Play: A Journal of Plays - Issue 1

by Jordan Harrison (Editor), Sylvan Oswald (Editor), Sheila Callaghan

"What is involved here is a prying open of the portals, long barred shut, to the innermost secret place... the place of all possible notations." - Mac Wellman, from the Introduction

Featuring previously unpublished work by Sheila Callaghan, Robert Quillen Camp, Erik Ehn, Thalia Field, David Greenspan, W. David Hancock, Ruth Margraff, K. Silem Mohammad, Sawako Nakayasu, Sarah Ruhl, Crystal Skillman, Sonya Sobieski, Caridad Svich, Mark Tardi, and others.

Play: A Journal Of Plays is devoted to reinventing the life of plays on the page. Play: A Journal Of Plays publish open texts, instruction manuals, scenarios, song cycles, choreographic notations, and other evidence that the inside of the playwright's brain seldom resembles standard formatting.

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jordan Harrison is a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his play MARJORIE PRIME, which was recently revived on Broadway. His other plays include THE ANTIQUITIES, MAPLE AND VINE, and THE AMATEURS. Harrison is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Horton Foote Prize for Best New American Play. As a screenwriter, his credits include three seasons as writer/producer of the Netflix original series ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. Harrison is a graduate of Stanford University and the Brown MFA Creative Writing program. MISS ARCHER is his first novel.

Reviews

[Derek Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really hit or miss collection, but there are a few stand-outs that make it worth the read. The final play, The Convention of Cartography by W David Hancock, was touchingly brilliant.

[Tyler Crumrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

These plays made me think about dramatic literature and notation in ways I never had before. An extraordinary collection, both in quality and creativity. Jordan and Sylvan have a fantastic eye for the new and noteworthy, and Play is a constant source of inspiration and encouragement.

Highlights: Icing: A Hockey Wedding Event, Turn Four, All Those Who Enter It, The Booth Variations, The Convention of Cartography