American Plays

American plays by playwright: L

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.

• New & Featured American Plays
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Plays are also listed by playwright, by last name.

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Filthy Talk for Troubled Times and other plays
Neil LaBute
Set in a barroom in Anytown, USA and populated by a group of everymen (and two everywomen), Filthy Talk for Troubled Times is a series of frank exchanges exploring the innumerable varieties of American intolerance. A unique snapshot of the times, the play -- seldom allowed production by the author since -- provides a compelling look at the early thinking and evolution of one of our great theatre artists. Also included are six more shorter works by LaBute. Softcover, 165 pp. $16.95.

Reasons to be Pretty
Neil LaBute
A love story about the impossibility of love, this play introduces us to Greg, who really, truly adores his girlfriend, Steph. Unfortunately, he also thinks she has a few physical imperfections, and when he casually mentions them, all hell breaks loose. A hopelessly romantic drama about the hopelessness of romance. M-2, F-2. Softcover, 63 pp. $11.99.

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.

The Break of Noon
Neil LaBute
Bad boy playwright Neil LaBute is in familiar territory in The Break of Noon, examining simultaneously the difficulty in making a connection with those around us and the hurt that erupts from that failure. John, a cruel womanizer, is the sole survivor in a horiffic office shooting, and feels he has been selected by God to spread the message of "being good". No one seems to be able to believe his transformation, thus frustrating his mission. Softcover, 103 pp. $16.95.

Vivien Leigh: The Last Press Conference
Marcy Lafferty
Vivien Leigh is holding her last press conference in a theatre, taking questions from members of the press ... but it is an illusion, a metaphor for the kaleidoscope of memories that cascade through her consciousness moments before her death at 53. A lively biography of a theatrical icon and motion picture legend, this play captures the woman behind the mask. 1w. Softcover, 42 pp. $11.99.


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.

Sirens
Deborah Zoe Laufer
A talented songwriter is going through a dry-spell. While celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary on a cruise ship, he finds inspiration in an unlikely place. 2m, 2f. Softcover, 65 pp. $11.99.



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.

Speckled Birds
Shirley Lauro
Though teenaged Angie lives in a small, wealthy town, she is poor and marginalized. Deserted at birth by her mother, her father killed in War, she lives in a trailer with her ailing but loving Grandma. Despite all of this, she is able to find some solice in Theo. Together they gain the courage to begin their journeys towards adulthood, resolving family problems and taking actions to utilize their talents. 2m, 3f. Softcover, 67 pp. $11.99.

Clarence Darrow's Last Trial
Shirley Lauro
The story takes place in 1932, the last time Clarence Darrow pleads a major case in a criminal court of law. Set in various places in Chicago and Hawaii, Darrow, along with his wife, Ruby, travels to Honolulu to defend a Pearl Harbor Naval Lieutenant accused of shooting a Hawaiian who allegedly led a gang rape on the Lieutenant's wife. 4m, 4f. Softcover, 83 pp. $11.99.

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All Through the Night
Shirley Lauro
Set during and after the Third Reich, this is a stylized and surrealistic play inspired by interviews with German gentile women. With a minimal set, minimal props, and an unconventional time frame, the play sweeps from the womens' teen years through adulthood during WWII and beyond. During the course of the story, we see how the Nazi Regime impacts their lives as they struggle over work, religion, marriage, and motherhood. 5f. Softcover, 99 pp. $11.99.


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.

The Shipment / Lear
Young Jean Lee
The Shipment goes from a strange and disturbing cabaret, playing with black stereotypes, to a traditional yet wacky one act comedy. Lear is a radical reinterpretation of King Lear, exploring the themes of loneliness, mortality, and filial responsibility. Softcover, 100 pp. $19.95.


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.

Song of Extinction
EM Lewis
Max Forrestal is going to fail Biology if he doesn't complete a 20-page paper on extinction by 2pm on Tuesday -- but his mother is dying of cancer and school is the last thing on his mind. His father, a biologist obsessed with saving a rare Bolivian insect, is incapable of dealing with his wife's impending death, or his son's distress. Max's biology teacher, Khim Phan, tries to figure out why Max is failing the class. Helping Max however, pushes Khim into a magical journey of his own -- from the Cambodian fields of his youth into the undiscovered country beyond. A play about the science of life and loss, the relationships between fathers and sons, Cambodian fields, Bolivian rainforests and redemption. 5m, 1f. Softcover, 84 pp. $12.99.

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.

Love Drunk
Romulus Linney
Love Drunk is a comic drama of sex, love and alcohol addiction. An older man, having picked up a younger woman in an Appalachian diner, takes her to his mountain home, where they battle their passions, their destinies, and each other. 1m, 1w. Softcover, 44 pp. $11.99.

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.

Red
John Logan
Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. This compelling dramatization of the life of one of the 20th century's greatest artists, offers a mesmerizing glimpse not only into the studio of an artist, but into his tortured soul as well. 2m. Softcover, 68 pp. $22.99.

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.

Prelude to a Kiss
Craig Lucas
At Peter and Rita's wedding, a mysterious old man insists on kissing the bride. While honeymooning, Peter gradually realizes that the woman by his side is not his wife. The wedding kiss caused Rita's soul and the old man's to change places. Peter must track down the old man and free his young love's spirit trapped in an aging and diseased body before it's too late. 9m, 5w (doubling, flexible casting). Softcover, 61 pp. $11.99.

Prayer for My Enemy
Craig Lucas
In Prayer for my Enemy, two middle-class families in suburban New York State confront their private demons against the public backdrop of the American incursion into Iraq. As their paths cross in ways that are both comic and terrifying, lies and secrets are at last exposed and an honest, hard-earned redemption is achieved for both. 3m, 3f. Softcover, 59 pp. $11.99.

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 March 13, 2011.
Please note that all prices are in Canadian dollars. All prices are subject to change without notice.