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Break a Leg: A Comedy in Two Acts
- GenresPlays
70 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
35 people want to read
About the author
Ira Levin
76 books1,733 followersLevin graduated from the Horace Mann School and New York University, where he majored in philosophy and English.
After college, he wrote training films and scripts for television.
Levin's first produced play was No Time for Sergeants (adapted from Mac Hyman's novel), a comedy about a hillbilly drafted into the United States Air Force that launched the career of Andy Griffith. The play was turned into a movie in 1958, and co-starred Don Knotts, Griffith's long-time co-star and friend. No Time for Sergeants is generally considered the precursor to Gomer Pyle, USMC.
Levin's first novel, A Kiss Before Dying, was well received, earning him the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. A Kiss Before Dying was turned into a movie twice, first in 1956, and again in 1991.
Levin's best known play is Deathtrap, which holds the record as the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway and brought Levin his second Edgar Award. In 1982, it was made into a film starring Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine.
Levin's best known novel is Rosemary's Baby, a horror story of modern day satanism and the occult, set in Manhattan's Upper West Side. It was made into a film starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes. Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance. Roman Polanski, who wrote and directed the film, was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Other Levin novels were turned into movies, including The Boys from Brazil in 1978; The Stepford Wives in 1975 and again in 2004; and Sliver in 1993.
Stephen King has described Ira Levin as "the Swiss watchmaker of suspense novels, he makes what the rest of us do look like cheap watchmakers in drugstores." Chuck Palahniuk, in , calls Levin's writing "a smart, updated version of the kind of folksy legends that cultures have always used."
Ira Levin died from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, on 12 November 2007. He was seventy-eight at the time of his death.
After college, he wrote training films and scripts for television.
Levin's first produced play was No Time for Sergeants (adapted from Mac Hyman's novel), a comedy about a hillbilly drafted into the United States Air Force that launched the career of Andy Griffith. The play was turned into a movie in 1958, and co-starred Don Knotts, Griffith's long-time co-star and friend. No Time for Sergeants is generally considered the precursor to Gomer Pyle, USMC.
Levin's first novel, A Kiss Before Dying, was well received, earning him the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. A Kiss Before Dying was turned into a movie twice, first in 1956, and again in 1991.
Levin's best known play is Deathtrap, which holds the record as the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway and brought Levin his second Edgar Award. In 1982, it was made into a film starring Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine.
Levin's best known novel is Rosemary's Baby, a horror story of modern day satanism and the occult, set in Manhattan's Upper West Side. It was made into a film starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes. Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance. Roman Polanski, who wrote and directed the film, was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Other Levin novels were turned into movies, including The Boys from Brazil in 1978; The Stepford Wives in 1975 and again in 2004; and Sliver in 1993.
Stephen King has described Ira Levin as "the Swiss watchmaker of suspense novels, he makes what the rest of us do look like cheap watchmakers in drugstores." Chuck Palahniuk, in , calls Levin's writing "a smart, updated version of the kind of folksy legends that cultures have always used."
Ira Levin died from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, on 12 November 2007. He was seventy-eight at the time of his death.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 24, 2025
《دردسری به نام یوهان شیمل/نشر بیدگل/ ترجمه شهرام زرگر》
وقتی بردم سر میز استاد زرگر که برام امضا کنن گفت عه من خودم هنوز کتاب رو ندیده بودم:))) یعنی اولین باری که چاپ کتاب رو دید از رو کتاب من بوددد😭💗😂
محشر بود این کمدی! ما افتخار این رو داشتیم که وقتی استاد حین ترجمه کردنش بودن برامون داستانش رو تا حدودی تعریف کنن و این شیرینی و نزدیکی تا همیشه یادم میمونه🙂↔️اولین کتابی بود که از آیرا لوین میخوندم و قطعا قراره بقیهش رو هم بخونم (البته از pdf نه با این قیمتای بیدگل! همین یکی برای اینکه امضا توش باشه کافیه🙂↕️)
خلاصه حتما پیشنهادش میکنم؛ درمورد نویسنده و منتقدی هستش که با هم تو جنجالن و از هم متنفرن و مدام به دنبال سرکوب همدیگهان. لوین معمولا جنایی مینویسه اما چند تا کمدی داره که این یکی از بهتریناشه.
پن: رشتهم ادبیات نمایشیه و استاد زرگر "بررسی متون کهن ایران" درس میدن🤎
🔖خرداد ۱۴۰۴
وقتی بردم سر میز استاد زرگر که برام امضا کنن گفت عه من خودم هنوز کتاب رو ندیده بودم:))) یعنی اولین باری که چاپ کتاب رو دید از رو کتاب من بوددد😭💗😂
محشر بود این کمدی! ما افتخار این رو داشتیم که وقتی استاد حین ترجمه کردنش بودن برامون داستانش رو تا حدودی تعریف کنن و این شیرینی و نزدیکی تا همیشه یادم میمونه🙂↔️اولین کتابی بود که از آیرا لوین میخوندم و قطعا قراره بقیهش رو هم بخونم (البته از pdf نه با این قیمتای بیدگل! همین یکی برای اینکه امضا توش باشه کافیه🙂↕️)
خلاصه حتما پیشنهادش میکنم؛ درمورد نویسنده و منتقدی هستش که با هم تو جنجالن و از هم متنفرن و مدام به دنبال سرکوب همدیگهان. لوین معمولا جنایی مینویسه اما چند تا کمدی داره که این یکی از بهتریناشه.
پن: رشتهم ادبیات نمایشیه و استاد زرگر "بررسی متون کهن ایران" درس میدن🤎
🔖خرداد ۱۴۰۴
June 8, 2025
این کتاب با عنوان دردسری به نام یوهان شیمل به فارسی ترجمه شده .
[ نشر بیدگل - ترجمه شهرام زرگر ]
یک نمایشنامه ی کمدی که در دو پرده نوشته شده . راجع به منتقدی هستش به اسم یوهان شیمل که نقد های خیلی سختگیرانه ای مینویسه و شخصیتی به اسم مرکن شرفت از این وضعیت خیلی عصبانی میشه چون شیمل راجع به نمایش اون نقد خوبی ننوشته و نقد های خوب ممکنه باعث موفقیت یک نمایش بشه . اون تصمیم میگیره شیمل رو وارد یک تئاتری بکند که بازیگر اصلی اون خود شیمل هستش و کلی اتفاق جذاب میوفته.
نمایشنامه رو دوست داشتم مخصوصا اینکه افتخار این رو داشتم که راجع بهش با استاد زرگر صحبت کنم سر کلاس بررسی متون فارسی از منظر نمایش و امضای ایشون رو داشته باشم.
البته به نظرم اتاق ورونیکا تا اینجا بهترین نمایشنامه ای بوده که از لوین خوندم.
[ نشر بیدگل - ترجمه شهرام زرگر ]
یک نمایشنامه ی کمدی که در دو پرده نوشته شده . راجع به منتقدی هستش به اسم یوهان شیمل که نقد های خیلی سختگیرانه ای مینویسه و شخصیتی به اسم مرکن شرفت از این وضعیت خیلی عصبانی میشه چون شیمل راجع به نمایش اون نقد خوبی ننوشته و نقد های خوب ممکنه باعث موفقیت یک نمایش بشه . اون تصمیم میگیره شیمل رو وارد یک تئاتری بکند که بازیگر اصلی اون خود شیمل هستش و کلی اتفاق جذاب میوفته.
نمایشنامه رو دوست داشتم مخصوصا اینکه افتخار این رو داشتم که راجع بهش با استاد زرگر صحبت کنم سر کلاس بررسی متون فارسی از منظر نمایش و امضای ایشون رو داشته باشم.
البته به نظرم اتاق ورونیکا تا اینجا بهترین نمایشنامه ای بوده که از لوین خوندم.
August 8, 2025
بین کار های دیگر لوین از همه ضعیف تر بود به نظر من. هنوز هم البته نبوغ نویسندگی و پیچیدگی داستانی همیشگیش رو میشد دید در این کتاب
April 22, 2023
Funny and clever.
A theatre production has been given a devastating review by a critic called Schiml. In a bonus for Trekkies, he was played by René Auberjonois in the original production. The production company sets out to exact revenge and write a play starring the unwitting Schiml which will be played out in real life. This plan does not survive contact with the enemy, not least because Schiml does not know his lines.
The fourth wall is completely open. The audience are auditioning cast members. There’s lots of clever stuff. The company builds a set of Schiml’s apartment block so they can practice, but then Schiml comes in thinking he’s in his real home and is fooled for a while before he realises it’s a set. Fun little number.
A theatre production has been given a devastating review by a critic called Schiml. In a bonus for Trekkies, he was played by René Auberjonois in the original production. The production company sets out to exact revenge and write a play starring the unwitting Schiml which will be played out in real life. This plan does not survive contact with the enemy, not least because Schiml does not know his lines.
The fourth wall is completely open. The audience are auditioning cast members. There’s lots of clever stuff. The company builds a set of Schiml’s apartment block so they can practice, but then Schiml comes in thinking he’s in his real home and is fooled for a while before he realises it’s a set. Fun little number.
May 8, 2025
good for one time reading!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews