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Signature Theater, Arlington VA

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Dramatic Publishing

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Play/Drama

2

2

4 characters playing multiple roles

Notes: A finalist for the-2002 MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play

Synopsis: A young man attempts to solve the mystery of his grandfather's past through his war diaries, written 60 years ago while he was stationed in Paris during World War Two. Grandfather was a religious and spiritual man, a celebrated novelist and scientistand a Nazi officer. But are his diaries a work of fiction, deliberately calculated to prepare his defense for later generations? Or was he really the enlightened moralist he paints himself to be, an innocent bystander at the scene of a crime? Inspired by the life and journals of German author Ernst Junger (1895-1998). Questions of how and if we can interpret the past are raised in this gripping drama. Single set, multiple locations. Approximate running time: 2 hours.

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2005

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

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Musical

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Notes: book by John Strand, Music/Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa.

Synopsis: about the physician who first treated Van Gogh

The Old Globe, San Diego

2006

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Broadway Play Publishing

2007

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Play/Drama

3

1

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Notes: -

Synopsis: Socially relevant without ever becoming preachy, clever enough to pass for cynical but also so subtly moving that its emotional payoff comes as a surprise, John Strand's new comedy is a political fantasy, a notoriously difficult genre, and it works, presenting politics in our nation's capital with a kind eye for human foibles and an unerring sagacity ... lets us laugh as we begin to grapple with some truly horrifying question ~ Octavio Roca, Miami New Times

Shakespeare Theater, in Washington D.C

2005

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

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Adaptation

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Notes: Original Playwright - Alfred de Musset

Synopsis: a vast fresco of fifteenth century Florence mixing freely a depiction of public life, of court intrigue with intimate scenes and moments of great personal introspection

Arena Stage, Washington, DC

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Dramatic Publishing

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Dramatic Comedy

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4

3

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Notes: 1999 Winner of the Helen Hayes Award - The Charles MacArthur Prize for Outstanding New Play

Synopsis: This "startlingly modern" tale about attempted murder and a woman's revenge concerns a husband who discovers evidence that his wife has been unfaithful. He abandons her on a desert isle, expecting her to die. But she escapes and returns three years later disguised as a man. She manages to have herself appointed judge and promptly brings her husband to trial for the murder of his wife. Calling the play "funny, grim, superb" the Washington Post wrote: "Strand's very free adaptation is like the best comedy, wild yet precise. He's dared to translate Montfleury's 17th-century poetry into 20th-century verse, and the language rollicks along from comic anachronism to melancholy aphorism." Keeping certain conventions of the genre, such as the commedia dell'arte-inspired comedy, the play focuses on the very serious questions of justice and revenge. It features a superb leading-actress breeches role and a coup de théâtre ending. "Darkly hilarious, brightly poetic and emotionally scary," said Washington City Paper." It's easy to imagine Lovers and Executioners having a long life on the repertory circuit in this country and Britain." Single set, two locations.

Arena Stage, Washington, DC

2001

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Dramatic Publishing

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

Comedy

3

3

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Notes: World Premiere

Synopsis: Set in America's early colonial period, Tom Walker is "deep and provocative, smart and funny, finely crafted" (The Washington Post), a tale about one man's journey to hell and back. Tom, a chronically unemployed fiddler, is given the chance of a lifetime to turn his woeful fate around when he meets the devil in a dismal swamp outside Boston. Tom bargains away his soul for riches, and in the process, loses his wife, his friends and all joy in living. When the devil arrives one night to claim Tom's mortal life and send him off to hell, Tom is unexpectedly given another chanceto solve the mystery of this devil's true identity and reclaim his own soul. Full of stunning plot twists, the play offers up "a juicy web of deception and revenge" as we follow Tom's journey through an early American underworld of fugitives and runaways. Critics in Washington and Los Angeles called the play "wily and penetrating, richly entertaining&crowd-pleasing in the best way," "spooky and roaring fun," and "one of those rare experiences in theater, an almost perfect marriage of language and crafta must-see!" (Curtain Up.com) One set, multiple locations. Approximate running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.