Terrence McNally: 15 Short Plays

After putting up a trio of shows that just don't quite seem ready for the stage in recent seasons, it is easy to question how Terrence McNally really rose to such a high level of acclaim. Here's your answer. Filled with a variety of works ranging from full-lenght plays like "The Ritz" (which, as I write, is currently enjoying a higly-lauded revival on Broadway with Rosie Perez) and the outstanding two-parter "Bad Habits" to shorter dramatic sketches like the gut-wrenching "Andre's Mother," this compilation reminds us just how good McNally can really be. McNally avoids all of his sentimental tendencies here and presents 15 plays that tickle the funny bone while going for the jugular. If you are not a McNally fan, I would encourage you to read this book and reevaluate your stance. A thouroughly enjoyable read.

"The plays in this collection represent some of my earliest work as well as the most recent. It is good to have them all in print together. I usually think my plays are dead, or at least comatose, unless they are being performed somewhere. But when they're not in print, it's as if they never even existed. Not a good feeling. I can assure you." This quotation comes from Terrence McNally's own preface to this brilliant collection of short plays. I first stumbled across this book in my college library. "Hm. Terrence McNally," I thought. "He's good." Little did I know then that I would be completely overtaken by the LIFE that is in this collection. As a bad, young actor, I am always on the frantic look-out for things that do justice to human nature. I think McNally is capable of just that: doing justice without exploiting. Some of you may recognize McNally's name from some of his more popular plays, perhaps the most popular being "Frankie and Johnny In The Clair De Lune." However, upon reading this book, you will find that McNally's brilliant hand touches all of his work, especially in the brief piece "Andre's Mother." Because of this, this book would be of great aid to actors and directors alike looking for something new and yet somehow familiar to work on. Although McNally himself declares that he hates reading plays, this collection serves a a beautiful piece of literature to not only actors, but even the "traditional reader." I highly recommend this book to any person interested in human nature - why we do what we do, what causes us to do it, and what happens when things don't go our way. As the title suggests, these plays are for actors, but in the grand scheme of things (pardon my cliche, I'm wrapping this up now)these plays are about all of us, for all of us.