The Nature and Purpose of the Universe ; Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes ; Dentity Crisis

The Nature and Purpose of the Universe ; Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes ; Dentity Crisis
Author: Christopher Durang
Publisher:
Total Pages: 92
Release: 1979
Genre: American drama
ISBN:

"[The Nature and Purpose of the Universe] centers on a week in the beleaguered life of Eleanor Mann, housewife and mother, who lives with her religious fanatic husband and three sons; the oldest a pimp and dope pusher; the middle son a flagrant homosexual; and the youngest the victim of a threshing machine accident which has deprived him of his manhood. The family becomes embroiled in a plot to assassinate the Pope, who is coming to New Jersey to bless the air, and with the help of a radical black nun succeeds in its purpose—with unexpectedly hilarious results. [In Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes] the scene is a decaying mansion occupied by a family beset by all manner of problems: conceit, hatred, selfishness, incest and cruelty—all dealt with in an ironic, highly theatrical manner which offers rare acting opportunities for the performers involved. Throughout, and despite the horrors encountered, all exude a kind of bland innocence which, oddly enough, seems to excuse their otherwise inexcusable behavior—and underscores the biting irony of what takes place. [In 'Dentity Crisis] recovering from a nervous breakdown, Jane is nursed and nagged by her relentlessly cheerful mother, and confused by her oversexed brother—who keeps changing into her father, her grandfather and her mother’s French lover. Eventually all (including Jane’s psychiatrist, who undergoes a sex change operation and swaps places with his wife) change characters again and become Jane herself—leaving her with no identity at all and pointing up the near impossibility of self-identification in our uncertain times." -- Publisher's website.

Three Short Plays by Christopher Durang

Three Short Plays by Christopher Durang
Author: Christopher Durang
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Total Pages: 92
Release: 1979
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780822203414

THE STORIES: THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSE. Centers on a week in the beleaguered life of Eleanor Mann, housewife and mother, who lives with her religious fanatic husband and three sons; the oldest a pimp and dope pusher; the middle son a flagrant

The Last of Mrs. Lincoln

The Last of Mrs. Lincoln
Author: James Prideaux
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Total Pages: 86
Release: 1973
Genre: American drama
ISBN: 9780822206385

THE STORY: Impulsive, imperious and foolish in money matters, Mary Todd Lincoln was beset by a series of unhappy events in the years following her husband's tragic assassination. Disturbed by still persistent rumors that she, as a Southerner, had h

A Fable

A Fable
Author: Jean Claude Van Itallie
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1976-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780822203766

THE STORY: The action begins, once upon a time, in the village of People Who Fish in the Lake, where everyone longs nostalgically for the Golden Time, when happiness and harmony reigned supreme. In quest of what has been lost, the haughty king send

The Body and the Wheel

The Body and the Wheel
Author: William Gibson
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Total Pages: 88
Release: 1975-10
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780822201311

Suitable for production in a church, theatre or auditorium, this beautiful and moving work by one of our theatre's most important and successful playwrights illuminates the story of Jesus with dramatic force and true reverence. The dialogue is drawn from

The Ceremony of Innocence

The Ceremony of Innocence
Author: Ronald Ribman
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Total Pages: 68
Release: 1968
Genre: Danes
ISBN: 9780822201953

THE STORY: As Michael Smith describes ... Ribman has plunged into history and written a play about eleventh-century England and its pacifist King Ethelred. Ethelred has negotiated a treaty with Sweyn of Denmark whereby England pays tribute in silver

Contemporary American Dramatists

Contemporary American Dramatists
Author: Kathryn Ann Berney
Publisher: Saint James Press
Total Pages: 808
Release: 1994
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

This pioneering work profiles nearly 200 U.S. playwrights, both living and deceased, and is part of St. James Press' Contemporary Literature Series. "Contemporary American Dramatists" provides invaluable critical, biographical and bibliographical information on nearly 200 of the most important American dramatists since the end of World War II.

Invitation to a March

Invitation to a March
Author: Arthur Laurents
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Total Pages: 80
Release: 1961
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780822205753

THE STORY: George Oppenheimer's brief summation: It skirts about the fairy story of Sleeping Beauty , but never settles for long in one mold. There is social comment on conformity and other failings of our modern civilization; there is satir

Operation Midnight Climax

Operation Midnight Climax
Author: Neal Bell
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc
Total Pages: 60
Release: 1982
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780822208624

THE STORY: The scene is a small control room, where three CIA agents are closeted behind a two-way mirror, taping the offstage actions of a fourth agent, a young woman who is having a prearranged passionate liaison with a suspected drug pusher. Ost