Plays in One Act

by Daniel Halpern (Editor), Edward Gorey

A dazzling collection and already a standard reference for those interested in contemporary drama, Plays in One Act is a unique compilation of plays and monologues that showcases a stunning and diverse array of work from some of the most important voices in theater.

Forty-three modern works are collected here: from plays by important contemporary artists such as David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, Sam Shepard, and John Guare, to gems by masters like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and newer talents like Carol S. Lashof and Perry Souchuk. Leading British playwrights — Tom Stoppard, David Hare, and John Osborne — are also featured, along with the international voices of Václav Hacel and Kobo Abe, and works by such established writers as Eudora welty, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Ford, and Garrison Keilor, who are writing outside their traditional genres.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Contemporary, Anthologies

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Amene · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب اصلی ۵۱۲ صفحه است که در ترجمه فارسی تبدیل به ۲۰۰ صفحه شده،قطعا حذفیاتش زیاده اما مسئله اینه که یک مجموعه‌ی بسیار خوب و ویژه از نمایش‌نامه‌های تک‌پرده‌ای هست.
از خوندن بعضی‌هاش به مراتب لذت بیشتری بردم اما در مجموع واقعا خوب بود.

[Akemi G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this anthology of contemporary one-act plays for years. I like reading dramas. It's an old form of literature. (Think of Prometheus Bound--which can be considered a one-act play.)

This is an anthology, so I like some of them, and not so much of some others. That's okay--I read this to get various tastes.

The Man Who Turned Into a Stick by Kōbō Abe
I guess this is included to give the book the international feel. Does anyone really like Abe? Anyone, really?
Finding the Sun by Edward Albee
Although this didn't impress me, I'd love to read his Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
On Sundays by Lynne Alvarez
Stops by Robert Auletta
Ah . . . disproportionately long monologues intercepted with a few lines by others. I guess we once called this modern.
Jack Pot Melting: A Commercial by Amiri Baraka
Naomi in the Living Room by Christopher Durang
American Tropical by Richard Ford
Springtime by Maria Irene Fornes
Helpless Doorknobs by Edward Gorey
Life Under Water by Richard Greenberg
Four Baboons Adoring the Sun by John Guare
The Problem by A R Gurney
This is my favorite in the book. Although it's a short, simple play, there is the beginning, the middle, and the end (whereas some of the other plays here leave us with undigested feelings; but then, simply presenting problems and not solving them was the style before), with the kind of sense of humor I like.
The Bay at Nice by David Hare
Protest by Václav Havel
Am I Blue by Beth Henley
Our Man in Madras by Gert Hofmann
Teeth by Tina Howe
Prodigal Son by Garrison Keillor
She Talks to Beethoven by Adrienne Kennedy
Linda Her by Harry Kondoleon
Success by Arthur Kopit
Medusa's Tale by Carol S. Lashof
Can Can by Romulus Linney
A Life with No Joy in It by David Mamet
To me, this almost refuses to be read.
Chicks by Grace McKeaney
Prelude and Liebestod by Terrence McNally
Camp Cataract by Joseph McPhillips (adapted from a story by Jane Bowles)
Waking Women by Cassandra Medley
The Last Yankee by Arthur Miller
So? (This was my first Arthur Miller. Perhaps it wasn't a good choice.)
Tone Clusters by Joyce Carol Oates
A Bond Honored by John Osborne
Heatstroke by James Purdy
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, Part II by Jonathan Reynolds
The Cuban Swimmer by Milcha Sanchez-Scott
Excerpts from Slave of the Camera by Sam Shepard
No offense, but I don't think this is one-act play.
The Pleasure of Detachment by Perry Souchuk
The Boundary by Tom Stoppard and Clive Exton
Placebo by Andrew Vachss
I like his voice. Among so many smartasses, this stands out. (Just not sure about the ending . . . but I'm sure that's because I'm not smart enough.)
Tender Offer by Wendy Wasserstein
Bye-Bye Brevoort by Eudora Welty
The Chalky White Substance by Tennessee Williams
Did you know Tennessee Williams wrote dystopian SF? It's really boring.
Testimonies by August Wilson
The Moonshot Tape by Lanford Wilson

[John Vanderslice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful but curious anthology. While it includes some superb plays and undeniably important playwrights, some of the choices are also disappointing. Perhaps most disappointing is the inclusion of writers who are by no means thought of as playwrights, because they aren't. For instance, Richard Ford, Garrison Keillor, and Joyce Carol Oates. A book intended to introduce a group of students to the art of the one act play should take care of first business first, and in my mind that means giving useful and deserved exposure to the plays and playwrights that are significant to contemporary theatre. Including the likes of Keillor and Ford in a playwriting anthology reeks of a marketing move. A second objection I would raise is that the anthology, contemporary when it first appeared in the early 90s, desperately needs updating. Nearly every play in the book dates from the 1980s. Given how many great plays have been written since 1990, it's time for the publisher to give this volume a second look.

All that said, Plays in One Act contains some beautiful, even stunning, examples of the form. And the idiosyncratic selection process didn't just result in disappointments but also some wonderful surprises, like the 1975 television play "The Boundary," written by Tom Stoppard and Clive Exton, and "Medusa's Tale'" by Carol Lashof, a modern and provocative re-working of the old Greek legend. Most stunning, and simply a brilliant choice, is Terrence McNally's "Prelude and Liebestod," one of the most unique ideas for staging I've ever seen. Owning a copy of that play is almost worth the cost of the book.

[Liz Mourant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superlative theater craft! Much humor involved here also!

[James Binz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of the classic one acts. Good one for research and inspiration. Yummy

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for Placebo
By Andrew Vachss (pronounced like “fox”)

Another cutting is for Prodigal Son
By Garrison Keillor

Yet another cutting is for The Problem
By A.R. Gurney, Jr.

[Sandy]

While reading these one acts wasn’t necessarily life changing for me, I really felt like I was able to appreciate more the genre of one acts. In many aspects it feels like poetry in which when/if I ever read them again, I think I will get more out of them than I did the first time. I also appreciated a lot being introduced to so many playwrights that I haven’t encountered before. Since I’ve typically read more classical plays I hardly knew any of the names except for a couple like Shepard, Stoppard, A Wilson, Williams, Albe, Fornes, and Miller. Because my background is steeped more in the classical side I do really want to make an effort to branch out into more contemporary works which I think this collection did help me with. On that note I do think I would have also appreciated more plays that were actually contemporary (since it looks like the version I have was published in 1999 and all the plays in it must have come from before then). In any case, I did enjoy reading this book although sometimes anthologies can take a long time for me to get through because the focus jumps around so much. I think this book would be great for people who are casually trying to branch out more from the classics and have time to sit down and relax while reading it or even if you can only read one every once and a while.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, Part II” is hilarious, and the easiest play for me to read in here. But this is a great collection.