Synopses & Reviews
As a child, Leah Hager Cohen was fascinated by community theater-its magical pageantry and the complex camaraderie among its small-town adult participants. Twenty years later, Cohen set out to describe what would be an extraordinary year at The Arlington Friends of the Drama, in Boston. The theater had just celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary, amid disputes over structural changes, and was about to hold auditions for its most controversial production, M. Butterfly. Celia, the brilliant, hard-driving director, struggles with the stars of the play; backstage, sets are designed, costumes are created, and the lighting is orchestrated. Chronicling the vibrant process of putting on the production, Cohen creates a poignant portrait of the dynamics that drive American community theater.
About the Author
Leah Hager Cohen is the author of five novels, most recently No Book but the World and The Grief of Others, which was long-listed for the Orange Prize, selected as a New York Times Notable Book, and named one of the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, Kirkus Reviews, and The Globe and Mail. She is also the author of five nonfiction titles, including Train Go Sorry and I Don't Know. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review.