Overview
āThe play nicely combines Pinterian menace with caustic political commentary.ā āTime
āAcerbic, elusive, poetic and chilling, the writing is demanding in a rarefied manner. Its implications are both affecting and disturbing.ā āLos Angeles Times
āIn his exquisitely written dramatic lament for the decline of high culture. . . . [Shawn] offers a definition of the self that should rattle the defenses of intellectual snobs everywhere.ā āThe New York Times
Writer and performer Wallace Shawnās landmark 1996 play features three charactersāa respected poet, his daughter, and her English-professor husbandāsuspected of subversion in a world where culture has come under the control of the ruling oligarchy. Told through three interwoven monologues, the Orwellian political story is recounted alongside the visceral dissolution of a marriage. The play debuted at the Royal National Theatre in London, in a production directed by David Hare, who also directed the film version, starring Mike Nichols and Miranda Richardson. The playās subsequent New York premiere was staged in a long-abandoned menās club in lower Manhattan, directed by Shawnās longtime collaborator AndrĆ© Gregory.
Wallace Shawn is the author of Our Late Night (OBIE Award for Best Play), Marie and Bruce, Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, and the screenplay for My Dinner with AndrƩ. His most recent play, Grasses of a Thousand Colors, premiered last year in London.
This book title, The Designated Mourner, ISBN: 9781559363624, by Wallace Shawn, published by Theatre Communications Group (December 21, 2010) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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