Mr. Peters' Connections - Acting Edition [Paperback]

Arthur Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0822216876 | ISBN-13: 978-0822216872

Produced in May 1998 in New York and starring Peter Falk, Mr. Peters' Connections takes place, in Miller's own words, in "that suspended state of consciousness when the mind is freed to roam from real memories to conjectures, from trivialities to tragic insights, from terror of death to glorying in one's being alive." Within the confines of his mind, Mr. Peters interacts with the living members of his family and his long-deceased brother and lover, as well as the imaginary Adele, a black bag lady, who is a figment of Peters' imagination and one of Miller's most original characters. "A work of rare honesty and dignity" (Fintan O'Toole, New York Daily News), Mr. Peters' Connections uncoils with ferocious, life-affirming intensity.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

At the age of 84, 50 years after he received the Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman, Miller remains the premiere living American dramatist and one of the three or four greatest of this century. This play, which debuted Off Broadway last year with Peter Falk in the title role, is Miller's strongest play in 30 years. Effectively using absurdist techniques, Miller places Mr. Peters, a retired pilot, in an abandoned bar, where he encounters his deceased brother, an ex-lover and the man he imagines she might have married had she lived, his daughter and her boyfriend, his wife, and a bag lady who, like most of the other characters, may be a figment of Peters's imagination. With all of them, he seeks connection and, if possible, an answer to the question, "What is the subject?"Aor, indeed, whether we even need a subject any longer. These existential questions are old ones; Miller gives them stunning dramatic shape and force. Essential for all American literature collections.ARobert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Often called a naturalist, Miller yet writes plays that are as much about dreams and people lost in them as about reality. Half of Willy Loman's tragedy in Death of a Salesman is that he hasn't lived in the real world in decades. Even The Crucible, while grounded in the historic colonial Massachusetts, focuses on mass hallucination. Rarely, however, does Miller allow the dream world to invade a play as completely as in this extended one-act set entirely in the mind of snoozing Mr. Peters. It develops like some fevered dream, with long-dead relatives popping in for short visits and people making the most extravagant demands. Sections of it seem like outtakes from earlier Miller plays, especially--in a sequence featuring the protagonist's Marilyn Monroe^-like significant other, who ignites the libido of every man she meets--After the Fall. More often, it seems more like something from Edward Albee's zoo, which is no bad thing. It is fascinating to see America's greatest living playwright at work in a totally surreal world. Jack Helbig --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc. (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822216876
• ISBN-13: 978-0822216872
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. He was awarded the Avery Hopwood Award for Playwrighting at University of Michigan in 1936. He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Algur Meadows Award. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and was awarded the Prix Moliere of the French theatre, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pulitzer Prize, as well as numerous other awards. He was named the Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2001. He was awarded the 2002 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters and the 2003 Jerusalem Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Peters' Dream, August 2, 2006

By 

JMack (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Mr. Peters' Connections (Plays, Penguin) (Paperback)

Arthur Miller is arguably the greatest American playwright. In his later years, Miller wrote less publicized works that seemed to reflect a sense of lament in old age. This particular play fits that standard.

Mr. Peters is caught in an apparent dream in which he is unsure if he or others are awake. In the dream, he encounters his wife, his daughter, his daughter's boyfriend, as well as his long dead brother and mistress. Adele, a seemingly unimportant background character, represents the darker fringes of the big city the characters inhabit. Mr. Peters is caught between the past and the present in his explorations of his feelings and actions of the past. The story ends on a rather uncomfortble note as the husband of his mistress apparently discovers her infidelity. Which leads Peters to turn to his daughter who is apparently unsure of the father of her baby and console her. This brings to mind the haunting line from page 26, "A man who betrays his wife will betray his country.

The story is strange at times yet is very witty about the evolution of society. There are some great one-liners in this brief tale. Miller fans are certain to enjoy this oddity.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hello!, November 13, 2000

By 

Reet Kaasik (Country: Estonia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Peters' Connections (Plays, Penguin) (Paperback)

I haven't read this book,would You please help me buy one!!!