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Two Plays: The Snow Queen, November Door
Two LGBTQ-themed plays for two actors (The Snow Queen can be expanded for more) and one simple set for each play. The Snow Queen, set in a small New England town in 1968, draws a finely detailed portrait of a boy’s friendship with a lonely, ostracized woman who shows him the kindness and understanding he cannot find anywhere else. Her loneliness and her masculine bearing are never discussed, but the boy recognizes that she and he are somehow alike, and different from everyone else. In the end, barely knowing what they are doing, the boy's parents casually destroy the relationship. The sequel, November Door, takes place in the same town in the fall of 1995. The two unlikely friends from The Snow Queen reunite when the young man seeks absolution for a betrayal of his older friend some years earlier. We see what has become of both characters as they have carried their scars and thwarted desires thirty years forward. A bittersweet reunion concludes with a hard-won grace. The shows are technically simple, with one costume per actor per play and a few musical cues. The Snow Queen is suitable for audiences 12 and up, November Door for 16 and up.
78 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 3, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 4, 2020
Two Plays reminds me how seriously good a writer David Pratt is.
This is a play, or two intertwined ones, that's been performed before and is written as such, complete with narrator and directions.
An attempt at a review to come.
This is a play, or two intertwined ones, that's been performed before and is written as such, complete with narrator and directions.
An attempt at a review to come.
March 3, 2020
‘Love endures. So does need.’
New York author David Pratt was born in Hartford Connecticut but now lives in Manhattan where is has become one of the most highly respected authors of gay fiction. He has published short fiction in Christopher Street, The James White Review, Blithe House Quarterly, Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly, Velvet Mafia, Lodestar Quarterly, and other periodicals, and in the anthologies Men Seeking Men, His3 and Fresh Men 2. David has directed and performed his own work for the theater, including appearances in New York City at the Cornelia Street Café, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, the Flea Theater, Theater of the Elephant, and the Eighth Annual New York International Fringe Festival. He has collaborated frequently with Rogério M. Pinto, and he was the first director of several plays by the Canadian playwright John Mighton. David holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. His books to date are ‘Bob the Book,’ ‘My Movie,’ ‘Looking After Joey,’ ‘Wallaçonia,’ ‘Todd Sweeney: The Fiend of Fleet Street,’ and now he offers ‘Two Plays’ – a superb set of LGBTQ dramas that while interrelated in story, can be successfully performed separately.
Encountering significant stage productions that are 1) meaningful in content, 2) are written for small cast – two, 3) are easy to produce – single set, etc, and 4) are well suited to high school and college drama programs (as well as professional stages) is a rarity these days. Add to these attributes the message of social issues well addressed and David Pratt becomes even more important as a contemporary literary figure.
The plays read very well, and unlike so many ‘dramas’ that are less than comfortable to translate into book format, David’s works are lyrical, encouraging the reader to share the experience with another reader to broaden the impact. He has summarized the plots well – ‘The Snow Queen, set in a small New England town in 1968, draws a finely detailed portrait of a boy’s friendship with a lonely, ostracized woman who shows him the kindness and understanding he cannot find anywhere else. Her loneliness and her masculine bearing are never discussed, but the boy recognizes that she and he are somehow alike, and different from everyone else. In the end, barely knowing what they are doing, the boy's parents casually destroy the relationship. The sequel, November Door, takes place in the same town in the fall of 1995. The two unlikely friends from The Snow Queen reunite when the young man seeks absolution for a betrayal of his older friend some years earlier. We see what has become of both characters as they have carried their scars and thwarted desires thirty years forward. A bittersweet reunion concludes with a hard-won grace.’
David writes with such clarity and sensitivity that reading these two plays generates the need to see them performed, and with that synergy initiated by readers, hopefully the plays will soon become standards in the repertoire of schools – and professional companies. Very highly recommended.
New York author David Pratt was born in Hartford Connecticut but now lives in Manhattan where is has become one of the most highly respected authors of gay fiction. He has published short fiction in Christopher Street, The James White Review, Blithe House Quarterly, Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly, Velvet Mafia, Lodestar Quarterly, and other periodicals, and in the anthologies Men Seeking Men, His3 and Fresh Men 2. David has directed and performed his own work for the theater, including appearances in New York City at the Cornelia Street Café, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, the Flea Theater, Theater of the Elephant, and the Eighth Annual New York International Fringe Festival. He has collaborated frequently with Rogério M. Pinto, and he was the first director of several plays by the Canadian playwright John Mighton. David holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. His books to date are ‘Bob the Book,’ ‘My Movie,’ ‘Looking After Joey,’ ‘Wallaçonia,’ ‘Todd Sweeney: The Fiend of Fleet Street,’ and now he offers ‘Two Plays’ – a superb set of LGBTQ dramas that while interrelated in story, can be successfully performed separately.
Encountering significant stage productions that are 1) meaningful in content, 2) are written for small cast – two, 3) are easy to produce – single set, etc, and 4) are well suited to high school and college drama programs (as well as professional stages) is a rarity these days. Add to these attributes the message of social issues well addressed and David Pratt becomes even more important as a contemporary literary figure.
The plays read very well, and unlike so many ‘dramas’ that are less than comfortable to translate into book format, David’s works are lyrical, encouraging the reader to share the experience with another reader to broaden the impact. He has summarized the plots well – ‘The Snow Queen, set in a small New England town in 1968, draws a finely detailed portrait of a boy’s friendship with a lonely, ostracized woman who shows him the kindness and understanding he cannot find anywhere else. Her loneliness and her masculine bearing are never discussed, but the boy recognizes that she and he are somehow alike, and different from everyone else. In the end, barely knowing what they are doing, the boy's parents casually destroy the relationship. The sequel, November Door, takes place in the same town in the fall of 1995. The two unlikely friends from The Snow Queen reunite when the young man seeks absolution for a betrayal of his older friend some years earlier. We see what has become of both characters as they have carried their scars and thwarted desires thirty years forward. A bittersweet reunion concludes with a hard-won grace.’
David writes with such clarity and sensitivity that reading these two plays generates the need to see them performed, and with that synergy initiated by readers, hopefully the plays will soon become standards in the repertoire of schools – and professional companies. Very highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews