Eleven Short Plays

by William Inge

To Bobolink, for Her Spirit: A short play about autograph hunters lying in wait for celebrities outside a New York restaurant.

A Social Event: A brief, but revealing, study of two young Hollywood hopefuls.

The Boy in the Basement: A gripping play about a middle-aged man, still living with his parents, who suffers from a terrible and secret shame.

The Tiny Closet: A fussy, middle-aged bachelor is upset to find someone has broken into his locked closet and discovered the strange secret hidden within.

Memory of Summer: The touching story of a woman who has lost her youth and replaced it with the questionable comfort of delusion.

The Rainy Afternoon: Three children play house, copying their parents in alarming ways.

The Mall: An amusement park mall is the setting for a series of encounters.

An Incident at the Standish Arms: A woman and her date reveal an inner poverty the elegant room cannot hide.

People in the Wind: Midnight at a bus statioin in rural Kansas and a mixed bag of passengers—all victims of differing fates.

Bus Riley's Back in Town: Two former lovers meet and reach out over the pain of the years.

The Strains of Triumph: Two lovers are overheard by a rival for the girl's love.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Drama

142 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1962

About the author

Dramas of American playwright William Motter Inge explored the expectations and fears of small-town Midwesterners; his play Picnic (1953) won a Pulitzer Prize.

Works of this novelist typically feature solitary protagonists, encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, Broadway produced a memorable string. Inge rooted his portraits of life and settings in the heartland.