Customer Reviews

Oh, Hell!: Two One Act Plays

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I've only actually seen the first one act play in this book performed but it is worth it just to buy it for BOBBY GOULD IN HELL. It is about Bobby Gould, who dies and goes to Hell where he is met by the "Interogator"(either a strange portrayal of the devil, God, a sur-demon, or just some guy who has been put in charge of Hell, I would tend to guess the latter) and his secratarial assistant whom he tries to convince he shouldn't be there (in Hell) and verbal jousting and antics ensue. Eventually Bobby's girlfriend is brought in to act as a sort of witness but she is even crazier than he is. Eventually it leaves you feeling sorry for the initially callous Interogator who gets embeded in a frantic situation with his job just as he is trying to go off and do a little fishing. This is tied in the "funniest thing I have ever seen or read" category with Tom Stoppard's ROSSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD and in my opinion, has reached heights of language-based commedy. CAUTION, if you are not used to having to think about what you read/see performed you may get board and confused. HOWEVER, if you enjoy seeing or reading a piece which has been crafted by a master of words and will surprise you with any number of twists and sudden hilarious confusion on the parts of the characters, then by all means purchase this book. BOBBY GOULD IN HELL, as part of OH HELL! is well worth the low price for which is offered. Also you might check out the aforementioned ROZENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD by Tom Stoppard.

There are two one-act plays in this book... Bobby Gould in Hell by David Mamet. It says that it premiered at the Lincoln Center in December 1989. William H. Macy played the INTERROGATOR. Well, the first review talks a lot about this play. I want to talk to you about the other play... The Devil and Billy Markham by Shel Silverstein. That's right, by the same Shel Silverstein that wrote Where the Sidewalk and Ends and A Light in the Attic. This play is absolutely hillarious. Billy plays a game of chance with the devil... he's has to role a 13 with two dice, which is of course impossible. The first time he loses his life and goes to hell... but the devil offers him a second chance, but this time the stakes are for the lives of his family. He takes the challenge... and you'll have to read it to find out the many twists and turns this play takes us through.

This is a book with two very short one-act plays. "Bobby Gould in Hell" by David Mamet and "The devil and Billy Markham" by Shel Silverstein. Mamet's peace is about Bobby Gould (from "Speed-the-Plow) who is sent somewhere for being bad and is interrogated by a character named "INTERROGATOR".