Plays 1: Slag / Teeth 'n' Smiles / Knuckle / Licking Hitler / Plenty

by David Hare

Plays One:

Slag

Teeth 'n' Smiles

Knuckle

Licking Hitler

Plenty

Introduced by the author, this first volume of David Hare's plays contains his work from the seventies, including the landmark play of that decade, Plenty, charting the development of 'one of the great post-war British playwrights' (Independent on Sunday).

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Sir David Hare (born 5 June 1947) is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre and film director. Most notable for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing The Hours in 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and The Reader in 2008, based on the novel of the same name written by Bernhard Schlink.

On West End, he had his greatest success with the plays Plenty, which he adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep in 1985, Racing Demon (1990), Skylight (1997), and Amy's View (1998). The four plays ran on Broadway in 1982–83, 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively, earning Hare three Tony Award nominations for Best Play for the first three and two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. Other notable projects on stage include A Map of the World, Pravda, Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War and The Vertical Hour. He wrote screenplays for the film Wetherby and the BBC drama Page Eight (2011).

As of 2013, Hare has received two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, three Tony Award nominations and has won a BAFTA Award, a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and two Laurence Olivier Awards. He has also been awarded several critics' awards such as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and received the Golden Bear in 1985. He was knighted in 1998.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ha...

Reviews

[Harry McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very glad I read this; an insight into how one of my favourite writers learned to write, and to wright. The first 3 plays in this collection are holy-hell-what-a-mess plays, often still wildly entertaining, and by the time you get to Licking Hitler and Hare's first masterpiece, Plenty, you can see him discovering his themes and learning the craft of dialogue.

Although, the casual reader would probably be much better served by reading Plenty, which infinitely better than the other plays in the collection.

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really only familiar with a few of Mr Hare’s later plays so the chance to look back at his earlier work was welcome.

Lordy, what a journey he’s been on. The first two plays are quite experimental in nature with thin stories and a lot of spectacle or controversy. You can see a gift for the deft phrase or fascinating situation arising here, though. The third play manages to string together an interesting plot and cast of characters, but it is Licking Hitler and Plenty where you see a genuine playwright emerging from the mists and managing to use a simple sentence or direction where the earlier writer would have wasted a whole scene to the same effect. Great stuff.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

have never seen a Hare play so reading them makes it interesting. Always prefer to see the play on the stage and this is an interesting group