Three One-act Plays: Riverside Drive/Old Saybrook/Central Park West

by Woody Allen

Three delightful one-act plays set in and around New York, in which sophisticated characters confound one another in ways only Woody Allen could imagine

Woody Allen’s first dramatic writing published in years, “Riverside Drive,” “Old Saybrook,” and “Central Park West” are humorous, insightful, and unusually readable plays about infidelity. The characters, archetypal New Yorkers all, start out talking innocently enough, but soon the most unexpected things arise—and the reader enjoys every minute of it (though not all the characters do).

These plays (successfully produced on the New York stage and in regional theaters on the East Coast) dramatize Allen’s continuing preoccupation with people who rationalize their actions, hide what they’re doing, and inevitably slip into sexual deception—all of it revealed in Allen’s quintessentially pell-mell dialogue.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Drama, Humor, Theatre, New York, Comedy

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Noted American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker Woody Allen, originally Allen Stewart Konigsberg explored the neuroses of the urban middle class in comedies of manners, such as Annie Hall (1977) and Deconstructing Harry (1997).

This director, jazz musician, and playwright thrice won Academy Award. His large body of work mixes satire, wit and humor in the most respected and prolific cerebral style in the modern era. Allen directs also in the majority of his movies. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and city of New York, where he lives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_A...

Reviews

[Luís · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woody Allen once again manages to discuss a complex topic straightforwardly. Although it's a very "worn" topic in his work, he always manages to offer a fresh perspective. Brilliant.

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un humor realmente genial. Un rato muy ameno. Me ha hecho sentir de vuelta a la ciudad en la que viví, caminé una y otra vez, a la que tanto amé y odié, y en la que trabajé por 12 años, New York. Leer a Woody Allen siempre te hace también sentir añgo más inteligente, aunque no lo seas. Es un libro que se puede leer relativamente rápido, un viaje de tren, avión o bus, de par de horas. Tres comedias acerca del adulterio en un solo acto, bastante delirantes, pero también algo reflexivas.

[Sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Riverside Drive. Old Saybrook is too preachy for my taste, and Central Park West a bit too ordinary. But Riverside Drive was absolutely bonkers.

He doesn't love me he doesn't like to be around me-it gives him the dry heaves to imagine himself going through the joyless choreography of sex with me anymore. Those are the vague reasons he gives, but I think he's just being polite. I think he really doesn't like my cooking.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3*
"Perdėtas prisirišimas prie logikos - riboto proto požymis." :)

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tres obras de teatro de un sólo acto reunidas bajo un título que condensa el argumento que comparten: el adulterio como algo que sobreviene por necesidad, por aburrimiento, por hartazgo o por equivocación. El adulterio tiene consecuencias en estas parejas, que discuten y se echan las culpas mutuamente, pero no olvidemos que lo afrontan con toda la carga absurda que supone ser personajes de Woody Allen.

Irónicos hasta la saciedad, con un humor en la línea de su autor, exponen la debilidad de la condición humana no tanto ante el adulterio, sino a los ridículos de su justificación y confesión. Las soluciones disparatadas lo son aún más que los planteamientos iniciales.

- Riverside Drive: Jim va a una extraña zona cercana al río, donde se encuentra con el inclasificable e inquietante Fred, el cual no le inspira mucha confianza porque le parece un bandido o un vagabundo desequilibrado. Cuando afloran las causas de que Jim haya ido hasta esa zona, Fred le propone una solución para que su vida vuelva a ser normal.
- Old Saybrook: dos parejas discuten ampliamente porque se han dado cuenta de que tienen un adulterio cruzado entre ellos. A la casa llega una tercera pareja, quienes fueron anteriores inquilinos de la misma. El argumento se enreda tanto que sólo una mano ajena puede resolverlo...
- Central Park West: Phyllis habla con su amiga Carol porque sospecha que su marido le está siendo infiel con alguien. Cuando se desvela el adulterio, al trapo también entran los maridos, intentando justificarse... y llevando la situación a unos límites bastante extremos.

[♡︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny how I did so much reading on my break from Goodreads and yet cannot remember most of the books I read . Took too long to finish this one though .

[Judie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Three short plays. One repetitious topic: extramarital affairs in NYC. One different situation: The second one changes gears midway through.

Occasional humor.

I picked up a copy of this book in a free library outside a store while I was waiting for my order. I overpaid

[Sydney Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

You'd be amazed how genuinely funny Woody Allen turns out to be when you're not actually looking at him.

[Toni Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las tres obras cuentan con la misma temática, pero el humor de Woody hace que cada una se sienta única. me reí a carcajadas con las tres, siempre sabe como arrancar una sonrisa de cualquier persona. super recomendado

[Hector · Rating 4 out of 5]

tres obras con personajes neoyorquinos, las tres muy divertidas y fáciles de leer.

[Ananda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se tem um autor que nunca me decepciona "criativamente" é o Woody Allen, ele tem uma habilidade genial de criar histórias sobre relações interpessoais mesclada com divagações filosóficas, existenciais e rotineiras que nos leva a refletir sobre o nosso papel enquanto seres sociais pensantes. É quase um estudo antropológico sobre relacionamentos, é maravilhoso.

[Erin Despanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of hilarious and crazy shit went down!! I enjoyed it.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his Amazon review Paul Pellicci boiled these three plays down to a single sentence, “They are about the life of affluent New Yorkers by an affluent New Yorker and their society which looks great until you put on your glasses.” It’s a fair comment which you could just as easily apply to a number of Woody’s film like, in particular, Husbands and Wives and Crimes and Misdemeanours. I don’t see that so much as a criticism as a statement of fact. We’ve come to expect certain things from the Woodyverse but that was equally true with Charles Dickens and Philip K. Dick. Woody excels at chamber pieces and it’s surprising he’s not written more stage plays because he doesn’t need a large canvas to make his point.

Before discovering this book I was aware of four stage plays, Don’t Drink the Water, God (the only one I’ve seen performed live), Death and Death Knocks. I’d forgotten about The Floating Light Bulb and that Play It Again, Sam was originally a play. In addition to the three collected in this volume there’s also been A Second Hand Memory (his first full-length play since 1981) and Honeymoon Motel. September, of course, was always intended to be a “play on film” and has since been successfully adapted for the stage by Jacqueline Cohen.

Part of the problem with some of Woody’s later films has been the need to cast a Woody proxy and most, including the otherwise fine actor Kenneth Branagh, have not been up to the task. There are lines that only Woody can deliver and if anyone else tries the illusion is shattered: we know this is only an actor saying what they’ve been paid to say. In these three plays there isn’t really a fully-fledged ‘Woody character’ although Phyllis in Central Park West does get some of the play’s best retorts:

        CAROL
(realizing for the first time the broken statuette)
Hey—your fertility statue is broken—the penis came off.
        PHYLLIS
That's OK—I'll just bring it to my penis repairman.

Fred, in Riverside Drive, comes closest but I’ll come back to him.

Woody’s witty come backs are legendary and we look forward to the (seemingly) off the cuff remarks—so Jane Austen—but there’s a place for humour and this’s a problem I’ve been having with The Orville: just because Seth MacFarlane can be funny (and he can) doesn’t mean he should be. That’s Woody Allen’s problem too because every time he does something a little different (or a lot as in the case of Interiors) we miss how good it was because it wasn’t what we were hoping for. As the aliens told him in Stardust Memories: “We enjoy your films! Particularly the early, funny ones.”

There are plays it seems and then there are Woody Allen plays. Oddly two of the three reminded me of God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza. If you don’t know it it’s, according to Wikipedia, “about two sets of parents, one of who’d child has hurt the other at a public park. They agree to meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving into chaos.” Both Central Park West and Old Saybrook involve sets of couples struggling to come to terms with a reality they didn’t realise they were a part of. The more interesting of the two is Old Saybrook because there’s a twist I didn’t see coming that adds a fantastic element to the play which I don’t want to spoil. Central Park West is simply a study in infidelity: a successful psychoanalyst discovers her husband’s been cheating and decides to tackle the woman directly. What makes things interesting is when the woman’s husband arrives and then the psychoanalyst’s husband turn up with his new girlfriend not far behind.

The first play, Riverside Drive, is the easiest to read on the page because for the bulk of the play there’re only two characters and even when the third appears she’s not around for long. There’s a touch of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story here: Jim, a writer, is leaning on a rail watching the Hudson River flow when he’s accosted by Fred, a large and somewhat threatening homeless man, who accuses his of stealing his idea:

        FRED
Not just my idea. It was autobiographical. So in a way you stole my life.

It’s not an original idea but it’s as good a starting point as any. And everything’s going swimmingly until the writer makes a brief comment about his marriage:

        JIM
It was fine till we had the twins.

and the focus of the play switches to his—surprise, surprise—infidelity and it doesn’t help that he’s waiting to meet his current lover down by the river. When the woman arrives Fred forces a confrontation having realised Jim’s really in love with his wife at which point we’re suddenly in Crimes and Misdemeanours territory:

        FRED
My voice says, permanent elimination.
        JIM
Fine—but how, short of killing her? I can't think of any other way—I—
(realizes that's what Fred means)
Fred—I'm trying to have a serious discussion here.
        FRED
I'm very serious.
        JIM
What serious? Kill her?
        FRED
It's the only way you can keep your family from coming apart.
        JIM
You've been off your medication too long.
        FRED
I'm getting a green signal which is the go-ahead.
        JIM
Fred, I'm not going to kill her.
        FRED
No?
        JIM
It's psychotic—you're a psychotic.
        FRED
And you're just neurotic—so there's a lot I can teach you. I outrank you.
        JIM
It's no solution—and if it was a solution I couldn't do it and if I could do it, I wouldn't do it.
        FRED
Why not? It's a stroke of creative genius.
        JIM
It's psychologically, morally, and intellectually wrong. It's madness.
        FRED
It's a leap into the unthinkable.
        JIM
Let it remain unthought.

I think, of the three plays, I liked this best because Fred, being a bona fide neurotic, was the closest to the ‘Woody character’ although a more malevolent version than we’re used to although he’s nothing like Albee’s Jerry. He can, however, get away with the kind of silly remarks that seem, at times, forced in the other plays.

I’m on record as saying even a bad Woody Allen film is still watchable and that goes for a bad Woody Allen play too. Not that any of these are bad. They work better than his television series because all that was was a film that needed to lose half an hour of material cut into six “scenes.” None of these one-act plays overstays its welcome and that’s a good thing.

There are several clips from these plays on YouTube and even a few complete versions if you can understand Spanish or Russian. The best I could find was an English version of Riverside Drive with a female Fred (here).

[Israel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Adulterios" narra tres historias sobre el amor y el desamor, el matrimonio y la infidelidad.

Las tres obras teatrales, están protagonizadas por neoyorquinos arquetípicos que, en su ingenuidad, deben enfrentarse a realidades inesperadas, creyendo que lo tienen todo controlado, mientras sus actos se encuentran regidos por la razón.

Los personajes se pasean sobre la infidelidad, la vanidad humana, el deseo de conquistar y el miedo a envejecer. A esto hay que agregarle el excelente humor de Woody. Ciento sesenta páginas que se leen solas.

[Kaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woody Allen is my very favorite. Though I am a little nervous to see Whatever Works based on the previews.

Riverside Drive, the first play, is like a simpler version of his movie Crimes and Misdemeanors meets Zoo Story by Edward Albee meets the poem "White Pig" by Russell Edson meets something else and something else. Unnngh. I loved it.

[Kyle Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

I’m a big Woody Allen fan, but these are not his best work. They feel like a 15 year-old watched all of Woody’s films in a row without any sleep or bathroom breaks, then was told to write three one-acts as if Woody Allen wrote them. A few good lines don’t make up for the milquetoast plots, paper-thin characters, and lack of thought put into these.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Writer's Block" is the alternate title, and I think this is Woody Allen trying to get over writer's block by writing plays which take themes and plots from his movies and riff on them a bit. Really funny in moments, but not that great overall.

[Стефанѝ Стефанова · Rating 5 out of 5]

Типичните художествени каламбури за Уди Алън. Пиеси в стилистиката на екранните му произведения. Тематиката на пиесите е също добре позната. Мисля, че поне една от трите пиеси е била или все още е поставяна и на българска сцена.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 2 out of 5]

In reading the plays of Woody Allen, one has to confront some very unpleasant realities.  For one, there is a certain similarity across the plays of Woody Allen, and a certain unhappy resemblance between the plays and between what one knows about the life history of the playwright, that makes reading these plays a somewhat uncomfortable experience.  These three plays are all given titles based on the location where the plays occur, all of them in the area of influence for New York City, whether in the city or in its immediate hinterlands.  All of them feature decidedly immoral and even amoral worldviews and characters that are engaged in adultery and other activity that is viewed even by those who fancy themselves as tolerant as being uncomfortable and unpleasant, where it is not actually still illegal even in our corrupt contemporary times.  All of these works also present uncomfortable questions of comedy, where the author clearly seems to be aiming for laughs but doing so in a way that makes this reader at least decidedly queasy about the proceedings.  Perhaps some people will view these as great plays, but I view them as dirty windows into a dark soul.  Caveat lector.

The three plays here are each about 70 pages in length or so and the book as a whole is just over 200 pages.  The first play, Riverside Drive, is mostly a dialogue between two men, Jim and Fred, who appear to be two sides of the same coin.  Fred is viewed as a homicidal bum and Jim as a superficially respectable person in a marriage with two sons who is trying to meet his paramour, who comes to a nasty end as Fred kills her in order to help Jim preserve his reputation as a loyal husband to his wife Lola, who Jim views as a decent if somewhat morally strict woman.  Here the men have almost all the lines.  The next play, Old Saybrook, has a larger cast of characters, and here we see three couples at a Connecticut house for a vacation of sorts where all sorts of unpleasant revelations about cheating come out thanks to the discovery of a diary that one of the people kept that gives vivid and cringeworthy details of his sexual exploits with his wife's married sister, all of which prompts the intervention of the supposed writer who has set this situation up but cannot figure out how to end it properly and plenty of biting commentary.  The third play, Central Park West, provides a look at a wife and a paramour of a man meeting and bickering before he joins in to tell them both that he is seeking a divorce from his wife so that he can marry a much younger woman, who then shoots him in the butt.

In all of these plays we can read some aspects of the author's own casual approach to monogamy and loyalty, his own lack of moral scruples and moral self-control, and even a bit of self-loathing as he seems to expect the audience to laugh at those who are like himself, or laugh at the way that the various problems are resolved.  Whether we are examining jealous lovers or casual sex and violence, the author is clearly writing to a sophisticated audience that sees itself as beyond the sort of moral scruples that provincial Americans are supposed to possess.  These plays are not written with moral self-development in mind, and are written by someone who actively despises such morality and who seeks to blur the line between art and the artist.  Yet even for such audiences--and I am not among their number--are likely to find a few aspects of these plays to be troubling, including their casual approach to betrayal and the readiness to violence that so many of these characters demonstrate.  By viewing the material of domestic drama and societal decadence as the material for farces, these plays provide material that we should weep and sigh over rather than laugh so that we view ourselves as being superior to squares who still take morality seriously.

[Adam Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first story about the crazy homeless man is the best of the three without a doubt, theres something about that kind of character, dare i say it, the rick from rick and morty caricature, that really appeals to me. Now, i have watched, like, 10 episodes of that show in total, but of course, I understand the character of rick, a man who knows everything and therefore is all powerful (although the attitude is whats important her not actually if they are powerful or not) and act in this arrogant sarcastic way. I suppose i like him because you have that side but at the same time he's obviously a crazy who has no idea what he's talking about, and for me, the crazies are always those who pull me in, thats what sucked me into crime and punishment, or perfume for that matter. The other two stories, I dont have much to say, they follow interesting stories of adultury similar to his movie summer sex comedy, but the movie does it best, If you havent seen that movie, and you only had some hours to live and the choice was these 2 latter stories or that movie, go with the movie. Nonetheless they are classic woody allen and creative and funny in a way which makes me feel safe to recommend to anybody whos a fan of any of his work. But my highest recommendation, even perhaps to those who dont know woody, would be the first of these three stories.

[Yuri Ulrych · Rating 5 out of 5]

Em cena, três esquetes teatrais sobre desilusões amorosas de personagens nova-iorquinas.

A cada comédia, gradualmente aumenta-se a dinâmica do número de projeções psicológicas, essa complexa polifonia de vozes contraditórias dá volume, ritmo e intensidade às cenas.

Para alguns, um triângulo amoroso seria suficiente. Mas, nas mãos de Woody Allen, o desafio é fazer da paixão uma roda gigante, polígono amoroso permeado por frustrações, desejos e ansiedades.

A graça do texto está no humor das peripécias da paixão demasiadamente humana, homens e mulheres vivendo do mesmo ínterim: o bloqueio criativo em suas relações amorosas fadadas à traição.

Woody Allen, bom humorista da arte de viver, põe em discussão conflitos voluptuosamente contemporâneos, a neurose dos que pensam demais, e a psicose dos que pensam de menos.

Reflexão sobre a contundência dos afetos. O uso do teatro convencional, do absurdo e da metalinguaguagem, expressa sua angústia na arte. Adultério de muitos artistas que se vendem logo após a primeira saída comercial possível.

A essa altura inconformada, o texto dá cabo disto. Cai o pano, todos se divertem, temos aplausos.

(Yuri Ulrych)

[Leo Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I don't know what the hell a third act is; it's not a concern of mine'' - Charlie Kaufman

I can't say I do either! Maybe the first of these plays I can see it--the other two? I think playwrights use acts differently from screenwriters. And I also think because so much filmmaking rhetoric comes from the US, so does blind confidence come with it. I don't think many of us know what an act is. It is not a concern of a lot of us.

Woody Allen has taught me how to create a prolific variety of stories out of everyday scenarios. How to unashamedly revisit the same subjects from different angles. Almost everything the guy does is about infidelity--but the impacts of it, who it happens to, what it means to the grander narrative is different enough each time. So think most of us for whom his work endures, I guess.

Each of these plays are great and I'm surprised none ended up as films, in fact--just oddities you discover if you Google Woody Allen books and find this collection numbered amongst them!

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you’re reviewing one of his books or films, one can say the same thing: it is a pity that Woody Allen’s humour and ingenuity is sidelined by his—let’s call them—actions. There’s a distance between his work and his persona and his work is as compelling as his more than questionable deeds. This, again, does not exculpate Allen, but that is the point. His writing is alive, funny, touching even and when you stay with the text, that’s all there is. One can’t say that is true for all of his work but it is intellectually honest to admit when his work is good even if we also have to label the acceptable and unacceptable parts in it.

These three short plays can be read in one day and one will feel as if they’ve seen them performed. They are all funny—although some more than others and some more at some points than others—,relatable and fresh. A must-read and must-study for any playwright and screenwriter.

[Martin Smrz · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of classic Woody Allen wit, this collection of three one-act plays delivers exactly what you'd expect: sharp humor, neurotic characters, and a touch of absurdity. Each play brims with Allen's signature style, showcasing his knack for witty dialogue and his ability to poke fun at the complexities of relationships, human insecurities, and moral dilemmas.

That said, while reading these plays was entertaining, I couldn't help but feel that Allen's work shines much brighter on screen. His movies bring his characters and dialogue to life in a way that the written word struggles to capture.

[JoLynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic Woody Allen style screenplay into a book. It has three stories, all with different themes but somewhat similar. I’m a huge Woody Allen fan so I loved it and read it super quick. I could literally hear Woody Allen in these stories, how he reacts and his voice, with a few characters. It’s definitely for you if his humor is what you enjoy, if not you might want to skip it. The humor is very dry and hilarious at times.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 one actors that all center around infidelity and betrayal.
The first feels like a melding of Albee's THE ZOO STORY and Kafka.
The second is a sitcom set up that turns into a surreal PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO scenario.
The third is the most frantic and profane and mean. Probably the better of all three.
Woody likes to reference New Jersey a lot in this works. Montclair and Secaucus, for instance.

[Fernando Espiritu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tres obras de teatro sobre parejas infieles como alude el título. En medio lo dramática de las situaciones, Allen file a su consigue incluir la ironía, la sátira, donde ningún miembro de la pareja sale libre de su sarcasmo y crítica, ni siquiera los terapeutas demostrando una vez más que la profesión no brinda salud.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three one act plays focusing on the lives of rich well-to-do urbanites living in or around NYC and their relationships (or lack of). Read in the voice of WA these are like lost scripts that perhaps never made it to the screen. As always its great to see the writing style of an auteur.

[Nelson Núñez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Del conjunto rescataría Old Saybrook, aunque el cambio de tono que se da a mitad de la trama me resulta brusco y tramposo. Las otras dos obras intentan hacer reír en vano (Central Park West en este sentido resulta vergonzosa)

[cumrade · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hate people being unfaithful.