Three Plays: Our Lady of 121st Street / Jesus Hopped the A Train / In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings


Stephen Adly Guirgis - 2003
    A masterful poet of the downtrodden, his plays portray life on New York's hardscrabble streets in a manner both tender and unflinching, while continually exploring the often startling gulf between who we are and how we perceive ourselves. Gathered in this volume is his current off-Broadway hit, Our Lady of 121st Street, a comic portrait of the graduates of a Harlem Catholic school reunited at the funeral of a beloved teacher, along with his two previous plays: the philosophical jailhouse drama Jesus Hopped the A Train and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, an Iceman Cometh for the Giuliani era that looks at the effect of Times Square's gentrification on its less desirable inhabitants.

The Guys


Anne Nelson - 2002
    Paralyzed by grief and unable to put his thoughts into words, Nick, a fire captain, seeks out the help of a writer to compose eulogies for the colleagues and friends he lost in the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001. As Joan, an editor by trade, draws Nick out about “the guys,” powerful profiles emerge, revealing vivid personalities and the substance and meaning that lie beneath the surface of seemingly unremarkable people. As the individual talents and enthusiasms of the people within the small firehouse community are realized, we come to understand the uniqueness and value of what each person has to contribute. And Nick and Joan, two people who under normal circumstances never would have met, jump the well-defined tracks of their own lives, and so learn about themselves, about life, and about the healing power of human connection, through talking about the guys.

Pokojnik


Branislav Nušić - 1982
    Pavle leaves town to think things over. Weeks later, a deformed corpse is found washed up on the banks of the Danube and is identifed to be that of Pavle. The case is judged a suicide. Three years later, Pavle, now "the deceased," unexpectedly returns. He discovers that his heirs have not only plundered his estate, but also refuse to recognize him as being "legally" alive, and they unite to keep him "dead" to maintain the status quo. This is the first English translation of a masterful and darkly comic play that will enter its rightful place as a world classic. The fluid and natural translation lends itself to theatrical production. Comically absurd, filled with existential angst, it was ahead of its time in 1937. At once vaudevillian and modernist, it is distinguished by clever plotting and stinging dialogue. The play stands as a lasting and caustic satire of human greed, strangely consonant with todays society.

You Got Older


Clare Barron - 2015
    "You Got Older" is a tender and darkly comic new play about family, illness, and cowboys - and how to remain standing when everything you know comes crashing down around you.

Abundance


Beth Henley - 1991
    Macon and Bess are two mail-order brides, lured to the West by the promise of new beginnings through marriage to men they have never met. While waiting for their respective husbands-to-be, one bubbling with optimism, the other mousy and plain, the two women become instant best friends. As Abundance follows the two women through their friendship and adventures for the next 25 years, this Western epic unearths the dark underside of American mythology. A L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Ed Begley Jr., Gary Cole, Amy Madigan, Steven Weber and JoBeth Williams.

Road


Jim Cartwright - 1986
    Moving from street corner to living room, from bedroom to kitchen, we meet the inhabitants of young, middle-aged, and old, glimpsing their socially and emotionally wretched lives, in this sharp, sad, funny, and angry play.

The Author


Tim Crouch - 2010
    Laugh with the actors, tap your feet to the music, and turn to your neighbor.

The Pride


Alexi Kaye Campbell - 2008
    It is an exploration of intimacy, identity, and the courage it takes to be who you really are.

Fallen Angels


Noël Coward - 1925
    A farce with a hilarious drunk scene for two stylish comediennes.

Is God Is


Aleshea Harris - 2017
    Poetry. Performance Studies. African & African American Studies. California Interest. Hybrid Genre. Winner of the 2016 Relentless Award from the American Playwriting Foundation. Introduction by Dawn Lundy Martin. Aleshea Harris' IS GOD IS is a classic revenge tale about two sisters that blends tragedy, typography, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk. In this necessary new play, emotions are laid bare through gaps in language and characters are a window into the canon as well as our own broken times. A rigorous new work that unearths our deepest fears about humanity and who we think we are in relation to ourselves and the divine.--Dawn Lundy Martin Family, as the old tragedians knew, is our first country. Therefore, it's the earth from which we forge our first weapons, the fields of our first wars, the very turf over which we fight. With IS GOD IS, Aleshea Harris audaciously scours tragedy down with the rough edge of a rock. To read this merciless play is to get blood in your eye--and in Harris' sure grip, you'll recall that blood washes and stains, can run hot or cold, means both violence and family.--Douglas Kearney 3 Hole Press is a small press bringing new audiences to new plays in printed formats. The Press publishes titles that expand notions of what a play is, the possibilities that emerge for drama on the page, and the connection between plays and other mediums. Interdisciplinary by design, these books belong outside the drama section.

The Boys Next Door


Tom Griffin - 1988
    Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic who is devastated by the unfeeling rejection of his brutal father, fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they, like their more fortunate brothers, are allotted on this earth.

Ruby Chadwick


Anna King - 1995
    She spends hours playing happily with her two brothers outside their father’s pub. But Ruby’s world is turned upside down when a moment of disobedience results in a tragic accident, and she must learn to come to terms with the consequences.When the Chadwick family’s circumstances unexpectedly change they relocate to salubrious surroundings in respectable Brixton. As Ruby comes of age, she dreams of a future that allows her independence and a chance to find love, though her stern father has other ideas.Her fortunes change when she accepts a job as companion to a cantankerous old lady and crosses paths with a charming Irishman named Michael. Yet before long Ruby must once more choose whether to defy her family and make her own choices – whatever the cost…An absorbing and atmospheric London saga, Ruby Chadwick is a must-read for fans of Jean Fullerton, Lindsey Hutchinson and Rosie Goodwin.

Take Me Away


Rishabh Bansal - 2020
    It is a story of love, passion, courage and belief. A story to give solace to a wavering, doubtful mind.Woven with pure love, 'Take Me Away' will fill your heart with with gratitude and help you lead a life of compassion. Written on a principal of 'Work is Karma', this book is a story of two seemingly same but different characters - Anaya and Ayan. The story will impart all the positivity and help you explore your inner beauty and true self.

We Met For A Reason


Subrat Saurabh - 2021
    It moves with how he went on a roller coaster ride of emotions while dealing with these pretty nymphs and his own idea of life, where relationships are beyond the emotional tie ups, have zero expectations and absolutely no commitment.Karan was fortunate enough to experience the real flavours of love in the form of warm affection, spicy sex and sour betrayal. His idea of romantic relationship is something which starts with a friendship, progresses with fingerlicious food at a restaurant, gets intense in a pub, gets sealed with a lip lock and later dissolves into a one-night stand. However, destiny had a different plan where he ended up falling in love with a girl, whom he thought to be, just another pawn in his journey of self-satisfaction.Sometimes even a short-lived relationship or an incident creates a huge impact on a person’s mind and may change the direction of his life. Life goes through a drastic change for Karan due to an incident and he realizes the importance of relationships.

Daddy Knows Best: A Raw, Uncut True Story


Matt Gable - 2011
    Thereafter, he was his worst enemy. A tough-as-nails father who firmly enforces his old-fashioned ways, a mother who has little or no say, and a son with a penchant for getting into misadventures. The boy tries to convince his parents that something is wrong with him, and he is really physically ill. He suffers three years of humiliation, agony, and punishment from the school and his father. The school principal, gave him swats, detention and isolation, where he spent all day locked up in an empty storage room. His emotionally unstable father spanked him ferociously. The boy was also whipped shirtless with his shorts on leaving him with welts all over his body from head to toe. He suffered other cruel punishments as well. The school and his parents misjudge him almost costing him his life. The parents get a divorce. The mother and brothers moved back to Wisconsin from Texas. They found themselves in an all-black housing project, being the only whites there for almost four years. He grows up quick and learns that life isn't as simple as black and white. When he turns 18, he decides to move back to Texas to seek vengeance from his father in a small country town with his father and his new mother. He hasn't seen or talked to his father in almost four years. Things fall apart fast. The young man and his younger brother end up out on the streets being homeless for two months and encounters unpredictable adventures. A raw, uncut true story.