In the preliminary notes for a film he never made, Fassbinder wrote that he wanted to allow his audience, without any help from him, to make the choice between a short, fulfilled life, and a longer existence that would for the most part be alienated and lived outside a fully conscious state. He explored varieties of that longer existence in his controversial anti-theatre plays, six of which are collected here with a critical introduction.

The celebrated playwright, director, translator, lyricist, and seven-time Obie Award winner, has been an influential voice in American theatre for more than four decades and a highly-regarded teacher of playwriting. Includes: Mud, The Danube, Sarita, and The Conduct of Life.