Plays 1: Pax / Clam / The B File / Pushing the Prince Into Denmark / Macbeth—False Memories / Honey, Baby

by Deborah Levy

the first collection of plays by playwrite, novelist and poet Deborah Levy.

Genres: Plays, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

About the author

Deborah Levy trained at Dartington College of Arts leaving in 1981 to write a number of plays, highly acclaimed for their "intellectual rigour, poetic fantasy and visual imagination", including PAX, HERESIES for the Royal Shakespeare Company, CLAM, CALL BLUE JANE, SHINY NYLON, HONEY BABY MIDDLE ENGLAND, PUSHING THE PRINCE INTO DENMARK and MACBETH-FALSE MEMORIES, some of which are published in LEVY: PLAYS 1 (Methuen)

Deborah wrote and published her first novel BEAUTIFUL MUTANTS (Vintage), when she was 27 years old. The experience of not having to give her words to a director, actors and designer to interpret, was so exhilarating, she wrote a few more. These include, SWALLOWING GEOGRAPHY, THE UNLOVED (Vintage) and BILLY and GIRL (Bloomsbury). She has always written across a number of art forms (see Bookworks and Collaborations with visual artists) and was Fellow in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1989-1991.

Reviews

[Juliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I did know who I was when I got up this morning. Damn! Do I really belong to no one?” Deborah Levy’s Plays: 1, a collection of six surreal, almost anti-theatrical dramatic works written and performed between the 1980s (Pax and Clam) and the year 2000 (Macbeth – False Memories), including her post-modern identity-centric writing which spanned the 1990s (The B File, Pushing the Prince into Denmark, and Honey, Baby). Levy’s theatre writing is perhaps angrier and sparkier than her prose fiction, and easily more abstract, from allegorical figures of womanhood domestic and otherwise to Macbeth-like mobsters + a coldly indifferent Gertrude, pieces that question the common British attitude towards immigration in the 90s, and a constant interrogation of what it means to be both at home + without home. As such the plays serve — at times — as an illuminating companion to her novels, short fiction, even memoirs; yet often they are less easily infiltrated, shrouded in difficult, deliberately shapeless meaning.

[Charlie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection. Levy's theatrical style is definitely odd. These works are sort of post-modern, post-dramatic patchworks. They have little narrative, inconsistent characterisation, and unrealistic, heightened dialogue. This is all completely intentional of course. Why do characters or dramatic situations have to be believable? Quite simply: they don't.

If you enjoy the works of Phyllis Nagy, I'm sure you'll enjoy this too. Though in my opinion, Nagy is the fresher sounding writer. The lack of realism, unbelievable characterisation, poetic imagery in dialogue are all similar though. One aspect which some might enjoy more in Levy's work is she's definitely more political. Each play is interested in gender politics, many in the Cold War, etc. One thing which I did thoroughly enjoy though is the final play in the collection: Macbeth - False Memories. It plays around with the theatrical and film mediums in a way that was really intriguing, if a bit of a nightmare to stage. I know works like Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and Fucking have included film before, but here it seemed like a much more integral part of the play.

[Olivia Frith-Salem · Rating 4 out of 5]

pax- 3/5
clam-3.5/5
The b file- LIKED 4/5
pushing the prince into denmark- 4/5
macbeth-false memories- 4/5
honey baby- 3.5/5
cool couples dialogues defo abit random and unnaturalistic ofc, would love to watch some of her stuff live