Selected Works: A Memoir in Plays

by Terrence McNally

Since his first play, And Things That Go Bump in the Night, which premiered in 1965, McNally has proven himself to be a trailblazing figure and unique voice in American theater, known for his exploration of gay themes and his chronicling of America’s changing social attitudes over the past fifty years. His thirty-three plays, nine musicals, three operas, and seven scripts for film and television, are a testament to his astonishing commitment to writing. In Selected Plays, for the very first time, McNally collects a set of eight plays that he considers the most important of his oeuvre, including the Tony-nominated Mothers and Sons and the critically acclaimed And Away We Go, neither of which have been previously published. Introducing each play with a personal essay that recounts an anecdote or discusses an aspect of the play that proceeds it, McNally himself frames his own life in the theater. Selected Plays is a landmark publication, a memoir in plays from one of America’s most highly regarded and best-loved playwrights.

704 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2015

About the author

Terrence McNally was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for Love! Valour!

Reviews

[Anne Wrider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrence McNally is a brilliant playwright, no question. The only problem is that plays are made to be played, not read, and I had trouble with a couple of his plays because I couldn't visualize the staging and so I got hung up on that and lost track of the play itself. But the autobiographical notes that he put at the beginning of each play were fascinating and moving. Well worth the read.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The memoir intros to these selected plays written by McNally are the best part; the plays themselves prove a personal opinion that most plays are better performed and seen then read, unless they are truly compelling or funny or make the reading enjoyable. Actually skipped one of these plays in the reading progress because it was unintelligible.