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. 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.

The Boys From Siam
John Austin Connolly
Based loosely on the lives of the 19th century brothers Chang and Eng Bunker (the original "siamese twins"), The Boys from Siam is the haunting and lyrical story of the conjoined twins Pigg and Pegg. Edward Albee writes in his forward that the word is "a beautifully realized concentrated universe. It takes big chances along the way...and makes us care--really care." Softcover, 119 pp. $15.95.

Ladies of the Corridor
Dorothy Parker & Arnaud D'Usseau
New York's Hotel Marlowe is a place where idle, middle-class women learn to be alone. Dependent on men all their lives and now aged and either divorced or widowed, the women fill their hours with gossip, movies, mystery novels, endless needlepoint, and restorative naps. Enter Lulu Ames, the newest arrival and most recently widows. Hoping to make up for years lost in a suffocating marriage, she begins a sensational affair with a much younger man. Softcover, 110 pp. $13.00.

A Very Common Procedure
Courtney Baron
New Yorkers Carolyn and Michael Goldenhersch are expecting, but when their child is born prematurely and dies, Carolyn is drawn to the doctor who attempted to save the baby's life. An affair between them ensues, uniting all three on a poignant journey of self-discovery. Smart and rich with humour, A Very Common Procedure explores both literally and metaphorically the frailties and mysteries of the human heart. Softcover, 51 pp. $10.99.

Murderers
Jeffrey Hatcher
Three comic monologues about revenge, blackmail, sex, money, jealousy, justice and murder. Performed seperately, the tales depict desperate passions, old wounds and cold calculations that intersect in the sundrenched world of The Riddle Key Luxury Retirement Village in Florida. Each story is a cat-and-mouse mystery featuring culprits who tell how they decided to commit the perfect crime and what tripped them up along the way. Softcover, 42 pp. $10.99.

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.

Landscape of the Body
John Guare
Moving back and forth in time, the action of the play is a mosaic of short scenes, monologues and orginal songs, all blending together into a revealing and affecting study of the American Dream gone awry. They play moves many levels. In one sense it is a murder mystery: a boy is found, and his mother is suspected of his killing. But, as the investigation of the crime proceeds, other themes emerge and combine with it. Landscape of the Body is a forceful, moving illumination of lives first betrayed and then destroyed by illusions that, inevitably, lie always behind comprehension and control. Softcover, 72 pp. $10.99.

Ice Glen
Joan Ackerman
In this touching period comedy, a beautiful poetess dwells in idyllic obscurity on a Berkshire estate with a band of unlikely cohorts, including an Irish cook, a lovesick gardener and an unlikely playmate. When neighbor Edith Wharton passes Sarah's poems on to a Boston publishing firm, editor Peter Woodburn comes calling. Sparks fly when this unlikely pair faces off, and all get caught in the crossfire. Softcover, 72 pp. $10.99.

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 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.

The Hiding Place
Jeff Whitty
When Myra, an aspiring playwright and waitress, meets Karl, a well-regarded (and married) novelist, a romantic and imbalanced relationship begins. As their exchanges move beyond letter-writing to the beginning of an affair, Karl drops Myra, who then turns their letters into a barely fictionalized comedy -- and the play's leading actor is Karl's unsuspecting best friend. The Hiding Place satirizes the world of art, letters, and theatre--and pays heed to the thwarted passion that dwells in the hearts of their creators. Softcover, 53 pp. $10.99.

And The Winner Is
Mitch Albom
And The Winner Is tells the story of Tyler Johnes, a self-obsessed movie star, who is finally nominated for an Oscar, then dies the night before the awards. Outraged at his bad luck and determined to know if he wins (even though he's dead), he bargains with a heavenly gatekeeper to return to earth for the big night. Along the way, he drags his agent, his acting rival, his bombshell girlfriend and his ex-wife into the journey, in a wildly twisting tale of Hollywood, the afterlife, and how we are judged. Softcover, 43 pp. $10.99.

Duck Hunter Shoots Angel
Mitch Albom
Duck Hunter Shoots Angel is the uproarious story of two bumbling Alabama brothers who have never shot a duck but think they shot an angel. As they lament their fates in a murky swamp, they are chased by a cynical tabloid journalist and his reluctant photographer, who don't believe any of it -- until feathers, wings and a tiara are discovered along the way. The play hysterically interweaves a love story, sibling rivalry, tawdry media, race relations and cultural stereotypes as the chase to find the angel builds to a crescendo in the swamp. Sosftcover, 58 pp. $10.99.

Between Us
Joe Hortua
Carlo and Joel have been close friends since graduate school days. Now years have passed, and together with their wives, Grace and Sharyl, they're buying homes, having kids and growing up. But two nights in each other's homes reveal how far they've also grown apart. Between Us explores the ways we change, the compromises we make, and the price we pay for our life choices. Softcover, 56 pp. $10.99.

BFF
Anna Ziegler
Best friends Lauren and Eliza are challenged by the onset of adulthood in this deeply felt and incisive meditation on young women coming of age. Softcover, 58 pp. $10.99.

Kicking A Dead Horse
Sam Shepard
Hobart Struther has ridden into the middle of nowhere, on a holy mission, only to have his horse choke to death miles away from civilization. As Hobart examines his life he digs deep into his own history, unearthing truths about his past while still struggling to find the answers he needs. Kicking a Dead Horse is an invigorating addition to the works of, one of America's most innovative playwrights. Softcover, 67 pp. $13.95.

A Song For Coretta
Pearl Cleage
On February 6, 2006, people began lining up at dawn outside of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Chirch to pay their respects to the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose body lay in state in the small sanctuary. When a cold rain began to fall at sunset, those who had thought to bring umbrellas shared them with those whose resolve was the only thing not dampened by the drizzle. At close to midnight, the crowd had dwindled to a determined few. The five fictional characters in this play are at the end of that long line of mourners. Softcover, 40 pp. $10.99.

A Small, Melodramatic Story
Stephen Belber
In Washington D.C., a widow named O is trying to figure out whether life is worth re-engaging with. In her path are the 1968 riots, the first Gulf War, the Freedom of Information Act and herself. There's also an archivist named Keith, a cop named Perry and a kid named Cleo. And finally, there's the question of just how much about anything do we really need to know. Softcover, 50 pp. $10.99.

tempOdyssey
Dan Dietz
"It wasn't me. It was the black hole." With these words, a temp worker named Genny launches us on an epic, fantastical journey through corporate America, Appalachia, astrophysics and beyond. TempOdyssey tells the story of a young woman who's convinced she's the goddess of death. Fleeing the imminent creation of the black hole on one side of the country, she lands smack in the middle of a bomb manufacturing company on the other. Her only hope lies in the unlikely guise of a nameless temp who considers himself immortal. Can he help Genny cast off her dark mythology once and for all? Or will she explode, taking all of downtown Seattle with her? Dan Dietz melds the absurdity of contemporary cubicle life with the epic poetics of Greek mythology, and thee results are hilarious, horrifying and ultimately uplifting. Softcover, 60 pp. $10.99.

Ridiculous Fraud
Beth Henley
A disastrous New Orleans wedding rehearsal dinner is the latest in a series of unfortunate events that befall the Clay brothers in Beth Henley's boisterous and bittersweet new comedy. Daddy's in jail for fraud, Uncle Baites has taken up with a panhandler, and Lafcad's just called off his own wedding. What family doesn't have its ups and downs? Softcover, 57 pp. $10.99.

Port Authority Throwdown
Mike Batistick
Pervez is a cab driver. He's also on the run from the FBI. While driving home yesterday, her discovered Bureau agents ransacking his house. Pervez just kept on driving; he knew they were looking for his brother, Nawaz. For the past twenty-four hours, he has been hiding out in his cab outside Port Authority. There, he will meet a Christian missionary and a homeless man, both searching for a connection from a world in which they feel alienated. Softcover, 58 pp. $10.99.

The House in Town
Richard Greenberg
The time is New Year's Eve, 1929. In an elegant New York brownstone on "Millionaire's Row", Sam Hammer, a Jewish Department store tycoon and his non-Jewish wife Amy bid their last few guests farewell with a parting wish: "A better year ahead."The looming Great Depression is likely to put a crimp in the lavish lifestyle of of the Hammers and their friends - just as the rapidly rising giant London Terrace apartments across the street is about to rob their house of much of its light. Softcover, 60 pp. $10.99.

Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh
Joel Gross
Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh is a dramatic love triangle set during the turbulent years around the French Revolution. Elizabeth Vigee le Brun, a beautiful, social-climbing portrait painter, uses her affair with Count Alexis de Ligne, a left-leaning philanderer, to get a commision to paint the naive young Queen Marie Antoinette. While Elisa uses the Queen to further her career and Alexis uses the Queen to further his political goals, both learn to love the woman they're exploiting. Softcover, 70 pp. $10.99.

The Ice-Breaker
David Rambo
Both a science play and a love story, intellectual and romantic sparks fly when geologist Sonia Milan, a brilliant Ph.D. candidate, tracks down her mentor, Lawrence Blanchard, in seclusion in the desert Southwest. She's at a professional and personal crossroads, and wants to play a role in explaining the rapidly changing planet. He wants nothing more to do with climate science, but she persists. When the wine, firewood and night are all gone, Sonia has made unexpected discoveries, and Lawrence has confronted the past. Their world has changed, and they have to decide what to do about it. Softcover, 52 pp. $10.99.

The Dirty Talk
Michael Puzzo
In Michael Puzzo's comedy The Dirty Talk, Lino and Mitch, an outrageously mismatched pair of strangers find themselves stranded in a hunting cabin - in the mountains of New Jersey - during a ferocious storm. Unable to leave, we gradually find out these men aren't exactly here by mere happenstance. During their tumultuous day together, the two explore what defines being a man, the value of emotional intimacy, the lies we tell each other and most devastatingly the lies we tell ourselves. Softcover, 34 pp. $10.99.

The Four of Us
Itamar Moses
From the author of Bach at Leipzig comes a new play about loyalty, integrity, and the price of success. When Benjamin's first novel vaults him into literary stardom, his friend David, a struggling playwirght, is thrilled at Benjamin's newfound success...or is he? Should Benjamin help David by using his new connections? Can David even expect such favours from his friend? More important, who should pick up the tab at lunch? Softcover, 113 pp. $15.50.

God's Ear
Jenny Schwartz
Throught the skillfully disarming use of cliched language and homilies, this inventive and carefully crafted drama explores with subtle grace and depth thew way the death of a child tears one family apart, while at the same time showcasing the talents of a promising young writer. Softcover, 158 pp. $16.50.

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Henry Flamethrowa
John Belluso
Inspired by real-life events, Henry Flamethrowa tells the story of sixteen-year-old Henry, a confused and emotionally isolated young man who writes letters to the devil, unbeknownst to his deeply religious father, Peter. As family drama grows, the characters must confront their own assumptions about faith, spirituality and the intrinsic value of human life. Softcover, 48 pp. $10.99.

Betrayed
George Packer
Millions of Iraqis, spanning the country's religious and ethnic spectrum, welcomed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. But the mostly young men and women who embraced America's project so enthusiastically that they were prepared to risk their lives for it by aiding the U.S. forces constituted a small minority. On a cold, wet night in January 2007, George Packer met two such Iraqi men in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad to hear their stories and those of other Iraqis working as translators and additional key personnel for the U.S. military and occupation authorities. Based on Packer's account in The New Yorker, betrayed is a riveting and morally complex drama that explores in the Iraqis' own words the ways in which we have already abandoned them. Softcover, 108 pp. $14.50.

Chicken
Mike Batistick
Wendell's wife, Lina, is pregnant. His wayward best friend, Floyd, sleeps nightly on their couch. And as if things weren't stressful enough, he's under constant pressure to "father" his messed up neighbors in the Bronx. In an effort to get some money together, Wendell takes in a rooster to train for an illegal cockfight. As they discover that training a bird for a deathmatch in Washington Heights is not for the faint of heart, this dysfunctional family comes to blows before the fight ever takes place. In this devilish comedy, playwright Mike Batistick investigates power, community and loss, and searches for grace in the most unlikely places. Softcover, 56 pp. $10.99.

A House Not Meant to Stand
Tennessee Williams
Christmas 1982: Cornelius and Bella McCorkle of Pascagoula, Mississippi, return one stormy midnight from the funeral of their elder son to a house and a life literally falling apart -- daughter Joanie is in an asylum and their younger son Charlie is upstairs having sex with his pregnant, holy-roller girlfriend as the McCorkles enter. In this dark, expressionistic comedy, what he calls his "Southern Gothic Spook Sonata," Williams brilliantly chronicles the fragile state of out world. Softcover, 95 pp. $14.95.

The Travelling Companion and Other Plays
Tennessee Williams
Collected here for the first time, these twelve plays by Tennessee Williams embrace what Time magazine called "the four major concerns of Williams' dramatic imagination: loneliness, love, the violated heart and the valiency of survival." Softcover, 311 pp. $17.95.

Six Years
Sharr White
It is 1949 when Phil Granger finally reappears in the small Missouri town he left six years earlier for the unspeakable horrors of World War II. His wife, Meredith, is there to meet him, put him back together...and keep him home. In five scenes spanning twenty-four years of postwar life, Sharr White takes us on an intimate journey to an unspoken side of the Greatest Generation, chronicling Meredith and Phil Granger's struggles to survive together through the boom of the 1950s, the hope and unbearable losses of the 1960s, and the resounding search for redemption following the Vietnam war. Softcover, 61 pp. $11.99.

Radio Golf
August Wilson
Set in 2997 in a storefront redevelopment office in Pittsburgh's Hill District, Radio Golf is the concluding play in August Wilson's monumental ten-play cycle chronicling African American life during the twentieth century. This bittersweet drama of assimilation and alienation in nineties America traces the forces of change on a neighborhood and its people caught between history and the twenty-first century. Softcover, 81 pp. $15.95.

Bad Boy Nietzsche! and other plays
Richard Foreman
Richard Foreman has been leading the theatrical avant-garde in the United States and throughout the world since 1968, when he founded the Ontological-Hysteric Theater Company. This volume of plays includes: Bad Boy Nietzsche!, Now That Communism Is Dead My Life Feels Empty!, Maria del Bosco, Bad Behavior, Panic! (How to Be Happy!) and King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe. Softcover, 237 pp. $19.95.

The Little Dog Laughed
Douglas Carter Beane
Yes, we love the cinema for its great auteurs, its glorious faces and its daring images. But in this tabloid age where big stars go on Oprah and jump around like heartsick schoolboys, what we really love is all that dish! The players in Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed include a hard-driving Hollywood agent, her budding screen idol client, a sexy young drifter, and the drifter's naive, needy girlfriend. Softcover, 54 pp. $10.99.

A Body of Water
Lee Blessing
Moss and Avis, an attractive middle-aged couple wake up one morning in an isolated summer house high above a picturesque body of water. The weather's fine, the view's magnificent. There's only one problem - neither of them can remember who they are. When a young woman named Wren arrives, information starts to flood in. But will it help? Her explanations seem only to make Moss and Avis's world - as well as ours - more terrifying. Softcover, 51 pp. $10.99.

Flag Day
Lee Blessing
A play in two plays, Flag Day examines white/black relations in our society with an unblinking eye. The first play, Good Clean Fun, is a darkly funny office commedy pitting two workers - one black, one white - against each other as they try to complete a high-pressure project. The office racism intensifies as we learn that one of them has stolen the other's wife. The second, Down and Dirty, evokes recent white-on-black and black-on-white killings in the American South. In a style poised carefully on the edge of absurdism, we discover a man dying in a car's windshield as people argue over whether or not to save him. Softcover, 47 pp. $10.99.

Dying City
Christopher Shinn
A year after her husband's death in Iraq, Kelly, a young therapist, confronts his identical twin brother, who shows up at her apartment unannounced. Softcover, 42 pp. $10.99.

The Overwhelming
J.T. Rogers
As a middle-aged American academic who desperately needs to publish a book in order to gain tenure, Jack Exley leaps at the chance to go to Rwanda to write about his old college classmate Dr. Joseph Gasanam, who in the intervening years has specialized in treating children stricken by AIDS. But when Jack arrives in Kigali in early 1994, he is not only unable to find Joseph, he is unable to find anyone who will even admit to having known the Tutsi doctor. Jack and his family slowly become enmeshed in the tension and terror, the professional risks and personal betrayals, that they ultimately realize mamrk the start of a genocidal war - a horror that they can sense is coming but cannot comprehend or control. M-14, F-3. Softcover, 137 pp. $16.00.

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Last modified October 8, 2008 .
Please note that all prices are in Canadian dollars. All prices are subject to change without notice.