Book picks similar to
Seven Black Plays: The Theodore Ward Prize for African American Playwriting by Chuck SmithCharles Smith
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Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales
Guy de Maupassant - 2004
You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Other Plays
Lynn Nottage - 1998
Her plays have been produced in many theatres across the U.S. including Second Stage (NY), South Coast Rep (Costa Mesa), Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven), Alliance Theatre (Atlanta) and Steppenwolf (Chicago). She has won the Heideman and the White Bird awards and was a runner-up for the Susan Blackburn award.
The Curious Savage
John Patrick - 1950
Savage has been left ten million dollars by her husband and wants to make the best use of it, in spite of the efforts of her grown-up stepchildren to get their hands on it. These latter, knowing that the widow's wealth is now in negotiable securities, and seeing they cannot get hold of it, commit her to a "sanatorium" hoping to "bring her to her senses." But Mrs. Savage is determined to establish a fund to help others realize their hopes and dreams. In the sanatorium she meets various social misfits, men and women who just cannot adjust themselves to life, people who need the help Mrs. Savage can provide. In getting to know them, she realizes that she will find happiness with them and plans to spend the rest of her life as one of them. But when the doctor tells her there is no reason why she should remain, she hesitates to go out into a hard world where people seem ready to do anything for money. The self-seeking stepchildren are driven to distraction by their vain efforts to browbeat Mrs. Savage, but she preserves her equanimity and leads them on a merry chase. At last her friends conspire to get rid of her stepchildren, and through their simple belief in the justice of her cause, they enable Mrs. Savage to carry out her plans. The last scene, a farewell party, is a delightful fantasy where each "guest" in the sanatorium realizes at last some hopeless dream for something he was never able to realize. The dominant mood is high comedy, and the audience is left with a feeling that the neglected virtues of kindness and affection have not been entirely lost in a world that seems motivated at times only by greed and dishonesty.
Colder Than Here
Laura Wade - 2005
There are boilers to be fixed, cats to be fed, and the perfect funeral to be planned. As a mother researches burial spots and biodegradable coffins, her family is finally forced to communicate with her and each other as they face up to the future. A dark comedy about death and life going on.
Birdland
Simon Stephens - 2014
All worth can be quantified. Artistic worth. Human worth. Material worth. Everything. Some food is simply better than other food. Isn't it? Some clothes are better than other clothes. Aren't they?The last week of a massive international tour and rock star Paul is at the height of his fame. Everybody knows his name. Whatever he wants he can have. He can screw anybody he wants to. He can buy anything he desires. He can eat anything. Drink anything. Smoke anything. Go anywhere. As the inevitability of the end of the road looms closer and a return home becomes a reality, for Paul the music is starting to jar.Birdland received its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs on 3 April 2014.
hang (NHB Modern Plays)
debbie tucker green - 2015
In her hands. A shattering play about one woman’s unspeakable decision. hang premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2015, in a production directed by the author, and featuring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rushbrook and Shane Zaza.
A Steady Rain
Keith Huff - 2010
But when a domestic disturbance call takes a turn for the worse, their friendship is put on the line. The result is a difficult journey into a moral gray area where trust and loyalty struggle for survival against a sobering backdrop of pimps, prostitutes, and criminal lowlifes.A dark duologue filled with sharp storytelling and biting repartee, A Steady Rain explores the complexities of a lifelong bond tainted by domestic affairs, violence, and the rough streets of Chicago.
The Spoils: A Play
Jesse Eisenberg - 2015
Eisenberg will star in the New York production of The Spoils in the Spring of 2015, directed by Scott Elliott for the New Group’s inaugural season at the Pershing Square Signature Center.Nobody likes Ben. Ben doesn't even like Ben. He’s been kicked out of grad school, lives off his parents’ money, and bullies everyone in his life, including his roommate, an earnest Nepalese immigrant. When Ben discovers that his grade school crush is marrying a straight-laced banker, he sets out to destroy their relationship and win her back. The Spoils is a deeply personal and probing comedy written by one of America’s most interesting writer-thespians.
Find Me
Olwen Wymark - 1980
Later, she was committed to Broadmoor "from where she may not be discharged without permission of the Home Secretary." Using a technique of multiple characterization, Find Me seeks to investigate in depth the personality of the young girl - to 'find her' - and at the same time studies the effects of her behavior on those around her.
hir
Taylor Mac - 2015
Isaac’s father, who once ruled the family with an iron fist, has had a debilitating stroke; his younger sister, Maxine, is now his brother, Max; and their mother, Paige, is committed to revolution at any cost. Determined to be free of any responsibility toward her formerly abusive husband—or the home he created—Paige fervently believes she can lead the way to a "new world order." Hir, Taylor Mac’s subversive comedy, leaves many of our so-called normative and progressive ideas about gender, families, the middle class—and cleaning—in hilarious and ultimately tragic disarray.
Immigrant America: A Portrait
Alejandro Portes - 1990
Drawing on recent census data and other primary sources, Portes and Rumbaut have infused the entire text with new information and added a vivid array of new vignettes and illustrations.Recognized for its superb portrayal of immigration and immigrant lives in the United States, this book probes the dynamics of immigrant politics, examining questions of identity and loyalty among newcomers, and explores the psychological consequences of varying modes of migration and acculturation. The authors look at patterns of settlement in urban America, discuss the problems of English-language acquisition and bilingual education, explain how immigrants incorporate themselves into the American economy, and examine the trajectories of their children from adolescence to early adulthood. With a vital new chapter on religion—and fresh analyses of topics ranging from patterns of incarceration to the mobility of the second generation and the unintended consequences of public policies—this updated edition is indispensable for framing and informing issues that promise to be even more hotly and urgently contested as the subject moves to the center of national debate..
Norma Jeane Baker of Troy
Anne Carson - 2019
Norma Jeane Baker of Troy is a partly spoken, partly sung performance piece by poet, essayist, and scholar Anne Carson, and an exploration of the lives and myths of Marilyn Monroe and Helen of Troy—iconic beauties who lived millennia apart.A thrilling and thoughtful meditation on the destabilising and destructive power of beauty, this had its world premiere at The Shed in New York City, starring Ben Whishaw and Renée Fleming.
Devils & Demons: A Treasury of Fiendish Tales Old & New
Marvin KayeM. Lucie Chin - 1987
The individual copyright date for each story ranges from 1925 to 1987."The Queen of Sheba’s Nightmare" by Bertrand Russell "The Brazen Locked Room" by Isaac Asimov "Sir Dominick’s Bargain" by Sheridan LeFanu "Tapestry" by C. H. Sherman "Seven Come Heaven?" by Diane Wnorowska "The Temptation of Harringay" by H.G. Wells "The Tenancy of Mr. Eex" by Paula Volsky "The Demon Lover" by Anonymous "The Imitation Demon" by Robert Kuttner "Just a Little Thing" by Joan Vander Putten "The Devil’s Wager" by William Makepeace Thackeray "Rachaela" by Poul Anderson"Hell-Bent" by Ford McCormack "Damned Funny" by Marvin Kaye "Me, Tree" by Morgan Llywelyn "Enoch" by Robert Bloch "Catmagic" by M. Lucie Chin "The Hound" by H. P. Lovecraft "The Princess and Her Future" by Tanith Lee "Novel of the White Powder" by Arthur Machen "The Celery Stalk in the Cellar" by Saralee Terry "The Vampire Cat of Nabeshima" by Bernhardt J. Hurwood "Caliban’s Revenge" by Darrell Schweitzer "The Trilling Princess" by Jessica Amanda Salmonson "The Graveyard Rats" by Henry Kuttner "Daddy" by Earl Godwin "The Well-Meaning Mayor" by Leslie Charteris "A Madman" by Maurice Level "The Devilish Rat" by Edward Page Mitchell "Rokuro-Kubi" by Lafcadio Hearn "The Burial of the Rats" by Bram Stoker "High-Tech Insolence" by Russell Baker "Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe "Boogie Man" by Tappan King "The Maze and the Monster" by Edward D. Hoch "Father Meuron’s Tale" by Robert Hugh Benson "The Philosophy of Sebastian Trump or, the Art of Outrage" by William E. Kotzwinkle and Robert Shiarella "Don Juan’s Final Night" by Edmond Rostand "A Friend in Need" by W. Somerset Maugham "Armageddon" by Fredric Brown"Secret Worship" by Algernon Blackwood"Devil in the Drain" by Daniel Manus Pinkwater"I Am Returning" by Ray Russell"The Shadow Watchers" by Dick Baldwin"The Demons" by Robert Sheckley"A Ballad of Hell" by John Davidson"The Generous Gambler" by Charles Pierre Baudelaire"A Midnight Visitor" by John Kendrick Bangs"Markheim" by Robert Louis Stevenson"Lost Soul" by Jay Sheckley"The Last Demon" by Isaac Bashevis Singer"Influencing The Hell Out Of Time And Teresa Golowitz" by Parke Godwin