Three Plays by Beth Henley

by Beth Henley

CONTROL FREAKS. Sister Willard (a troubled woman who struggles with three Sister, Spaghetti and Pinkie) returns from jury duty to discover her brother, Carl, has married Betty. Carl and Betty have big plans to open up Furniture World. All they need is Sister's signature on the papers, and the building will be theirs. Paul, the owner of the building, is invited over to sign the papers and have cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Sister decides to "set her cap" for Paul because she wants Carl to see that "she can get a man." Betty doesn't like this plan because she is secretly and very sexually involved with the seductive Paul. Murder, mayhem and memories unfold as these four desperate characters vie for ultimate control. (2 men, 2 women.) L-PLAY is a fascinating study of style, character and rhythm. The play is written in twelve scenes. Each scene has a unique style and is a mini play in itself. The element that unites these pieces is that each scene title begins with the letter L. The scenes "Learner," a young student struggles to gain the affection of his beloved through poetry; "Lunatic," an isolated woman fights going mad, goes mad, and after circling the edge finds redemption; "Leaving," a piece performed in masks in which a granddaughter seeks to find the secrets of her dying grandmother's life; "Loser," a small-town guy tries to get his best friend to hit on his girlfriend to test her loyalty. The final piece, "Life," is primarily a dance where the primitive family of Ones encounters the Shoe who presents them with the terrible joy of life. (3 men, 3 women.) SISTERS OF THE WINTER MADRIGAL. Calaih and Taretta, the orphaned daughters of Joshua the Cow Herder, livetogether in a hut outside a medieval village. Calaih, a girl with beautiful long red hair, roams the hills with her cow and falls desperately in love with Stephan, the Shoemaker's son. Taretta, the older sister, is a ravishing seductress who is the most sought after prostitute in the land. Fortune changes for the two sisters when the High Lord proclaims he will marry Calaih because he is obsessed with her glorious hair, and Taretta's arm becomes afflicted with a menacing disease. (5 men, 4 women.)

Genres: Plays

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Elizabeth Becker "Beth" Henley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her play Crimes of the Heart won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 1981 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and a nomination for a Tony Award.

Reviews

[Juliette II · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling stories told viscerally and symbolically through both word and movement.

Control Freaks 2W / 2M
Sex, Murder, Abuse, Greed
Single set with three locations (kitchen, yard, bedroom)
Script calls for one actor to fly at end but this could be done symbolically
Lots of adult language and themes - will want to include and intimacy coordinator for sure

L-Play
Calls for the 3m / 3w but could be flexible casting
12 scenes all based around a word starting with “L”
Good material for a class, virtual or black box theater
Minimal sets required but good sound design required
Lots of dance and movement in certain scenes

Sisters of the Winter Madrigal
LA weekly described this best “a trenchant black comedy in the guilted guise of a fairy tale”
Flexible casting - at least 3w and 2-3m
Requires versatile/minimalist set - rapid scenes in multiple settings
A heart-breaking tale of the woman’s plight

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m all for absurdism, but this honestly read like a creative writing assignment and not a collection of plays. there was no build-up to anything, the women were treated terribly, and no matter how hard i try i can’t figure out how you would stage half of this.

[Lainie Vansant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea, but I can see the artistic merit. If you only know Beth Henley from Crimes of the Heart, this will be a shocker - be prepared for some NSFW absurdism!