Plays 2: Benefactors / Balmoral / Wild Honey

by Michael Frayn

"One of theatre's subtlest, most sophisticated minds" (The Times)



Benefactors conjures the world of the suburbs observed through the lens of post-imperialism; "dazzling.. This prismatic work circumscribes the disillusionment of an era" (New York Times); Balmoral dares to imagine what Britain would be like if it had gone through the Russian revolution in 1917; "a sophisticated drollery, an educated amusement" (New Statesman); Wild Honey is a reworking of Checkov's first play (also known as Platonov) and is shot through with farce, feminism and eroticism.

Genres: Drama

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Michael Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy. His novels, such as Towards the End of the Morning, Headlong and Spies, have also been critical and commercial successes, making him one of the handful of writers in the English language to succeed in both drama and prose fiction. His works often raise philosophical questions in a humorous context. Frayn's wife is Claire Tomalin, the biographer and literary journalist.

Reviews

[Edward Champion · Rating 1 out of 5]

My Michael Frayn journey is thankfully coming to an end. I cannot believe that it has been so awful. The only thing of his I like is NOISES OFF. This terrible volume of plays (including a wildly arrogant riff on Chekhov) continue the Frayn tendency to write dialogue that SEEMS intelligent but that is completely tone-deaf about the way people live and think. I really can't stand this guy.

[Elizabeth Hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually only read Wild Honey, in a different edition. It's a translation of a "comedy" by Chekov. That a play in which marriages are destroyed, hearts broken, estates lost, people killed and suicides are both attempted and successful can be considered a comedy is a testament to the Russian character.