Marber Plays: 1: After Miss Julie; Closer; Dealer's Choice (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 1) [Paperback]

Patrick Marber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2004 | Series: Contemporary Dramatists

Marber Plays: 1 brings together three of this award-winning playwright's first plays produced at the National Theatre and the Donmar Warehouse, London.

Dealer's Choice premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London, in 1995 and subsequently transferred to the West End. It won the 1995 Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and, the Writers' Guild for Best West End Play.

'An exceptionally accomplished first play . . . though I know nothing about poker, I testify to the compulsive grip this play exerts and to the accumulation of meanings it ignites in your head.' Financial Times

After Miss Julie relocates August Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888) to an English country house in July 1945. In this radical re-imagining of theatre's first 'naturalistic tragedy' the events of Strindberg's original are transposed to the night of the British Labour Party's 'landslide' election victory.

Closer: 'Love and sex are like politics: it's not what you say that matters, still less what you mean, but what you do. Patrick Marber understands this perfectly, and in Closer he has written one of the best plays of sexual politics in the language: it is right up there with Williams' Streetcar, Mamet's Oleanna, Albee's Virginia Woolf, Pinter's Old Times and Hare's Skylight.' The Sunday Times

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patrick Marber was born in London. His first play, Dealer's Choice, (1995) won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and the Writer's Guild Award for Best West End Play. Closer premiered at the Royal National Theatre in May 1997 and went on to receive many awards. Patrick Marber has also written extensively for television and radio including After Miss Julie (BBC, 1995).

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Methuen Drama (June 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0413774279
• ISBN-13: 978-0413774279
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Buy, September 8, 2005

By 

Adam R. Beauchesne (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marber Plays: 1: After Miss Julie; Closer; Dealer's Choice (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 1) (Paperback)

To be perfectly honest, I bought this book to read "Closer", after having seen the movie, which I loved. It was really intriguing to see a movie based on a play, as an avid theatre-goer. You can tell that the movie was based on a stage production, just because it relies almost entirely on text, as opposed to the other production elements. There are almost no blank spaces of silence in this movie! But that's not why I'm here...the play was every bit as raw and filthy as the movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Marbers other plays, Dealer's Choice and After Miss Julie, were of equal quality, and offered something surprisingly different from his other text (a rarity in today's theatre world). I do suggest reading the book front to back, to get a grasp of his style...the text is so readable (even for people who tend to read only prose).

Dealer's Choice - This play follows several men who meet up to play poker every once in awhile. What should be a simple game between them holds such higher relevance, which we learn as the play progresses. As another reviewer posted before, Marber has mastered time flow with this piece. The characters are believable, and play off of each other with such ease.

After Miss Julie - Being a youngun who hasn't even read the original "Miss Julie", I has reservations that I might not understand the characters or storyline at all in this one. I was proven wrong, of course, as this story of passion and greed jumps off the page and brings you right into the scene. The text is really vivid with this, and carries such an elegant theme to it, which makes the fall of this elegance so much more brutal and fun to read. I love the play on societal differences that this plot brings out, the dominant and the submissive. Very engaging.

Closer - The character work in this is brilliant, as well as the pace. Marber has such remarkable ease with the character interactions, given such a complex and fast moving storyline. There is nothing unneccessary, but it moves along slowly enough for you to grasp every image, and idea. A couple of scenes that were excluded from the movie were a nice surprise, as well as a plot twist at the end that was only suggested in the movie, if that. Never before have I read a scene in a play and felt as though I should read it aloud. Doing so gave me shivers. Brilliant for actors looking for ruthless, energetic text that rolls off the tongue. Though the characters fall is shatttering and devastating, the play is beautiful and satisfying in the end.

Overall, I completely recommend this text, for people just getting into playreading, or avid readers. Can't wait to see more of what Marber can bring to the table.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read!, August 3, 2006

By 

Laney Drake - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marber Plays: 1: After Miss Julie; Closer; Dealer's Choice (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 1) (Paperback)

I must admit I didn't know this play existed until the movie came out. The script does not dissapoint. For those of you that are into intense character development and gritty language - this is for you. Would be great to have for scene work, it includes scenes for 2 men, 2 women, 1 man and 1 woman. No great monologues throughout the entire book though.

5.0 out of 5 stars I love "Closer", February 16, 2006

By 

Julie "book-aholic" (Manhattan Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marber Plays: 1: After Miss Julie; Closer; Dealer's Choice (Contemporary Dramatists) (v. 1) (Paperback)

I have not yet read the other two plays, and I bought this book so I could do just that. However, "Closer" is so captivating to me and so satisfying in its complexity that I feel ok about giving the whole a 5 star rating even before I've read the others. This writer's ability to express the emotional depth of a variety of characters in one play and reveal how they all influence and are influenced by one another makes this a very stimulating read. The movie was wonderful as well. I don't think I like one over the other.