Three Plays

by D. Harlan Wilson

Over the last two decades, D. Harlan Wilson has established himself as a writer of avant-garde fiction that has been called many names, ranging from speculative, literary and postmodern to irreal, bizarro, absurdist and “splatterschtick.” Some say he defies categorization and is a genre unto himself. In his first book of plays, Wilson subverts traditional forms of stagecraft, unmans the helm of narrative, and exposes the nightmares that distinguish everyday life in urban and suburban America. Channeling Samuel Beckett and Jon Fosse in one scene, Russell Edsen and Alfred Jarry in the next, he subjects actors as much as audiences and readers to mindless violence and torrid irrationality under the auspices of literary theory, psychoanalysis, philosophy and science. These plays belong more to an ultramodern zoo than a modern-day theater. In “The Triangulated Diner,” a Camero fishtails across the stage and runs over actors as jungle animals attack the audience. An elephant is hung onstage by a crane for stomping on the head of an abusive handler in “The Dark Hypotenuse.” “Primacy” finds a husband and wife struggling to write the perfect obituary, ideally one that includes wuxia death matches and flying holy men . . . This collection describes a microcosm that is at once uncanny and familiar, weird and ordinary, comedic and horrific. Wilson puts the human condition on trial and challenges us to view theatrics in a different light.

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

D. Harlan Wilson is an American novelist, critic, editor, playwright, and college professor. His body of work bridges the aesthetics of literary and film theory with various genres of speculative fiction. Recent books include Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination: A Critical Companion (2022), Minority Report (2022), Jackanape and the Fingermen (2021), Outré (2020), The Psychotic Dr. Schreber (2019), Natural Complexions (2018), and J.G. Ballard (2017).

Reviews

[Arthur Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually hate elevator pitches (unless of course I'm the one pitching them), but these three plays are essentially the pomosexual lovechildren of a triploid situation involving Rice, Beckett, and Ionesco, godfathered/mothered by their spiritual descendants, babysat by the ghost of Freud, and molested by the desensitizingly ultraviolent uncles of late capitalism. And yet, despite this contemporary disadvantage, somehow they manage to affect us just the same, resisting the urge to wallow too much in their window dressings and unabashedly indulging in the same sense of necessary, futile, tragicomic humanity their parents would have been proud of. Bravo.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

These plays show Wilson's roots as an absurd fiction writer and playing out it's surreal imaginative from behind a curtain. Being a fan of his work I was really intrigued to see he was trying out playwrights, which I think he should do some more.

"The Triangulated Diner" is hilarious. A man just wants a Mimosa and all the hoops and what have you fall in front of him in exchange.

"The Dark Hypotenuse" Was something really weird, I'm thinking something along the lines of "Horton hears a who" mixed with the mind of Wilson himself.

"Primacy" is very simple and I wonder myself if the characters are actually already dead. I also heard from the author himself that this playwright was picked up and will be performed in Boston.
I'm eagerly waiting for that day.

If you like playwrights then step right up to the stage, you get a front row seat of what goes on behind the curtains of a wonderful mind.

[Ben Arzate · Rating 5 out of 5]

D. Harlan Wilson's venture into play writing is a huge success. All three of these plays are hilarious, memorable, absurd, and just plain fun to read. I highly recommend this book.

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