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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.
 The Golden Dragon
Roland Schimmelpfennig
On a typical evening, anywhere in Europe, you walk into your local Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant, and the whole world is there. Everyone connected to everyone else, through this one place... The Golden Dragon is a funny and theatrical fable of modern life and migration, whisking you from your local takeaway to East Asia and back, revealing what really goes into that bowl of spicy soup. Softcover, 88 pp. $21.99.
 Venus in Fur
David Ives
In the seductive and darkly funny Venus in Fur, a playwright-director, Thomas, has written an adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's classic erotic novel, the story of an obsessive relationship between a man and his mistress to whom he becomes enslaved. In walks Vanda, very late for her audition and seemingly clueless, but she convinces him to give her a chance. As they perform scenes from Thomas' play, the lines between writer, actor, director and character begin to blur. Softcover, 74 pp. $18.95.
 Georg Kaiser: Plays Volume 1
Georg Kaiser
These five plays provide an excellent introduction to Kaiser's vision of the regeneration of man, which he illustrated in his works by a total baring down of detail, penetrating to the core of the matter and recealing man's true potential. These plays are essential for anyone with more than a passing interest in drama. Includes From Morning to Midnight, The Burghers of Calais, The Coral, Gas I, and Gas II. Softcover, 272 pp. $21.50.
 Tartuffe; Or The Weasel
Moliere, adapted by Amlin Gray
6M 6W
A new adaptation of Moliere's classic comedy by Amlin Gray, which suggests another possible ending to this timeless play. It may even be closer to what Moliere originally intended, as his original version was censored and lost forever. Softcover, 83 pp. $11.99.
 Till Day You Do Part Or a Question of Light
Peter Handke
Master innovator Peter Hanke's Till Day You Do Part is written as a response, or an echo, to Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape. In it we hear at last the voice of the unnamed female from Beckett's masterpiece. Handke's piece, again a monologue, is at once arrestingly beautiful and hauntingly mysterious in it's attempt at unravelling the figure of Krapp. Presented here in English translation by Mike Mitchell alongside the original French and a German translation. Hardcover, 103 pp. $14.95.
Black Beach and other plays
3 Catalan Plays
Edited by Jeff Teare & Jordi Coca
Includes Black Beach by Jordi Coca, Naked by Joan Casas, and The Sale by Lluisa Cunille. Softcover, 153 pp. $17.95.
 Wallerstein
Friedrich Schiller
Albrect von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, Supreme Commander of the Hapsburg armies, champion and savior of the Holy Roman Empire, stands undefeated in a seemingly endless war of religion. This play chronicles four wintry days of terrible events, conspiracy, divided loyalty and betrayal, all culminating in one night of violent score setting. Softcover, 135 pp. $24.95.
 The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov
In this brilliant new translation of Chekhov's last play, a once-rich landowning family must find a way to pay off their debts for fear of losing their well-loved estate. With a detailed introduction, biographical notes, and variant lines often removed due to government censorship, this new edition enriches our understanding of this signature work by one of the theatre's greatest dramatists. Softcover, 176 pp. $15.00.
 Three Sisters
Anton Chekhov
In this stunning new translation, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on Chekhov's subtle but powerful story of close-knit siblings. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov's life, a note on the translation, an introduction to the work, and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, illuminating the context in which they were written. Softcover, 192 pp. $15.00.
 The Seagull
Anton Chekhov
In this stunning new translation, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking drama. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov's life, a note on the translation, an introduction to the work, and variant lines, which were often removed due to government censorship and illuminate the context in which they were written. Softcover, 176 pp. $15.00.
 New Europe: Plays from the Continent
Bonnie Marranca & Malgorzata Semil
This collection of seven plays explores issues of terrorism, immigration, youth, globalization, families, and post-communist culture in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and expansion of the European Union. The contents include norway, today (Switzerland), The Death of the Squirrel-Man (Poland), Hotel Europa (Macedonia), Tales of Ordinary Madness (Czech Republic), Push Up 1-3 (Germany), Hamlyn (Spain) and Sa ka la (Norway). Softcover, 399 pp. $24.50.
 Playwrights Before the Fall: Eastern European Drama in Times of Revolution
Edited by Daniel Gerould
In this unique anthology, playwrights from Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania examine the moral and psychological dimensions of the transformations taking place in society during the years of transition from totalitarianism to democracy. Written before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the five plays reveal the absurdities of an inflexible system based on belief in abstract ideology that sacrifices the individual to dogma. Softcover, 439 pp. $24.50.
 Ghosts or Those Who Return
Henrik Ibsen
Norway, 1881. Mrs. Alving is ecstatic when her son Osvald visits after many years abroad. He has returned to celebrate the heroic memory of his dead father. But within hours of Osvald's homecoming his mother is forced to unearth the past and reveal its terrifying ghosts. This adaptation, by Rebecca Lenkiewicz's, premiered in London in 2009. m3, f2. Softcover, 86 pp. $22.00.
 Pains of Youth
Ferdinand Bruckner
Promiscuous, pitiless and bored, six sexually entangled medical students restlessly wander in and out of a boarding house, cramming, drinking, taunting, spying. Adapted by Martin Crimp. m3, f4. Softcover, 116 pp. $22.00.
 Our Class
Tadeusz Slobodzianek
Following a class of Polish schoolchildren, Jewish and Catholic, from 1925 through the 80s, Our Class is a fierce confrontation of Poland's involvement in the attrocities of the last century. Beautiful, haunting and terrifying, this play is a masterpiece of social commentary and the human experience. Softcover, 108 pp. $21.95.
 Judgement Day
Odon von Horvath
It's another normal day at a small-town station, where a handful of passengers are waiting for the stopping train. Thomas Hudetz, the well-liked stationmaster, is momentarily distracted by a young woman. Seconds later eighteen people are dead. Standing amidst the wreckage of Express Train 405, Thomas has to decide whether or not to admit his guilt. If not, how long can he postpone the day of judgement? Softcover, 78 pp. $18.00.
 Hedda Gabler
in a new version by Brian Friel
Henrik Ibsen
Hedda Gabler returns, dissatisfied, from a long honeymoon. Bored by her aspiring-academic husband, she foresees a life of tedious convention. And so, aided and abetted by her predatory confidante, Judge Brack, she begins to manipulate the fates of those around her to devastating effect.
3M, 4W. Softcover, 80 pp. $11.99.
 The Good Soul of Szechwan
Bertolt Brecht
Three Gods are on a journey to find out if there are any good people left on earth. Only Shen Te, a good-hearted prostitute, offers them shelter. With the money they give her she opens a tobacco shop. At once everyone needs her help. Her livelihood is in danger, so her hard-hearted cousin Shui Ta arrives to protect her. Who is he and how can good people stay good in a world of poverty and cruelty? Softcover, 91 pp. $16.50.
 The Good Person of Szechwan
Bertolt Brecht
Three gods come to earth hoping to discover one really good person. No one can be found until they meet Shen Te, a prostitute with a heart of gold. Rewarded by the gods, she gives up her profession and buys a tobacco shop but finds it is impossible to survive as a good person in a corrupt world without the support of her ruthless alter ego Shui Ta. Softcover, 130 pp. $14.95.
 A Doll's Hous
e
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House caused outrage both in its style and subject matter when it was first staged in 1879. Zinnie Harris's retelling is played against the backdrop of British politics at the turn of the last century -- to reveal a world where duty, power, and hypocrisy rule.
M-3, F-3. Softcover, 111. pp. $22.99.
 Faust, Part II
Goethe
Completed a few months before his death, the concluding part of Goethe's masterpiece is a rich and allusive work, weaving together a wealth of diverse philosophical ideas and influences, reworking the medieval myth of Dr. Faustus, and speculating upon the search for truth in the Age of Enlightenment. David Constantine's major new translation includes a preface by A.S. Byatt. This edition also includes an introduction by Constantine, a chronology, notes, a synopsis of each scene and suggested further reading. Softcover, 285 pp. $17.50.
 A Doll's House - Methuen Student Edition
Henrik Ibsen
The slamming of the front door at the end of A Doll's House shatters the romantic masquerade of the Helmers' marriage. In their stultifying and infantilised relationship, Nora and Torvald have deceived themselves and each other both consciously and subconsciously, until Nora acknowledges the need for individual freedom. Softcover, 112 pp. $16.50.
 The God of Carnage
Yasmina Reza
Yasmina Reza, award winning writer of Art, brings us her newest play. It is the story of two couples who come together to discuss a violent incident between their children and end up engaging in a far wose sort of emotional violence. The God of Carnage is translated by Christopher Hampton. Softcover, 67 pp. $21.95.
 Symptomes
Gabriella
Maione
A tragedy for the twenty-first century, Symptomes fuses the voices of Greek drama with those from a post-apocalyptic modern world to question the ethics of our times and the future of mankind. War, power, terrorism and abuses old and new form the backdrop to this raw threnody and enquiry into the sould of humanity. Symptomes premiered in Warsaw in 2007 under the direction of Robert Wilson. Softcover, 94 pp. $16.50.
 The Arsonists
Max Frisch
In this new translation of Max Frisch's 1961 parable about our accomodating the very thing that will destroy us, a well-meaning citizen unwillingly shelters two arsonists who are bringing his city to its knees.
The God of Carnage
Yasmina Reza
Yasmina Reza, award winning writer of Art, brings us her newest play. It is the story of two couples who come together to discuss a violent incident between their children and end up engaging in a far wose sort of emotional violence. The God of Carnage is translated by Christopher Hampton. Softcover, 67 pp. $21.95.
 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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Victor
Hugo: Four Plays
The
Cherry Orchard
Six
Characters in Search of an Author
Absolutely!
{perhaps}
Bernard-Marie
Koltes: Plays 2
Complicite:
Plays 1
The
Heirs of Moliere: Four French Comedies of the 17th and 18th Centuries
Pixerecourt:
Four Melodramas
Strindberg
the Plays: Volume Two
Playing
the Victim
Three
Sisters
Six
Plays by Henrik Ibsen
Ghosts:
A Family Drama in Three Acts
Tartuffe
Yerma
The
Theatre of Sabina Berman: The Agony of Ecstasy and Other Plays
The
Messingkauf Dialogues
A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky 
A Bold Stroke for a Wife
Boris Godunov: The Little Tragedies
Capek: Four Plays
Schiller: Five
Plays
Eastern Promise: 
Plays
By Mediterranean Women
German Plays
Spanish Plays
Four Plays
