In this powerful adaption, Neil LaBute embraces the glittering darkness ofWoyzeck's violent, erotic, inhumane world and uncompromisingly makes it his own. From his opening in an operating theatre and then scene by macabre scene, LaBute imbues this classic with his singular intensity and moral vision, as he takes it to its nightmarish conclusion. Included in this volume is Neil LaBute s provocative new monologue Kandahar, in which a soldier back from Afghanistan calmly explains his devastating actions of the day before. A gripping stand-alone piece, this short work is also a trenchant...
In this powerful adaption, Neil LaBute embraces the glittering darkness ofWoyzeck's violent, erotic, inhumane world and uncompromisingly make...
"LaBute, in his most ambitious an best play to date, gets inside the emptiness of American culture, the masquerade and the evil of neglect. THE DISTANCE FROM HERE, it seems to me, is a new title to be added to the short list of important contemporary plays." -John Lahr, The New Yorker "LaBute's skill, and the shortness of the scenes, are compelling ... his] excellent writing generates an exact depiction of empty soulless, thoughtless lives." -Hal Jensen, Times Literary Supplement
"LaBute, in his most ambitious an best play to date, gets inside the emptiness of American culture, the masquerade and the evil of neglect. THE DISTAN...
"Evil wears an all-American glow in Neil LaBute's BASH: LATTERDAY PLAYS ... The characters in this transfixing evening of monologues have that sheen of idealized, corn-country wholesomeness that Madison Avenue has always put such a premium on: clear skin, sparkling eyes and teeth to make an orthodontist cheer. To look at, they're the human equivalents of a glass of milk. But if you know anything about Mr. LaBute ... you probably know already that the milk is laced with arsenic. The stories told in BASH, even the one that occurs beneath a police-interrogation light, all begin with a comforting...
"Evil wears an all-American glow in Neil LaBute's BASH: LATTERDAY PLAYS ... The characters in this transfixing evening of monologues have that sheen o...
How far would you go for love? For art? What would you be willing to change? What price might you pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil LaBute in THE SHAPE OF THINGS. A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friends' engagement crumbles, so unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships. "Any shrewd chap who finds his artist girlfriend has a video-camera in the bedroom to film the cut and thrust of their sexual action might well fear he was destined to end up as her artistic fodder. But in THE SHAPE...
How far would you go for love? For art? What would you be willing to change? What price might you pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil...
Your career as a writer is blossoming, your beautiful, young fiancee is waiting to get married and rush off to Cancun by your side - so what is your natural reaction? Well, if you're a man, it's probably to get nervous and start calling up old girlfriends. And so begins a single man's odyssey through four hotel rooms, as he flies across the country in search of the perfect woman (whom he's already broken up with). In grand LaBute fashion, this by turns outrageously funny and deadly serious portrait of the artist as a young seducer casts a truthful, hilarious light on a typical young American...
Your career as a writer is blossoming, your beautiful, young fiancee is waiting to get married and rush off to Cancun by your side - so what is your n...
"Cow." "Slob." "Pig." How many insults can you hear before you have to stand up and defend the woman you love? Tom faces just that question when he falls for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy young woman who happens to be plus-sized and then some. Forced to explain his new relationship to his shallow (although shockingly funny) friends, Tom comes to terms with his own preconceptions of the importance of conventional good looks. Neil LaBute's sharply drawn play not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty but boldly questions our own ability to change what we dislike about...
"Cow." "Slob." "Pig." How many insults can you hear before you have to stand up and defend the woman you love? Tom faces just that question when he fa...
Set on September 12, 2001, THE MERCY SEAT continues Neil LaBute's unflinching fascination with the often-brutal realities of the war between the sexes. In a time of national tragedy, the world changes overnight. A man and a woman explore the choices now available to them in an existence different from the one they had lived just the day before. Can one be opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness?
"There is no playwright on the planet these days who is writing better than Neil LaBute ... THE MERCY SEAT is ... the work of a master." --John Lahr, The New Yorker
"An...
Set on September 12, 2001, THE MERCY SEAT continues Neil LaBute's unflinching fascination with the often-brutal realities of the war between the se...
Belinda and Cody Phipps appear to be a typical Midwestern couple: teenage sweethearts, children, luxurious home. Typical except that Cody is black -- "rich, black, and different," in the words of Belinda, who finds herself attracted to a former (white) classmate. As the battle for her affections is waged, Belinda and Cody frankly doubt the foundation of their initial attraction, opening the door wide to a swath of bigotry and betrayal. Staged on continually shifting moral ground that challenges our received notions about gender, ethnicity, and even love itself, THIS IS HOW IT GOES...
Belinda and Cody Phipps appear to be a typical Midwestern couple: teenage sweethearts, children, luxurious home. Typical except that Cody is black ...
This collection includes seven short plays: FUNNY, BENCH SEAT, ALL APOLOGIES, MERGE, LONG DIVISION, ROAD TRIP, and AUTOBAHN. Be it the medium for clandestine couplings, arguments, shelter, or ultimately transportation, the automobile is perhaps the most authentically American of spaces. In AUTOBAHN, Neil LaBute's provocative collection of one-act plays set within the confines of the front seat, the playwright employs his signature plaintive insight to great effect, investigating the inchoate apprehension that surrounds the steering wheel. Each of these seven brief vignettes explore the...
This collection includes seven short plays: FUNNY, BENCH SEAT, ALL APOLOGIES, MERGE, LONG DIVISION, ROAD TRIP, and AUTOBAHN. Be it the medium for c...
This collection includes one full-length play, WRECKS, and seven short plays, COAX, FALLING IN LIKE, LAND OF THE DEAD, LIARS CLUB, LOVE AT TWENTY, STAND-UP, and UNION SQUARE. WRECKS: Can someone honestly love a person whom they have deceived for thirty years? This is the central question behind WRECKS, Neil LaBute's latest foray into the dark side of human nature. Meet Edward Carr: loving father, successful businessman, grieving widower. In this concise powerhouse of a play, LaBute limns the boundaries of love, exploring the limits of what society will accept versus what the heart will...
This collection includes one full-length play, WRECKS, and seven short plays, COAX, FALLING IN LIKE, LAND OF THE DEAD, LIARS CLUB, LOVE AT TWENTY, ...
