A MAP OF THE WORLD

The Asian Plays #3

by David Hare

London 1982 first edition. Faber. Thin Sm8vo., 83pp., wraps. Good plus, minor wear.

Genres: Plays, Drama

Paperback

First published February 1, 1983

About the author

Sir David Hare (born 5 June 1947) is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre and film director. Most notable for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing The Hours in 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and The Reader in 2008, based on the novel of the same name written by Bernhard Schlink.

On West End, he had his greatest success with the plays Plenty, which he adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep in 1985, Racing Demon (1990), Skylight (1997), and Amy's View (1998). The four plays ran on Broadway in 1982–83, 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively, earning Hare three Tony Award nominations for Best Play for the first three and two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. Other notable projects on stage include A Map of the World, Pravda, Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War and The Vertical Hour. He wrote screenplays for the film Wetherby and the BBC drama Page Eight (2011).

As of 2013, Hare has received two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, three Tony Award nominations and has won a BAFTA Award, a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and two Laurence Olivier Awards. He has also been awarded several critics' awards such as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and received the Golden Bear in 1985. He was knighted in 1998.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ha...

Reviews

[Ahmad El-Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

"إن الامم المتحدة هي قصر من الاكاذيب، تديره البيروقراطية التي همها الاول ضمان مصلحتها، ان ٤٠٪ من دخل اليونسكو ينفق في ادارة مكتبها في باريس..."

[Gregory Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

One tries to avoid regret, but not to have seen Liz McGovern on Broadway in this incredible play in 1985 sticks in one's craw, whatever one's craw is.

[Hafsa Mounir حفصة منير · Rating 2 out of 5]

اشكر الاذاعة المصرية على ترجمة العديد المسرحيات التي لم تكن لتصلنا لولا الترجمة
"المسرحية تتناول موضوعات الفقر و شعارات الامم المتحدةة في القضاء عليه الرجل الغربي و نظرته الاستعلائية لدول "العالم الثالت

[Lucile Barker · Rating 2 out of 5]

29. A Map of the World by David Hare
This is a very preachy play, even more than Plenty. It is also a movie set within a play. The play actors have the names of the real persons that the movie is based on. This can lead to a bit of confusion and I don’t know that it would have been any easier in a performance. At least with the script, you can zip back and forth when you get lost. The first setting is a UN conference on world poverty in 1976 in a luxury Mumbai (Bombay then) hotel. A young left wing journalist and an expatriate right wing Indian novelist collide politically over their views and personally over a young actress who is staying at the hotel. The second setting is a British film studio where the movie is being made. One actually needs a map of the play. I had a hard time with this and I found I couldn’t really relate to any of the main characters. Skip this one.

[Hank Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This... is an odd play. Written in a time when playwrights were obsessed with structural layering and deceit, this engages a third narrative layer which I find a bit baffling: a film adaptation of a book of a historical encounter. I've read some reviews and interpretations of people smarter than me who give some credence to the film adaptation layer, but I find it incredibly out of place in a play. However, the actual character characters are engaging enough in their time (engaging enough to hide the fact that there isn't enough of them for a full play) and Hare conceives a very good final confrontation/political dialectic scene - YES I KNOW DAVID HARE CAN BE REALLY BORING. The thought of Željko Ivanek performing the role of the young reporter gives me chills.