Signs of Life: Six Comedies of Menace

Product Description Joan Schenkar, widely regarded as America's most original female contemporary playwright, is the author of numerous experimental plays which she refers to as "comedies of menace." Bristling with wit and intelligence, the collection features Signs of Life, Cabin Fever, The Universal Wolf, Burning Desires, The Last of Hitler, and Fulfilling Koch's Postulate. These plays explore issues of feminism and gender politics, history and memory, sexuality and violence, bringing to life such figures as Gertrude Stein and Marlene Dietrich, Hitler and Eva Braun, P. T. Barnum and Henry and Alice James, Claude Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes. Schenkar's charged language and evocative stage directions invite the reader to become both performer and audience, and the experience is enhanced both by richly evocative stage directions and illustrations from productions of the plays. Initially written to be read like novels as well as staged, the plays provide a unique theatrical experience, an experience that can only be accessed by laughter. From Library Journal Originally written to be read as stories, the six plays in this collection reveal the author's talents for language and metaphor as she explores some disturbing aspects of our recent history and culture. In Cabin Fever, cannibalism is used as a metaphor for the devouring nature of idle gossip. The Last Days of Hitler looks at the Holocaust through the eyes of an increasingly Jewish Hitler and Eva Braun. Burning Desires is set in 1950s Seattle, where the chief character, Joan Dark, leads the pyromaniacal Bonfire Girls under the guidance of her spiritual mentors Marlene Dietrich, Emily Bronte, Gertrude Stein, and a closeted Emily Dickinson. Schenkar is widely regarded as America's most original contemporary female playwright. Her combination of surrealism and dark humor will not appeal to everyone, but those who like their comedy with a bite will feast on this title. Recommended for larger modern drama collections.?Howard E. Miller, St. Louis Science Ctr.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From the Publisher 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 trim. 16 illus. LC 97-17910 About the Author Joan Schenkar's plays have been produced in theaters and festivals around the globe and widely reviewed both here and abroad. She has received numerous grants and awards for playwriting and has been guest artist in many colleges and universities throughout the US. Vivian Patraka is Director of the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society at Bowling Green State University, coauthor of Sam Shepard (1985) and coeditor of Feminist Re-Visions (1983).