Motifs & Repetitions & Other Plays [Paperback]

C.E. Gatchalian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

A finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, Motifs & Repetitions & Other Plays marks the publishing debut of one of North America's most exciting new playwrights. The title play is a racy, comical, and ultimately shattering portrait of young love; Hands traces the disintegration of a bitter and divided family; Claire is a dark, Sartrean meditation on the brutal power structures in relationships; and Star is a brief but bracing monologue about the nature of obsession. With his minimalist settings and spare, rhythmical dialogue, C. E. Gatchalian creates a dark, claustrophobic world where sex, love and obsession mix to form terrifying realities.Although Gatchalian has been compared to British playwright Sarah Kane and his work bears the imprint of masters like Beckett, Albee and Mamet, the impression left by these plays is that of a writer whose voice is entirely his own.The book includes a foreword by renowned Canadian playwright Bryan Wade.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If a writer expunges demons by putting them down on paper, Gatchalian's soul must now be clean as a whistle." -- The Vancouver Sun, April 29, 1999, Peter Birnie

"Motifs & Repetitions ... is a masterpiece ... each of Gatchalian's words weighs a thousand pounds." -- broken pencil, issue 23, Anna Bowness

"Offers disturbing and unsettling accounts of...aborted...moments of human connection and the physical and mental violence that can ensue." -- rice paper, volume 9.1, Emmanuel Raymundo

About the Author

C. E. Gatchalian is one of North America's most promising young playwrights. His plays have been produced on stage, television and radio. His fiction, non-fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous publications, including MAS-Zine, shampoo, and sub-Terrain. Motifs & Repetitions & Other Plays has been named a finalist for the 2003 Lambda Literary Award.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 125 pages
• Publisher: The Writers' Collective (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932133496
• ISBN-13: 978-1932133493
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,186,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Brooding Drama for the Thinking Reader, December 29, 2004

By 

Ruth Sims - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motifs & Repetitions & Other Plays (Paperback)

C. E. Gatchalian's skill as a playwright is as finely honed as an old-fashioned straight razor in the hand of an old-fashioned barber. If the barber's touch was too heavy, the result would be unpleasant. If the playwright's hand had been even a little too heavy, these plays would have been tilted into farce. Instead, with the sure hand of an artist, this young playwright has created four disturbing works sure to make any reader think.

This little volume contains three one-act plays: "Motifs and Repetitions," "Hands," "Claire," and a monologue, "Star." As with any good drama, the reader is left with more questions than answers.

"Motifs and Repetitions" is a love triangle...or is it? Or is it more about people who think they love other people... but are not even sure they love themselves? Could it be just the emotional confusion of three people who don't really know what they want?

"Hands" is about a dysfunctional family; no question there. And yet, the reader can't help but wonder whether any of the characters truly want the dysfunction to end or whether they are so invested in it that they couldn't handle normalcy. There's a deep sadness to this play. Not entirely because of the loss of physical and visual contact between family members, which is always sad, but also because all emotional contact has been lost as well. Who, you wonder, has rejected whom?

"Claire" is described as a comedy, but don't settle down and expect to laugh. It's comedy only in the sense of being an inverted comedy of the absurdity, basic falseness, and ultimate tragedy in every relationship in the play: gay lovers, straight married couple, a father and young daughter (who is the Claire of the title). It's an emotional kaleidoscope in shades of black shot through with blood red.

"Motifs and Repetitions and Other Plays" is not a book for the faint of heart or for someone looking for light Sunday afternoon reading. C.E. Gatchalian's plays are dark, brooding, and sardonic. And they're dangerous because they make you think. And they take you places in your mind where you might rather not go. But go anyway! It's worth the trip.