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For many years, Lajos Egri's highly opinionated but very enjoyable The Art of Dramatic Writing has been a well-guarded secret of playwrights, scriptwriters, and writers for television. Unlike many other books on playwrighting (several of which Egri criticizes during the course of this one), the author's systematic breakdown of the essentials for creating successful realistic plays and screenplays effectively demystifies the process of creative writing. Egri, who formulated his thoughts about "a well-made play" during its heyday (the 1940s and '50s), places a premium on an exhaustive analysis of characters and discussion of their psychological motivations. The writer is exhorted to find a premise to explore and to discover which characters will most effectively demonstrate this thesis, then is shown how most effectively to place them into conflict with each other. Conflict itself is also discussed, particularly how to create scenarios in which the crisis develops at a pace that feels unforced and natural. While Egri's view of the well-made play has little space for either the spare musings of Beckett and Pinter or the conscious excesses of non-narrative and other experimental writing, it nonetheless remains an essential text for writers drawn to realistic drama, and to any writer interested in the fundamental motivations of human behavior. --John Longenbaugh ... Read more

Reviews (23)

I wish I had read this one first
Well, I read this book recently after reading god knows how many screenwriting books. Some of them are quite repetitive aren't they?! The thing that I've found is that there are a lot of books out there that explain the three-act structure by saying you have a set-up, then you have your turning points, your climax, your resolution blah blah blah. Thing is we all instinctively know we need this stuff in our plays and screenplays but what's hard as a writer is actually figuring out what these should be. What makes a good turning point, what makes a good resolution etc? If you want to find out, I strongly suggest you read this book.

I found this book (along with Robert McKee's 'Story') the most useful out of the many (screenwriting) books I've read because he gets into the nitty gritty hard stuff. He makes you think about how important the premise is. I disagree with some of the reviews of this book on this site that say that Egri says you have to know your premise from the outset, he doesn't say that, what he does say is that you have to know it clearly at some stage in writing your script and this is true because we go to films to find something out and all the pieces have to fit together or you'll say something like 'The second half of the movie dragged', 'Why did she do that? That wasn't in character' or 'The movie tried to prove too many points all at once' and so on.

The more I write scripts, the more I realise that it's all about planning and architecture because pacing is everything unlike novels etc.

In particular, the most useful takeout from this book is that your premise has to match your character and story. He goes into detail using 'A Doll's House' as an example. If Nora had been a different character, the resolution wouldn't have worked as well as it did and if the story happenings weren't chosen carefully based on her character, then the story wouldn't have rung true nor would we have understood what the premise is.

The other thing that I think you'll really like is the stuff on conflict, the different types of conflict and when to use a particular kind of conflict for the story you wish to tell.

I'm writing a script right now and this book encouraged me to be a bit more lateral and let go of the ideas I already had because they may not be the right situation for my main character or the story as is might not be the best vehicle for arguing the premise I want to argue.

Brilliant stuff! Written so long ago yet still so relevant.

Egri has his ups and his downs.
Lajos Egri's book is kind of a classic, always controversial, but not always right. People who write books on making plays are always something of an odd sort; a book like Egri's also gets recommended for those who are into screenwriting, because those of us on the playwriting end are considerably sparser.

In any case, Egri starts off by telling you about Premise. He's right that everything has a point. Where he starts to miss the mark is on saying that you should know exactly what the theme of your play will be, and write from there. To start a work with a Premise in mind is, frankly, to put the cart before the horse. No matter what play or screenplay you write, it will have a Premise, and Egri acknowledges this. But Egri is engaged in the worst kind of prescriptivism - start with a Premise is a formula that is theoretically designed to make you write a good play, but it's not how the plays Egri analyzes were written.

He gets something else tragically close to partly right. Egri prescribes writing dialectical biographies of your characters to make them three-dimensional. He's right in that characters are primary over plot (though they're inextricable; could you really imagine a key character in a great drama outside of the play?), but writing biographies isn't how to get at them. Your audience will never see the biographies. For them, each and every character is nothing more nor less than the sum total of his or her actions on stage or film. Worry about developing them THERE. The rest is only useful if it yields some detail that can flesh them out more over time.

Where Egri is good is in his analysis of movement and conflict. He's got a very good sense of everything being gradual, and really lays it out well. Don't take everything as gospel, but that is where you'll get the bang out of this book. If you need help there, it's worthwhile; if not, you don't really need to bother.

No playwriting book is ever going to really get you there. It's an imprecise science, and authors are very often too prescriptivist for their own good. But there is good to be gleaned from them if you learn what you need and what works for you. Egri's book is no exception.

great book
There's so much more here than just the talk about premise, which for some people is what makes Egri so problematic. The sections on "Pivotal Characters" and "Unity of Opposites" and "Orchestration" are simply invaluable. Nowhere else will you find these key aspects of screenwriting addressed in such a direct, lucid and practical manner -- you can apply this stuff IMMEDIATELY to whatever story you are working on and your story will become stronger and better.

Lajos Egri knows the art of storytelling
He does a wonderful job of helping the reader to understand what drama is all about. This is one of the best book on storytelling you can buy. Buy it, you won't regret the purchase.

Screenwriting evolves - Egri is full of himself.
This is probably one of the most recommended works on the subject - which doesn't make it the best. Egri is often quoted for his "...leads to ..." premise.

But like Freud, whose work was very self-indulgent, though evolutionary in its time, Egri gets caught up in himself and
his dictates as though carved from stone. For this reason, his material is static and closed-minded in a very dynamic field. People recommend him based on tradition or loyalty. "It's a classic, so..."

A better, more in touch read is Alex Epstein's Crafty Screenwriting. He is ego-free and bottom line. He writes in a humorous, conversational style that doesn't lecture or preach.
AND...He's a PROCUCED writer, so he knows how to get it done. ... Read more

Book Description

A poignant and hilarious tour of the last frontier, the ultimate forbidden zone, The Vagina Monologues is a celebration of female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery. Hailed as the bible for a new generation of women, it has been performed in cities all across America and at hundreds of college campuses, and has inspired a dynamic grassroots movement--V-Day--to stop violence against women. Witty and irreverent, compassionate and wise, Eve Ensler's Obie Award-winning masterpiece gives voice to real women's deepest fantasies and fears, guaranteeing that no one who reads it will ever look at a woman's body, or think of sex, in quite the same way again. ... Read more

Reviews (90)

REALLY GREAT BOOK
This book was given to me as a gift from a dear friend. She had already it and wanted me to read it. I did and I was really pleased with it.

Ensler explains that she is worried about the state of a world that cannot say VAGINA without blushing, but has hundreds of slang words for penis. This book is a collection of stories that were told to Ensler by hundreds of women from all walks of life who she interviewed. Some of the stories are verbatim what the women had to say about their vaginas, while Ensler takes more artistic licence with some.

There are stories about masturbation, sex, childbirth, rape, and many other things. Every way that our vaginas affect our lives, as women, are covered with a humorous or touching story. A great deal of this book is filled with humorous stories about nicknames for out vaginas and how women think about their own vaginas, but there is a disturbing rape scene in one of the stories. Although this story was incredibly disturbing, it is totally understandable why it was included: Rape, whether it is spoken of or not, is a tangible part of many women's vaginas. All in all, The Vagina Monologues is an excellent book for any woman or any man who loves vaginas. Vaginas are one of the most underappreciated entities in our lives. Vaginas provide pleasure for our mates, pleasure for ourselves, the means for conception, and most importantly-birth. Most of us came into this world through a vagina. While this isn't a self-help book and it won't help you deal with specific problems with your vagina, it can help you learn to see your vagina in a whole new light.

Vagina! Vagina! Vagina!
If Eve Ensler's vagina got dressed, it would wear a sign shouting "I Have Empowered Women Around the World and Started a New Wave of Feminism!"
I couldn't put the VM down: There were several outstanding monologues in it, including a collection of women's stories about getting their period for the first time, and one with a grandmother who shyed away from her vagina most of her life. I also enjoyed reading Ensler's commentary on the pieces. To be sure, the book made me more conscious of my feminist side and I felt a sheer sense of pride in being a woman after reading it. However, the content wasn't top-notch. There were surprisingly few segments and not each of them was great. I thought Ensler definitely could have expanded on the pieces themselves and done a lot more with her subject matter.
If one wants to judge the book by its actual writing and content, I wouldn't recommend it in particular. But I think that Ensler's real goal was to get women to understand about their femininity, their sexual sides, and, above all, their vaginas. And if that was what Ensler was aiming to accomplish, I would readily say that she achieved it in me and many others.
(I would love to see it performed live, too, whether by Ensler or others.)

Learn about the beauty between your legs!
This is a cry from women to find their spiritual, sexual, and beautiful power that is within them. There are stories that will make you laugh, stories that will make you think, stories that will make you open your eyes to the world. I have not had the privelige of seeing the performance on stage, which I imagine is fabulous and moving, but the book is good. I recommend it to women because it speaks of the taboo that women don't (or can't) want to talk about because they are afraid or embarrassed. It is witty and emotional. V-Day is a great idea. It promotes stopping violence against women. I recommend this book to women!

LAUGH AND LEARN WITH THIS READING
Words and thoughts once taboo are now mainstream due in large part to "The Vagina Monologues," a funny, moving exploration of women's thoughts, dreams, hopes and fears by the dynamic Eve Ensler. Released to coincide with February's V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls, the audio version brings Ensler's words to wise and witty life once more.

Of course, no one is better suited to read these words than the author herself. Winner of the Obie Award for this play, Ensler is also the author of other plays including Lemonade, The Depot, and Necessary Targets, which has had benefit performances on Broadway, at the National Theatre in Sarajevo, and at the Kennedy Center.

Hailed throughout the world Ensler's uninhibited masterpiece has become a rallying cry for women.

Listen, laugh, and learn.

Brilliant!
Eve's courage and strength shine through the stores of women she interviewed about their bodies, their thoughts and their lives. Many people have told me that the book/play would do much better if it had a different title. THAT'S THE POINT!! No one talks about vaginas and sometimes very little attention is paid to the women attached to them. Eve devotes such care and precision to telling the stories of all kinds of women that everyone should be able to relate to something. It is true that many of the monologues are quite "edgy" and some might even call them offensive, but the fact of the matter is that they are all true and real. Such a work, one that allows women to be true to themselves, and real in their wishes, desires and longings is so rare that this one is to be savored and treasured. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Ha! Take THAT, Broadway!
After years of people saying that I HAVE to see Jeckyl and Hyde or whatever other retread soundalike is currently in favor, along comes Bat Boy! The songs are witty and interestingly composed. The vocal arrangements are strong and the best part is that it's done completely straight...it's left to the audience to find the humour.

Fabulous Script for Everyone!
After I read this play, I immediately fell in love with this story. The characters, music, and theme are so wonderful. Now Bat Boy is my favorite musical ever!

Bat Boy Script
This is a script for an amazing off-Broadway musical: Bat Boy. In the musical, a half-bat/half-boy is discovered in West Virginia and taken by the local vet's family. He learns to talk and struggles to be accepted into the small community. He eventually falls in love with the vet's daughter, but it doesn't work out (interspecies relationships usually aren't a good idea).

This is a very witty script. There are jokes everywhere in the text. The music is also amazing. The actual musical composition and the lyrics are both spectacular.

As a horricomedy, Bat Boy not only makes you laugh, but also makes you stop and think. I'd reccommend this script for anyone who likes parody, comedy, or musical theatre. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Reviews (3)

A Master Playwright
Every time I pick up this collection, I find myself sitting and reading for hours. Something about Stoppard's command of the language, his own personal calling card, is undeniably riveting.

And though there are times (especially in Day & Night) where it seems that characters are too clever for their own good, his sense of timing and his love for delivering a smart, believable group of people amazes me.

This collection is wonderful in its scope, including everything from the frequently produced "Hapgood" to the more recent treasure "Indian Ink." It's a must-have.

A Fantastic Collection
This is a great collection of Tom Stoppard plays, and includes some of his best works.

Arcadia is one of Stoppard's greatest plays - a bizarre combination of physics, mathematics, poetry, a good old-fashioned academic stoush and romance (or lust) to boot. A fantastic play to see, but very good to read also.

The Real Thing, Hapgood and Indian Ink are also among Stoppard's more mature and better plays, and nicely round out this collection. These are some of Stoppard's better known plays (and you can read reviews of them on their own pages) but I'll just summarise by saying that I think they are fantastic.

Night and Day is an earlier Stoppard play and maybe not quite as good - it is concerned with journalism in war-torn Africa and does take a deep look at issues faced by a journalist in that situation. However, in comparison to the other plays in this volume, it just doesn't seem quite as good - however it is still a fine play in its own right and does make for interesting reading nonetheless.

Overall, I definitely reccomend this volume, particularly since it's cheaper than buying each of the plays individually.

A magnificent collection
After seeing Stoppard's "The Real Thing" in London, I was blown away. I purchased this collection to have "The Real Thing," and was blown away but all 5 of Stoppard's masterpieces. He writes convincingly of love, redemption and what it means to exist and to live. I cannot recommend this collection (or anything by Stoppard) enough. ... Read more

Book Description

For those interested in learning and honing the art and craft of creative playwriting! With an infectious enthusiasm for the theater, Catron presents the basic principles of playwriting, including plot, dialogue, and character development, as well as the more complex issues of creating multi-dimensional characters and writing stageworthy plays that will attract producers, directors, actors, and audiences. Throughout, he sprinkles examples from classical and modern plays, provides exercises for sharpening and developing skills, and offers practical guidelines on working with actors and directors, getting produced and published, and finding an agent. Favoring concrete advice over theory, The Elements of Playwriting is an invaluable resource for both beginning and advanced playwrights and for anyone involved in the art and craft of theater. Special features: 1) provides step-by-step techniques for improving a play; 2) includes information about copyright, agents, organizations, and references; and 3) offers end-of-chapter exercises for fine-tuning creative application of topics discussed. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Catron helped get my play on stage
I completed the first draft of my play "American Brass" back in 1999. It was pretty awful. Then, I found this wonderful book by Prof. Catron. Following the guidelines and inspiration contained in his book I eventually transformed the draft into a stageworthy script.

Before reading his up front advice "Don't show anyone your first draft", I had given a reader a look at the play. The reader, an experienced theater person, tried to be helpful with constructive comments, which I came to understand after reading Catron's book meant - I had no plot, my characters were flat and I was writing narrratives rather than dialogue.

This book provides a clear understandable guide to the structure and dynamics of a successful play and how to write one. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.. and before each rewrite review Caron's book for insight and inspiration.

There's also practical advice - look to get your play on stage not necessarily on Broadway. So I had a high school do a reading and then a church group and now I have the area community theater interested in a full production.

Thank you Prof. Catron

CORE TEXTBOOK FOR THE SERIOUS PLAYWRIGHT
I am a Midwestern physician by day and fledgling playwright by night. One year ago I decided to take an idea to paper and wrote my first play. The story was clear in my mind so the writing went easy. Within six weeks I had completed a rough first draft. At this point I ventured over to the local bookstore to see what books they had on playwriting. There were several, but Louis Catron's The Elements of Playwriting caught my immediate attention. Standing there, I skimmed the contents then read a few pages. The book was full of pearls gleaned obviously from a lifetime of experience in the theater. I bought the book and ordered a coffee to read more, (isn't that the way it always happens?)

Catron goads our left and right brains into action in ten chapters that range from how to get the play started, formatting the text and incorporating Aristotle's six elements of live theater into the work, to suggestions on getting your work published and performed. Various exercises to get the point across are used along the way. The book is a joy to read; a superb "nuts and bolts" treatise for the novice and veteran writer alike. I pick up something new each time I read it. I particularly enjoyed the discussion on how to be a playwright, involving as much with how one "thinks" as what ones "does."

In my opinion, Louis Catron's The Elements of Playwriting is the best book on the subject out there. It helped me complete my play and make it a more polished work. The book would be perfect as the main textbook in any college playwriting class. Louis Catron's "Elements" certainly "plays in the heartland!"

BEST OF THE BEST
I am delighted to see this wonderful title in print again. Unlike many playwriting books on the market today, Catron's guide deals in specifics rather than in mumbo jumbo or vague generalities. (And, from an aesthetic point of view, this reprint edition boasts a far more attractive cover than did the original first edition (hardcover) or the previous paperback edition.)

Dr. Catron deals with being a playwright, the characteristics of plays, turning ideas into plays, creating characters, building plot, constructing dialogue, evaluation and revision, script format, and resources for playwrights. Seven of the ten chapters conclude with excellent exercises designed to get the reader WRITING.

A note of constructive criticism: While the chapter on formatting the script is better than most, I would have liked to have seen it go into even greater detail. Even so, I can recommend this book without reservation and have given copies of it to friends who have become as enthusiastic about it as I.

Not Just For Playwrights!
Don't let the title deceive you - this is a masterly guide for all fiction writers. Catron's insights into creating characters, building plots, constructing dialogue, overcoming writer's block, finding inspiration, and turning ideas into plays apply to all forms of dramatic writing.
Catron is both a playwright and a professor, and this is reflected in his conversational, yet erudite, writing style. He covers the practical aspects of shaping stories from the artisan's point of view, and the intellectual concerns of literature from the scholar's.
The book begins with perhaps the most useful chapter on 'becoming a writer' of any 'how to' book on the market. If you've ever abandoned a work halfway through, despairing over where to go to next, or if you've ever questioned why you even bother to write fiction, then this chapter offers the solution. Catron asks that you begin with the statement 'These things I believe' - what you subsequently write will form your 'Personal Credo'. This will help you define your attitudes, beliefs and passions, and help you find enough thematic material to drive your future work. The 'Credo' is the first step to finding your individual voice, and a treasure-trove that you will plunder endlessly for the rest of your writing days. This first chapter alone makes the book worth owning.
Another great chapter is 'Turning Your Ideas into Plays', again, applicable to all fiction writing. Catron analyses ideas as one of three basic types: character, situation or thematic. From there, he takes you through a series of exercises to help nourish your 'seed' into a full-grown fictional work. Along the way, he provides relevant examples from the masters to help you visualise your own work. In fact, the book is peppered throughout with entertaining and relevant quotes from writers to inspire the beginner and to provoke thought on pertinent subjects.
The remaining chapters deal with character, dialogue and plot building, revising and re-evaluating your work, resources for playwrights, and proper script format. I recommend this book, not only for playwrights, but also for those interested in putting some direction in their work.

Excellent for Bare-Bones Structure
Catron's latest shares excellent information concerning the basics of playwriting. The finest well-known playwriting instructor of our time, this book is second only to Catron's first (also available here), and one that can only be gotten via private distribution. Uh oh. I just realized I wrote a review for this a year ago. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Zurich inside Stoppard's own head
This is probably my favorite Stoppard play. Everything about it is raised to such a level of excellence that it's difficult to imagine how it can be surpassed.

Stoppard showcases his linguistic talents at their most dazzling and expects the reader to keep up intellectually. Not to sound daunting, but in order to enjoy "Travesties" properly, it helps to know some rudimentary German, French, and Russian; be well familiar with Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" and James Joyce's "Ulysses"; and also to have a good factual knowledge of the Great War and the Great October Revolution. If you do not have this background knowledge, you risk missing out on most of Stoppard's witty insight and leaving the theatre/closing the book confused and disappointed.

The most important thing to remember about Travesties is that it is essentially Stoppard arguing with himself. This really shines through in his "derailed" scenes, where the characters have to abort a scene half-way through because it's obviously going in a wrong direction. Basically, it starts out with the characters being themselves, but as it progresses, one can see that they are simply two sides of Stoppard's own mind speaking to the audience through masks. And then it's as if the author remembers to keep his distance from the audience and steps back into the shadows. The effect is rather mystical; it's as if we are granted a brief glimpse beyond the fabric of what we take to be reality. What remains unclear is whether we are now looking into the "true" reality or yet another scene setting.

In short, buy the book, read it outloud, amuse yourself, alarm your neighbors.

Just plain genius!
This is one of my most favorite plays, and I was lucky enough to see it performed on stage. In 1917 Zurich, James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and VI Lenin are all converging on the movements that define their very careers later in life. The tale is narrated by Henry Carr, an actual historical figure, as an old man in 1972, who was with the three celebs as a young man, and his memory is a bit faulty! He once played Algernon in "The Importance of Being Earnest" which required him to buy some new trousers, and he insists that Joyce reimburse him. Thus starts a legal battle.

Travesties is a non-stop energetic creative retelling of history in its most fantastical setting. Read it, and if you ever get the opportunity, go see it!

Postmodern or just no historical perspective?
Zurich 1917, a marvellous subject. The meeting point of the Bolsheviks and other revolutionaries on one side, and of the new « revolutionary » artists, be they James Joyce and the stream of consciousness writers, or Tristan Tzara and the Dada movement.

The first interest of the play is to situate the dynamic of each revolutionary movement very well. Lenin is the figurehead of the revolutionary politicians, James Joyce and Tzara of the modern literature movements.

Then Stoppard makes them meet. In Zurich it is more or less an artificial meeting though they share most of their ideas (the files that are unknowingly exchanged at the beginning and exchanged back at the end show how identical their ideas are) and yet they have styles, general postures that make them unable to have a real dialogue.

Tom Stoppard goes even further by tracing along Lenin's positions on art. He shows the perfect contradiction contained - as Walt Whitman would say - by the man. On one side (Tolstoy), he understands that a work of art is a reflection (hence not a purely identical image) of social contradictions and therefore of society, and also a reflection of the contradictory artist (all artists contain contradictions) and his contradictory position in society (hence in the social contradictions of this society). On the other side, once in power, he condemns, at first, then wavers on the subject, Mayakovsky and the Futurist mocement, and definitely considers intellectuals as bourgeois individualists. But the artists of 1917 represent exactly a similar contradiction between the absolutely nihilistic approach of the Dada movement, and the mentally realistic movement represented by James Joyce. The former rejects all heritage. The latter rearranges the full heritage within a modern man's consciousness, hence within a revolutionary or disturbing consciousness.

The play is at times funny, at times realistic, at times dramatic, according to the points of view, but the essential one of these is the recollections two (minor) characters have of the period sixty years later. We are forced to accept that historical perspective : what it was then and what we can do of it now.

The conclusion of the play is typical perpetual movement, here perpetual syllogism : « Firstly, you're either a revolutionary or you're not, and if you're not you might as well be an artist as anything else. Secondly, if you can't be an artist, you might as well be a revolutionary... I forget the third thing. » Unfinished of course, like any historical achievement. History is always unfinished, in spite of Marx's dream of a contradiction-free communist society. This is the biggest sham of western philosophy ever dreamed of by a man of the amplitude and intensity of Karl Marx. You can be a genius but reality is more real than philosophy. The proof, as Marx liked to say, of the pudding is in my eating it. Full stop. Period.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Maddingly elusive comic genius
i spent over 2 months working as assistant director of this play and it took my the entire course of which to believe that i had understood all of the jokes. Of course i then went on to read more of Joyce and Wilde and the play took on whole new volumes of meaning. Its that complex. Another review advised to curl up with it for an afternoon...fun, perhaps, but not nearly as rewarding as it could be having done the background needed to get this play. "Halfway to Finland Station with V.I. Lenin" seriosly folks, how many of us would get that reference off the bat? still, diffilculty aside, this play is so amazing and funny that one can spend the entire time chuckling with only the most cursorary of readings/viewings. There is an absolutly fantastic scene done entirely in limerick form where Stoppard stretches his poetic legs (which prove to be quite well muscled). Acadamians and ignoramouses alike, READ IT! IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!

A clever splicing of numerous noted works
Tom Stoppard was clearly showing off when he wrote "Travasties". In his research he cleverly discovered that V.I. Lenin, James Joyce (then young and in the midst of writing Ulysses), and Tristan Tzara, one of the leaders of the dadist movement, were living in Zurich simultaneously. Teamed up with Gwendolen and Cecily, two characters from Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest", and Henry Carr, a former member of the British Counsular Service, Stoppard wrote a theoretical account of their interactions in 1917. The result is "Travasties", a wildly intelligent and humorous play.

The play is set in the faulty memory of Henry Carr as he reminices about his experiences in Zurich (yes, he was there too) during "The Great War". As it was, Henry Carr, a non-fictional historical figure, played the role of Algernon in "The Importance of Being Ernest" in a play company owned by James Joyce. When James Joyce refused to reimburse Carr for the few hundred pounds he spent on his trousers in his overzealous attempt to "become" Algernon, a lawsuit ensued, which Joyce ultimately won. Indeed, Joyce indeed attained total victory by writing Carr into Ulysses as a drunken soldier. So, as one might imagine, the play is full of small stabs at James Joyce, namely by the elder Carr (at present during the play it is 1972).

The integration of Lenin and his wife, as well as Cecily, Gwendolen and Tzara, is fantastic and extremely immaginative, and the experience would, no doubt, be enhanced by first reading all of the works alluded to in the play.

Despite Tom Stoppard's obvious attempt to promote his own genius in "Travasties", the outcome is so fantastic, so interesting, and so, honestly, funny, that all is forgiven. Travasties is 71 pages long, and a reasonably quick read... spend one afternoon curled up with it, see it if you can, and muse over the connections (but not too loudly with the "aha!"s) you find... and I hate to end a review so blandly, but enjoy. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Reads for the stage--still hysterical
Being a huge "Talent Family" fan, I was excited to see that they had joined forces and written a play. I can understand that if you are used to reading David's books, this might be a different read for some individuals. I was asked by a local theatre producer to search for some new material for possible productions for a season, so that's why I checked it out. I found it hysterical--of course, I was looking at it from a staging point of view. The fact that it is only 50 (+/-) pages makes it "perfect" for a short play--meaning it would run right around an hour to an hour and a half. I guess if you read plays on a regular basis, you will find it enjoyable like I did. If you're used to reading novels or short stories (especially the ones that David is famous for), and play reading isn't your cup or tea, it might not be as entertaining to you. But, you could do much, much worse for your money. I rate it highly.

Laughed so hard I cried
I also saw this play performed and thought it was the funniest live theater I've ever seen. Though I agree that when reading a play you lose a lot (the energy of the performers and the audience reactions) I still think this one is worth having in your collection if you are a fan of either Sedaris.

Apparently I'm the only one who SAW the play
I have read all the luke-warm reviews this book has gotten. The only thing I can say is that if you're a fan of Amy's you'll love it. If you're more of a David fan, you might be dissapointed. I saw the play in New York during its run, and laughed so hard I cried. Sure, Amy did the buck-tooth Jerri Blank bit, but seeing as how I LOVE Jerri, I LOVED the play. Jackie Hoffman (currently in "Hairspray" on Broadway) and David Rakoff (read "Fraud" if you like David's books) were absolutely wonderful. I was lucky enough to meet Amy after the play, and buy one of her cupcakes. She was delightful. Reading plays (or screenplays for that matter) has never really interested me. Unless you've seen the play or movie, it just isn't quite the same. But I will treasure this book as a permanent reminder of the wonderful week I spent in NY, the highlight of which was "The Book of Liz." And Amy, if you ever read these things, thank you for the awesome time.

Better onstage? (potential spoiler)
From the moment you know the main character is a sweaty nun (well, sort of) who makes unique cheeseballs, well, come on! What do *YOU* think is gonna happen?

There are some Sedaresque observational turns that are worthwhile: AA members staffing an IHOP equivalent, an all-too-short interlude with a Mr. Peanut-wearing couple from Eastern Europe...

Perhaps onstage, with the aid of a talented comic to interlace these tidbits with some kind of physical running gag, well, it would all be worth it.

But I guess it really isn't.

Wacky fun!!
As with some of the other reviewers, I pre-ordered THE BOOK OF LIZ quite a long time ago and was somewhat surprised by how short and insubstantial it is (although at that price, I shouldn't have been surprised). However, I was ultimately satisfied with my purchase. The play chronicles a very sweaty and naive Squeamish sister (an obvious play on the Amish) who decides to leave her job making cheeseballs and venture out into the real world. No, I'm not kidding! It should be noted that the play lists Amy Sedaris as the first author, and it definitely reflects her humor more than David's humor. It's kind of a tame variation of her show, "Strangers With Candy." The play is different and fun, and it gave me a few chuckles. Not bad for such a short and inexpensive play. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Dragon Country.
"It is only in his work that an artist can find reality and satisfaction, for the actual world is less intense than the world of his invention and consequently his life, without recourse to violent disorder, does not seem very substantial," Tennessee Williams wrote in the 1948 essay "The Catastrophe of Success," eventually added as a preface to the "memory play" that catapulted him to stardom, "The Glass Menagerie" (1945). Prophetic words of a man who drew heavily on his own experience, on life in the economically depressed South, homosexuality, alcoholism, physical and mental infirmity, violence, passion, desire, love and loss, but most of all his profound sense of humanity and his understanding of the drama of everyday life to create Dragon Country, that uninhabitable and yet inhabited world, that land of unendurable but nevertheless endured pain (also the title of a 1970 collection of plays) of unforgettable pieces such as "The Glass Menagerie," "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1947), "Summer and Smoke" (1948), "The Rose Tattoo" (1951), "Camino Real" (1953), "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1955), "Orpheus Descending" (1957), "Suddenly Last Summer" (1958), "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1959), "The Night of the Iguana" (1961) and "Not About Nightingales" (set in 1938 but only brought to the stage 50 years later).

Born Thomas Lanier Williams to an overbearing, hard-drinking, abusive, frequently absent father and a doting mother, Tennessee acquired the sobriquet he later chose as his first name in university, where his Deep South accent made him an easy target for his classmates. A writer since his youth, he saw his first short story ("Isolated") published in a high school newspaper; and after several other prose publications, his second play "Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay!" was produced by a Memphis amateur company in 1935. (His first play, the unstaged "Beauty Is the Word," had been a 1930 University of Missouri drama class assignment which, submitted to the school's Dramatic Arts Club contest, won the first honorable mention ever to be awarded to a freshman). After a stint with his father's shoe company, where he had gone to work at parental insistence, he graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938. His big breakthrough came with "A Glass Menagerie;" the story of fading Southern belle Amanda Wingfield (who, like many of Williams's most memorable characters, frantically clings to the illusion of a world gone by), her crippled daughter Laura (the owner of the titular glass figurine collection), "gentleman caller" Jim (Laura's suitor), and Amanda's son Tom, Williams's thinly veiled alter ego who, like the playwright, sees his vocation as a poet crushed under his daily job at a shoe factory. Yet, looking back at his struggling life preceding "Glass Menagerie," Williams later came to regard that time as more real than the life made possible by fame and fortune: in fact, "it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created," he wrote in "The Catastrophe of Success."

The present compilation, one of two volumes in the magnificent "Library of America" series, brings together the more significant works of Williams's early years and of his peak as a playwright through 1955, including inter alia his two Pulitzer Prize winners ("A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), the only recently-rediscovered "Spring Storm" (1938) and "Not About Nightingales," the initial, unsuccessful version of "Orpheus Descending" ("Battle of Angels," 1940), as well as excerpts from the one-act play collection "27 Wagons Full of Cotton" (originally from 1945, augmented and republished 1953), among them the collection's title piece plus "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion," "Something Unspoken," "This Property Is Condemned," and others. The second Library of America volume covers Williams's creative period after 1955. Neither tome is all-inclusive; a fully comprehensive compilation would easily have required three volumes for the plays alone, not to mention his poetry and prose; and a 1955 caesura certainly does make sense. Still: completists will have to look elsewhere in addition. Among the more significant omissions in this first volume are "Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay!" (which I would have liked to see included if only because it was his first-ever staged play) as well as the modestly successful "American Blues" (1939) and the remaining one-act plays from "27 Wagons Full of Cotton." Volume 2 similarly focuses on Williams's more significant later plays; omitting, e.g., "Gnaediges Fraeulein," "In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel," "The Red Devil Battery Sign," "The Notebook of Trigorin" - his adaptation of Anton Chekhov's "Seagull" - and his infamous "Baby Doll" screenplay, as well as its stage adaptation "Tiger Tail."

Although many of Williams's works reached audiences not only on stage but also on the silver screen, beginning in the 1950s he came under increased scrutiny due to his unconventional lifestyle. Even in his plays' most successful screen adaptations, the more controversial elements, such as Brick's unavowed homosexuality in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and the sexual tension between Stanley and Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire," were either muted or censored entirely; and particularly in later years, criticism leveled against his plays was often truly motivated by objections against the man himself. - "The bird that I hope to catch in the net of this play is ... the true quality of experience in a group of people, that cloudy, flickering, evanescent - fiercely charged! - interplay of live human beings in the thundercloud of a common crisis," Williams wrote in a stage direction in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." But while his own life's thunderstorm did eventually prove fatal (he choked to death on a medicine bottle cap in 1983), over the course of his life he revolutionized Southern drama in a way only comparable to Faulkner's impact on literary fiction, and set a shining example for generations of later playwrights. All-encompassing or not: the Library of America's collection of his works is an excellent place to begin a journey of appreciation into his Dragon Country.

Tennesse Williams: Pulitzer Prize Winner
Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights, and he was one of America's best. I think he was clearly also one of the 20th Century's best. Wonderful poignant tragic storyteller with memorable characters, like the frail southern belle Blanche in his classic play "A Streetcar Named Desire", or Stanley her uncouth brother-in-law who destroys her last shot at happiness. Another great play is "The Glass Menagerie", his first hit, which was an enormous success and catupulted him instantly into the forefront of emerging young playwrights at the time. It's a very entertaining story, very readable, I highly recommend you read it. Another is "The Rose Tattoo"--also see the film of the same name. And Williams' last great play was "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

The plays are great, but a misleading description
The plays contained in this volume are wonderful and interesting (especially in terms of his development) to any fan of Tennessee Williams... but I purchased the book believing it was the COMPLETE collected plays 1937-1955, which it is not. It is a group of "selected" plays. I bought it hoping to get more of the one-acts and historical oddities. It contains some of these, but mostly consists of his the more well-known plays, which anyone who would buy this book likely already has (e.g. Cat. Streetcar, Menagerie). Perhaps Amazon.com might want to place a line of explanatory commentary to that effect on the product description.

A Wonderful Book to Own, to Treasure
The new Library of America volume "Tennessee Williams: Plays, 1937-1955" is the first of two volumes. (The second volume covers the plays from 1957 to 1980.) This is a magnificent book, beautifully printed and bound. It is comprehensive (over 1000 pages) and has extensive notes and a complete chronology of Williams's life. Several of the plays are printed with commentaries by Tennessee Williams himself, essays that are very informative. This book belongs in the library of any fan of American theater.

If you have only seen the several movies made in the 1950's from his plays, reading these will prove a revelation for you. Because of the restrictions put on movies in the 50's, most of his works were deeply expurgated, especially any overt references to homosexuality. So reading the original plays here often reveals underlying previously obscure motivations/conflicts of some of the characters: why, for example, Blanche DuBois had fallen from being a privileged Southern Belle to the pathetic wretch who appeared on Stanley and Stella's doorstep.

Unlike many playwrights, Tennessee Williams tended to give long, detailed stage directions. This gives the reader of the plays a novel-like narrative, making them wonderful experiences for readers who do not ordinarily enjoy reading plays. The sensuous atmosphere, the classical -- almost Greek sense of tragedy that looms in almost all of these plays, and the exquisite use of language make this a unique reading experience. The writers who had influence over Williams's style are never named but seem apparent, at least to this reader. For example, when reading "The Rose Tattoo" I was reminded of the great Spanish poet/playwright Garcia Lorca's "House of Bernarda Alba." The cackling, vicious, vindictive neighbors, like some Greek Chorus, echoed many of the women in Lorca's work.

This volume even includes the play "Not About Nightingales", a play never performed in Williams's lifetime, but which was recently brought to Broadway in a Tony-winning run. "Not About Nightingales" is a stark prison drama that is quite different from the style he eventually developed. Among the "great" plays included here are "The Glass Menagerie", "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Summer and Smoke", and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Like all volumes in the Library of America series, this book has been given first-class treatment. Beautiful bindings, ribboned marker, and fine acid-free paper for permanence. It is meant to be owned and treasured forever. You will love this book....

Plays exploring human passion
Tennessee Williams wrote plays exploring human passion with an unflinching and iconoclastic candor, shattering conventional proprieties and transforming the American stage of his day. This outstanding, two-volume series from The Library Of America showcases Williams' extraordinary range and achievement as a playwright with 32 of his works, including recently rediscovered plays of his early career (Spring Storm; Not About Nightingales). All of his works from the years 1937 through 1980 are here, including his world renowned plays The Glass Menagerie; A Streetcar Named Desire; Orpheus Descending; Suddenly Last Summer; Sweet Bird Of Youth; The Night Of The Iguana; and his Pulitzer- Prizing winning Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. This two volume collection is further enhanced with a chronology of Williams' life, explanatory notes, an essay on the tests of the plays, and cast lists of many of the original productions. Tennesse Williams: Plays, Volumes 1 & 2 is an essential addition to personal, scholarly, and theatrical history collections. ... Read more

Book Description

A classic updated to include the developments of the 1990s-the first book to explore in detail how to create a Broadway musical

Brimming with advice and techniques, this essential reference for book and song writers clearly explains the fundamentals of the three crafts of a musical-book, music, and lyrics. Using copious examples from classic shows, Frankel has created the quintessential musical writers' how-to. Among the topics:

- Definitions of musical theater
- Differences between musical books and straight plays and between poetry and lyrics
- What a score is and how it develops
- How to write for the voice
- How to audition musicals for producers

With a new introduction and revised text, Frankel's work is ready to guide a new generation of aspiring writers. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Power-packed handbook
In only 192 pages, Frankel presents writing for the musical theatre from the perspective of the book writer, lyricist and composer -- and how each contributes to the whole. Enough specifics for each to gain a better appreciation of the others' unique contributions. The book would be an excellent introductory text for a musical theate workshop. Most examples from My Fair Lady are illustrative and excellent; other examples from Company were less helpful (as that show was less successful). Highly recommended for those working on musical to keep near at hand.

176 pages of solid advice
Many of today's top talents in musicals on and off Broadway have studied with Aaron Frankel. Now anyone can learn the ropes from this honored director and instructor in a step-by-step guide that makes for good reading whether you are a writer, composer, or simply an avid theatergoer. I enjoyed the previous edition and found this revised and updated one an even more interesting read.

Writing the Broadway Musical
Aaron Frankel writes with the voice of helpful and comprehensive experience. He is a writer - and teacher - of the highest order, and there are important points made in this book that are of great value to actors, directors and producers, as well as the playwrights for whom the book is primarily intended. Mr. Frankel is one of the few authors who expresses himself with both a clear, accessible style and a with a talent for engaging the reader every step of the way.

Hallelujah It's Back In Print!
Finally this fabulous book is back in print. If you are writing a musical, thinking about writing a musical or simply interested in how musicals are put together, get your hands on this book. It has got to be the clearest, most straight talkin', no bull approach to musical theatre writing I've read. It'll get you thinking and keep you writing!

Great! It gives you the fundementals to writing a musical.
I have taken Aaron Frankel's class at the New School in NYC and used his book along with it. It has been a very interesting process for me to learn how to write a musical (I thought I was a novelist) and his book has been extremely helpful. I now know a lot more about putting the fundementals in place for a successful musical...and I get the feeling that if I ever go back to writing novels it will make me a better novelist as well. His book is relatively brief, but it is thick with advice and techniques. It covers everything from the making of a good story, to lyric writing. I strongly reccomend it. I understand that he is in the process of working with his publisher on a reprint. I have found copies of his book in retail book stores so at this moment it is not completely sold out. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Simply superb
This play is very funny in places, very moving in places, very absorbing in places -- all of it in an apparently seamless whole of the high Stoppardian quality. How does the man do it? How does one write a dissertation on the art of writing using a cricket bat as a teaching aid? To quote another recent Stoppard's work: "It's a mystery!..."

The usual Stoppard brilliance.
As what is considered a turning point in Stoppard's ability to write romance, The Real Thing includes the usual ingenius commentary on life and art this time woven through a love story. Thus, the play can be enjoyed for the usual Stoppardian elevated language and fascinating explanations of quality art as well as its touching yet clever romantic plot. Moreover, it is this plot that sets it apart from Stoppard's earlier work. The characters in The Real Thing make up complex relationships and display emotions that add another facet to Stoppard's masterful control of the language. Dialogue seemlessly drifts between discussions of language to discussions of life, all the while maintaining the level of quality for which Stoppard is famous. It is a wonderful play demonstrating wit, intelligence, cleverness, and overall entertainment in a variety of ways.

As Ros. and Guil. used Hamlet and Travesties used the Importance of Being Ernest, The Real Thing contains certain references to 'Tis Pity She's a Whore that make that Jacobean tragedy a helpful piece of background reading. ... Read more

Book Description

It's Hollywood's oldest adage, " If you want to break in this business kid, you're going to need a great script." What they should really tell you is that you need a great Treatment, often a 2 or 3 page storyline which tells your audience what your story is about. This book tells you how to the write and utilize your treatment to get your TV or Film project going fast!!!!

KEY FEATURES:
* Writing a script can often take months (or years!) to develop......a Treatment, however, can be cranked out in a few days and can be your best sales tool for getting your work out there and into the marketplace FAST.
* In the time it took you to finish formatting your last screenplay, you could have finished and pitched six or more Treatments.
* Don't like that idea.....I can have four more ideas to you by next week!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very, very thin
Not much here to help novices and certainly not for anyone with the vaguest idea of how scripts "work." Very skimpy with examples. There's so much "nuts-and-bolts" knowledge that's necessary to create a good script or treatment, and this book provides little of it.

Short on Substance
This one suffers the flaw common to how-to books on writing: it's short on models. Plenty of TALK about how to write a treatment, but most writers know that the best instruction comes from an assortment of professionally polished examples. If you want to be a journalist, read the NY Times. If you want to write killer treatments, read some killer treatments. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Take your writing to the next stage.
Most people won't listen to advice until they're good and ready. I had "The Playwright's Guidebook" in my office for over a year. When I finally read it, either I was good and ready to hear what Mr. Spencer had to say or what he said made a lot of sense. (Basically it was both.)

I've read Syd Field and taken McKee's course on Story Structure, yet I found this book to be of greater value. Why? Because Mr. Spencer doesn't lay down directives (as is common with most how-to books). Instead, he offers suggestions. His observations are level-headed and his approach is open-minded. This is one instructional book that won't tell you that a plot point must land on page such-and-such.

Mr. Spencer encourages you to freely follow your creative impulse and get your story on paper. Then he lets you decide whether your story is as effective as it can be. The book discusses sensible ways to get the most out of your play. It's often like a trouble-shooting guide. If you feel something's not working in your piece, chances are, this book will help you figure out exactly where the problem lies.

Mr. Spencer is not a drill instructor barking out the sure and only way to commercial bliss. He comes across as an experienced teacher (which he is) giving you the opportunity to find your own way to successful writing.

I'd like to add that this is an invaluable asset whether you're writing a play, a film or a novel. That's because "The Playwright's Guidebook" is a comprehensive study of drama, of why it works and why it often fails. No matter where you are in your writing career, you'll most likely benefit from reading this book. If you've been writing a long time, you'll be reacquainted with fundamentals you may have forgotten. You'll also pick up some fresh ways of looking at your craft. If you're a novice, you'll learn things that are essential to building an interesting story.

Take my advice: familiarize yourself with this book and then write the story that's in you.

Don't get me wrong, it has some good ideas...
...but Spencer's just not that good at articulating them. The entire book flits frustratingly around ideas, not concretely examining them, and going into discussions of student experiences rather than any sort of in-depth analysis. And his examples are as dry as week-old toast: Spencer discusses conflict through someone wanting a glass of water. He quasi-mystifies the "impulse," which is described as an almost visual image that drives the play; these can be useful, but they're not terribly good for any prolonged writing. Personally, inspired stumbling over my own feet usually only gets me a couple of pages out, not a whole, useful play. Spencer's impulse method seems particularly destructive to me because he wants the basic level of creation to be nigh-undirected force, which has never much appealed to my sensibilities. A play has to have something behind it in that first draft just to give you a map, even though it'll change from any prewriting you may do.

Buried under Spencer's unfortunate lack of in-depth description is, in the beginning, a rather useful look at need (which he inexplicably calls action): how to nurture it, how to place it underneath the surface, how to oppose it, et cetera. His look at structure is depressingly Aristotelian, but reading books on the subject generally gets you that. Unfortunately, the book then degrades into the puff and twaddle about the impulse before returning to a decent analytical (but not constructive) commentary on character. Like most playwriting manuals, Spencer is doing analysis on plays - good plays - and showing what one result is instead of really showing how to craft character. The rest of the book is not really even up to par with that.

You can get something out of most any playwriting book. There will always be advice that helps you, and advice that hurts you. Spencer's book isn't so much hurtful as frustrating to extract those nuggets of good from; this is one to pick up in a big bookstore, read the section on "Tools" in the cafe until you get it, and then put back on the shelf.

The most lively and engaging playwriting text ever!
In preparation for a job teaching playwriting at a midwestern university, I read most of the playwriting books out there. Spencer's text covers the same topics as most playwriting books: creative inspiration, character development, and dramatic structure. However, unlike most texts, Spencer uses anecdotes and personal observations to illustrate his points. The result is an insightful and helpful manual for new writers that also succeeds in being INTERESTING (a very rare trait in writing texts).

While most of this book covers well trod ground, there are some unique aspects to Spencer's approach. His introductory essay on the differences in writing for fiction, film and theater should be a must read for every new student. I also appreciated his "Impulse" exercises. Too many texts delve into the process of writing without ever discussing how someone finds something to write about in the first place. The other exercises in the book are very good, but as a teacher I would have appreciated even more of them. Also, Spencer's discussion of how to build plots is a little thin. I'd recommend combining this book with some hard core instruction in dramatic structure.

In the world of playwriting texts, there are alot of useful books, but very few interesting ones. This one manages to be both. I highly recommend it.

Perfect for Aspiring Playwrights
Spencer, a professor of playwrighting at Sarah Lawerence College, has written a wonderful handbook on the craft for amateur writers. He discusses in depth all aspects of the craft: from the simplest elements of structure to more complex elements of action, event and character, to problems such as rewriting and writer's block. He provides multiple examples for every topic ranging from simple references he creates, to personal experiences, to pointing out examples in well-known plays.

Spencer also provides excersises and prompts at the end of every chapter (along with many more at the end of the book), allowing the reader to experiment and build on the lessons he or she has just learned.

Reading this book is equivalent to taking a semester course or workshop with Spencer, and the lessons it provdies are invaluable. Recommended to anyone who wishes to delve into the realm of playwrighting, or to those who simply wish to improve their talents. ... Read more

Book Description

A practical guidebook for effective playwriting! This imaginative and enthusiastic book is designed especially for those having the desire to create, to entertain, and to express their emotions and ideas. It features a practical, down-to- earth emphasis on craft and structure rather than on theory as its step-by-step approach shows just what's involved in creating a stageworthy play. Coverage includes basic considerations such as plot and character development, theme and dialogue as well as production and publication considerations. Outstanding features: offers concrete writing guidelines; includes exercises that get the reader going and inspirational anecdotes; presents excerpts from such classics as Macbeth, The Glass Menagerie, and The Dumb Waiter that help the reader grasp key concepts; lists plays to read for instruction; includes valuable information not usually found in comparable collections. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Get It. Now. Now!
Like many people who aspire to be working writers, I've sunk a lot of money into books intended to make me better at my desired field. Maybe you have, too. If you have, you know there are three things no writing book will ever give you.

1. Inspiration
2. Discipline
3. Connections

This book is no exception. You'll be sorely disappointed if you go in search of any of these golden rings using this book as your guide. If you think this, or any, book will provide any of these things for you, give up now, go get a real job, make room in the field for the chosen and called.

You will not be able to read this book and crank out a production-level script cold. But if you dedicate your time to practicing the exercises Catron provides; if you try, try again; if you pursue his advice and keep this book close at hand all the way through the production process, you should do just fine.

Catron offers a breakdown of play elements based on Aristotle, he offers an overview of what literary directors are usually looking for, he even offers a tutorial in formatting your script so an otherwise sterling piece doesn't get thrown aside too soon for being improperly constructed. If you have a gift for writing theatre, and a burning desire that causes you to spend enough time in writing every day to develop and maintain your skills, this book will bridge the gap between that and being ready for production.

This book won't provide any magic bullets. You have to want to write, and you have to want to work at it. If you really, really want to be a playwright, and you're really, really willing to work at it, get this book before any other. Then buckle down and START WRITING!!!

Go for it all!
This book will teach you the proper format but it talks a lot about writing One-Act plays not feature lenghts. Hey I never wrote a play in my life and I created a feature length play that made my professor very proud. Don't let this book limit your creativity by all the talk about One-Acts; Reach out for the stars. But, this book will help you with your formatting and it will help you out with the business side of it too. A keeper for playwrights.

A map and pathfinder through the woods
I didn't think you could learn playwriting from a book. "A book is going to give rules, but I'm so different I make my own," I thought. Wrong-o! Now that I finally took advice and read this book I wish I had not been so stubborn and wasted all that time. It's like I had been wandering in a huge forest and then along comes this book to be guide and compass and map and path finder. Now, finally, I see what directors meant when they said those early plays needed a stronger sense of theater. I've just had my first production and this book was a major player in getting me there. This is my first "thank you note" to its author.

The Number One book I recommend to playwrights
This book has withstood the test of time. I think I was one of the first to buy it when it came out in a Prentice-Hill hardcover, and it still is the first book I urge playwrights to get. The author is a first-class teacher who knows precisely what playwrights need to learn, in what order, to write the first play or revise the 100th. The only thing better than studying this book would be to take his course. I wish I had because I hear Catron's class is excellent. Free of jargon, definite in its clarity of what is stageworthy, its best feature is it makes you write. The chapter on "credo" is alone worth the price of admission. Great for a playwriting class--I always use it in my workshops--and great for do-it-yourself at home. (And I haven't "raved" like this over anything since the premiere of "My Fair Lady"!)

The Best Of Catron
I remain firmly in agreement with my good friends, who wrote the critique below. The very best of Catron's texts, this book inspires immediate enthusiasm and, therefore, interaction with the author. I'll hang onto my original hardcover copy until it turns to dust, and continue to use it while both writing and teaching. An inspired text! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very Recommendable!
"The Good Woman of Sezuan" is my favourite play of Brecht's and I really recommend it to anyone who is interested in german literature and plays. It's also a good one to start if this is your first contact with Bertolt Brecht!

Good book
Well written, talented authors! I really liked it! ... Read more