American Plays: New & Featured
TheatreBooks stocks plays in English from around the world and, of course, all
plays published in Canada. We stock and sell plays from Samuel French Ltd., Dramatists Play Service and Dramatic Publishing Co., and the leading play publishers
in Great Britain. We carry books on all aspects of theatre production, as well
as opera and dance.
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 Mama Won't Fly
Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope & JamieWooten
An outrageously hilarious race against the clock begins when Savannah Sprunt Fairchild Honeycutt agrees to get her feisty mother all the way from Alabama to California in time for her brother's wedding. This ferociously funny, family-friendly Jones-Hope-Wooten comedy will have you laughing your way across the country and all the way down the aisle! Softcover, 63 pp. $12.99.
 Side Effects
Michael Weller
Hugh and Lindy's maarriage seems picture-perfect, a beacon in their microcosmic Midwestern world of dinner parties and fundraisers. But, behind closed doors - doors they can barely keep shut - they're falling apart, and Hugh's rising political star is suddenly imperiled. Softcover, 48 pp. $12.99.
 The Language Archive
Julia Cho
George is a man consumed with preserving and documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures. Closer to home though, language is failing him. he doesn't knwo what to say to his wife, Mary, to keep her from leaving him, and he doesn't recognize the deep feelings that his lab assistant, Emma, has for him. Softcover, 59 pp. $12.99.
 Spirit Control
Beau Willimon
Adam Wyatt has the perfect family and a perfect record as an air traffic controller. When the pilot of a small plane suffers a heart attack, Adam must talk a terrified passenger through an emergency landing. A chilling and mesmerizing look at how we navigate a crisis, and the demons that haunt us long after. Softcover, 67 pp. $12.99.
 Compulsion: Or the House Behind
Rinne Groff
Sid Silver is a man obsessed. When he learns about a young girl named Anne Frank and her extraordinary diary, silver makes it his mission to ensure her tale is heard. But is the manuscript a work of art? A cultural treasure? Once publishers and producers get involved, it becomes "a very valuable product - and his good intentions prove to be his undoing. Softcover, 61 pp. $12.99.
 Cradle and All
Daniel Goldfarb
Relationships aren't baby-proof. Annie and Nate have a baby who won't sleep. Calire and Luke are losing sleep over the decision to start a family. In adjacent Brooklyn Heights apartments, Daniel Goldfarb's fresh and witty look at love, sex, commitment and parenthood unfolds. Softcover, 64 pp. $12.99.
 The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
Moises Kaufman
On November 6, 1998, gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The following day he was discovered on a prairie at the edge of town, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death. On November 14th, 1998, ten members of the Tectonic Theatre Project travelled to Laramie, Wyoming and conducted interviews with the people of the town. Ten years later on September 12th, 2008, five members of the Tectonic returned to Laramie try and understand the long-term effects of the murder. Softcover, 61 pp. $12.99.
When We Go Upon the Sea
Lee Blessing
Subtitled "a political fantasy," the play shows George W. Bush on the verge of turning himself over to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for illegal acts committed during his presidency. He spents his last night of freedom in th penthouse of a five-star Dutch hotel with a view of the sea. Softcover, 42 pp. $12.99.
 Exorcism: A Play in One Act
Eugene O'Neill
A previously-believed to be lost play by master American playwright Eugene O'Neill - published here for the first time, with a forward by Edward Albee. Hardcover, 85 pp. $18.00.
 Loving Longing Leaving
3 Plays
Michael Weller
With stark truth and piercing detail, Loving Longing Leaving, a marriage trilogy, takes us through the lives of three intersectiong couples immersed in three distinct stages of love. Includes Do Not Disturb; Fifty Word; Side Effects. Softcover, 229 pp. $24.95.
 Knickerbocker
Jonathan Marc Sherman
Jonathan Marc Sherman's exploration of impending parenthood is sharp, funny, and deeply felt. Softcover, 55 pp. $11.99.
 Lonesome Hollow
Lee Blessing
In this dystopic view of the near-future, sexual offenders have been removed from the traditional penal system and placed in a series of gulag-like camps created out of dying, rural towns all over America. Tuck, an inmate who's served his sentence for sleeping with a teenage girl, has hopes of being released. Things grow more ominous with visits from Tuck's sister and the camp's shadowy director -- and suspicion grows that a secret psychological program may also be going on. Softcover, 53 pp. $11.99.
 Photograph 51
Anna Ziegler
A funny and moving portrait of the unrequited life of Rosalind Franklin, one of the great female scientists of the twentieth century, and her fervid drive to map the contours of the DNA molecule. A play about ambition, isolation, and the race for greatness. Softcover, 59 pp. $11.99.
 Running
Arlene Hutton
It's the weekend of the New York City Marathon and Stephen, preparing for his first race, needs a good night's sleep. Emily, his wife's old roommate, shows up unexpectedly in the wee hours of the morning. Late night conversations become late night confessions and connections. Will Stephen be running on empty? Softcover, 47 pp. $11.99
Enchanted April
From the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim
Matthew Barber
When two frustrated London housewives decide to rent a villa in Italy for a holiday away from their bleak marriages, they recruit two very different English women to share the cost and the experience. There, among the wisteria blossoms and the Mediterranean sunshine, all four bloom again - rediscovering themselves in ways that they - and we - could never have expected. Softcover, 67 pp. $11.99. .
 At Home at the Zoo
Edward Albee
Contained in this volume are Albee's first hit play, The Zoo Story, and the stunning prequel, written more than fifty years later, Homelife. Now intended as two acts of a full length play, At Home at the Zoo is a masterpiece by one of contemporary theatre's best playwrights. Contains a new introduction by the author. Softcover, 96 pp. $16.50.
 Katori Hall: Plays 1
Katori Hall
This is the first collection of plays from Olivier Award and Susan Smith Blackburn Award winner Katori Hall. She is a powerful new voice in American theatre. Plays included are Hoodoo Love, Saturday Night / Sunday Morning, The Mountaintop, and Hurt Village. Softcover, 370 pp. $30.00.
 A Free Man of Color
John Guare
Set in 18011 New Orleans, before the Louisiana Purchase, this is the story of the mulatto Jacques Cornet. In this carnival of beautiful women, flowing wine, and pleasure for the taking, Cornet commands men, seduces women, and preens like a peacock. But the map of New Orleans is about to be redrawn. 13M 8F. Softcover, 102 pp. $16.50.
 The Glass Menagerie
Deluxe Centennial Edition
Tennessee Williams
This deluxe new edition, celebrating the playwrights' centennial, includes the full text of the play, an introduction from Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, Williams' essay, "The Catastrophe of Success", his short story "Portrait of a Girl in Glass", and archival photographs of historic productions. Other related writings by Williams and critics are also included. Hardcover, 250 pp. $31.00.
 Fever/Dream
Sheila Callaghan
A loose, modernized adaptation of Calderon's Life is a Dream, set in a nightmarish, cartoon of an office tower. This is a gem of contemporary absurdism with sharp, intelligent writing and a wealth of creativity and imagination. 4M 3F (plus chorus). Softcover, 102 pp. $11.99.
 I Am an Emotional Creature
Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler, writer of The Vagina Monologues, offers fictional monologues and stories inspired by girls around the world. Both a celebration of women and girls, and call to action for girls everywhere to speak up, follow their dreams, and become the women they were always meant to be. Softcover, 162 pp. $15.00.
 Middletown
Will Eno
11M 10F
Winner of the Horton Foote prize for promising new American play, this is another intelligent and probing play by the author of Thom Pain (based on nothing). Softcover, 77 pp. $16.95.
 Lombardi
Eric Simonson
Based on David Maraniss' book, When Pride Still Mattered, this play is an investigation and clebration of the life of Vince Lombardi. 5M 1F. Softcover, 62 pp. $11.99.
 Jacob and Jack
James Sherman
A well-known television personality is appeariong for one night only in a tribute to his grandfather, a once great star of the Yiddish Theatre. As he confronts his own challenges as an actor, we see his grandfather facing similar challenges 75 years in the past. 3M 3F. Softcover, 62 pp. $11.99.
 Mrs. Mannerly
Jeffrey Hatcher
Inspired by hilarious jmemories of a childhood etiquette class, Hatcher conjures up the world of a ten-year-old studying manners. A unique comic tale that reveals truths about the face we present and the real selves that lie inside. 1M 1F (or 2F). Softcover, 47 pp. $11.99.
 The Other Place
Sharr White
Present mysteries, future uncertainties, and fragmented memories collide as an academic's takes a disorienting turn at the appearance of a mysterious woman in a yellow bikini. 2M 2F. Softcover, 45 pp. $11.99.
 Sunlight
Sharr White
A woman finds herself caught between her father, a liberal university president, and her husband, the conservative dean of the law school (and her father's former protege). A play about loyalty, power and torture memos. 2M 2F. Softcover, 62 pp. $11.99.
 Welcome to Arroyo's
Kristoffer Diaz
A stunning blend of hip hop and theatre as a chorus of DJs guide us through the story of a brother and sister who share a family secret. 4M 2F. Softcover, 64 pp. $11.99.
 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Rebecca Gilman
Adapted from the novel by Carson McCullers, this play examines loneliness, the human need for understanding and our search for love. 8M 2F. Softcover, 68 pp. $11.99.
 Clybourne Park
Bruce Norris
Like A Raisin in the Sun turned on its head, this Pulitzer Prize winning play examines how race and neighbourhoods interact when housing markets, pride, bigotry, and gentrification collide. This cross-generational play is at the same time excruciatingly funny and tremendously intelligent. 4M 3F. Softcover, 210 pp. $17.95.
 Graceland
Ellen Fairey
As fighter jets buzz the skies from dusk till dawn, estranged brother and sister Sam and Sara try to make sense of their father's recent suicide. 3M 2W. Softcover, 48 pp. $11.99.
 Office Hours
A.R. Gurney
Gurney's classic comedy about duelling college profs and students now in acting edition. 3M 3W. Softcover, 56 pp. $11.99.
 Black Tie
A.R. Gurney
Father of the groom, Curtis, simply wants to make a memorable toast. But before he is able to raise his glass, he must defend the time-honored ways of his past, including his attire. 3M 2W. Softcover, 56 pp. $11.99.
 The Grand Manner
A.R. Gurney
The playwright takes a heartfelt look back at his tiime as a young student in New York, when he chanced to meet legendary stage actress Katharine Cornell. 2M 2F. Softcover, 58 pp. $11.99.
 Kokoro (True Heart)
Velina Hasu Houston
A young Japanese mother, struggling to adapt to life in America, spirals into hopelessness upon discovering her husband's infidelity. Deciding her only hope to redeem her honour is a parent-child suicide, she botches the attempt and ends up on trial for murdering her daughter. 1M 5F. Softcover, 50 pp. $11.99.
 Mistakes Were Made
Craig Wright
A B-list Off-Broadway producer struggles to save his career by mounting the world premiere of a play about the French revolution. But as the guillotine dangles, the task seems to be more than he can handle. Philosophical and funny, this is a showcase piece for actors. 1M 1W. Softcover, 50 pp. $11.99.
 Shotgun
John Biguenet
An examination of race and family in post Katrina New Orleans. 4M 1F. Softcover, 62 pp. $11.99.
 Stoop Stories
Dael Orlandersmith
A dazzling one woman show. A fierce symphony of the diverse voices that make up the playwright's neighbourhood combining theatre, poetry, and music. 1W. Softcover, 36 pp. $11.99.
 A Lifetime Burning
Cusi Cram
A trust-fund darling rewrites her own life as a rag to riches story in a best selling "memoir", much to the chagrin of her real life family. 1M 3F. Softcover, 60 pp. $12.99.
 Maria/Stuart
Jason Grote
Friedrich Schiller's classic tale of warring queens inspires this gothic romp through the weirder side of suburban America. 1M 5F. Softcover, 90 pp. $12.99.
 The Collected Plays of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
The complete dramatic works of one of the greatest playwrights of all time, Tennessee Williams, are collected here in a boxed set of two clothbound volumes. A must have for every theatre-lovers library. Hardcover, $100.00.
 The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays
Tennessee Williams
Includes: At Liberty; Me, Vashya; Curtains for the Gentlemen; In Our Profession; Every Twenty Minutes; Honor the Living; The Case of the Crushed Petunias; The Pretty Trap; Some Problems for Moose Lodge; Interior: Panic; Moony's Kid Don't Cry; Kingdom of Earth; I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark on Sunday; The Dark Room. Softcover, 283 pp. $19.50.
 The Black Monk: A Chamber Musical
Wendy Kesselman
After five intense years of study in Moscow, Andrei returns home to his faithful guardian Igor and rekindles his attachment to Tanya, his childhood love. Andrei's artistic obsession thrives in the embrace of this adoring family, but the Black Monk, a spectral and charming figure only Andrei sees, threatens to lure him into the unknown. A spellbinding chamber musical inspired by Chekhov's classic story, The Black Monk, shows us a man in the grip of genius, madness, and loss, despite the enduring power of love. Softcover, 51 pp. $12.99.
 The Colored Museum
George C. Wolfe
The Colored Museum has electrified, discomforted, and delighted audiences of all colors, redefining our ideas of what it means to be black in contemporary America. Its eleven "exhibits" undermine black stereotypes old and new and return to the facts of what being black means. 2m, 3w, 1 girl (doubling). Softcover, 54 pp. $12.99.
 The Savannah Disputation
Evan Smith
Two elderly sisters forget all about southern charn when a young door-to-door evangelist comes knocking. This theological comedy blends Smith's trademark sharpness of wit and depth of character, while telling a story in which a crisis of faith arises when seemingly similar beliefs are discovered to be worlds apart. 1m, 3w. Softcover, 54 pp. $11.99.
 Eclipsed
Danai Gurira
Their lives set on a nightmarish detour by civil war, the captive wives of a Liberian rebel officer form a hardscrabble sisterhood. With the arrival of a new girl who can read -- and the return of an old one who can kill -- their possibilities are quickly transformed. 5 w. Softcover, 69 pp. $11.99.
 Wildflower
Lila Rose Kaplan
A woman and her unusual son look to escape their past in Crested Butte, a small town with its share of secrets. They encounter a curious girl, a forest ranger and an ex-drag queen. The five collide in a summer of botany and sexual awakening. Wildflower explores the discovery of desire and its consequences. 3m, 2w. Softcover, 87 pp. $11.99.
 A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration
Paula Vogel
It's 1864, and Washington D.C. is settling down to the coldest Christmas Eve in years. In the White House, President and Mrs. Lincoln plot their gift-giving. On the banks of the Potomac, a young rebel challenges a Union blacksmith's mercy. In the alleys downtown, an escaped slave loses her daughter just before finding freedom. 7m, 5w (doubling, flexible casting). Softcover, 88 pp. $13.99.
 Passion Play
Sarah Ruhl
This is an intimate epic about the annual staging of the Passion by a community of players in three different eras: 1575 Northern England, just before Queen Elizabeth outlaws the ritual; 1934 Oberammergau, Bavaria, as Hitler is rising to power; and Spearfish, South Dakota, from the time of Vietnam through Reagan's presidency. Softcover, 252 pp. $15.95.
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My Name is Asher Lev
Huck Finn
The Naked Eye
The Bilbao Effect
Freud's Last Session
Still Life
Offices
Next Fall
Paragon Springs
Tooth and Claw
The Miracle at Naples
