for the office of consul and makes an easy scapegoat for the restless citizenry and his political opponents. The last of Shakespeare's tragedies, Coriolanus was written in approximately 1608 and derived from Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. A timeless tale of pride, revenge, and political chicanery, it remains ever-relevant for modern readers and audiences. About the Author He was not of an age, but for all time, declared Ben Jonson of his contemporary William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Jonson's praise is especially prescient, since at the turn of the 17th century Shakespeare was but one of many popular London playwrights and none of his dramas were printed in his lifetime. The reason so many of his works survive is because two of his actor friends, with the assistance of Jonson, assembled and published the First Folio edition of 1623.
Henry VIII - (Dover Thrift Editions) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 96Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Dover Thrift EditionsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Dover PublicationsAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English About the Book The portrait of a monarchy in crisis, this historical drama concerns the ruler's efforts to secure a divorce in order to marry an enchanting courtesan and produce a male heir. Book Synopsis The portrait of a monarchy in crisis, this historical drama concerns the famous king's efforts to secure a divorce from his dignified and popular queen in order to marry an enchanting courtesan and produce a male heir. The play ranks among Shakespeare's most sumptuous and spectacular works, offering a splendid pageant of masques and royal ceremony. Occasional lapses in historical accuracy are compensated for by keen psychological and political insights, vivid characterizations, and evocative language.Possibly the last of Shakespeare's dramas, Henry VIII was almost certainly co-written with John Fletcher. It is a play of farewells ― to the world, to life, to power ― in which major historical characters make memorable exits, including Cardinal Wolsey's rueful observation: Had I but served my God with half the zeal/I served my king, he would not in mine age/Have left me naked to mine enemies. Nevertheless, the play ends in triumph and hopeful expectations with the prophecy of the coming Elizabethan age. About the Author He was not of an age, but for all time, declared Ben Jonson of his contemporary William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Jonson's praise is especially prescient, since at the turn of the 17th century Shakespeare was but one of many popular London playwrights and none of his dramas were printed in his lifetime. The reason so many of his works survive is because two of his actor friends, with the assistance of Jonson, assembled and published the First Folio edition of 1623.
Right You Are, If You Think You Are - (Dover Thrift Editions) by Luigi Pirandello (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 64Genre: DramaSub-Genre: EuropeanSeries Title: Dover Thrift EditionsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Dover PublicationsAge Range: AdultBook theme: ItalianAuthor: Luigi PirandelloLanguage: English About the Book This famous drama, an expressionistic parable by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright, explores such themes as the relativity of truth, the vanity and necessity of illusion, and the instability of human personalities. Book Synopsis Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934, Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) explored such themes as the relativity of truth, the vanity and necessity of illusion, and the instability of human personality. In this famous play, an expressionistic parable set in a small Italian town in the early twentieth century, Pirandello skillfully dramatizes these issues.The observer Laudisi derides the townspeople for their insistence on knowing the secrets of Mrs. Frola and her married daughter: Why does Mrs. Frola live alone and not with her daughter? Why do the two never visit each other? The answers to these questions lie at the heart of this play and at the center of Pirandello's artistic vision. Presented in an excellent new English translation, this inexpensive edition will delight students and lovers of modern drama. About the Author Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was a prolific author of modernist plays, fiction, and poetry. In 1934 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art.
Death by Shakespeare - by Kathryn Harkup (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 368Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Bloomsbury SIGMAAge Range: AdultAuthor: Kathryn HarkupLanguage: English About the Book An in-depth look at the science behind the creative methods Shakespeare used to kill off his characters. Book Synopsis An in-depth look at the science behind the creative methods Shakespeare used to kill off his characters. In Death By Shakespeare, Kathryn Harkup, best-selling author of A is for Arsenic and expert on the more gruesome side of science, turns her expertise to William Shakespeare and the creative methods he used to kill off his characters. Is death by snakebite really as serene as Cleopatra made it seem? How did Juliet appear dead for 72 hours only to be revived in perfect health? Can you really kill someone by pouring poison in their ear? How long would it take before Lady Macbeth died from lack of sleep? Harkup investigates what actual events may have inspired Shakespeare, what the accepted scientific knowledge of the time was, and how Elizabethan audiences would have responded to these death scenes. Death by Shakespeare reveals this and more in a rollercoaster of Elizabethan carnage, poison, swordplay and bloodshed, with an occasional death by bear-mauling for good measure.In the Bard's day death was a part of everyday life. Plague, pestilence and public executions were a common occurrence, and the chances of seeing a dead or dying body on the way home from the theater was a fairly likely scenario. Death is one of the major themes that reoccurs constantly throughout Shakespeare's canon, and he certainly didn't shy away from portraying the bloody reality of death on the stage. He didn't have to invent gruesome or novel ways to kill off his characters when everyday experience provided plenty of inspiration. Shakespeare's era was also a time of huge scientific advance. The human body, its construction and how it was affected by disease came under scrutiny, overturning more than a thousand years of received Greek wisdom, and Shakespeare himself hinted at these new scientific discoveries and medical advances in his writing, such as circulation of the blood and treatments for syphilis. Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions--shock, sadness, fear--that they did over 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. But how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the science to back them up? Review Quotes "[Harkup] speculates about what Shakespeare knew about causes of death; like other contemporary playwrights, he did know that audiences loved violence. A brisk, informative, and startling look at Shakespeare." --Kirkus "Fans of the Bard are sure to devour this, but even those with only a passing familiarity with Shakespeare's oeuvre will find Harkup's survey tough to resist. " --Publishers Weekly STARRED review "The research is concrete, and the writing is infused with sly humor. Harkup serves a delectable stew of history, science, and wit that is sure to sate the appetite of any Anglophile." --Booklist "Harkup leaves no stone unturned in her immensely thorough and compelling distillation of the Bard's work, Death by Shakespeare...Her narrative will attract and intrigue readers who appreciate the macabre, eager for the enriching wisdom offered by two masters in their fields. A fascinating, thorough examination and scientific analysis of notable deaths that pervade the stage works of William Shakespeare." --Shelf Awareness "For fans of the Bard, Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings, and Broken Hearts is the book they didn't know they always wanted to read." --BookPage The author of A Is for Arsenic and Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein continues her macabre cultural musings with an immensely readable roundup of Shakespearean death. - Smithsonian Magazine Light enough to be a quick read for fun but hefty enough to educate, this is a book that any student would be happy to study for a class, and it's a solid addition to any nonfiction or Shakespearean fan's collection. Yet again, Harkup has delivered a satisfying, sterling examination of an iconic figure's literary contributions to history. - Criminal Element About the Author Kathryn Harkup is a chemist and author. Kathryn completed a doctorate on her favorite chemicals, phosphines, and went on to further postdoctoral research before realizing that talking, writing and demonstrating science appealed a bit more than hours slaving over a hot fume-hood. She currently writes a monthly poison blog for the Guardian and gives regular public talks on the disgusting and dangerous side of science. Kathryn's first book was the international best-seller A is for Arsenic, which was shortlisted for both the International Macavity Award and the BMA Book Award.
Tartuffe and Other Plays - by Jean-Baptiste Moliere (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 448Genre: DramaSub-Genre: EuropeanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Signet BookAge Range: AdultBook theme: FrenchAuthor: Jean-Baptiste MoliereLanguage: English About the Book Including "The Ridiculous Precieuses, The School for Husbands, The School for Wives, Don Juan, The Versailles Impromptu," and "The Critique of the School for Wives," this collection showcases the talent of perhaps the greatest and best-loved French playwright. Revised reissue. Book Synopsis The Ridiculous Precieuses * The School for Husbands * The School for Wives * The Critique of the School for Wives * The Versailles Impromptu * Tartuffe * Don Juan This memorable collection gathers the plays of the great social satirist and playwright Molière, representing the many facets of his genius and offering a superb introduction to the comic inventiveness, richness of prose, and insight that make up Molière's enduring legacy to theater, literature, and the world. Translated and with an Introduction by Donald M. Frame, a Foreword by Virginia Scott, and a New Afterword Review Quotes "Molière is probably the greatest and best-loved French author, and comic author, who ever lived. To the reader as well as the spectator, today as well as three centuries ago, the appeal of his plays is immediate and durable; they are both distinctly accessible and inexhaustible."--Professor Donald M. Frame About the Author Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in1622, began his career as an actor before becoming a playwright who specialized in satirizing the institutions and morals of his day. In 1658, his theater company settled in Paris in the Théâter du Petit-Bourbon. The object of fierce attack because of such masterpieces as Tartuffe and Don Juan, Molière nonetheless won the favor of the public. In 1665, his company became the King's Troupe, and the following year saw the staging of The Misanthrope, as well as The Doctor in Spite of Himself. In 1668, he produced his bitterly comic The Miser and, in the remaining years before his death, created such plays as The Would-Be Gentleman, The Mischievous Machinations of Scapin, and The Learned Women. In 1673, Molière collapsed onstage while performing his last play, The Imaginary Invalid, and died shortly thereafter. Donald M. Frame was Moore Professor of French at Columbia University and an acclaimed scholar and translator of French literature. Among his notable works of translation are The Complete Essays of Montaigne, The Complete Works of Rabelais, and the Signet Classics Tartuffe & Other Plays and Candide, Zadig, and Selected Stories. Virginia Scott is Professor Emerita in the Department of Theater of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is the author of Moliére: A Theatrical Life, The Commedia Dell'Arte in Paris, and Performance, Poetry and Politics on the Queen's Day: Catherine de Medici and Pierre de Ronsard at Fontainebleau (with Sara Sturm-Maddox).
Sophocles: The Complete Plays - (Signet Classics) (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 440Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalSeries Title: Signet ClassicsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Signet BookAge Range: AdultLanguage: English About the Book Includes the full texts of the seven extant plays of Sophocles, with Roche's revised and updated translations of the Oedipus cycle and all-new translations of the remaining plays. Revised reissue. Book Synopsis With new translations and a new afterword The full texts of the seven extant plays of Sophocles with Paul Roche's revised and updated translations of the Oedipus cycle, and all-new translations of the remaining plays. About the Author Sophocles was born at Colonus, just outside Athens, in 496 BC, and lived ninety years. His long life spanned the rise and decline of the Athenian Empire; he was a friend of Pericles, and though not an active politician he held several public offices, both military and civil. The leader of a literary circle and friend of Herodotus, he was interested in poetic theory as well as practice, and he wrote a prose treatise On the Chorus. He seems to have been content to spend all his life at Athens, and is said to have refused several invitations to royal courts.Sophocles first won a prize for tragic drama in 468, defeating the veteran Aeschylus. He wrote over a hundred plays for the Athenian theater, and is said to have come first in twenty-four contests. Only seven of his tragedies are now extant, these being Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes, and the posthumous Oedipus at Colonus. A substantial part of The Searches, a satyr play, was recovered from papyri in Egypt in modern times. Fragments of other plays remain, showing that he drew on a wide range of themes; he also introduced the innovation of a third actor in his tragedies. He died in 406 BC.Paul Roche, a distinguished English poet and translator, is the author of The Bible's Greatest Stories. His other translations include Euripides: Ten Plays (Signet), Oedipus Plays of Sophocles (Meridian) and The Orestes Plays of Aeschylus (Meridian).
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Movie Tie-In) - by August Wilson (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 112Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Plume BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: August WilsonLanguage: English About the Book "The time is 1927. The place is a run-down recording studio in Chicago. Ma Rainey, the legendary blues singer, is due to arrive with her entourage to cut new sides of old favorites. Waiting for her are her black musician sidemen, the white owner of the record company, and her white manager. What goes down in the session to come is more than music. It is a riveting portrayal of black rage...of racism, of the self-hate the racism breeds, and of racial exploitation." -- Back cover. Book Synopsis NOW A NETFLIX FILM STARRING VIOLA DAVIS AND CHADWICK BOSEMAN From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Fences and The Piano Lesson comes the extraordinary Ma Rainey's Black Bottom--winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. The time is 1927. The place is a run-down recording studio in Chicago. Ma Rainey, the legendary blues singer, is due to arrive with her entourage to cut new sides of old favorites. Waiting for her are her Black musician sidemen, the white owner of the record company, and her white manager. What goes down in the session to come is more than music. It is a riveting portrayal of black rage, of racism, of the self-hate that racism breeds, and of racial exploitation. Review Quotes Praise for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom "The play's themes are not new to the stage...the black American search for identity...and the process by which any American sells his soul for what Arthur Miller calls the salesman's dream. Mr. Wilson's style, however, is all his own.... He has lighted a dramatic fuse that snakes and hisses through several anguished eras of American life. When the fuse reaches its explosive final destination, the audience is impaled by the impact."--Frank Rich, The New York Times "Extraordinary! Ma Rainey rides on the exultant notes of the blues!"--Jack Kroll, Newsweek "What a joy! Brilliant...explosive! One of the most dramatically riveting plays I've seen in years. You must see it!"--William A Raidy, Newhouse newspapers "A genuine work of art."--Brendan Gill, The New Yorker "Tremendous...magnificent!"--Clive Barnes, New York Post About the Author August Wilson was a major American playwright whose work has been consistently acclaimed as among the finest of the American theater. His first play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best new play of 1984-85. His second play, Fences, won numerous awards for best play of the year, 1987, including the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Joe Turner's Come and Gone, his third play, was voted best play of 1987-1988 by the New York Drama Critics' Circle. In 1990, Wilson was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for The Piano Lesson. He died in 2005.
An Oresteia - by Aeschylus & Sophocles & Euripides (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 255Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Faber & FaberAge Range: AdultAuthor: Aeschylus & Sophocles & EuripidesLanguage: English Book Synopsis In An Oresteia, the classicist Anne Carson combines three different versions of the tragedy of the house of Atreus -- A iskhylos' Agamemnon, Sophokles' Elektra and Euripides' Orestes. After the murder of her daughter Iphigeneia by her husband, Agamemnon, Klytaimestra exacts a mother's revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytaimestra's actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father's death with the help of his sister Elektra. In the end, Orestes is driven mad by the Furies for his bloody betrayal of family. Condemned to death by the people of Argos, he and Elektra must justify their actions -- or flout society, justice and the gods. Carson's translation combines contemporary language with the traditional structures and rhetoric of Greek tragedy, opening up this ancient tale of vengeance to a modern audience and revealing the essential wit and morbidity of the original plays. About the Author Anne Carson is a professor of Classics at the University of Toronto, Canada, as well as a poet, essayist, and translator. She was a Guggenheim Fellow and a MacArthur Fellow, and has won a Pushcart Prize, a Lannan Literary Award, and a PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. Carson's first book, Eros the Bittersweet, was named one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time by the Modern Library. Her other works include Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos, and Decreation: Poetry, Essays, Opera. Aiskhylos (also known as Aeschylus) was the father of Greek tragedy, whose innovations in theater included conflict directly between characters, rather than through the intermediary of the chorus. Though a prolific playwright of an estimated seventy to ninety plays, only seven of Aiskhylos' works survive. Among the most famous are The Persians and the Oresteia trilogy. Sophokles (also known as Sophocles) was a celebrated Greek playwright who won more drama competitions than Aiskhylos and Euripides combined. He is known for his advancements in character development and for adding a third character to his plays. Though he wrote over 120 plays, only seven remain today, the most famous of which are Oedipus Rex and Antigone. Euripides was a tragedian who revolutionized theater by presenting mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, and by examining inner lives and motives as well as recounting action. He was also unique in displaying sympathy toward women and other marginalized people. Eighteen of Euripides' estimated 92 to 95 plays have survived, the best known of which are Medea, Electra, and Bacchae.
Much ADO about Nothing - (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 352Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Folger Shakespeare LibraryFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Simon & SchusterAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English About the Book These updated editions of classic plays feature new cover art along with the complete text of each work, full explanatory notes, scene-by-scene plot summaries, a key to famous lines and phrases, and illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books. Reissue. (Plays/Drama) Book Synopsis A new, beautifully packaged edition from the Folger Shakespeare Library puts the best possible version of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing into a freshly designed collectible format, featuring wonderful illustrations, additional resources for educators (available as PDFs or in printed versions), and a provocative essay by Barbara A. Mowat. One of Shakespeare's most frequently performed comedies, Much Ado About Nothing includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid. The Folger Library is the nation's best, most navigable and most respected resource for Shakespeare scholarship and teaching. The authoritative edition of Much Ado About Nothing features the side-by-side format favored by both students and teachers, as well as guides to the play's most famous lines and Shakespearean phrases and language. The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu. About the Author William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England's Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children--an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare's working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death. Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Research emerita at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Consulting Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare's Romances and of essays on Shakespeare's plays and their editing. Paul Werstine is Professor of English at the Graduate School and at King's University College at Western University. He is a general editor of the New Variorum Shakespeare and author of Early Modern Playhouse Manuscripts and the Editing of Shakespeare and of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare's plays.
Julius Caesar - (Pelican Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 160Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Pelican ShakespeareFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis Shakespeare's cautionary tale about the dangers of upending democracy, Julius Caesar, which recently ran at the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park. Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books 50 Covers competitionThis edition of Julius Caesar is edited by William Montgomery with an introduction by Douglas Trevor and was recently repackaged with cover art by Manuja Waldia. Waldia received a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators for the Pelican Shakespeare series. The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review Quotes "Gorgeous new Shakespeare paperbacks." --Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings "I have been using the Pelican Shakespeare for years in my lecture course--it's invaluable, the best individual-volume series available for students."--Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University About the Author William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. William Montgomery (editor) is the coeditor of The Complete Oxford Shakespeare, joint textual editor of The Norton Shakespeare, and coauthor of William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Douglas Trevor (Introduction) is a professor of English at the University of Michigan.
Master Harold and the Boys - by Athol Fugard (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 76Genre: DramaSub-Genre: EuropeanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: English, Irish, Scottish, WelshAuthor: Athol FugardLanguage: English Book Synopsis Drama / 3m (1 white, 2 black) / Int.The role that won Zakes Mokae a Tony Award brought Danny Glover back to the New York stage for the Roundabout Theatre's revival of this searing coming of age story, considered by many to be Fugard's masterpiece. A white teen who has grown up in the affectionate company of the two black waiters who work in his mother's tea room in Port Elizabeth learns that his viciously racist alcoholic father is on his way home from the hospital. An ensuing rage unwitting
Virginia - by Edna O'Brien (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 84Genre: DramaSub-Genre: EuropeanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Mariner BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: English, Irish, Scottish, WelshAuthor: Edna O'BrienLanguage: English Book Synopsis An evocative play about Virginia Woolf's life and relationships with her husband, Leonard, and her lover, Vita Sackville-West.
All's Well That Ends Well - (Pelican Shakespeare (Paperback)) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 113Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Pelican Shakespeare (Paperback)Format: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series edited by A. R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With definitive texts and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review Quotes "A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare's extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever."--James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599 "A feast of literary and historical information."--The Wall Street Journal About the Author William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April, 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. A. R. Braunmuller is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has written critical volumes on George Peele and George Chapman and has edited plays in both the Oxford (King John) and Cambridge (Macbeth) series of Shakespeare editions. He is also general editor of The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Stephen Orgel is the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of the Humanities at Stanford University and general editor of the Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture. His books include Imagining Shakespeare, The Authentic Shakespeare, Impersonations: The Performance of Gender in Shakespeare's England and The Illusion of Power.
The Menaechmus Twins and Two Other Plays - (Norton Library (Paperback)) by Titus Maccius Plautus (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 256Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalSeries Title: Norton Library (Paperback)Format: PaperbackPublisher: W. W. Norton & CompanyAge Range: AdultAuthor: Titus Maccius PlautusLanguage: English About the Book Considered to be Plautus's greatest play, Menaechmi; Or, The Twin-Brothers is the story of two twin brothers, Menaechmus and Sosicles, who are separated at age seven when their father takes Menaechmus on a business trip. Book Synopsis This collection, translated by Lionel Casson, includes three plays by the classic Latin writer Plautus: The Menaechmus, Pseudolus, and The Rope. The plays in this book are arranged alphabetically by their title. From the Back Cover Sometime around 250 B.C., in the tiny mountain village of Sarsina high in the Apennines of Umbria, ancient Rome's best-known playwright was born. Plautus wrote upwards of fifty plays of which twenty have survived. The author chose The Menaechmus and two other plays for this book. The other two plays are Pseudolus and The Rope. The plays in this book are arranged alphabetically by their title.
August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean - (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 92Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: August WilsonLanguage: English About the Book "Set in 1904, August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean begins on the eve of Aunt Esther's 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her Pittsburgh's Hill District home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."--Publisher's description. Book Synopsis Set in 1904, August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean begins on the eve of Aunt Esther's 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her Pittsburgh's Hill District home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Gem of the Ocean is the ninth work in Wilson's ten-play cycle that has recorded the American Black experience and helped to define generations. The Broadway run starred Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad as Aunt Esthe
The Theban Plays - (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 168Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalSeries Title: Dover Thrift EditionsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Dover PublicationsAge Range: AdultLanguage: English About the Book The stirring tale of a legendary royal family's fall and ultimate redemption, the Theban trilogy endures as the crowning achievement of Greek drama. Essential reading for English and classical studies majors. Book Synopsis The stirring tale of a legendary royal family's fall and ultimate redemption, the Theban trilogy endures as the crowning achievement of Greek drama. Sophocles' three-play cycle, chronicling Oedipus's search for the truth and its tragic results, remains essential reading for English and classical studies majors as well as for all students of Western civilization.Oedipus Rex unfolds amid a city in the relentless grip of a plague. When an oracle proclaims that only an act of vengeance will lift the curse from Thebes, King Oedipus vows to bring a murderer to justice. His quest engenders a series of keen dramatic ironies, culminating in the fulfillment of a dreaded prophecy. Oedipus at Colonus finds the former ruler in exile. Old and blind, he seeks a peaceful place to end his torment, but finds only challenges from his reluctant hosts and a summons back to Thebes from his warring sons. The trilogy concludes with Antigone, in which Oedipus's courageous daughter defies her tyrannical uncle in a provocative exploration of the demands of loyalty and duty. From the Back Cover The stirring tale of a legendary royal family's fall and ultimate redemption, the Theban trilogy endures as the crowning achievement of Greek drama. Sophocles' three-play cycle, chronicling Oedipus's search for the truth and its tragic results, remains essential reading.Oedipus Rex unfolds amid a city in the relentless grip of a plague. When an oracle proclaims that only an act of vengeance will lift the curse from Thebes, King Oedipus vows to bring a murderer to justice. His quest engenders a series of keen dramatic ironies, culminating in the fulfillment of a dreaded prophecy. Oedipus at Colonus finds the former ruler in exile. Old and blind, he seeks a peaceful place to end his torment, but finds only challenges from his reluctant hosts and a summons back to Thebes from his warring sons. The trilogy concludes with Antigone, in which Oedipus's courageous daughter defies her tyrannical uncle in a provocative exploration of the demands of loyalty and duty.
Classical Tragedy Greek and Roman - (Applause Books) (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 568Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Anthologies (multiple authors)Series Title: Applause BooksFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Applause BooksAge Range: AdultLanguage: English Book Synopsis A collection of eight plays along with accompanying critical essays. Includes: "The Oresteia" - Aeschylus; "Prometheus Bound" - Aeschylus; "Oedipus the King" - Sophocles; "Antigone" - Sophocles; "Medea" - Euripides; "The Bakkhai" - Euripides; "Oedipus" - Seneca; "Medea" - Seneca.
Othello Retold In Plain and Simple English (A Modern Translation and the Original Version) - (Classics Retold) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 156Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Classics RetoldFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Golgotha PressAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English About the Book Othello--a play full of secret marriage, evil villains, and revenge! It's often credited as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies!. But if your like many people, you just don't get it! If you don't understand Shakespeare, then you are not alone. Book Synopsis Othello--a play full of secret marriage, evil villains, and revenge! It's often credited as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies!. But if your like many people, you just don't get it! If you don't understand Shakespeare, then you are not alone. If you have struggled in the past reading Shakespeare, then BookCaps can help you out. This book is a modern translation of Othello. The original text is also presented in the book, along with a comparable version of the modern text. We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.
Five Modern No Plays - (Vintage International) by Yukio Mishima (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 198Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AsianSeries Title: Vintage InternationalFormat: PaperbackPublisher: VintageAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Yukio MishimaLanguage: English About the Book The classic Japanese No drama is one of the great art forms. Mishima has infused new life into the form by adopting it for plays that preserve the style and inner spirit of No while at the same time creating dramas that are contemporary and relevant. Book Synopsis Japanese No drama is one of the great art forms that has fascinated people throughout the world. The late Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's outstanding post-war writers, infused new life into the form by using it for plays that preserve the style and inner spirit of No and are at the same time so modern, so direct, and intelligible that they could, as he suggested, be played on a bench in Central Park. Here are five of his No plays, stunning in their contemporary nature and relevance--and finally made available again for readers to enjoy. About the Author Yukio Mishima was born in Tokyo in 1925. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University's School of Jurisprudence in 1947. His first published book, The Forest in Full Bloom, appeared in 1944. He established himself as a major author with Confessions of a Mask (1949). From then until his death he continued to publish novels, short stories, and plays each year. His crowning achievement, The Sea of Fertility tetralogy--which contains the novels Spring Snow (1969), Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971)--is considered one of the definitive works of twentieth-century Japanese fiction. In 1970, at the age of forty-five and the day after completing the last novel in the Fertility series, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide)--a spectacular death that attracted worldwide attention.
Lend Me a Tenor - by Ken Ludwig (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 114Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Ken LudwigLanguage: English Book Synopsis Comedy / 4m, 4f / Int. Nominee! Best Revival of a Play - 2010 Tony(R) Awards! This night in September of 1934 is the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company world famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform Otello, his greatest role, at the gala season opener. Saunders, the General Manager, hopes this will put Cleveland on the operatic map. Morelli is late; when he finally sweeps in it is too late to rehearse with the company. Through a hilarious series of mishaps, Il Stupendo
King Lear - (Pelican Shakespeare (Paperback)) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 270Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Pelican Shakespeare (Paperback)Format: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series edited by A. R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With definitive texts and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. From the Back Cover The general editors of the new series of forty-two volumes -- renowned Shakespeareans Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA -- have assembled a team of six eminent scholars who have, along with the general editors themselves, prepared new introductions and notes to all of Shakespeare's plays and poems. Redesigned in an easy-to-read format that preserves the favorite features of the original -- and including an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare, an introduction to the individual play, and a note on the text used -- the new Pelican Shakespeare will be an excellent resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals well into the twenty-first century. Review Quotes "Gorgeous new Shakespeare paperbacks." --Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings "I have been using the Pelican Shakespeare for years in my lecture course--it's invaluable, the best individual-volume series available for students."--Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University About the Author William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April, 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. A. R. Braunmuller is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has written critical volumes on George Peele and George Chapman and has edited plays in both the Oxford (King John) and Cambridge (Macbeth) series of Shakespeare editions. He is also general editor of The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Stephen Orgel is the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of the Humanities at Stanford University and general editor of the Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture. His books include Imagining Shakespeare, The Authentic Shakespeare, Impersonations: The Performance of Gender in Shakespeare's England and The Illusion of Power.
I Ought to be in Pictures - by Neil Simon (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 96Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Neil SimonLanguage: Undetermined language Book Synopsis Herb, a Hollywood scriptwriter currently "at liberty," is surprised when his forgotten past reappears in the form of Libby, a teenage daughter who's trekked from Brooklyn with dreams of movie stardom. With Steffy, his sometime paramour, at his side, Herb decides to take another stab at fatherhood and hopefully this time, get it right.
Othello - (Pelican Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 208Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Pelican ShakespeareFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis The New York Theater Workshop's production of Othello, starring Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo, and directed by Tony award-winning director Sam Gold, opened in November 2016. This production was sponsored in part by The Pelican Shakespeare series and Penguin Classics. Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books 50 Covers competition Gold Medal Winner of the 3x3 Illustration Annual No. 14 This edition of Othello is edited with an introduction and notes by Russ McDonald and was recently repackaged with cover art by Manuja Waldia. Waldia received a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators for the Pelican Shakespeare series. The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review Quotes "Gorgeous new Shakespeare paperbacks." --Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings "I have been using the Pelican Shakespeare for years in my lecture course--it's invaluable, the best individual-volume series available for students."--Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University About the Author William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. Russ McDonald (editor) is a professor of English at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is the author of The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare.
The Trojan Women and Hippolytus - (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 64Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalSeries Title: Dover Thrift EditionsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Dover PublicationsAge Range: AdultLanguage: English About the Book Two literary classics of human self-understanding: The Trojan Women, one of the most powerful indictments of war ever written, and Hippolytus, a gripping depiction of the struggle to master human passion. Book Synopsis These two powerful classics of ancient drama are excellent examples of the author's gift for adapting traditional material for decidedly nontraditional effect. Through them Euripides critically examines social and moral aspects of contemporary life and even specific political events. He endows his figures with shrewdly observed individual character, implicitly deflating the emblematic simplicity of traditional narratives and making him seem the most modern of the great Greek dramatists.The Trojan Women, one of the most powerful indictments of war and the arrogance of power ever written, is played out before the ruined walls of Troy. A grim recounting of the murder of the innocent, the desecration of shrines, and the enslavement of the women of the defeated city, it reveals the futility of a war fought for essentially frivolous reasons, in which the traditional heroes are shown to be little better than bloodthirsty thugs. Hippolytus is primarily about the dangers of passion and immoderation, whether in pursuing or in thwarting normal desires -- struggles symbolized by the gods, who embody natural forces and behave like irresponsible humans.Required study for any college course in literature and mythology, these two masterpieces are essential reading for anyone interested in the roots of world drama.
Hit The Wall - by Ike Holter (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 82Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Broadway Play PublishingAge Range: AdultBook theme: African AmericanAuthor: Ike HolterLanguage: English Book Synopsis "The words `I was there', intoned repeatedly by the characters in HIT THE WALL, give Ike Holter's play about the 1969 Stonewall riots the self-consecrated holiness of solemn testimony. But the crucial refrain is: `The reports of what happened next are not exactly clear'. Given the extent to which urban legend and documented research of the events have blurred together over the decades, any dramatic consideration of Stonewall must embrace the mythology. So Mr Holter's impassioned evocation of the sparks that ignited the gay rights movement...are strongest when stylized interpretation eclipses conventional realism... Watching the characters strut through a liberating dance that erupts into chaos and violence when police lights pierce the smoky haze gives the sense of being caught up in that momentous clash... Among the most fully realized figures are Carson, a black drag queen as fearful as he is imperious; Peg, a `stone butch' lesbian ostracized by her family; and the `Snap Queen Team' of Tano and Mika, throwing shade at passers-by from their perch on a Christopher Street stoop. Fierce and funny, the verbal and attitudinal exchanges swapped by this duo with the formidable Carson owe more to slam poetry and 1980s Harlem voguing than to authentic period behavior. The play is deeply affecting at times, notably when Carson is bitterly rebuked during a rare foray outside in daylight to pay his respects at the funeral of Judy Garland. Or when Peg's uptight sister insensitively suggests how much better off she would be if she could just `hold it in'. ...[We] feel the unendurable pain of self-denial. ...What's perhaps more significant is that Mr Holter is working in a vernacular that speaks sincerely and directly to today's gay youth. His freewheeling play invites them to honor the earlier generation that broke the chains of marginalization and invisibility." David Rooney, The New York Times
King Lear - (Annotated Shakespeare) Annotated by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Edition: AnnotatedNumber of Pages: 215Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Annotated ShakespeareFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Yale University PressAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis The Annotated Shakespeare Series allowsreaders to fully understand and enjoy the rich plays of the world's greatest dramatist King Lear, one of Shakespeare's darkest and most savage plays, tells the story of the foolish and Job-like Lear, who divides his kingdom, as he does his affections, according to vanity and whim. Lear's failure as a father engulfs himself and his world in turmoil and tragedy. This fully annotated version of King Lear makesthe play completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century. It has been carefully assembled with students, teachers, and the general reader in mind. Eminent linguist and translator Burton Raffel offers generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. His on-page annotations provide readers with all the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations. About the Author Burton Raffel is Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities Emeritus and professor of English emeritus, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The most recent of his many publications is Selected Poems by Nicolas Boileau, published by Yale University Press. He lives in Lafayette. Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University, is the author of many books, including The Western Canon, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, and Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine.
Kiss of the Spider Woman and Two Other Plays - by Manuel Puig (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 194Genre: DramaSub-Genre: GeneralFormat: PaperbackPublisher: W. W. Norton & CompanyAge Range: AdultAuthor: Manuel PuigLanguage: English About the Book Compiled together for the first time, here are three plays by Argentine novelist and playwright Manuel Puig, who died in 1990. The centerpiece of the volume is Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman, made into an acclaimed film starring William Hurt. Also included are the compelling works Under a Mantle of Stars and Mystery of the Rose Bouquet. Book Synopsis Compiled together for the first time, here are three plays by Argentine novelist and playwright Manual Puig: the well-known Kiss of the Spider Woman, a sharply provocative tale of love, victimization, and fantasy, and of the friendship that develops between two strikingly different men imprisoned together in a Latin American jail; Puig's first drama written directly for the stage, Under a Mantle of Stars, a recurring dream that is never ending; and Mystery of the Rose Bouquet, an astute tale of deep compassion and illusion. This is convincing proof that Manual Puig was one of our most talented writers - no matter what the medium. Puig is the author of seven novels, translated into fourteen languages. From the Back Cover Compiled together for the first time, here are three plays by Argentine novelist and playwright Manual Puig: the well-known Kiss of the Spider Woman, a sharply provocative tale of love, victimization, and fantasy, and of the friendship that develops between two strikingly different men imprisoned together in a Latin American jail; Puig's first drama written directly for the stage, Under a Mantle of Stars, a recurring dream that is never ending; and Mystery of the Rose Bouquet, an astute tale of deep compassion and illusion. These eminently readable plays highlight all the gifts that make Puig's fiction so remarkable. This is convincing proof that Manual Puig was one of our most talented writers - no matter what the medium. Puig is the author of seven novels, translated into fourteen languages.
Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) [Revised Tcg Edition] - by Will Eno (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 128Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Theatre Communications GroupAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Will EnoLanguage: English About the Book A revised edition of Will Eno's surreal and meditative one-man show. Book Synopsis "It's sad, isn't it? The dead horse of a life we beat, all the wilder, all the harder the deader it gets. On the other hand, there are some nice shops in the area." Thom Pain has come to a certain point in his life. Maybe you have too. His entire existence is ordinary; but that ordinariness is a revelation and a wonder and a curiosity. To him at least. He'd better hope so. It's all he has (except maybe a dictionary and an old love letter). Comic and disturbing, this provocative monologue charts one man's anguished journey from shattered childhood dreams and trauma to the tenuous, if guarded, optimism of adulthood, told in dangerous intimacy by a voice loaded with wry humor and deceptive charm. Review Quotes Astonishing in its impact. . . One of the treasured nights in the theatre that can leave you both breathless with exhilaration and, depending on your sensitivity to meditations on the bleak and beautiful mysteries of human experience, in a puddle of tears. . . Thom Pain is at bottom a surreal meditation on the empty promises life makes, the way experience never lives up to the weird and awesome fact of being. But it is also, in its odd, bewitching beauty, an affirmation of life's worth.-- "New York Times"Bold, original, and most important of all, entertaining without sacrificing its artistic leanings, Thom Pain is the work of a writer finding his voice.-- "Chicago Theatre Review"Eno has emerged as one of the most original young playwrights on the scene. He is one of the few writers who can convert discomfort and outright agony into such pleasure.--David Cote "Time Out New York"It's hard to imagine more dazzling writing on any stage.-- "Daily Telegraph (London)"Will Eno is an original, a maverick wordsmith whose weird, wry dramas gurgle with the grim humour and pain of life. Eno specialises in the connections of the unconnected, the apologetic murmurings of the disengaged, those who have suppressed their humanity to survive.-- "Guardian" About the Author Will Eno's most recent plays include Wakey, Wakey (Signature Theatre, New York, 2017), The Open House (Signature Theatre, New York, 2014; Obie Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play) and The Realistic Joneses (Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, 2012; Broadway, 2014). His play Middletown received the Horton Foote Prize and Thom Pain (based on nothing) was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Eno lives in Brooklyn.
Rotors in the Sand - by Don Harvel (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 400Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: BookbabyAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Don HarvelLanguage: English About the Book June 28, 1972, the day I reported to the United Stated Military Academy at West Point, one of our class's first military acts was to subscribe to the Cadet Code of Conduct, swearing not to lie, cheat or steal ... nor tolerate among us anyone who does. I also pledged, as a cadet, and later as an officer, to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. Any future allegiance I incurred fell subordinate to these two.Perhaps that's why I developed an affinity to the flying safety field which resides in a sacred niche within the sphere of flying. At the pinnacle of this citadel of truth resides the accident investigation process ... where there is no room or tolerance for politics or innuendo.I accepted the job to investigate the April 9th, 2010 CV-22 Osprey accident with reservations concerning the magnitude of the task and the inherent barriers preventing the collection of evidence a half-a-world away. But I failed to account for the obstacles of full disclosure, politics, and the reluctance of the same entities that assigned me the task, to accept the controversial findings of the investigation.If, at this point, you have read the first few pages of this book looking for an indictment of the government, Air Force, or the contractors who supply weapons of war, put the book back on the shelf ... or click remove from the digital cart. This is no vendetta, tell-all, hatchet job. This book is about facts and truth. Over a period of five months, the Air Force CV-22 accident investigation board traveled thousands of miles, interviewed over one hundred witnesses, and collected mounds of evidence in an inhospitable environment searching for the reason an Osprey aircraft impacted the ground in the remote desert of eastern Afghanistan. The accident took the lives of four personnel aboard the accident airplane.The following pages chronicle the unpublished and exhaustive investigation process, ending with my opinion of the cause of the Osprey accident on th Book Synopsis April 9, 2010 Approximate Local Time - Midnight in Afghanistan Twenty-five hundred feet over Taliban-held territory in southern Afghanistan, three U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft droned through the inky black sky. The mission of the forty-eight U.S. Army Special Forces, Third Battalion, Seventy-Fifth Rangers aboard the airplanes was to engage in direct action with the enemy. The Air Force crews' mission - insert the Army troops close to their objective, a landing zone (LZ) near the town of Qalat in eastern Afghanistan. Major Randell Voas, a Minnesota native and twenty-year veteran commanding military helicopters, led the three-ship formation on the planned fourteen-minute trip. With a layer of high clouds obscuring the night sky, screens on his instrument panel burned green with aircraft performance and navigation information, the only visible illumination.In the cockpit, the navigation page revealed their progress - late. Anticipating the descent for landing, Voas adjusted his night vision goggles and keyed the microphone switch on his control column advising his formation of an updated time over cartnear (TOT). The new TOT would have the three CV-22s landing on the LZ at forty minutes after midnight. Approximately twenty miles from the LZ, Voas reduced power, allowing the nose of the aircraft to fall toward the obscured horizon. He trimmed pressure on the control stick to neutral for the gradual letdown to a lower altitude. Level at six hundred feet above the ground and two minutes out, an A-10 Thunderbolt II orbiting above illuminated (sparkled) the LZ. The crew, expecting a single shaft of light to identify their objective, instead watched multiple rays of infrared energy streak toward the planned touchdown point. The copilot leaned forward in his seat questioning what he saw. With no apparent concern, Voas acknowledged and modified his crosscheck, focusing on the TOT and the approach to landing. At three miles and one minute from landing, the trio of aircraft descended to three hundred feet above the ground. The troops in the rear of the airplane acknowledged the one-minute advisory from the CV-22 tail scanner and took a knee facing the open ramp and door, preparing for a rapid egress once on the ground. Descending into a valley and drifting away from their desired track, the crew noted an unexpected wind shift and corrected their heading to remain on course. At two and a half miles to landing, Voas slowed to approach speed, and tilted the nacelles on the ends of the CV-22's stubby wings toward the vertical, altering their configuration from airplane to helicopter mode. The flight engineer lowered the landing gear. Hydraulic fluid compressed to 5000 psi (pounds per square inch) hissed through stainless steel lines to release the up locks fixing the landing gear assemblies into the wheel wells. Giant pistons ported fluid that extended the landing gear into position with an audible clunk. Suddenly, at one hundred feet above ground, the airplane's nose unexpectedly pitched earthward in a rapid rate of descent. Unable to arrest the aircraft's vertical velocity or his speed over the ground, and with the plane headed for the center of a deep gully, Voas elected to abandon a vertical helicopter landing in favor of a seldom-practiced emergency maneuver. With his speed slightly exceeding ninety knots, he opted to land like any fixed-wing airplane, rolling the wheels onto the desert floor. Nearing touchdown, and amid a cacophony of aural electronic altitude warnings, the tempo of cockpit conversation intensified. What caused the Osprey to suddenly fall out of the sky? Could Major Voas avert the pending disaster? The story of this accident would become a political lightning rod for over a decade. Read this exciting book to find out why. About the Author Brigadier General (Retired) Don Harvel, United States Air ForceBIOGRAPHYDon was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He left Albuquerque in 1972 to attend the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. After graduation, he was commissioned into the United States Air Force. He was assigned to pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. His first flying assignment was flying C-130 aircraft at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. In April 1982, he was reassigned as an Instructor Pilot flying C-130's with the Air Crew Training and Test Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.In 1985, Don left active duty and joined the Texas Air National Guard as a C-130 pilot. He was also hired by Delta Air Lines and started a twenty-five year dual career as an Air National guard pilot and a commercial pilot. His military assignments included Commander of the 181st Airlift Squadron, Commander of the 136th Operations Group, and Commander of the 136th Airlift Wing. He participated in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom andEnduring Freedom. Don was promoted to Brigadier General in 2008 and wasassigned to be the Deputy Commander of the Texas Air National Guard. Duringthat time, he also served as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Commanderof Air Force Special Operations. He retired from the military in September of 2010with 34 years of military service.During his career at Delta Air Lines (34 years), Don flew the Boeing 727, 737, 757,767, and 777. He retired from Delta Air Lines in August of 2019. Don and his family reside in Fountain Hills, Arizona
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity - by Kristoffer Diaz (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 64Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Kristoffer DiazLanguage: English Book Synopsis Dramatic Comedy CHaracters: 5 male (1 non-speaking) Single Set Finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winner! 2011 Obie Award for Best New American Play Winner! 2011 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Awards Winner! 2008 National Latino Playwriting Award Mace is a professional wrestler. He's a really good professional wrestler. He's not the champion though - that's the impossibly charismatic Chad Deity. When Mace discovers a young India
Hookman - by Lauren Yee (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 84Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Lauren YeeLanguage: English Book Synopsis Freshman year at college is hard when your roommate is weird, you're feeling homesick, and a hook-handed serial killer is slashing girls' throats. But if Lexi can discover what really happened to her high school best friend on that car ride to the movies, everything will be okay. In this existential slasher comedy, Lexi and her friends learn what it means to grow up - and it's not pretty.
A Midsummer Night's Dream - (Annotated Shakespeare) Annotated by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Edition: AnnotatedNumber of Pages: 224Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Annotated ShakespeareFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Yale University PressAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis "Each volume of The Annotated Shakespeare proves to be a splendid addition to the series."--Tita French Baumlin, Southwest Missouri State University From the hilarious mischief of the elf Puck to the rough humor of the self-centered Bottom and his fellow players, from the palace of Theseus in Athens to the magic wood where fairies play, Shakespeare's lyrical A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play of enchantment and an insightful portrait of the predicaments of love. This extensively annotated edition makes Midsummer completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century and provides a rich resource for students, teachers, and the general reader. Burton Raffel's on-page annotations offer generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. In his introduction he explores the complexities of A Midsummer Night's Dream. And in a concluding essay, Harold Bloom examines the play's extraordinary mélange of characters. About the Author Burton Raffel was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities and emeritus professor of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Among his many edited and translated publications are Poems and Prose from the Old English, Cligès, Lancelot, Perceval, Erec and Enide, and Yvain, all published by Yale University Press. Harold Bloom was Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University and Berg Professor of English at New York University, and the author of many books, including The Western Canon and Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.
Troilus and Cressida - (Folger Shakespeare Library) Annotated by William Shakespeare (Paperback)
Edition: AnnotatedNumber of Pages: 416Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareSeries Title: Folger Shakespeare LibraryFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Simon & SchusterAge Range: AdultAuthor: William ShakespeareLanguage: English Book Synopsis The authoritative edition of Troilus and Cressida from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers. For Troilus and Cressida, set during the Trojan War, Shakespeare turned to the Greek poet Homer, whose epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey treat the war and its aftermath, and to Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, and the great romance of the war, Troilus and Criseyde. This edition includes: -Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play -Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play -Scene-by-scene plot summaries -A key to the play's famous lines and phrases -An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language -An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play -Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books -An annotated guide to further reading Essay by Jonathan Gil Harris The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu. From the Back Cover Troilus and Cressida is perhaps Shakespeare's most philosophical play, and its preoccupation with war, sex, and time has seemed peculiarly relevant since the First World War. About the Author William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England's Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children--an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare's working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death. Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Research emerita at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Consulting Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare's Romances and of essays on Shakespeare's plays and their editing. Paul Werstine is Professor of English at the Graduate School and at King's University College at Western University. He is a general editor of the New Variorum Shakespeare and author of Early Modern Playhouse Manuscripts and the Editing of Shakespeare and of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare's plays.
Hedda Gabler - by Henrik Ibsen (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 96Genre: DramaSub-Genre: GeneralFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French LtdAge Range: AdultAuthor: Henrik IbsenLanguage: English Book Synopsis Ibsen's classic in a version by Patrick Marber. Hedda returns from her honeymoon with new husband George Tesman. Struggling with her marriage and life devoid of excitement, Hedda strives to find a way to fulfill her desires by manipulating those around her.This version opened at the National Theatre, London, in December 2016.
The Front Page - by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 146Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthurLanguage: English Book Synopsis Comedy / Characters: 17 males, 5 females Set Requirements: InteriorAn irresistible comedy with thrills and derring do set in the news room. Hildy wants to break away from journalism and go on a belated honeymoon. There is a jailbreak and into Hildy's hands falls the escapee as hostage. He conceals his prize in a rolltop desk and phones his scoop to his managing editor. Their job is to prevent other reporters and the sheriff from opening the desk and finding their story. Some hoods are enli
Bird Trap. Where the Bag At?, 1 - (I Need My Coins.) by Sasha Harvey (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 144Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanSeries Title: I Need My Coins.Format: PaperbackPublisher: BookbabyAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Sasha HarveyLanguage: English About the Book Watch Who you trust Sis! Youngest Twin Bri'Anna has been through it all and still didn't learn a single lesson yet. Y'all better tell her before I do because Imma hurt her feelings. Philadelphia is a different planet you either make it or you don't but everyone has to learn right? Book Synopsis Twins Bri'Anna, Bri'Ale and best friend Kayla grow up in the middle of the Hood. The will see and do it all just to say the did something. Remember not everything is for everybody! The streets is always watching and they never forget. About the Author Y'all need to catch this tea while it's still hot. I write from my heart.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf - (Scribner Classics) by Ntozake Shange (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 96Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanSeries Title: Scribner ClassicsFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Scribner Book CompanyAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Ntozake ShangeLanguage: English About the Book First published in 1975, Shange's choreopoem has been read and performed because it truly revealed what it meant to be of color and female in the twentieth century. Here is the complete text, with stage directions of the dramatic prose poem that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world. Book Synopsis This revolutionary, award-winning play by a lauded playwright and poet is a fearless portrayal of the experiences of women of color--"extraordinary and wonderful...that anyone can relate to" (The New York Times) and continues to move and resonate with readers today more than ever. From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it is to be of color and female in the twentieth century. First published in 1975 when it was praised by The New Yorker for encompassing...every feeling and experience a woman has ever had, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world. Review Quotes "Overwhelming....It's joyous and alive, affirmative in the face of despair." --"Daily News "(New York)"Passionate and lyrical...In poetry and prose Shange describes what it means to be a black woman in a world of mean streets, deceitful men, and aching loss." --New York "Newsday" About the Author Ntozake Shange (1948-2018) was a poet, novelist, playwright, and performer. She wrote the Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, as well as numerous works of fiction, including Sassafras, Cypress & Indigo; Betsey Brown; and Liliane.
10 Out of 12 - by Anne Washburn (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 110Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Anne WashburnLanguage: English About the Book "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tech. Around you, a company of fourteen is engaged in a very peculiar -- and particularly imposible -- task of making a new play. You'll have a seat next to the sound designer as he mixes cues. You'll eavesdrop on backstage gossip as it happens over headset. You'll watch the director struggle to contain the uncontainable. Anne Washburn (Mr. Burns) took notes during her tech rehersals over the years. 10 out of 12 is a wry and absorbing look at how work forms us and deforms us."-- Back cover. Book Synopsis Anne Washburn is the recipient of the 2015 Whiting Award for Drama Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tech. Around you, a company of 14 is engaged in the very peculiar-and peculiarly impossible-task of making a new play. You'll have a seat next to the sound designer as he mixes cues. You'll eavesdrop on backstage gossip as it happens over headset. You'll watch the director struggle to contain the uncontainable. Anne Washburn (Mr. Burns) took notes during her tech rehearsals over the years. 10
Dracula (Deane and Balerston) - by Hamilton Deane & John L Balderston (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 120Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Hamilton Deane & John L BalderstonLanguage: English Book Synopsis Drama Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, from Bram Stoker's novelCharacters: 6 male, 2 female 3 Interior Scenes An enormously successful revival of this classic opened on Broadway in 1977 fifty years after the original production. This is one of the great mystery thrillers and is generally considered among the best of its kind. Lucy Seward, whose father is the doctor in charge of an English sanitorium, has been attacked by some mysterious illness. Dr. Van Helsing,
Fun Home Vocal Selections - by Lisa Kron & Jeanine Tesori (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 128Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Lisa Kron & Jeanine TesoriLanguage: English Book Synopsis Contains the following songs: It All Comes Back (Opening) Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue Come to the Fun Home Changing My Major Maps Raincoat of Love Ring of Keys Days and Days Telephone Wire Edges of the World Flying Away (Finale) Bonus Song: Pony Girl
Three Plays - (Vintage International) by Eugene O'Neill (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 432Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Anthologies (multiple authors)Series Title: Vintage InternationalFormat: PaperbackPublisher: VintageAge Range: AdultAuthor: Eugene O'NeillLanguage: English About the Book These three plays exemplify Eugene O'Neil's ability to explore the limits of the human predicament, even as he sounds the depths of his audiences' hearts. Book Synopsis Winner of the Nobel Prize These three plays exemplify Eugene O'Neil's ability to explore the limits of the human predicament, even as he sounds the depths of his audiences' hearts. About the Author Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) is one of the most significant forces in the history of American theater. With no uniquely American tradition to guide him, O'Neill introduced various dramatic techniques, which subsequently became staples of the US theater. By 1914 he had written 12 one-act and two long plays. Of this early work, only Thirst and Other One Act Plays (1914) was originally published. From this point on, O'Neill's work falls roughly into three phases: the early plays, written from 1914 to 1921 (The Long Voyage Home, The Moon of the Caribbees, Beyond the Horizon, Anna Christie); a variety of full-length plays for Broadway (Desire Under the Elms, Great God Brown, Ah, Wilderness!); and the last, great plays, written between 1938 and his death (The Iceman Cometh, A Moon for the Misbegotten). O'Neill is a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1936.
Jesus Just Left Chicago - (Jesse Christian Saga) by Fred M Faour (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 218Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanSeries Title: Jesse Christian SagaFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Fred FaourAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Fred M FaourLanguage: English About the Book When Jesse Christian, a mysterious biker, pulls up for the first time, a group of racetrack regulars are fascinated. Jesse seems to know the outcome of every race, and begins making a collection of career losers very rich. Book Synopsis When Jesse Christian, a mysterious biker, pulls up for the first time, a group of racetrack regulars are fascinated. Jesse seems to know the outcome of every race, and begins making a collection of career losers very rich.They form a tight knit group that every day drinks together, wins together, spends their lives together. Jesse fits in right away, and his strange, quiet spiritualism begins to make many of them think he is much more than just a terrific gambler.But the racetrack is full of con men and scam artists, and not everyone is convinced. And others want in on the winning. What starts as a group of lost souls finding their pot of gold soon evolves into a dark and twisted tale of organized crime, mysticism, jealousy and deep, dark secrets.Secrets that could easily lead to a tragic end for everyone.
Speak the Speech! - Annotated by Rhona Silverbush & Sami Plotkin (Paperback)
Edition: AnnotatedNumber of Pages: 1092Genre: DramaSub-Genre: ShakespeareFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Farrar, Straus and GirouxAge Range: AdultAuthor: Rhona Silverbush & Sami PlotkinLanguage: English Book Synopsis The most comprehensive sourcebook of Shakespeare's monologues ever available in one volume. A detailed guide to approaching Shakespearean text, Speak the Speech! contains everything an actor needs to select and prepare a Shakespeare monologue for classwork, auditions, or performance. Included herein are over 150 monologues. Each one is placed in context with a brief introduction, is carefully punctuated in the manner that best illustrates its meaning, and is painstakingly and thoroughly annotated. Each is also accompanied by commentary that will spark the actor's imagination by exploring how the interrelationship of meter and the choice of words and sounds yields clues to character and performance. And throughout the book sidebars relate historical, topical, technical, and other useful and entertaining information relevant to the text. In addition, the authors include an overview of poetic and rhetorical elements, brief synopses of all the plays, and a comprehensive index along with other guidelines that will help readers locate the perfect monologue for their needs. More than just an actor's toolkit, Speak the Speech! is also an entertaining resource that will help demystify Shakespeare's language for the student and theater lover alike. Review Quotes "I celebrate all things that demystify Shakespeare so that artists and audiences alike can breathe and live inside his wonderous words. Speak the Speech! does just that. It is a great resource not just for actors but for anyone who loves the Bard." --George C. Wolfe, Producer, the Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival Show Business WeeklyTrippingly on the TongueI'm very excited about a new book that has landed on my desk, and I'm heartily recommending it to all actors out there who frequently find themselves in the position of having to come up with a polished classical monologue for auditions or for class. Speak the Speech! Shakespeare's Monologues Illuminated by Rhona Silverbush and Sami Plotkin has just been published by FSG/Faber and Faber, and this big, exhaustive work (over a thousand pages) examines 150 of the Bard's monologues for both men and women, annotating the language and providing insightful commentary to spark the performer's imagination. I don't know of another book quite like it for classical actors, and for all students and lovers of Shakespeare, it strikes me as a must-have. Speak the Speech! is available in bookstores now. CHOICE, Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, March 2003, Vol 40, No. 07Silverbush and Plotkin have assembled a mighty resource for actors preparing Shakespeare monologues for classes or auditions. The authors deliver cohesively organized entries that help users select monologues and cogently written commentaries that aid comprehension and profile variant interpretive treatments of the speeches. The volume includes 148 prose and blank verse speeches -- at least one example from each of Shakespeare's 37 plays appears and almost half are monologue options for women. Each monologue is accompanied by expansive apparatus providing tips ranging from how frequently the monologue turns up in auditions, to annotation clarifying meaning of obscure words and strange syntax, to pointers on interpretive tactics actors can employ, to guidance on "significant scans." The book's content also embraces techniques for analyzing Shakespeare's text, a capsule discussion of Shakespeare's world, and plot synopses for all plays. Although the authors omit some monologues that students may wish to study, and although some commentaries may not explore interpretive perspectives exhaustively, this remarkable volume will indeed serve as an informative and user-friendly "tool kit" for actors. Teachers will wish to consider it for course adoption. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through graduate students; professionals. -- P. D. Nelsen, Marlboro College About the Author Rhona Silverbush studied theatre and psychology at Brandeis University and holds a law degree from Boston College Law School; she practiced asylum law before returning to her first loves, writing and the theatre. She has acted with regional theatre and Shakespeare companies, was adjunct faculty at Columbia University's Teachers College and currently teaches and coaches privately. She continues to write with Sami Plotkin and on her own and is also co-author with Carol Zeavin of the Terrific Toddlers series of picture books published by Magination Press, the children's book imprint of the American Psychological Association. Sami Plotkin graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a double major in Theatre Arts and English Literature, and honed her stagecraft in London under the tutelage of Royal Shakespeare Company members. She later earned her M.F.A. at Columbia University's School of the Arts. Sami has performed Shakespeare in the United States and on tour in Europe and the former Soviet Union. Since then she has taught Working with Shakespeare's Text at Michael Howard Studios, drama in New York City public schools, and guest workshops for middle and high school drama productions. She coaches privately and continues to write with Rhona Silverbush and on her own. The authors were awarded a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation for Speak the Speech! in 1999.
The Oresteia - (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 335Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Ancient & ClassicalSeries Title: Penguin ClassicsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultLanguage: English Book Synopsis In the Oresteia Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. As they move from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration. In Agamemnon, a king's decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution; The Libation Bearers deals with the aftermath of Clytemnestra's regicide, as her son Orestes sets out to avenge his father's death; and in The Eumenides, Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, The Oresteia is a compelling tragedy of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society. The only trilogy in Greek drama that survives from antiquity, Aeschylus' The Oresteia is translated by Robert Fagles with an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W.B. Stanford in Penguin Classics. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. From the Back Cover This book is a play that has been translated into English. 'The Oresteia' Review Quotes Conveys more vividly and powerfully than any of the ten competitors I have consulted the eternal power of this masterpiece ... a triumph. --Bernard Levin How satisfying to read at last a modern translation which is rooted in Greek feeling and Greek thought ... both the stature and the profound instinctive genius of Aeschylus are recognised. --Mary Renault, author of The King Must Die About the Author Aeschylus was born of noble family near Athens in 525 BC. He took part in the Persian Wars, and his epitaph represents him as fighting at Marathon. He wrote more than seventy plays, of which only seven have survived, all translated for Penguin Classics: The Supplicants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides.
Make It Mystery - by Craig Sodaro (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 223Genre: DramaSub-Genre: Anthologies (multiple authors)Format: PaperbackPublisher: Meriwether PublishingAge Range: AdultAuthor: Craig SodaroLanguage: English About the Book Better by the dozen! This book of 12 ROYALTY-FREE mystery plays have running times between 20 and 30 minutes and are perfect for classroom exercises, an evening of one acts, student directed shows, fundraisers, and more. Cast sizes range from 4 to 11, and all are either balanced or favoring female roles. No cuttings here! These are all full plays including a synopsis, a cast of characters, and complete production notes on setting, props, costumes, and sound effects. They are especially workable for middle schools and high schools, but there are scripts here for all ages. You'll love the variety! "The Mother Goose Mystery" features a cast of suspicious nursery-rhyme-quoting characters. In "Queen of Hearts," a young Shakespeare helps solve a crime. "The Clue in the Library" is perfect for a library fundraiser and "Mommy's a Zombie!" is a wonderful farce. Best of all, they're all royalty-free! Book Synopsis Better by the dozen! This book of 12 royalty-free mystery plays have running times between 20 and 30 minutes and are perfect for classroom exercises, an evening of one acts, student directed shows, fundraisers and more. Cast sizes range from 4 to 11, and all are either balanced or favoring female roles. No cuttings here! These are all full plays including a synopsis, a cast of characters and complete production notes on setting, props, costumes and sound effects. They are especially workable for middle schools and high schools, but there are scripts here for all ages. You'll love the variety! 'The Mother Goose Mystery' features a cast of suspicious nursery-rhyme-quoting characters. In 'Queen of Hearts' a young Shakespeare helps solve a crime. 'The Clue in the Library' is perfect for a library fundraiser and 'Mommy's a Zombie!' is a wonderful farce. Best of all, they're all royalty-free!.
The Best American Short Plays - by William W Demastes (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 408Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanSeries Title: Best American Short PlaysFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Applause BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: William W DemastesLanguage: English About the Book THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS: 2013--2014 Book Synopsis For more than 70 years, The Best American Short Plays has been the standard of excellence for one-act plays in America. From its inception, it has identified cutting-edge playwrights - Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and others - who have gone on to establish award-winning careers. The Best American Short Plays 2013-2014 takes a look at our changing times. "Uncertain" seems to be the watchword of today's world, full of surprises, shocks, and even a few delights. Uncertainty brings with it fear and insecurity, as well as nostalgic longing for the good old days, but for some, uncertainty means opportunity and along with it the prospect of change for the better. This volume explores various experiences of uncertainty and includes a series of nine plays gathered by Daniel Gallant, entitled Nine Signs of the Times, as well as short plays by Neil LaBute, John Guare, Laura Shaine Cunningham, Daniel F. Levin, Quincy Long, Halley Feiffer, Caridad Svich, and Clay McLeod Chapman. This collection will be complemented by a range of plays from around the country by playwrights likewise observing and digesting the signs of the times. Together the plays of this volume work as a time capsule, capturing the fears and longings of a world on the verge and in the midst of big changes, hopefully for the better - but quite possibly for the worse.
The Odd Couple - by Neil Simon (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 108Genre: DramaSub-Genre: AmericanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Samuel French, Inc.Age Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Neil SimonLanguage: English Book Synopsis Comedy / 6m, 2f / Int. This classic comedy opens as a group of the guys assembled for cards in the apartment of divorced Oscar Madison. And if the mess is any indication, it's no wonder that his wife left him. Late to arrive is Felix Unger who has just been separated from his wife. Fastidious, depressed and none too tense, Felix seems suicidal, but as the action unfolds Oscar becomes the one with murder on his mind when the clean-freak and the slob ultimately decide to room together with hilari
Faust - by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 182Genre: DramaSub-Genre: EuropeanFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Penguin GroupAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheLanguage: English Book Synopsis Goethe's Faust reworks the late medieval myth of a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract with Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seeks to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last forever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephisto and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe's great work, the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a rejuvenated life and winning the love of the beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire, and self-delusion, Faust heads inexorably toward an infernal destruction. A.S. Byatt's preface considers Goethe's lifelong relationship with the myth of Faust and its influence on modern literature. This edition includes an introduction by the translator, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, explanatory notes, and an addendum on the writing of Faust.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review Quotes One of those great works of literature into which a writer has been able to combine his ranging preoccupations and understanding as he worked. -A. S. Byatt, from the Preface About the Author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt-on-Main in 1749. He studied at Leipzig, where he showed interest in the occult, and at Strassburg, where Herder introduced him to Shakespeare's works and to folk poetry. He produced some essays and lyrical verse, and at twenty-two wrote Götz von Berlichingen, a play which brought him national fame and established him in the current Sturm und Drang movement. This was followed by the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774, which was an even greater success. Goethe began work on Faust, and Egmont, another tragedy before being invited to join the government of Weimar. His interest in the classical world led him to leave suddenly for Italy in 1786 and the Italian Journey recounts his travels there. Iphigenia in Tauris and Torquato Tasso, classical dramas, were written at this time. Returning to Weimar, Goethe started the second part of Faust, encouraged by Schiller. In 1806 he married Christiane Vulpius. During this late period he finished his series of Wilhelm Master books and wrote many other works, including The Oriental Divan (1819). He also directed the State Theatre and worked on scientific theories in evolutionary botany, anatomy and color. Goethe completed Faust in 1832, just before he died.A. S. Byatt, novelist, short-story writer, and critic, is the author of many books, including Possession, winner of the Man Booker Prize.