First Star & the Railing (Estreno Contemporary Spanish Plays, 19) (Contemporary Spanish Plays Series Vol. 19) - Softcover

Paloma Pedrero; Rick Hite (translator)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1888463112 ISBN 13: 9781888463118

Publisher: Estreno Plays, 2001

Synopsis

Two plays are included in this volume: First Star and The Railing. First Star is a riveting drama of discovery and recovery. Estelle, a successful novelist, goes to a seedy bar with the intention of gathering material for her next book. In a smoke-filled bar populated by raudy men playing poker, she bumps into Juan Dominguez, her father's old drinking and gambling buddy. Together they tiptoe through the minefields of a dark past littered with broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. It is a difficult journey that threatens to open old wounds but ultimately heals the soul. The Railing is a tender story of a poor and handicapped elderly couple stranded in their upper floor apartment for many years due to the landlady's refusal to install a handrail on the staircase. Once discovered by the media, their plight becomes a reality T.V. frenzy. This bittersweet social satire uncovers media exploitation but at the same time, recovers priceless human dignity.

About this title

About the Author

Paloma Pedrero (b. 1957-) is one of Spain's most recognizable playwrights not only in her native country but also in Latin America, Europe and the United States. She has authored more than two dozen plays, the majority of which have been widely translated and staged.

Reviews

Written by Spain's leading contemporary woman playwright, these two short plays, expertly translated by Hite, feature complex and richly drawn characters in dramatic, seriocomic situations. With Parting Gestures with a Night on the Subway (LJ 11/15/99), the publisher has already offered several of Pedrero's works to U.S. readers; here we are given some of her more recent efforts. First Star introduces us to Estrella, a novelist seeking to understand her dead father and her own love/hate relationship with him. The Railing looks at the plight of an elderly man who is confined to his second-floor room for nine years after his landlady refuses to install a stair rail and what happens to him and his dutiful wife when an exploitative TV reporter offers to help them. Both plays successfully blend pathos and humor. Highly recommended for contemporary drama collections. Howard E. Miller, St. Louis
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Estreno Plays
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1888463112
• ISBN 13: 9781888463118
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 59
• Editor: Phyllis Zatlin