Customer Reviews

Playwrights at Work (Modern Library)

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It feels like these playwrights opened up to the interviewer in a big way.

I bought this series of interviews in hopes of discovering more about these playwrights' points of view on writing. I was pleasantly startled to find that their stories were inspiring, as well. As a young playwright, I find the business of theatre rather disheartening. Egos are batted around much like cricket birdies, while fad and fashion dictate what is theatrically acceptable. These playwrights coped with the same obstacles, with great success. I found it interesting that each playwright had his/her own particular challenges to confront, and that one theme, throughout all the interviews, was constant: writing a play is akin to facing one's own soul, and a playwright has to confront the mirror dead-on and keep going.

A wonderful read.

This book is excellent for teachers of theatre, or really for anyone who is interested in the inner workings of a playwright. Its only down-fall is that the playwrights themselves were sometimes less than forth-coming with answers we all want to know: HOW DOES THE PLAY GET ON THE PAGE??? However, it is very interesting in that we get into the heads of some very famous playwrights and shows us a personal side. I could barely put it down because I've read and taught these playwrights for years, but now have personal insight into their work and lives.

I had to read this book for my Playwriting class, and it helped me when I later went on to read each playwright's work. I think that it gives an excellent inside look at these playwrights' lives. It was not the most entertaining, and some interviews seemed to drag on, but for the most part, it gave a very detailed, in-depth look at these playwrights and their work.

Fifteen of the greatest playwrights of the past century hold court in provocative interviews conducted by "The Paris Review" over a 41-year period. Topics range from childhood experience, politics, the writing process, distinctions between playwriting and other writing genres, love relationships, working with directors and actors, publishing, film, theater, television, and attitudes toward their own work as well as the work of other writers. These authors are not only gifted playwrights; they are also master teachers of the human condition and the writing craft. If this list of interviewees does not convince you, nothing will: Thorton Wilder, Lillian Hellman, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Edward Albee, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, John Guare, Sam Shepard, August Wilson, David Mamet, and Wendy Wasserstein. This is a great book.