Thirteen Hands

by Carol Shields

In Thirteen Hands, Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shields creates a voice for a whole generation of women overlooked. The women in Thirteen Hands welcome a once-a-week gathering at a bridge club as a time to momentarily suspend feelings of loneliness, isolation and fear, and begin to indulge, revel and celebrate the wonderful intimacy they form. An intimacy that gets passed on, like an exquisite heirloom, to a next generation of bridge players.

Carol Shields' dialogue blends a rich alchemy of gentle flowing interaction with a subtle avant-garde that turns the seemingly mundane into the extraordinary. This is storytelling that circles time and delivers memories. - Back cover of original print version

Thirteen Hands was originally commissioned by Agassiz Theatre and workshopped by the Manitoba Association of Playwrights. It was first produced at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg and went on to be produced by professional theatres in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, to considerable box-office success, and has been produced by amateur theatre companies across the country.

Genres: Drama, Plays

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Carol Ann Shields was an American-born Canadian author. She is best known for her successful 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Governor General's Award. Her novel Swann won the Best Novel Arthur Ellis Award in 1988.

Reviews

[Olivia MacDougall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad. Sorry.

Departures and Arrivals: 2/5 stars

Anniversary: 1/5 stars

Fashion, Power, Guilt and The Charity of Family: 3/5 stars

Thirteen hands: 1/5

On average 2/5 stars

Don’t waste your money or time on this.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not my type of Play

[Meg Deere · Rating 1 out of 5]

Carol Shields is a wonderful writer. She is not a playwright, and has no sense of theatre. Departures and Arrivals is popular in Canada's schools and Universities because it has such a large cast. That's it.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a good play for female roles.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Departures and Arrivals - 3.5 stars
Anniversary - 4 stars
Fashion, Power, Guilt and the Charity of Families - 3
13 Hands - 2