Plays in One Act

A dazzling collection and already a standard reference for those interested in contemporary drama, Plays in One Act is a unique compilation of plays and monologues that showcases a stunning and diverse array of work from some of the most important voices in theater.

Forty-three modern works are collected here: from plays by important contemporary artists such as David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, Sam Shepard, María Irene Fornés, and John Guare, to gems by masters like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Leading British playwrights -- Tom Stoppard, David Hare, and John Osborne -- are also featured, along with the international voices of Václav Hacel and Kobo Abe, and works by such established writers as Eudora Welty and Joyce Carol Oates, who are writing outside their traditional genres.

A dazzling collection and already a standard reference for those interested in contemporary drama, Plays in One Act is a unique compilation of plays and monologues that showcases a stunning and diverse array of work from some of the most important voices in theater.

Forty-three modern works are collected here: from plays by important contemporary artists such as David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, Sam Shepard, and John Guare, to gems by masters like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and newer talents like Carol S. Lashof and Perry Souchuk. Leading British playwrights -- Tom Stoppard, David Hare, and John Osborne -- are also featured, along with the international voices of Václav Hacel and Kobo Abe, and works by such established wtiters as Eudora welty, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Ford, and Garrison Keilor, who are writing outside their traditional genres.

"The American one-act is alive and well and living in this wonderful collection. These plays reveal a diversity of voices, subjects, and characters, but most important, the limitless possibilities of what can happen on stage in one act. This collection is exhilarating for both writers and readers." - Wendy Wasserstein

"This volume celebrates the play as an act of 'recorded' literature, to be performed, yes, but to be read at leisure, thought over, reconsidered without a second and third price of admission." - from the Preface