American Plays

I to L by playwright

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. If you don't find the title or playwright you are looking for, please stop by the store and ask, or contact us at action@theatrebooks.com, by phone at 416.922.7175, toll-free at 1.800.361.3414 or by fax at 416.922.0739.

Eve-olution
Hilary Illick & Jennifer Krier
Alison and Liza are navigating the channels of motherhood as they take a revealing and sometimes comedic look at the balancing act of promise and compromise. Both women test the vision of who they think they are, who they wish to be, and ultimately who they become as individuals, as mothers, as professionals and as members of their families. F-2. Softcover, 73 pp. $9.99.

Passione
Albert F. Innaurato
Softcover, 66 pp. $9.99.

A Flea In Her Ear
David Ives
A Flea In Her Ear is a French farce centering on Raymonde Chandebise, a woman who believes her husband Victor is having an affair; her friend Lucienne who helps her write him an anonymous rendezvous at the Frisky Puss Hotel; Tournel, Victor's co-worker whom Victor thinks the letter is addressed to him, and Lucienne's jealous Spaniard husband who finds the letter, recognizes her handwriting and heads off to the Frisky Puss armed with pistols. The multiple mix-ups of these individuals are sorted out as Victor and Raymonde recognize their mutual confusions and are reunited. 9M, 5W (doubling). Softcover, 89 pp. $10.99.

Polish Joke and Other Plays
David Ives
Polish Joke follows the journey of a young Polish-American through ethnic stereotypes towards self-acceptance. Thought-provoking and wholly original, this new collection from the same dazzling pen that produced the one-act comic masterpieces in All in the Timing and Time Flies and Other Short Plays, also includes the plays Don Juan in Chicago, Ancient History, and The Red Address. Softcover, 333 pp. $20.50.

Time Flies and Other Short Plays
David Ives
"Two mayflies on a date realize that they have a mere twenty-four hours to live and decide to seize life completely -- if only they knew how." So begins Time Flies, a collection of thirteen witty and wildly original one-acts which bring together all the plays in his two Off-Broadway shows Mere Mortals and Lives of the Saints. Award-winning Yale School of Drama graduate David Ives has been called "perhaps the funniest writer of short plays in America today. " $21.95.

 
All in the Timing
David Ives
Fourteen plays which constitute a virtual stress test of the English language -- and of the audience's capacity for disorientation and delight. $19.50.

The Exonerated
Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen
What does it truly mean to be exonerated? The dictionary says it is to be proclaimed innocent after having been convicted of a crime. But what effect does it have on a person to have one's freedom and self-respect stripped away and then returned years later, after decades of incarceration? Through the words of six innocent men and women who emerged from years on death row, compiled and edited by Blank and Jensen, The Exonerated attempts to answer this question. This is both a riviting work of theatre and an exploration of one dark aspect of the American criminal justice system. Male: 7 Female: 3. Softcover, 76 pp. $19.50.


Baptized to the Bone
Dave Johnson
Ottis, a stapping young man in a small Southern town, is creating a "Gospel Poetry Opera." He is dying to go away and produce the work in New York but has no money and few prospects -- until he decides to hustle Gladys. What Gladys doesn't know, however, is that Ottis is also hustling her husband, Henry, a preacher. Inevitably complications ensue and events take a completely unexpected turn, forcing Ottis, Gladys, and Henry to learn the hard way that sometimes deception gets you exactly what you want. M-2, F-1. Softcover, 55 pp. $9.99.

The Jammer
Rolin Jones
The Jammer resurrects that greatest of American entertainments, the Roller Derby: half sport, half show, all action. In just over an hour, The Jammer packs multiple roller-derby sequences, a riot, a roller-coaster ride, vomit, spit, blood, sex and love. In short, The Jammer is the King Lear of roller-derby plays. Softcover, 64 pp. $10.99.

Speech & Debate
Stephen Karam
Three teenage misfits in Salem, Oregon discover they are linked by a sex scandal that's rocked their town. When one of them sets out to expose the truth, secrets become currency, the stakes get higher, and the trio's connection grows deeper in this searching, fiercely funny dark comedy with music. Softcover, 96 pp. $10.99.

Kaufman & Co.
George S. Kaufman and others
This is the most comprehensive collection of plays by George S. Kaufman and his collaborators ever assembled: Dinner at Eight, The Royal Family, Animal Crackers, June Moon, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Of Thee I Sing, Once in a Lifetime, Stage Door, and You Can't Take It With You. Hardcover. $51.00.

Beat Generation
Jack Kerouac
Beat Generation is a play about tension, about friendship, and about karma -- what it is and how you get it. It begins one fine morning with a few friends, honest laborers some of them, some close to being down-and-out, passing around a bottle of wine. It ends with a kind of satori-like reaffirmation of the power of friendship, of doing good through not doing, and the intrinsic worth of the throw-away little exchanges that make up our lives. Hardcover, 120 pp. $22.95.

The Notebook
Wendy Kesselman
The Notebook follows the relationships of two students with each other and with their English teacher. Kesselman's play captures perfectly the ebullience of literary awakening, the extreme vulnerability of the young and sensitive to their mentors as well as the unfathomable cruelty adults are capable of visiting on the young. The Notebook dramatizes passion for books and poetry and learning. 1M, 1W, 1 boy, 1 girl. Softcover, 50 pp. $9.99.

Arsenic and Old Lace
Joseph Kesserling
The story of the charming and innocent ladies who populate their cellar with the remains of socially and religiously acceptable roomers and the antics of their nephews, Teddy, who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, and Mortimer, a manic theater critic. A must for all non professional groups; a ready made comedy hit. $9.99.

On an Average Day
John Kolvenbach
The action is set in the kitchen on a small house in upstate New York, the home of the acutely lonely Robert. The place is piled high with old newspapers, and something is rotting so horribly in the fridge that the simple task of extracting a beer poses a major health risk. Robert is clearly in desperate trouble. Then his older brother Jack arrives, as neat and controlled as his sibling is wild and unraveled. On an Average Day is a mystery play, a moving psychological drama and a black comedy, a thrill ride full of twists and turns. Softcover, 53 pp. $10.99.

Love Song
John Kolvenbach
Beane is an exile from life--an oddball. His well-meaning sister Joan, and brother-in-law, Harry, try and make time for him in their busy lives, but no one can get through. Following a burglary on Beane's apartment, Joan is baffled to find her brother blissfully happy and tries to unravel the story behind his mysterious new love, Molly. Funny, enchanting, and wonderfully touching, John Kolvenbach's offbeat comedy is a rhapsody to the power of love in all its forms. Softcover, 63 pp. $10.99.

Play Yourself
Harry Kondoleon
This madcap comedy focuses on Jean, an ex-movie star, and the three people in her life: her daughter Yvonne (who just wants to be left alone, Selma (an obsessed fan, who is fixated on Jean's on-screen characters), and Brother Harmon (a pious man who sweeps Yvonne off her feet). M-1, F-3. Softcover, 40 pp. $9.99.

Pig Farm
Greg Kotis
On a struggling pig farm, Tom and Tina (with the help of Tim, their hired hand) fight to hold onto everything they own - namely, a heard of fifteen thousand restless pigs. Dumping sludge into the river has driven Tom to drink, and Tim seems to have caught Tina's eye, but when Teddy, a gun-toting officer of the Environmental Protection Agency arrives to inspect the operation, life on the farm explodes, implodes, then explodes again. Not literally, of course, but...you get the idea. From the quirky and comical mind that brought you Urinetown. Softcover, 63 pp. $10.99.

Urinetown: The Musical
Greg Kotis and Mark Hollman
In a Gotham-like city, a depletion of the earth's water supply has lead to a government-enforced ban on private toliets. The priviledge to pee is regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero has risen who will lead them to freedom. An innovative and acclaimed new musical. Softcover, 103 pp. $21.00.

2.5 Minute Ride/101 Humiliating Stories
Lisa Kron
"Lisa Kron turns humiliation into transcendence and the Holocaust into a wild roller coaster ride - her power as a writer/performer is a gift to the American stage." - Paul Vogel. Softcover, $16.95.

Angels in America,
Part One: Millennium Approaches
Part Two: Perestroika
Tony Kushner
A gay fantasia on national themes. $18.95.
Available as a box set - $35.00.

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Wrecks and Other Plays
Neil LaBute
Can someone honestly love a person they have deceived for thirty years? This is the central question behind Wrecks, Neil LaBute's latest foray into the dark side of human nature. Meet Edward Carr: adoring father, successful businessman, grieving widower. In this concise powerhouse of a play, LaBute limns the boundaries of love, exploring the extent of what society will accept as opposed to what the heart will desire. This volume also features a collection of rarely staged short plays, including Liars Club, Coax, and Falling in Like. Softcover, 123 pp. $17.50.

In a Dark Dark House
Neil LaBute
On the grounds of a private psychiatric facility, two brothers confront each other. Drew has been court-confined for observation, and he has called his older brother, Terry, to corroborate his claim of childhood sexual abuse by a young man many summers ago. Drew's request releases barely hidden animosities between the two men, but through the pain and acknowledged betrayal, the brothers come to grips with and begin to understand the legacy of abuse, both inside and outside their family home. Softcover, 94 pp. $16.00.

This Is How It Goes
Neil LaBute
Belinda and Cody Phipps appear to be a typical Midwestern couple: teeenage sweethearts now married with children and a luxurious home. Typical except that Cody is in almost evey respect an outsider - "rich and black and different," in the words of Belinda, who finds herself attracted to a (white) former classmate. Powerful, profane, and above all unpredictable, This Is How It Goes is a devastating exploration of the myriad ways in which the wild card of race is played by both black and white in America. Softcover, 96 pp. $18.25.

Autobahn
Neil LaBute
Be it the medium for clandestine couplings, arguments, shelter, or ultimately transportation, the automobile is perhaps the most authentically American of spaces. In Autobahn, Neil LaBute's provocative new collection of one-act plays set within the confines of the front seat, the playwright employs his signature plaintive insight to great effect, investigating the inchoate apprehension that surrounds the steering wheel. Softcover, 93 pp. $18.25.

Fat Pig
Neil LaBute
Cow. Slob. Pig. How many insults can you hear before you have to stand up and defend the woman you love? Tom faces just that question when he falls for for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy young woman who happens to be plus-sized -- and then some. Forced to explain his new relationship to his shallow friends, he finally comes to terms with his own preconceptions of the importance on conventional good looks. Neil LaBute's sharply drawn play not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty but also boldly questions our ability to change what we dislike about ourselves. Softcover, 84 pp. $18.25.

The Distance from Here
Neil LaBute
Softcover 128 pp. $22.50.

The Mercy Seat
Neil LaBute
Set on September 11, 2001, The Mercy Seat continues Neil LaBute's unflinching fascination with the often brutal realities of the war between the sexes and explores whether one can be truly opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness. M-1, F-1. Softcover, 69 pp. $19.50.

The Shape of Things
Neil Labute
This is the latest play from the hot young playwright and filmmaker (Bash, Nurse Betty, In The Company of Men). Two modern-day relationships expose the rawness that lies beneath. $19.99.

In The Wings
Stewart F. Lane
Two aspiring young actors in love with each other and the theatre get their big break when they are cast in a new musical by their acting teacher Bernardo. But when the show moves to Broadway, only Melinda is asked to move with it. Can their love stay the course on the Great White Way? Softcover, 89 pp. $10.95.

The Moment When
James Lapine
The Moment When follows five people as their lives intertwine and seperate. Steven, an artist, meets the writer Alice at a fashionable New York party hosted by Paula, a legendary literary agent. Paula's young assistant, Dana, introduces herself to Alice and Steven, and the courses of the next fifteen years of their lives are set in motion. The play marks those moments in our lives that may pass unnoticed, but determine who we become. Softcover, 63 pp. $10.99.

Fran's Bed
James Lapine
Fran's Bed asks the question: What constitutes life? As Fran lies comatose in a hospital room, her husband and two daughters are forced to decide her fate, but in so doing, discover things about her and about themselves that they might have preferred to leave unexamined. The play, told with wit and compassion, does not simplify the intellectual, political and emotional issue of a person's right to life. Softcover, 60 pp. $10.99.


Selected Plays of Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents
Spanning nearly 60 years, this volume contains seven of Laurents' most acclaimed and challenging works: Home of the Brave, The Enclave, Jolson Sings Again, My Good Name, Closing Bell, 2 Lives, and Attacks on the Heart. Softcover, 477 pp. $22.95.

The Left Hand Singing
Barbara Lebow
After Honey, Linda, and Wes disappear, seemingly without a trace, the parents of these three college students find their lives inextricably linked. Throughout the next three decades, the connections among these people with very disparate backgrounds are tested against the fire of the country's social and political turbulence. M-2, F-5. Softcover, 75 pp. $9.99.


Glimmer, Glimmer & Shine
Warren Leight
Torn apart by the tensions of life on the road, Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine ("brothers in swing" during the big-band era) are forced to confront the wreckage of their past, after 35 years apart. M-4, F-2. Softcover, 82 pp. $21.50.

August: Osage County
Tracy Letts
Tracy Letts' Pulitzer prize winning play about a Southern family on the brink has become an instant classic of the American stage. August: Osage County may well be the finest play to come out of the USA in a generation. 8W, 5M. Softcover, 138 pp. $17.95.

Man from Nebraska
Tracy Letts
On the surface, the life of Ken Carpenter, a solidly married fifty-seven-year-old insurance salesman, is uneventful: silent rides in his luxury sedan, cafeteria encounters with Salisbury steak and lime Jell-O, visits to his mother in the nursing home, and the minister's sermons at the Baptist church. Then one night he is jolted awake, tortured by the discovery that he no longer believes in God. Encouraged by his minister, Ken decides to find himself and his faith by impulsively flying to London, where he navigates the new and somewhat dangerous realm of British counterculture. Softcover, 89 pp. $21.95.

Rabbit Hole
David Lindsay-Abaire
Becca and Howie Corbett have everything a family could want, until a life-shattering accident turns their world upside down and leaves the couple drifting perilously apart. Rabbit Hole charts their bittersweet search for comfort in the darkest of places and for a path that will lead them back into the light of day. Softcover, 64 pp. $10.99.

Three One-Acts: Crazy Eights, Baby Food and That Other Person
David Lindsay-Abaire
Crazy Eights: When Connie comes home late one night, she finds her parole officer waiting in her apartment with a torte and a long list of questions. The interrogation/courting dance that follows is complicated by the after-hours arrival of Connie's charming card-playing buddy. (2M, 1W.) Baby Food is a contemporary comedy about an off-kilter couple desperately searching for godparents for their newborn infant. Little do they know that the friends they've chosen are less than adventurous diners and on the verge of a divorce. (2M, 2W.) That Other Person: Tonight is the night Ginge and Kevin are going to tell their respective spouses the marriage-shattering secret they've been keeping from everyone. But their bombshell gets put on the back burner when a gorgeous peeping-tom, with secrets of her own, falls in the pool and nearly drowns. (2M, 3W). Softcover, 46 pp. $10.99.

Kimberly Akimbo
David Lindsay-Abaire
The title character is a 16-year-old girl suffering from a rare disease that causes her body to age four and a half times faster than it should. With his customary skill and quirky wit, Lindsay-Abaire uses Kimberly's disease to explore issues of mortality and denial. M-2, F-3. Softcover, 144 pp. $22.50.

Klonsky and Schwartz
Romulus Linney
The turbulent relationship between struggling writer Milton Klonsky and his mentor, the brilliant poet Delmore Schwartz, is the basis of this engrossing drama. Warm scenes of their deep friendship alternate with vaudevillian routines and hold theatrics, ultimately painting a harrowing portrait of Schwartz's unnerving descent into madness. 2M Softcover, 48 pp. $10.99.

Avenue Q - The Musical
Robert Lopez & Jeff Mary
Winner of 3 2004 Tony Awards, Avenue Q - The Musical is a cross between The Muppets and South Park. Relive the hilarious lyrics and irresistable music with this collection of piano/vocal selections. Softcover, 159 pp. $25.95.

A Prayer For My Enemy
Craig Lucas
"Prayer For My Enemy dares to ask smart and hard questions about a homegrown violence that reaches from suburban backyards into the battlefields of Iraq. Craig Lucas is one of the theatre's most probing and poetic charters of the sinister undertow that pulses beneath daily American life." - Ben Brantley, New York Times. Softcover, 55 pp. $18.95.

New American Short Plays 2005
Craig Lucas
The first in an annual series, this anthology contains twenty imaginative, challenging, and provocative new plays by some of America's most talented playwrights. Softcover, 298 pp. $29.95.

Reckless - Blue Window - Stranger
Craig Lucas
Exploring themes of human illusion, Lucas presents a trio of plays bound by their shared abandonment of security. Reckless is a bittersweet fable - It's a Wonderful Life reimagined for contemporary America. Blue Window is a tale of clarity and light, clear, but with a mysterious undertone. Stranger crackles with an electricity that sends off sparks. Attentive to the details of human behavior, Lucas' lyrical precision creates works of tragedy for the 21st century. Softcover, 196 pp. $25.95.

The Three Musketeers
Ken Ludwig
This adaptation is based on the timeless swashbuckler by Alexandre Dumas, a tale of heroism, treachery, close escapes and above all, honor. The story set in 1625, begins with d'Artagnan who sets off for Paris in search of adventure... Softcover, 136 pp. $11.99.

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Last modified January 5, 2010.
Please note that all prices are in Canadian dollars. All prices are subject to change without notice.