Amy's View: A Play in Four Acts [Paperback]

David Hare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999 | ISBN-10: 0573627002 | ISBN-13: 978-0573627002

1979. Esme Allen is a well-known West End actress at just the moment when the West End is ceasing to offer actors a regular way of life. The visit of her young daughter, Amy, with a new boyfriend sets in train a series of events which only find their shape sixteen years later.

David Hare's new play, which mixes love, death, and the theatre in a heady and original way, was sold out at the National Theatre, and transferred to the West End in January 1998.

This is the definitive version of Amy's View.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

David Hare's masterpiece."--Daily Mail

"A diffuse, incisive, funny, moving, difficult, fascinating play...A major dramatist has written a strong, rich play."--The Times

"Above all else, Amy's View offers the sheer exhilaration of watching a major dramatist writing for the theatre he loves at the very height of his powers."--Daily Express

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

David Hare was born in Sussex, England in 1947. His first play, Slag, was produced in 1970. His other works include Plenty (1978), A Map of the World (1983), and Pravda (1985). A founder of the Portable Theatre and the Joint Stock, he became resident dramatist and literary manager of the Royal Court Theatre, London (1967–71), and at the Nottingham Playhouse (1973). Until recently, Hare served as director of the National Theatre, London. In 1982, Hare founded a film company, Greenpoint Films. He has written several screenplays including Plenty (1985), Weatherby (1985), Strapless (1989), and Damage (1992). Several of his best-known plays, The Secret Rapture, Racing Demon, Skylight, The Judas Kiss, Via Dolorosa and Amy's View have been presented on Broadway.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: Samuel French Inc Plays (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0573627002
• ISBN-13: 978-0573627002
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,041,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love, betrayal, and the theatre all come together, August 7, 2000

By 

Bryan R. Rousseau - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amy's View: A Play (Paperback)

David Hare's Amy's View is a startling new play. Rich, funny, sad, absurd, and thought-provoking, Amy's View leaves the reader or audience member clamoring for more. Hare presents fascinating characters in Esme Allen, a famous West End actress; her daughter Amy, who's famous "view" is that love conquers all; her boyfriend and soon to be husband Dominic, a cultural monolith; and Frank, a devoted companion of Esme's who's actions have devastating consequences in all of their lives. This play meshes love and betrayal with the question of whether the theatre is relevant in society anymore. The reader will be astonished. But being lucky enough to see this play performed on Broadway with Judi Dench as Esme, I love this play that much more.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Hare's second--and best--Jim and Tim play., July 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Amy's View: A Play (Paperback)

Hare refers to the chamber pieces written after his monumental trilogy as "Jim and Tim" plays--theatre with few techincal marvels, conflicts based on personal relationships and not external struggles, and, most importantly, a sense of character specificity not found in the archetypes of Susan Traherne and Isobel Glass. "Amy's View" is his second of these smaller plays, and it is the best of the three he has written so far.

As in his first Jim and Tim play, "Skylight", the characters are not politicians and public figures but ordinary Britons with neighbors, lovers and family. But unlike "Skylight", which examined only one theme, "Amy's View" uses its smallness to raise big issues. The piece is a play about grief and happiness, familial relations, and the price of compassion. It's about the role of the theatre, both as an artform and in modern life. It's about having money and not wanting it, wanting money and not having it, and the ultimate inability to know your life.

And, of course, the play resonates with Hare's exquisite dialogue, making "Amy's View" a masterpiece of langauge and well as of stagecraft. It is without question Hare's greatest chamber play, and in parts it even reaches the heights of his two seminal works, "Plenty" and "The Secret Rapture".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best in Intimate Theater, February 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Amy's View: A Play in Four Acts (Paperback)

David Hare's play is a wonderful look at relationships against the back drop of the 1980s and 1990s London art scene. The tensions of Mother-Daughter relationships forms the core of this play. Other family relationships crackle with the same intensity leaping off the page. The role of Esme is one of the few excellent female lead roles available today - strong, vibrant, sharp tongued and opinionated Esme showcases the broad spectrum of emotions women have between themselves, their children, in-laws, lovers and coworkers.

This book is a terrific reminder of an excellent theater production, reading it won't spoil the play a bit!