Am I Blue [Paperback]

Beth Henley (Author), Beth Henley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 30 pages
• Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; First Thus edition (October 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082220021X
• ISBN-13: 978-0822200215
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #742,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Characters, May 4, 2004

By 

Kathryn (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Am I Blue (Paperback)

I have never read a young character with so much personality, quirkiness and truth as Ashbe is at the age of sixteen in "Am I Blue?" If only they would write more characters like this for young actors to perform. I am directing this show for a night of one acts this fall and I envy the girl who gets to play Ashbe. The play itself is strange and wonderful and thought provoking. These characters talk about sex and love and friends and foes and don't make any excuses about it. A true gem.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST CONTEMPORARY PLAY I'VE READ, August 6, 2001

By 

Cassidy (Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Am I Blue (Paperback)

Tom Stoppard and Mamet and Ives are all great. But they can't compete with a woman like Beth Henley when it comes to creating what true art is meant to bring forth: a sense of connection between people, recognizing yourself and others in an indescribable way, and honesty. No pretentious intellectual mindplay. Just beauty and reality. That is what makes Henley so great, but I can't even begin to say why 'Am I blue' is by far her best play, her most beautiful one, and probably the most poignant contemporary play I've read, period. It's a play the audience, regardless of whether you watch a stage production or just read it, can taste. Experiencing this play is like seeing a multitude of colors flowing like music across the page, and in your mind. The two main characters and the relationship they form as a result of a strange meeting in a bar, can only be described as funny and sweet, saying everything about human nature and what we need right there. A underage nuisance harrasing the customers ends up pestering a boy unhappily awaiting a 'date' with a prositute his buddies pushed him into. The characters are different in many aspects of personality and circumstance, but share a loneliness which, of course, connects them together. Henely always has such interesting, seemingly simple yet always complex characters, that often strike one as a bit eccentric; yet by the end of her plays the audience realizes that the characters are no more then themselves and everyone around them. 'Am I blue' flows like a river of reflection and truth, and it is effortless to read because of its understated beauty. That is the key to Beth Henely's plays, subtelty and truth. I think she wrote 'Am I blue' in college; it is fresh and uninhibited as a result. This is a perfect play, if there is such a thing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely losers, May 20, 2002

By 

QTeacher "qteacher" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Am I Blue (Paperback)

Henley's gift is her pure love for her misfit characters. She writes with compassion and honesty about lovely, misbegotten outcasts. "Ashbe" in "Am I Blue" is the quintessential Henley character and it's impossible to read or see the play without loving her. I've directed the show, and spent the whole production period crazy about her. One of my favorite plays by one of my favorite writers.