The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays (New Directions Paperbook) - Softcover

Williams, Tennessee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811219208 ISBN 13: 9780811219204

Publisher: New Directions, 2011

Synopsis

A wonderful collection of never-before-collected one-acts: "The peak of my virtuosity was in the one- act plays. Some of which are like firecrackers in a rope" (Tennessee Williams).
Here are portraits of American life during the Great Depression and after, populated by a hopelessly hopeful chorus girl, a munitions manufacturer ensnared in a love triangle, an overconfident mob dandy, a poor couple who quarrel to vanquish despair, a young "spinster" enthralled by the impulse of rebellion, and, in "The Magic Tower," a passionate artist and his wife whose youth and optimism are not enough to protect their "dream marriage." This new volume gathers some of Williams's most exuberant early work and includes one-acts that he would later expand to powerful full-length dramas: "The Pretty Trap," a cheerful take on The Glass Menagerie, and "Interior: Panic," a stunning precursor to A Streetcar Named Desire.

The plays include:
     * At Liberty
     * The Magic Tower
     * Me, Vashya
     * Curtains for the Gentleman
     * In Our Profession
     * Every Twenty Minutes
     * Honor the Living
     * The Case of the Crushed Petunias
     * Moony's Kid Don't Cry
     * The Dark Room
     * The Pretty Trap
     * Interior: Panic
     * Kingdom of Earth
     * I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark on Sundays
     * Some Problems for The Moose Lodge

About this title

About the Author:

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is the acclaimed author of many books of letters, short stories, poems, essays, and a large collection of plays, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Camino Real,Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, The Night of the Iguana, and The Rose Tattoo.

Terrence McNally is the author of a dozen one-acts and over thirty full-length plays. He has been honored with four Tony Awards―for Love! Valour! Compassion!, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, and Ragtime―four Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards, and an Emmy.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1961, Thomas Keith is an editor, as well as production manager and art director, at New Directions Publishing. He lives in New York City.

Review:

"These plays are a welcome addition to the Williams library, and this volume receives them beautifully, with a warm foreword by Terrence McNally, and a brief yet detailed scholarly appendix to each play by Thomas Keith."
                                                                        --Benjamin Morris, Southern Quarterly

"I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark on Sundays (1973) is a mind-bending play-within-a-play that served as a study for the later Vieux Carré."

                                                            --Garrett Eisler, American Theatre Magazine

"These new "fantasies" (as Williams called them) span the arc of his long career, affording a view of his transformation from young neophyte finding his voice to master craftsman at the height of his powers."
                                                                                              --Nick Coccoma, Full Stop

About this edition

• Publisher: New Directions
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0811219208
• ISBN 13: 9780811219204
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Keith Thomas