Lonely Planet - Acting Edition [Paperback]

Steven Dietz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

This compassionate play reveals friendship and fear in the age of AIDS. Jody is in his forties and runs a map store. Not one for the outside world, he stays in his store all the time. His friend, Carl is in his late thirties and has been bringing chairs of dead friends into Jody's store and leaving them there. When Jody needs to take an AIDS test, Carl tries to convince him it is not only okay to leave the store, but also that he must take responsibility for his life. If he doesn't, he will join the set of chairs that Carl has taken great pains to place in the right spots around the store. Jody finally leaves the map store to take his HIV test and return to find Carl sitting in a chair of his own. With this gesture, we know that Carl has joined the many of their friends who have died, but now Jody must take Carl's place as the caretaker.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc. (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822214040
• ISBN-13: 978-0822214045
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Friendship has a strong pull on this "Lonely Planet.", April 20, 2004

By 

"a_different_steve" (Lafayette, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet - Acting Edition (Paperback)

Steven Dietz' "Lonely Planet" is a two-character, two-act play in which the bonds of friendship between two gay men are stretched, snapped, reformed, and revisited in the setting of a map shop in an unnamed American city. While the plot is sparse, the depth of the characters enriches the play and keeps its themes relevant, regardless of the era.

The two characters, a frenetic 30-something named Carl and a subdued 40-year-old named Jody, are developed wonderfully through Dietz' language. The characters often break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience during their monologues, which increases the intimacy of the play. Their dialogue crackles with humor, anger, disillusionment, and empathy. In the beginning, Carl's quirks make him seem the more desperate of the two characters, but Dietz gradually shifts the focus onto Jody's foibles and insecurities.

"Lonely Planet" isn't heavy on plot; there's plenty of activity throughout the play, but the central action that drives the play to its end unfurls slowly, and with care. Nothing is rushed in Dietz' script, everything is laid out with a purpose, and the result is one of the most emotional endings I've read.

While "Lonely Planet" is a wonderful read, plays are meant to be performed and viewed; I saw a production in Springfield, Missouri, a few years ago and was pleased that the tense moments and humorous moments and heartbreaking moments were even more pronounced onstage. Readers will no doubt discover wonderful language in the script, but watching a production will make for an even richer experience.

Steven Dietz' "Lonely Planet" should attract a wide range of readers, audiences, and actors because its characters are fully developed with human foibles of insecurity and anger, and the emotions it pulls from the audience and readers run a tremendously wide range. It is also more than a play about AIDS, or any disease: it is a humane work about friendship and the moments that test and strengthen that bond.<P(...)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic and Brilliant, June 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet - Acting Edition (Paperback)

I read this play a several years ago, before it was really published, and then acted it out competitively for audiences, winning a state championship with the sheer tragedy and beauty of this wonderful and heartrending story. I recommend this play to anyone who enjoys a play that both tears your heart apart and sews it back together in one sitting. Absolutely magnificent!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars forget Angels in America, August 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet - Acting Edition (Paperback)

Everyone raves and raves about Angels in America, and with some justification; it is a very good play. But if you are looking for a truly emotionally wrenching, hilariously tragic and genuine look at the AIDS epidemic, then don't bother Kushner. Dietz's Lonely Planet is one of the most honest and touching plays I've ever read. In fact, reading the last act alone will make me cry. The characters are so well crafted and their relationship so real that the course of the narrative is profoundly affecting. Please read it. Please get someone to start printing it again. This is a work that should not be lost.