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European Plays
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.
Renaissance Comedy: The Italian Masters Volume I
Donald Beecher
The first volume in an excellent series of newly anthologized works by the Renaissance comedy masters. Includes such selections as "The Pretenders," "Cortigiana," "The Ragged Brothers," "Alessandro," and "The Sister." Softcover, 460 pp. $35.00.
The Complete Plays
Anton Chekhov & Lawrence Senelick
This stunning new translation presents the only truly complete edition of the plays of one of the greatest dramatists in history. Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works interpreted and adapted internationally amnd beloved for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. This volumme contains work never previously translated, including the newly discovered farce The Power of Hypnotism, the first version of Ivanov, Chekhov's early humorous dialogues, and a description of lost plays and those Chekhov intended to write but never did. Softcover, 1060 pp. $27.50.
Mary Stuart
Mary Schiller
Here, in scenes alternating between the palace of Westminster and the prison at fotheringhay, he shows us a captive heroine rising above her suffering to gain in insight and spiritual depth. The deceitful and indecisive Elizabeth, trapped by the cruel demands of Realpolitik, can achieve worldly victory only at a terrible moral cost. Softcover, 150 pp. $15.99.
The Seagull
Anton Chekov & Christopher Hampton
The Seagull is one of the great plays about writing. It superbly captures the struggle for new forms, the frustrations and fulfilments of putting words on a page. Chekhov, in his first major play, stages a vital argument about the theatre which still resonates today. Softcover, 82 pp. $24.95.
Lovers' Quarrels
Moliere and Richard Wilbur
Lovers' Quarrels (1656) was Moliere's second full-length play in verse, and is a complex comedy animated by deception and misunderstanding. It centers on a young woman named Ascagne who has spent her life wearing masculine disguises for the sake of inheritance. She cleverly marries her sister Lucille's suitor Valere by disguising herself during the midnight ceremony, and this sets off a chain of events that change the lives of all those around. 8M, 4W. Softcover, 90 pp. $10.99.
Boris Godunov and other Dramatic Works
Alexander Pushkin
So ends Pushkin's great historical drama Boris Godunov, in which Boris's reign as Tsar witnesses civil strife and intrigue, brutality and misery. Its legacy is an uncertain future for the new Tsar whose inauguration is met with devastating silence by the people. Pushkin's dramatic work displays a scintillating variety of forms, from the historical to the metaphysical and folkloric. Softcover, 208 pp. $18.95.
Three Farces
George Feydeau
In Fitting for Ladies, a man on the look-out for a new romantic rendezvous is mistaken for a dressmaker... In A Close Shave, a woman's would-be lover has to assume the identity of her artist husband, who is about to be called up for military service... In Sauce for the Goose, a man discovers that the woman he is pursuing is the wife of an old friend... Softcover, 284 pp. $32.95.
Miss
Julie
August Strindberg
David French's adaptation of August Strindberg's disturbing drama of the affair
between the daughter of a count and the count's man-servant has an eerie, contemporary
feel about it. French has sharpened the dynamics of the original conflict of
desire, anger, jealousy, dominance, submission and deceit while remaining true
to the historical background. His riveting version of Miss Julie brings to the
foreground the conflicts of identity and faith that lead to the rending of social
norms and conventions. As with his adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull,
French pays homage to another master dramatist whose work illuminates the depths
and conflicts of the human condition. Softcover, 96 pp. $15.95.
Tartuffe and Other Plays
Virginia Scott
In this memorable collection are gathered the plays of the great
social satirist and playwright Moliere. These works represent the
many facets of his genius and offer a superb introduction to the
comic inventiveness, richness of prose, and insight that make up
Moliere's enduring legacy to theatre, literature, and the world.
In addition to Tartuffe, this collection includes The
School for Wives, The School for Husbands, The
Critique of the School for Wives,
The Ridiculous Precieuses, The Versailles Impromptu, and Don
Juan. Softcover,
408 pp. $10.99.
The
Good Person of Szechwan
Bertolt Brecht
In this famous parable, the gods come to earth in search of a thoroughly
good person. They encounter Shen Teh, a good-hearted but penniless
prostitute who, to muster sufficient ruthlessness to survive in an
evil world, must
disguise herself as a man. This edition contains a newly revised
translation by John Willett, as well as an extensive appendix.
Softcover, 147 pp. $14.95.
Camille
Alexandre Dumas
Adapted by Neil Bartlett
Set amidst the glittering splendours and miseries of 19th-century Paris,
Camille has scandalised and fascinated audiences in theatres, cinemas
and opera houses for over 150 years. Neil Bartlett's new stage version
returns
to Alexandre Dumas' original novel for its shockingly franks and
emotional portrayal of a woman who can afford anything--except to
fall in love. Softcover, 102 pp. $19.99.
Ibsen:
Four Major Plays Volume 1
Henrik Ibsen
Among the greatest and best known of Ibsen's works, these four plays
brilliantly exemplify his landmark contributions to the theatre.
Included in this volume
are: A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, Hedda
Gabler, and The Master Builder.
Softcover, 393 pp. $9.99.
The
False Servant
Pierre Marivaux
Lust and avarice trample on the finer feelings of love in this subversive take
on sexual manners and the cruelties of courtship. The man thinks that marriage
is simply a matter of money and property. But how far should the woman go to
prove him wrong? A world of darker meaning lies beneath the wit and and verbal
exhuberance of Martin Crimp's translation of Marivaux's great comedy. Softcover,
78 pp. $21.00.
Pillars
of the Community
Samuel Adamson
Calamity strikes when Bernick's business prowess and pristine reputation are
threatened by the revelation of a long-buried secret. Desperate to dodge exposure
in the kowtowing local community, Bernick devises a pitiless plan which, by a
shocking twist of fate, risks the one life he holds dear. Adapted by Samuel Adamson.
M-12, F-10. Softcover, 111 pp. $21.00.
Uncle
Vanya
Michael Chekhov
One of Chekhov's four last great plays, Uncle Vanya (1897) depicts wasted
lives and frustration in the depths of rural Russia. 'It's ideas
are huge, symbolic and its form original, incomparable,' wrote Maxim
Gorky in 1900.
Arguably the first modernist drama, full of ambiguities and contradictions,
it delicately balances the tragic and the absurd. This edition has
been translated by Michael Frayn. M-6, F-4. Softcover, 84 pp. $20.95.
The
Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector and Selected Stories
Nikolay Gogol
Edited and translated by Ronald Wilks, this new collection of Gogol's
shorter writings skillfully captures the savage wit of the original
works. Robert
Maguire's introduction considers recurrent themes and Gogol's influence
on Realism. This edition also includes detailed notes, a publishing
history for each story and a chronology.
Softcover, 330 pp. $14.00.
Ibsen:
3 Plays
Henrik Ibsen
Ibsen's three best-known, most-performed social "problem" plays, all
featuring female protagonists: A Doll's House, Ghosts and Hedda
Gabler. Softcover, 256 pp. $14.95.
The
Controversy of Valladolid
Jean-Claude Carriere
Imagine a time when the Catholic Church had the right to determine whether
or not you were human. In a sixteenth-century Spanish monastery,
the fate of millions of American natives from an ocean away hangs
precariously in
the balance. This play brings to light the shocking real-life debates
whose outcomes are still felt today. M-8, F-1, 1 child. Softcover,
44 pp. $9.99.
Chekhov:
4 Plays
Anton Chekhov
Chekhov's four greatest plays in sensitive, accurate and much-performed
translations by Stephen Mulrine: The Seagull, Uncle
Vanya, Three
Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. Softcover, 282
pp. $14.95.
Three
Spanish Golden Age Plays
Lope de Vega & Rojas Zorrilla
Lope's The Duchess of Amalfi's Steward, in contrast to Webster's play,
focuses on the nobility of love, with characters who are complex
and appealing. His Romeo and Juliet story, The Capulets and Montagues,
is a fast-moving
mixture of serious and comic, with a surprising end. Rojas' treatment
of Cleopatra, with its rich imagery, emphasises the love theme, set
within a knot of jealous relationships. Softcover, 337 pp. $34.95.
A
Tragic Man Despite Himself: The Complete Short Plays
Anton Chekhov
Known the world over for his great late 19th and early 20th century plays,
Anton Chekhov also wrote numerous short dramatic works -- one-act plays,
dramatic sketches, farces, burlesques, and dialogues. In this volume,
George Malko has newly translated all of these dramatic writings: nineteen
works
dating from 1883 to 1902. Softcover, 453 pp. $35.00.
The
Peasants' Bible & The Story of the Tiger
Dario Fo
Winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Dario Fo is one of the world's
most important contemporary playwrights, forging subversive wit and unusual
linguistic experimentation into a comedy of complete originality. The
Peasants' Bible is a collection of five monologues drawn from Italian
folklore but filtered through Fo's delightfully singular lens. Softcover,
175 pp. $18.95.
The
Complete Plays
Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works interpreted
and adapted internationally and beloved for their brilliant wit and
understanding of the human condition. This stunning new translation,
by Laurence Senelick,
presents the only truly complete edition of his plays in English.
This volume contains works that have never previously been translated,
as well
as Chekhov's early humourous dialogues. It also contains a description
of lost plays and works Chekhov intended to write but never did.
In all, this is a remarkable feat of scholarship, as well as a tribute
to one of
the true geniuses of dramatic literature. Hardcover, 1060
pp. $56.00.
Four
Great Plays
Henrik Ibsen
A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, Hedda
Gabler, and The Master Builder: four
of the most popular and profound works from the playwright known
as the "father
of modern theater." The scripts are presented here, in their entirety,
and are supplemented by an assortment of biographical, historical,
and critical data.
Softcover, 426 pp. $8.50.
The
Misanthrope & Other Plays
Moliere
Written during the triumphant final years of Moliere's career, these
seven works represent the mature flowering of his artistry and the
most profound
development of his vision of humanity. They are essential to appreciating
the full genius of this greatest and best-loved French comic author.
Included are: The Misanthrope, The Doctor in Spite
of Himself, The
Miser, The Would-Be
Gentleman, The Mischievous Machinations of Scapin, The
Learned Women,
The Imaginary Invalid. Softcover, 524 pp. $10.99.
The
Mandate
Nikolai Erdman
The revolution turns the Guliachkins' world upside down. First they must
track down members of the working class to pose as relatives. And
there's 'Copenhagen Twilight' to replace with a portrait of Karl
Marx. But in a
bizarre case of mistaken identity, the cook is confused for the Grand
Duchess Anastasia...or a call girl, depending of whether she is in
or out of her
dress.
Softcover, 98 pp. $19.95.
Don
Carlos
Friedrich Schiller
Don Carlos is passionately in love with Elizabeth, the French Princess
to whom he was once betrothed. Carlos' tyrannical father, King Philip
II of Spain, decides to marry Elizabeth himself. The young prince's
hatred for his cold and distant parent knows no bounds. He enlists
his oldest
friend, the Marquis of Posa, to act as go-between. But Posa decides
to
convert Carlos and Elizabeth's youthful passion into full-scale rebellion
against the King Philip's oppressive and bloody regime. M-11, F-3.
Softcover, 144 pp. $25.00.
A
Dream Play
August Strindberg & Caryl Churchill
A young woman comes from another world to see if life is really as difficult
as people make it out to be. In August Strindberg's A Dream Play,
written in 1901, characters merge into each other, locations change
in an instant
and a locked door becomes an obsessively recurrent image. As Strindberg
himself wrote in his preface, he wanted 'to imitate the disjointed
yet seemingly logical shape of a dream. Everything can happen, everything
is
possible and probable. Time and place do not exist.'
Softcover, 56 pp. $22.95.
Hedda
Gabler
Henrik Ibsen & Richard Eyre
Arriving home after an extended honeymoon, Hedda Gabler struggles with
an existence that is, for her, devoid of excitement and enchantment.
Filled with a passion for life that cannot be confined by her marriage
or 'perfect
home', Hedda strives to find a way to fulfil her desires by manipulating
those around her... Softcover, 95 pp. $22.95.
Witkiewicz:
Seven Plays
Stanislaw Witkiewcz
This volume contains seven of Witkiewicz's most important plays: The
Pragmatists,
Tumor Brainiowicz, Gyubal Wahazar, The
Anonymous Work, The Cuttlefish,
Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes, and The
Beelzebub Sonata, as well as
two of his theoretical essays, Theoretical Introduction and A
Few Words about the Role of the Actor in the Theatre of Pure Form.
Softcover, 395 pp. $28.00.
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