The Best American Short Plays 2013-2014 takes a look at our changing times. "Uncertain" seems to be the watchword of today's world, full of surprises, shocks, and even a few delights. Uncertainty brings with it fear and insecurity, as well as a nostalgic longing for the good old days. But for some, uncertainty means opportunity, and along with it, the prospect of change for the better. This volume explores various experiences of uncertainty and includes a series of nine plays gathered by Daniel Gallant, entitled Nine Signs of the Times, as well as short plays by Neil LaBute, John Guare, Laura Shaine Cunningham, Daniel F. Levin, Quincy Long, Halley Feiffer, Caridad Svich, Clay McLeod Chapman, Daniel Guyton, John Patrick Bray, Rich Orloff and more. This collection will be complemented by a range of plays from around the country by playwrights likewise observing and digesting the signs of the times. Together the plays of this volume work as a time capsule, capturing the fears and longings of a world on the verge and in the midst of big changes, hopefully for the better, but quite possibly for the worse.
Includes the following plays:
Johnny & Rosie by Quincy Long
The Wet Echo by Clay McLeod Chapman
This Side of New York by Caridad Svich
Alt-Visions, Kiss Before Clouding by Daniel F. Levin
I Didn't Want a Mastodon by Halley Feiffer
iBaby by Laura Shaine Cunningham
Diminished Then Augmented by Daniel Gallant
Old Boyfriend by Neil LeBlute
Between by John Guare
A Match by John Bolen
And Baby Makes Four by Frank Farmer
Angel at My Door by John Franceschini
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Lynne Bolen
Journeys by Austin Peay
Variations on a Composition in Blue by Anne V. Grob