Product Description

"A dazzling collection and already a standard reference for those interested in contemporary drama, Plays in One Act is a unique compilation of plays and monologues that showcases a stunning and diverse array of work from some of the most important voices in theater. Forty-three modern works are collected here: from plays by important contemporary artists such as David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, Sam Shepard, and John Guare, to gems by masters like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and newer talents like Carol S. Lashof and Perry Souchuk. Leading British playwrights--Tom Stoppard, David Hare, and John Osborne--are also featured, along with the international voices of VÁclav Hacel and Kobo Abe, and works by such established wtiters as Eudora welty, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Ford, and Garrison Keilor, who are writing outside their traditional genres.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113685 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Released on: 1999-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Review
"The American one-act is alive and well and living in this wonderful collection. These plays reveal a diversity of voices, subjects, and characters, but most important, the limitless possibilities of what can happen on stage in one act. This collection is exhilarating for both writers and readers."-- Wendy Wasserstein "This volume celebrates the play as an act of 'recorded' literature, to be performed, yes, but to be read at leisure, thought over, reconsidered without a second and third price of admission."-- from the Preface

Customer Reviews

Intermittently Useful
This book is handy if you're a playwright looking for good names to imitate. It's handy if you're examining styles popular in short plays (many of them ten minutes or less). It's a neato-jet piece of gear if you're learning the language and jargon of the playwrighting scene.

This book is useless if you're a director looking to stage a one-act. The plays are too irregular, and many are too short unless you're running an evening of ten-minute plays. Some are radio plays, which are useless on stage. Some are cuttings or extended monologues. There is no unifying theme through the book, so it's hit-or-miss if what you find will even match any theme you may be looking for.

If you know this going in, the book can be useful to you. Many people like it. I found it a drag.

Deep & Wide
This really is, as the copy on the back claims, a "stunning and diverse" collection of one-act plays. To get familiar with authors and angles that you may not have encountered elsewhere, you can't beat these short sweet pieces. A lot of the usual suspects, big names snowing off the skills that have made them beloved of theatre-junkies across the nation, and selections by names you've never heard of before (and, for one or two of these, my bet is you will never hear of again). Really a must have collection that will give you plenty of enjoyment & ideas for your upcoming season or that as-yet-unwritten one act of your own. Why only four stars from me? I'm super stingy with the fifth...

Over 40 One-Acts
Includes: Edward Albee, Finding the Sun; Christopher Durang, Naomi in the Living Room; John Guare, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun; David Hare, The Bay at Nice; Beth Henley, Am I Blue; David Mamet, A Life With No Joy In It; Arthur Miller, The Last Yankee; Tennessee Williams, The Chalky White Substance... and many more!