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Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Drama texts, plays > General
This hilarious Off-Broadway hit, set in a run-down apartment on
Staten Island, concerns three gay roommates coming to a crisis
during one frantic Christmas weekend.
A terrifically thrilling black comedy examining the stresses and strains of modern life in the 1990’s, Nasty Neighbours bursts into life following the emigration of Mr and Mrs Peach’s neighbours the Hodges to Australia. The grieving Peaches anxiously twitch behind the net curtains at their semi-detached home wondering who will arrive next door to take their place. But Mr and Mrs Chapman prove to be far from the ideal couple the Peaches had dreamed of. The Chapmans are rude, loud and aggressive, and with growing frustration Mr Peach embarks on a massive feud with his new neighbours. The problems escalate out of all proportion, even including the harassment of his old neighbours on the other side of the world. It isn’t long before all three couples are tearing each other apart and in a terrifying climax Mr Peach sets out to show the Chapmans just how nasty a neighbour can be ...
In this, the fourth part of our unfolding drama, we witness the
renewal of old and forgotten love, the beginning of new
relationships, the reforging of old bonds of friendship, and the
beginning of new life. Certain young dreams are fulfilled, certain
truths are revealed, and a trip to Paris proves to be definitive
for those who take it; a fact which in itself will have
consequences which neither party can foresee. A discovery at the
Manor House, a terrible secret which has lain buried and forgotten
for centuries, will in the fullness of time have far - reaching
implications, which are inexorably tied to events which unfold in
this part of our tale. By sheer chance, Rebecca's parents happen
upon news of their daughter, and their search for her which has
lain cold for so long is rekindled. What they cannot know is that
their unwitting and innocent intervention forces their beloved
daughter to risk everything for her ultimate safety, and the safety
of others who now share her fate. In doing so she must at last
confront the demons which have haunted her for so long, but first
she must betray those who are closest to her, in order to finally
meet and confront her tormentor.
I'd had a conversation specifically with Dan about ecstasy. It's
one of the things you do as a parent, isn't it? Wear your helmet
when you're out on your bike, you know, don't take drugs. To be
honest, I was more worried about him being safe on his bike than at
a party with his friends. The words of the title are the last ones
spoken by sixteen-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs to his mother. One
evening in January 2014, Daniel's parents thought he was going to a
friend's house. He actually attended an illegal rave and later died
after taking MDMA. That fateful evening is told through the words
of his school friends and family, divided into two hard-hitting
acts in Mark Wheeller's verbatim play. I Love You, Mum - I Promise
I Won't Die was commissioned by the charity set up in Daniel's
memory to raise awareness about the danger of party drugs. It is a
fast-paced, tragic, vibrant piece of verbatim theatre, which should
engage teenage readers, audiences and performers alike.
This study seeks to reunite American drama with more of the
mainstream of American literature using contemporary literary
theories of feminism, Derrida, Lacan, as well as the nature of
language. It also focuses on the theatrical ways that plays work
through performance and staging. This reveals how contemporary
playwrights see themselves not as authors, but as parts of a team
of designers, actors, and directors. Stage directions are largely
omitted, but knowledge of original productions--both as seen live
and recorded on tapes archived at Lincoln Center--reveal aspects of
fragmentation of scenery, minimalist acting, emphasis on the
"unsayable," which makes these plays far more postmodern than they
might seem merely as read. More importantly, the final chapter
reveals how these techniques culminate in 1990s play' ability to
extend beyond the real in a myriad of ways, all united by a new,
postmodern view of the divine as interpenetrating reality. In one
sense, this seems to be juggling quite a few different
items-poststructural theory, modernist realists, as well postmodern
deconstructive realists and theatrical practice. All fit together
neatly, however, in each chapter through a focus on performance,
staging is seen as central to the dramatic experience, with
reviews, photographs, and archival videotapes of productions used
to verify and explore the plays' meanings. The plays, taken as a
whole, reflect the key issues of American society from reactions to
the Vietnam War, through issues of sexual preference, race, and
feminism and its backlash, through issues of wealth and poverty to
arrive at a new vision of a forgiving divine which accepts without
judgment all the issues of diversity. American Drama and the
Postmodern is an important book for collections in American
literature, drama and theatre, as well as for literary theory.
Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
"A tremendous achievement in American playwriting: a tragicomic
populist portrait of a tough land and a tougher people."--"Time Out
New York"
"Tracy Letts' "August: Osage County" is what O'Neill would be
writing in 2007. Letts has recaptured the nobility of American
drama's mid-century heyday while still creating something entirely
original."--"New York" magazine
One of the most bracing and critically acclaimed plays in recent
Broadway history, "August: Osage County" is a portrait of the
dysfunctional American family at its finest--and absolute worst.
When the patriarch of the Weston clan disappears one hot summer
night, the family reunites at the Oklahoma homestead, where
long-held secrets are unflinchingly and uproariously revealed. The
three-act, three-and-a-half-hour mammoth of a play combines epic
tragedy with black comedy, dramatizing three generations of
unfulfilled dreams and leaving not one of its thirteen characters
unscathed. After its sold-out Chicago premiere, the play has
electrified audiences in New York since its opening in November
2007.
Tracy Letts is the author of "Killer Joe," "Bug," and "Man from
Nebraska," which was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for
Drama. His plays have been performed throughout the country and
internationally. A performer as well as a playwright, Letts is a
member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where "August: Osage
County" premiered.
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