Spanning a quarter of a century, this collection of plays demonstrates author Jeffrey Sweet’s eye for the drama of human relationships. Sweet works with sensitivity and irony to confront both personal politics and the impact of historical change. These nine works, taken together, present a playwright who extends the struggles of his small circles of characters to his audience and humanity in general.
The title work, first mounted in 1982, is a comedy-drama about the aftermath of the blacklist whose continued relevance makes it a frequently produced play today. The family drama Porch suggests larger social changes through the interaction of a small-town shopkeeper and his defiant daughter. The lauded American Enterprise, set in the Chicago of the robber barons, is a song-filled true story about a millionaire whose stubborn idealism leads to disaster. Stay Till Morning is a rueful comedy about sex and accommodation in the Florida Keys. The three plays that grew out of his fascination with the effects of World War II—Berlin ’45, Court-Martial at Fort Devens, and The Action Against Sol Schumann—dramatize the ways in which that conflict transformed private fates. Each script is accompanied by an extended introduction from the playwright as well as complete performance notes.
"I read a lot of plays, but these are rare: ballsy, surprising, and, most of all, funny. . . . These plays are eminently producible and alive."—Mike Nichols
"Jeffrey Sweet is not only a gifted writer, he is a protean chronicler of our times. His characters are complex, yet identifiable; his stories are moving, and provocative. Thank god we now have all these enlightening, entertaining plays within easy reach."—Tom Fontana
“Like Shaw and Ibsen, Jeff Sweet is a moralist who uses the dramatic form to explore crucial decisions we face at critical junctures. . . Sometimes humorous, sometimes achingly painful, these are authentic people caught at a crossroad, and that makes for damn good drama.”—Marshall W. Mason, author of Creating Life on Stage
About the Author
In addition to his many plays, Jeffrey Sweet is the author of The Dramatist’s Toolkit, Solving Your Script, and The Second City oral history Something Wonderful Right Away. He is a playwright-in-residence at the Victory Gardens Theater and past winner of the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, the Outer Circle Critics Award, and others. He lives in New York City.
Product Details
Paperback: 578 pages
Publisher: Northwestern University Press; 1 edition (May 14, 2008)
Aside from writing scripts (plays, musicals, TV stuff, the odd screenplay), I write about writing, teach writing, run workshops in improvisation, occasionally direct, and sometimes perform. It is my great pleasure to serve on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, to be resident playwright of the Victory Gardens Theatre of Chicago, to be a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and to be an alum of New Dramatists. I live in New York, but frequently travel to participate in productions of my stuff or to teach guest workshops at universities and professional schools.
This review is from: The Value of Names and Other Plays (Paperback)
This is a terrific play and I've actually even seen it performed to wonderful effect. I like this play so much I once tried to produce it myself off Broadway!
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This review is from: The Value of Names and Other Plays (Paperback)
Here's solid writing, dramas and comedies that are not only finely wrought, they're pretty darned entertaining to boot. There's a range of material and styles, but more importantly it's a diverse collection of ruminations on the human condition that are often surprisingly original and always compelling. And if you've ever felt that reading plays is a pointless occupation, that you need actors to warm up those cold words on the page, be advised, you won't feel that way here, not with all that lively, bouncy, in-your-face confrontational prose parading along.
You're in for a treat.
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