The Signet Book of Short Plays

A new collection: 12 short plays by Tennessee Williams, Horton Foote, Wendy Wasserstein, and more.

This introduction to the ever-evolving tradition of American theater includes works from Kia Corthron, Daisy Foote, Horton Foote, Susan Glaspell, Greg Gunning, David Ives, William Saroyan, Shel Silverstein, Gore Vidal, Wendy Wasserstein, Thornton Wilder, and Tennessee Williams.

 

The Signet Book of Short PlaysAcknowledgments
Introduction

Life by Asphyxiation
by Kia Corthron

Farley and Betsey
by Daisy Foote

Blind Date
by Horton Foote

Suppressed Desires: A Comedy
by Susan Glaspell in collaboration with George Cram Cook

Lily's Crossing
A one-act play based on the book by Patricia Reilly Giff
Adapted by Greg Gunning

Variations on the Death of Trotsky
by David Ives

Coming Through the Rye
by William Saroyan

No Skronking
by Shel Silverstein

Visit to a Small Planet
by Gore Vidal

Tender Offer
by Wendy Wasserstein

The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden
by Thornton Wilder

The Case of the Crushed Petunias: A Lyrical Fantasy
by Tennessee Williams

Playwright Biographies

M. Jerry Weiss is the Distinguished Service Professor of Communications emeritus at New Jersey City University. He is the author or editor of numerous works on literature and education, including Lost and Found: Award-Winning Authors Sharing Real-Life Experiences through Fiction with Helen Weiss. They live in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.