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Raging Biblio-holism

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

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In the Next Room or, the vibrator play

October 9, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: Sarah Ruhl’s Broadway debut, set at the dawn of electricity. Mrs. Givings is a new mother with a distracted doctor husband who specializes in curing women’s “hysteria”… by using a vibrator.  Meanwhile, she finds herself just wanting to be loved – but finding it hard to find love in these rapidly changing times. The Review: I saw this beautiful play on Broadway, so reading it some two years later only brings back wonderful memories of the production. […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Plays, Sarah Ruhl, the vibrator play

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Leaves

August 27, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: an Irish family deals with the return of their eldest daughter after her suicide attempt at school in London. The Review:  I realize that my summary is a rather succinct and curt assessment of the plot… but also the most accurate way to describe it.  There isn’t really anything else to this play than that plot – or, really, the family dynamic that springs from it.  And this play is definitely a family play.  It is an impressive […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Leaves, Lucy Caldwell, Plays

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Yellow Face

August 14, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: David Henry Hwang’s semi-autobiographical play about what it means to be Asian-American – and whether or not titles like that should still even apply when we’re all just people who put on different ‘faces’ depending on the day. The Review: I love DHH’s writing.  M. Butterfly was a curious and strange play that I’d have loved to’ve seen actually performed and his new play Chinglish should be… well, interesting to say the least.  I was only vaguely aware of the […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, David Henry Hwang, Plays, Yellow Face

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Hitchcock Blonde

August 7, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: An academic and his student uncover pieces of a lost Hitchcock film while a parallel story of Hitch and Janet Leigh’s body double plays out with shocking Hitch-like twists. The Review: I love Hitchcock.  This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you, although I’ve rarely spoken on this forum of my non-literary preferences.  Regardless, I believe Hitch to be one of – if not the most talented director ever to work in the medium.  I took a class […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Hitchcock, Hitchcock Blonde, Plays, Terry Johnson

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Two Plays by Jean Genet

June 4, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: “The Maids”, Genet’s classic tale of maids who fantasize about killing their mistress, and “Deathwatch”, a strange abstraction of a play. The Review: I actually don’t have a lot to say here.  Maybe that’s because of a terrible encounter with a play supposedly based off of “The Maids” that I was in this past spring (it was called Play Nice! and despite the author’s illusions, it bore little resemblance to the classic play before me now).  I will say that I found […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Deathwatch, Jean Genet, Plays, The Maids, Two Plays by Jean Genet

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The Break of Noon

November 7, 2010 by Drew

Neil.  Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil…. I hate to say it, I’m disappointed. This is the first LaBute play where I’ve truly found… well, nothing really redeeming. It feels half-baked.  The dialogue, the plot, all of it just lacks something.  LaBute seems truly, for the first time, to just be trying to push people’s buttons instead of creating a play that happens to have that effect.  Except anyone with half a brain should be able to see through this attempt. […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Neil LaBute, Plays, The Break of Noon

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Passion Play

September 17, 2010 by Drew

I’ve been waiting to read this play ever since I heard about it some three years ago.  A sprawling three-part Passion Play, spread across history, written by my favorite playwright?  I’m not even religious and that excites me.  I missed the recent performance in Brooklyn, sadly – but the recent (and much-delayed) publication of the text was a suitable substitute. As with most of Ruhl’s plays, it can be difficult to get a handle on the imagery.  “The Sky Turns […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Passion Play, Plays, Sarah Ruhl

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Filthy Talk for Troubled Times and other plays

September 14, 2010 by Drew

Silence.  Darkness. Neil LaBute has always been – and perhaps will always be – one of my favorite playwrights.  Perhaps that’s due to my work in The Shape of Things my freshman year of college – I probably wouldn’t’ve discovered him, otherwise.  I’ve read all of his plays – though, interestingly, I’ve only seen Wrecks and another performance of The Shape of Things – and the release of new LaBute is an important thing to me.  So, imagine my surprise […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times and other plays, Neil LaBute, Plays

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The Atheist

July 10, 2010 by Drew

A delayed review – I was quite busy actually producing the show. This was the second-ever production by my theater company, Think Tank Theater, and the first full-scale one.  I’d been introduced to Mr. Noone’s work my sophomore year of college when my playwriting professor Scott T. Cummings mentioned his name.  A former friend later directed his The Blowin of Baile Gall in Los Angeles.  So he’s been on my radar, but never in a wildly serious fashion. Then I […]

Categories: Contemporary, Plays • Tags: Contemporary, Plays, Ronan Noone, The Atheist, Uncategorized

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