Synopses & Reviews
Craig Wright is one of the most widely produced, consistently entertaining playwrights of his generation. The three plays gathered in this volumeandmdash;Melissa Arctic (winner of the 2005 Helen Hayes Award), Orange Flower Water, and The Pavilionandmdash;are all set in the fictional town of Pine City, Minnesota. The plays share a focus on love and relationships and feature a consistent undercurrent of observation and speculation about the nature of time. Melissa Arctic brings Shakespeareandrsquo;s The Winterandrsquo;s Tale into the present, retaining the originalandrsquo;s captivating mix of the comic and tragic. A brutally frank exploration of marriage, Orange Flower Water examines the irresistible lure and poisonous effects of unrealistic expectations within love, and portrays the inescapably compromised contours of relationships founded on adultery. The Pavilion, a lyrical and rueful homage to Our Town, is a meditation on dashed dreams and unquenchable hopes, set at a twenty-year high school reunion. In all three plays, Wright shows himself to be one of the most perceptive and engaging playwrights working today.
Review
andldquo;Masterly, affectionate.andrdquo; andmdash;New York Times on Melissa Arctic
Review
andldquo;Wrightandrsquo;s poetic exploration of the hope and pain of first love lifts this gentle work to soaring heights.andrdquo;
andmdash;Time Out New York on The Pavilion
Review
andldquo;Homes in on seemingly mundane behavior and then shocks us by revealing it in its most intimate, corrupting detail . . . the battles waged by the husbands and wives have a reality and depth far more lethal than the verbally polished outpourings of Edward Albeeandrsquo;s married couples.andrdquo;
andmdash;Chicago Sun-Times on Orange Flower Water
Synopsis
The three plays in this volume and#8211;Melissa Arctic, and Orange Flower Water, and The Pavilion and#8211; are all set in the fictional town of Pine City, Minnesota. As the name suggests, these plays share a focus on love and relationships and feature a consistent undercurrent of observation and speculation about the nature of time.
About the Author
Craig Wrightandrsquo;s other plays include Recent Tragic Events, Mollyandrsquo;s Delicious, Mistakes Were Made, and The Unseen. His plays have been produced at theaters around the country, including Barrow Street Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, and Steppenwolf. His work as a television writer and producer includes Six Feet Under (for which he reandshy;ceived an Emmy nomination), Lost, Brothers and Sisters, and Dirty Sexy Money. He is an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Jane Hamilton
Melissa Arctic
Orange Flower Water
The Pavilion
"Down in the Ruined World"and#160;sheet music