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Red Light Winter
It's totally familiar but dreamlike at the same time," observes one American of Amsterdam's notorious Red Light District in the stunning new work from Adam Rapp. Escaping their lives in Manhattan, former college buddies Matt and Davis take off to the Netherlands and find themselves thrown into a bizarre love triangle with a beautiful young prostitute named Christina. But the romance they find in Europe is eventually overshadowed by the truth they discover at home. Written with an unflinching poetic beauty, Red Light Winter is a play of sexual intrigue that explores the myriad and misguided ways we seek to fill the empty spaces inside us.
97 pages, Paperback
First published December 27, 2005
7 people are currently reading
682 people want to read
About the author
Adam Rapp
54 books305 followersAdam Rapp says that when he was working on his chilling, compulsively readable young adult novel 33 SNOWFISH, he was haunted by several questions. Among them: "When we have nowhere to go, who do we turn to? Why are we sometimes drawn to those who are deeply troubled? How far do we have to run before we find new possibilities?"
At once harrowing and hypnotic, 33 SNOWFISH--which was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association--follows three troubled young people on the run in a stolen car with a kidnapped baby in tow. With the language of the street and lyrical prose, Adam Rapp hurtles the reader into the world of lost children, a world that is not for the faint of heart. His narration captures the voices of two damaged souls (a third speaks only through drawings) to tell a story of alienation, deprivation, and ultimately, the saving power of compassion. "For those readers who are ready to be challenged by a serious work of shockingly realistic fiction," notes SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, "it invites both an emotional and intellectual response, and begs to be discussed."
Adam Rapp’s first novel, MISSING THE PIANO, was named a Best Book for Young Adults as well as a Best Book for Reluctant Readers by the American Library Association. His subsequent titles include THE BUFFALO TREE, THE COPPER ELEPHANT, and LITTLE CHICAGO, which was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. The author’s raw, stream-of-consciousness writing style has earned him critical acclaim. "Rapp’s prose is powerful, graphic and haunting," says SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. [He] writes in an earthy but adept language," says KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Takes a mesmerizing hold on the reader," adds HORN BOOK MAGAZINE.
In addition to being a novelist, Adam Rapp is also an accomplished and award-winning playwright. His plays--including NOCTURNE, ANIMALS AND PLANTS, BLACKBIRD, and STONE COLD DEAD SERIOUS--have been produced by the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the New York Theatre Workshop, and the Bush Theatre in London, among other venues.
Born and raised in Chicago, the novelist and playwright now lives in New York City.
At once harrowing and hypnotic, 33 SNOWFISH--which was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association--follows three troubled young people on the run in a stolen car with a kidnapped baby in tow. With the language of the street and lyrical prose, Adam Rapp hurtles the reader into the world of lost children, a world that is not for the faint of heart. His narration captures the voices of two damaged souls (a third speaks only through drawings) to tell a story of alienation, deprivation, and ultimately, the saving power of compassion. "For those readers who are ready to be challenged by a serious work of shockingly realistic fiction," notes SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, "it invites both an emotional and intellectual response, and begs to be discussed."
Adam Rapp’s first novel, MISSING THE PIANO, was named a Best Book for Young Adults as well as a Best Book for Reluctant Readers by the American Library Association. His subsequent titles include THE BUFFALO TREE, THE COPPER ELEPHANT, and LITTLE CHICAGO, which was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. The author’s raw, stream-of-consciousness writing style has earned him critical acclaim. "Rapp’s prose is powerful, graphic and haunting," says SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. [He] writes in an earthy but adept language," says KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Takes a mesmerizing hold on the reader," adds HORN BOOK MAGAZINE.
In addition to being a novelist, Adam Rapp is also an accomplished and award-winning playwright. His plays--including NOCTURNE, ANIMALS AND PLANTS, BLACKBIRD, and STONE COLD DEAD SERIOUS--have been produced by the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the New York Theatre Workshop, and the Bush Theatre in London, among other venues.
Born and raised in Chicago, the novelist and playwright now lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
January 3, 2008
i love his work, but it feels like the ending is a bit contrived, and the female character feels like a male fantasy ideal, the conduit between two men, rather than her own fleshed out character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2020
Brutally disappointing. I’m stunned about how well this has been reviewed in that I could find, at any point, something to engage with in the story. Maybe the use of Tom Waits’ “Small Change.” But besides that...
I read the playwright’s introduction and know that he stresses that the character of Davis’ charm is dependent upon the actor who plays him. I’ll go one further- this play’s chasm is dependent on the actors and directors who takes it on.
Ugh.
I read the playwright’s introduction and know that he stresses that the character of Davis’ charm is dependent upon the actor who plays him. I’ll go one further- this play’s chasm is dependent on the actors and directors who takes it on.
Ugh.
July 6, 2018
God, what a fucking boring, pretentious, misogynistic play.
December 21, 2015
Saw the original NY off-Broadway production almost ten years ago now, and the play has stayed with me. Would love to take a crack at directing it sometime.
December 31, 2021
Generously giving it two stars even though I really hated it. I had to put it down within 20 pages because I was rolling my eyes too hard.
Never goes anywhere despite some interesting attempts at meta drama (though meta-autobiographic work might be more apt). All of the characters are unlikeable and nobody changes. This work somehow feels like it tried to hard to be “edgy”, but ultimately feels like the author didn’t try much at all.
Never goes anywhere despite some interesting attempts at meta drama (though meta-autobiographic work might be more apt). All of the characters are unlikeable and nobody changes. This work somehow feels like it tried to hard to be “edgy”, but ultimately feels like the author didn’t try much at all.
December 30, 2020
Huh. Who knew you could mash up dude bro skeeze with pathetic, entitled loser whining. And throw in a manic pixie dream girl for good measure.
Rapp’s long, rambling introduction doesn’t help his play. It’s a bad first impression. I could be on a date with the hottest, most successful guy in the world, and if he told me this story, I’d ask for the check and end the date. Congrats, dude. You’re an entitled idiot who hooked up with the same hooker as one of your buddies. No one needed to know this messed-up little play was that closely inspired by reality.
As for this messed-up little play: Man, I’d forgotten how self centered and emo Gen X could be. None of the characters are sympathetic or engaging. All three are like those awful people you meet at a party and then can’t get away from while they tell you way too much about the problems in their lives. And you’re just standing there, nodding, praying that someone will come and save you after your attempts to politely escape fail.
Plays are short enough that I usually don’t have trouble finishing them, even if I’m not enjoying them. Red Light Winter got put down multiple times, and it’s only because I’m reading my way through the Pulitzers that I didn’t put it aside (Also, Pulitzer Committee? We need to talk about your taste).
Maybe Red Light Winter is delightful on stage, maybe watching three young actors show They Are Very Serious About Their Craft is an enjoyable evening of entertainment. Maybe. Not recommended.
Rapp’s long, rambling introduction doesn’t help his play. It’s a bad first impression. I could be on a date with the hottest, most successful guy in the world, and if he told me this story, I’d ask for the check and end the date. Congrats, dude. You’re an entitled idiot who hooked up with the same hooker as one of your buddies. No one needed to know this messed-up little play was that closely inspired by reality.
As for this messed-up little play: Man, I’d forgotten how self centered and emo Gen X could be. None of the characters are sympathetic or engaging. All three are like those awful people you meet at a party and then can’t get away from while they tell you way too much about the problems in their lives. And you’re just standing there, nodding, praying that someone will come and save you after your attempts to politely escape fail.
Plays are short enough that I usually don’t have trouble finishing them, even if I’m not enjoying them. Red Light Winter got put down multiple times, and it’s only because I’m reading my way through the Pulitzers that I didn’t put it aside (Also, Pulitzer Committee? We need to talk about your taste).
Maybe Red Light Winter is delightful on stage, maybe watching three young actors show They Are Very Serious About Their Craft is an enjoyable evening of entertainment. Maybe. Not recommended.
March 4, 2021
Wow, this play stinks.
March 15, 2018
It's hard to place this play in my mind. I go between resenting it as a portrayal of a doe-eyed "pretty whore" existing as an object of rejuvenation for the play's two male characters. But then, maybe I'm not looking deep enough. Is Christina/Christine/Annie a female character of strength, persistence, and courage? Is she an example of a woman who does what she needs to do to survive? Or simply a character with a sparse backstory that invites intrigue? I look to her ending and see her as vindictive even. Her final moments with Davis are poisonous in multiple meanings of the word, but it didn't strike me as a power move for her. In my reading, her desperation was there. It was potent. And Davis could feel it too. And he took advantage of it.
Upon my next reading, I hope I'll have some further insight besides "Why is the pretty girl the whore and why is she making such bad decisions?" But right now, those are the thoughts swirling in my head like the snow of that iconic, yet insignificant snow-globe.
Upon my next reading, I hope I'll have some further insight besides "Why is the pretty girl the whore and why is she making such bad decisions?" But right now, those are the thoughts swirling in my head like the snow of that iconic, yet insignificant snow-globe.
March 9, 2015
This play (and this playwright) were getting some attention when I read this, so I was expecting something new and exciting. There was nothing really new here, however. It is pretty straitforward realism, with a fairly interesting story set-up: 2 young American friends, traveling around Amsterdam together, both get attracted to the same woman. She only likes one of them - arrogant, entertaining, hotshot Davis, who has no intention of taking her seriously. Lonely, melancholy playwright Matt might really appreciate her, but he does not turn her on. The girl is a French prostitute who is quiet and sweet and apparently looking for a cool American boyfriend. The dialogue is not very interesting, pretty standard college guy talk. It was not terrible, but he will need something better than this to become the next Albee or Miller.
April 10, 2019
I like to look at this play as a sort of how people project loneliness onto one another, and that sort of makes it better than what I just read.
Basically, two American guys head on to Amsterdam and hire a prostitute to sleep with them. The girl, Christine/Christina/Annie, is attracted to the asshole boy while the nerdy playwright is hopelessly in love with her.
I think the writing was average, sort of how college guys would speak normally, but I detest the ending. Davis knew how desperate Annie was, and yet he took advantage of that. I get that this is the sad reality of the world, but holy shit Annie did not have her own personality apart from having to act as a prop to the two men in the play. Yikes.
Basically, two American guys head on to Amsterdam and hire a prostitute to sleep with them. The girl, Christine/Christina/Annie, is attracted to the asshole boy while the nerdy playwright is hopelessly in love with her.
I think the writing was average, sort of how college guys would speak normally, but I detest the ending. Davis knew how desperate Annie was, and yet he took advantage of that. I get that this is the sad reality of the world, but holy shit Annie did not have her own personality apart from having to act as a prop to the two men in the play. Yikes.
December 29, 2015
Ugh.
The main character is clearly a stand in for the playwright who seems to have not grown up or come up with anything original at all. Every page reeks of trying to hard, whiny man child, and please think this is high art. Spoiler alert, it's not. It's another coming of self/age play for the undeveloped men around us, a story that has been told so many times that unless someone really has something new to add, it's no longer worth telling. This version is one that can be skipped. Gratuitous sex, a magical prostitute that has no agency or reason other than to titillate and a lead character so boring how does anyone relate to him. No thanks.
The main character is clearly a stand in for the playwright who seems to have not grown up or come up with anything original at all. Every page reeks of trying to hard, whiny man child, and please think this is high art. Spoiler alert, it's not. It's another coming of self/age play for the undeveloped men around us, a story that has been told so many times that unless someone really has something new to add, it's no longer worth telling. This version is one that can be skipped. Gratuitous sex, a magical prostitute that has no agency or reason other than to titillate and a lead character so boring how does anyone relate to him. No thanks.
September 25, 2016
I don't need stories to always have happy endings, but I just really didn't care for this play. Take a character who's basically a loser, give him a little hope, kick him, wait a year, then kick him when he's down again. Meanwhile, have an incredibly selfish character get all he wants. Does the selfish character get punished with AIDS? We don't know.
October 9, 2007
Two dudes and a prostitute. Love triangle. Powerful ending.
October 27, 2013
Well, what can I say? He broke my heart with The Year of Endless Sorrows. He broke my heart again with this one. It's like being inlove with someone who's inlove with someone else.
Exactly.
Exactly.
November 27, 2022
I didn't like Red Light Winter, but I can't and won't deny the raw potency of the thing. There is something about this play that gets in the craw, for better or for worse.
It begins in a small bedroom in a hostel in Amsterdam, where a young man named Matt decides to kill himself. Right after his somewhat halfhearted attempt fails, his friend Davis turns up (these two American men, friends from college, are vacationing in Europe together). Davis has a present for Matt--a prostitute named Christina.
Christina, who appears to be French but, as Matt deduces, is actually also an American, says that she and Davis have just made love. She undresses Matt, takes him to bed, he reaches orgasm almost immediately (it's been a long time since he's been with a woman), and then she exits, leaving behind a tape recorder and the fancy red dress she changed into just before having sex with Matt.
Act Two takes place in New York, in Matt's apartment. About a year has passed. Matt remains obsessed with Christina, with whom he has fallen in love. So when she unexpectedly turns up--looking for Davis, but he gave her Matt's address instead of his own--he believes he is being given a chance to make that particular dream come true. But Christina is just as obsessed with Davis. And of course before the play ends, Davis will appear once again, revitalizing this dysfunctional love triangle.
The character who resonated with me was Matt: though I found it difficult to understand why he was bumming around Europe with Davis (who has almost no redeeming human qualities; surely he can't be said to be an actual friend to anyone, least of all Matt, whose girlfriend he stole some years back), I was completely convinced of his loner's sad grasp for love from an unlikely and unreciprocating other. Playwright Adam Rapp makes Matt compelling and understandable, as opposed to pathetic or foolish.
But the more I think about Red Light Winter, the more I believe that Rapp intends Davis, not Matt, to be his protagonist. Although Davis has the least stage time, he's the most instantly interesting person in the story, because he's such a rotter: a man devoid of feeling or empathy who might be an archetypal post-modern Gen-Xer. In his brief appearance in Act Two, he's both the one that makes things happen and to whom things happen--I won't give away precisely what--and after the play is over, his fate is what we're left to ponder.
I just don't like Davis, not at all; I don't even think I know anybody like him (I hope not). So I found it difficult to care about what happens to him.
It begins in a small bedroom in a hostel in Amsterdam, where a young man named Matt decides to kill himself. Right after his somewhat halfhearted attempt fails, his friend Davis turns up (these two American men, friends from college, are vacationing in Europe together). Davis has a present for Matt--a prostitute named Christina.
Christina, who appears to be French but, as Matt deduces, is actually also an American, says that she and Davis have just made love. She undresses Matt, takes him to bed, he reaches orgasm almost immediately (it's been a long time since he's been with a woman), and then she exits, leaving behind a tape recorder and the fancy red dress she changed into just before having sex with Matt.
Act Two takes place in New York, in Matt's apartment. About a year has passed. Matt remains obsessed with Christina, with whom he has fallen in love. So when she unexpectedly turns up--looking for Davis, but he gave her Matt's address instead of his own--he believes he is being given a chance to make that particular dream come true. But Christina is just as obsessed with Davis. And of course before the play ends, Davis will appear once again, revitalizing this dysfunctional love triangle.
The character who resonated with me was Matt: though I found it difficult to understand why he was bumming around Europe with Davis (who has almost no redeeming human qualities; surely he can't be said to be an actual friend to anyone, least of all Matt, whose girlfriend he stole some years back), I was completely convinced of his loner's sad grasp for love from an unlikely and unreciprocating other. Playwright Adam Rapp makes Matt compelling and understandable, as opposed to pathetic or foolish.
But the more I think about Red Light Winter, the more I believe that Rapp intends Davis, not Matt, to be his protagonist. Although Davis has the least stage time, he's the most instantly interesting person in the story, because he's such a rotter: a man devoid of feeling or empathy who might be an archetypal post-modern Gen-Xer. In his brief appearance in Act Two, he's both the one that makes things happen and to whom things happen--I won't give away precisely what--and after the play is over, his fate is what we're left to ponder.
I just don't like Davis, not at all; I don't even think I know anybody like him (I hope not). So I found it difficult to care about what happens to him.
December 22, 2017
3.75 Interesting characters and I liked how it looked at how lonely people project their desires onto other people ultimately reshaping their view of reality. That description sounded really pretentious, which oddly fits the play. One of the two main characters is a playwright and at several moments I worried "dear lord, is this guy going to turn into one of those self-insert sad-but-deep white dudes with feelings who takes himself too seriously?" and while it was a sound "yes", I felt the play was self aware enough about this to avoid him turning into a cliche. You learn in act two that the guy decided to write essentially a self-glorifying play about the events in act one. Rather than set this guy up as the struggling artist with the true insight, he is revealed to be a lonely dude who has lost touch with reality. As I said, what I really liked about this play was the way it showed lonely people dealing with their loneliness, and when you view the characters from that angle they are more tolerable.
I saw someone criticize that Christina, the female character, did not have any agency and was mostly used to be a sexual object of desire with a sad backstory. To say that she's just a sad guy's fantasy and another guy's play-thing is not completely inaccurate, but that is sort of the point of the play. None of the other characters care enough to really get to know each other but cling to the information that fits with their made-up narratives. That being said, I don't take issue with anyone calling Christina's character a cliche, because we have seen the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold-and-sad-past story a million times before. But if you're going to have a cliche in your story, I think Rapp did a decent job with her.
I saw someone criticize that Christina, the female character, did not have any agency and was mostly used to be a sexual object of desire with a sad backstory. To say that she's just a sad guy's fantasy and another guy's play-thing is not completely inaccurate, but that is sort of the point of the play. None of the other characters care enough to really get to know each other but cling to the information that fits with their made-up narratives. That being said, I don't take issue with anyone calling Christina's character a cliche, because we have seen the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold-and-sad-past story a million times before. But if you're going to have a cliche in your story, I think Rapp did a decent job with her.
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June 4, 2024Author stresses in his introductory essay that this play lived or died on the shoulders of the cast, particularly the typical toxic male character, Davis. This seems done to preempt the main issue here: Davis comes off as almost comically evil on the page. That said, I find the construction of the nervous wreck Matt to be of note. Matt is a man defined by his contradictions and self-hatred, and to me is an evocative representation of a type of guy, that while not typically toxic, seems to exist in the orbit of those who are. Unconfident moons orbiting black holes they presume to be suns. Christina is a cliché magical prostitute (though the bit about being secretly midwestern is good) and a plot device. Other than that, I liked the use of Tom Waits. Rapp's quick characterization of a man defeated by his insecurities makes me curious about his later, presumably more developed work.
December 29, 2024
Let's call it 2.5.
Not sure how I feel about the prostitute love triangle thing. The first half was fairly straightforward thematically, but the 2nd half was a tale of two plays. One dove too deep into cliche and stereotype, and the other, just under the surface, felt... well, bigger on the inside. Pardon the Doctor Who tagline in a review about cliches. There was something there, that's sticking with me. But Im not sure whether it's worth exploring.
Not sure how I feel about the prostitute love triangle thing. The first half was fairly straightforward thematically, but the 2nd half was a tale of two plays. One dove too deep into cliche and stereotype, and the other, just under the surface, felt... well, bigger on the inside. Pardon the Doctor Who tagline in a review about cliches. There was something there, that's sticking with me. But Im not sure whether it's worth exploring.
December 9, 2024
A lot of good stuff here. I guess sometimes I just can’t stand the way Rapp writes. I wanted to hurl this book across the room sometimes, the dialogue was just so bothersome. Could have been amazing with less annoying writing.
February 3, 2025
Everything felt shallow. I had a few laughs here and there but I never felt at the edge of my seat or like I needed to know how it was all going to end. The characters had no real depth to them either. I wouldn’t say it was the worst but not my cup of tea.
June 3, 2025
3.5.
Such an interesting take on loneliness and grief and male friendship. Lots of great male monologues in here. I relate to Matt a lot. Christine was great to unpack. And it just... ends? What's up with the sex scene? Whatever.
Such an interesting take on loneliness and grief and male friendship. Lots of great male monologues in here. I relate to Matt a lot. Christine was great to unpack. And it just... ends? What's up with the sex scene? Whatever.
November 13, 2025
2.5/5
A play that lives in the shadow of other, better plays. Sort of the poor man’s This is Our Youth. Needed richer character exploration, fewer pretentious rants, and more convincing dialogue to really be a winner.
A play that lives in the shadow of other, better plays. Sort of the poor man’s This is Our Youth. Needed richer character exploration, fewer pretentious rants, and more convincing dialogue to really be a winner.
November 10, 2018
We all wear "the mask".
January 10, 2021
A sad boy recommended this to me and it was fuxkin sad. Do you wanna hate everybody and not feel bad for anyone?
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March 19, 2023I feel like I wanna brush my teeth after reading this.
September 20, 2023
Very interesting, tragic. But too sexually crass for me.
February 20, 2024
I kinda wanna read Speckled Birds now too
December 14, 2024
I want to launch Matt into the sun
May 18, 2025
Weird! Davis is awful. Matt is weird. Annie is also kind of awful. Possibly good monologues in there with Matt though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews