A Fair Country [Paperback]

Jon Robin Baitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1996

The newest play by the author of Substance of Fire.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In A Fair Country Jon Robin Baitz returns to his most familiar and strongest territory, a family in a moral quandary in a foreign land. Here we have a career American diplomat writhing to escape his posting to 1980s sub-Saharan Africa. Worse yet is the plight of his wife and two grown boys who must live in a Twilight Zone between black and white, liberal and conservative, American and foreign, in late apartheid-era South Africa. To liberate them, the father cuts a moral corner or two--resulting in a death or two--and the family can never be the same, no matter where they run. Baitz is wise in the ways of how the most familiar people can be the most alien, and vice versa.

From Library Journal

This highly effective production, performed before a studio audience, is well done, complete with excellent sound effects and music. Emotions and interactions among characters come through much more than in the usual audiobook with a single reader. The play deals with the dysfunctional family of an American diplomat who have moved from apartheid South Africa to the Hague, in part to maintain stability. There's quite a lot here in just 95 minutes, and it's not at all difficult to give this a rave review and call for more of the same. Highly recommended; strong purchases from the library community may encourage the producer to enhance this excellent enterprise with more new plays and adaptations.ACliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group; 1st edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559361271
• ISBN-13: 978-1559361279
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, March 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Fair Country (Paperback)

A FAIR COUNTRY is the sort of play that you find yourself coming back to for repeated readings. I've never seen the play produced but I have read it numerous times. Each time I think to myself how the play isn't really exceptionally well written at all, but somehow incredibly moving and relevant. In other words, its content far surpasses its form. Worth reading though, as it is a major step in the career of a major dramatist.