Desire – Six One-act Plays
by Elizabeth Egloff, Rebecca Gilman, John Guare, David Grimm, Marcus Gardley, Tennessee Williams, Beth Henley

Desire – Six One-act Plays Book Cover
Desire – Six One-act Plays Cover

Synopsis

ATTACK OF THE GIANT TENT WORMS.

Billy and Clara are nearing the end of their summer vacation on Cape Cod, as their cottage is being devoured by billions of tent-worms.

Worse, Billy has just gotten word from his oncologist that there are no more treatmentoptions for his brain cancer.

A darkly humorous exploration of which is more terrifying: bugs or death?

(1 man, 1 woman.) DESIRE QUENCHED BY TOUCH.

In 1950s New Orleans, a black masseur must account for the disappearance of his favorite white customer.

People don't just vanish inside massage parlors... (3 men.) THE FIELD OF BLUE CHILDREN.

Everything in Layley's life is going according to plan.

She belongs to the best sorority at her university and has a devoted boyfriend who could easily become a devotedhusband.

But Layley suspects that there is more to life than stifling conformity.

So she signs up for a poetry class in the hopes of expressing herself.

There she meets Dylan, a sensitive poet with whom she enjoys a night of passion that opens up a trulyrevolutionary prospect: living a life of her own.

(3 men, 4 women.) ORIFLAMME.

Oriflamme (noun): A red or scarlet banner; a knight's standard; a rallying principle.

Sickly Anna Kimball, on her final day, reaches out for, and becomes, all of these.

(1 man, 1 woman.) YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT CENTRALIA.

Jim, the Gentleman Caller, leaves the Wingfields' disastrous dinner party to meet his fiancâee Betty's train.

The evening won't turn out the way either of them expected.

(1 man, 1 woman.) THE RESEMBLANCE BETWEENA VIOLIN CASE AND A COFFIN.

Tom and his sister Roe's childhood comes to a painful end when Richard Miles, who moves in light, arrives in town with his violin in a case.

(2 men, 4 women.).

Press Reviews

"…You can hear Tennessee Williams’s dramatis personae echoing through this evening of one-acts…” —The New Yorker. “[DESIRE] is rife with agonized sexual longing, trembling Southern belles and spasms of violence…Most American playwrights working today owe some debt to Williams; it’s a pleasure, even inspiring, to see six give back."

— Time Out New York

Publication

Year 2017
Binding Paperback
Edition 1st
Pages 97
Place New York]
Language English
ISBN-13 9780822236733
ISBN-10 0822236737
LCC PS626 .D47 2017
DCC 812/.04108

Desire – Six One-act Plays is a American adaptation play written by Elizabeth Egloff and published by Dramatists Play Service in New York] (2017).

Community Reviews

No community reviews yet

Rating

3.3

8 ratings · 12 reviews

Review

Buy Play

Performance Rights

Available for Licensing
Amateur & Professional
Fee: Minimum Fee: $65 per performance

Restrictions: Major Markets Plus (US) / Standard Plus Add'l Postcodes (UK)

Apply for Rights

Similar Plays

Plays with similar themes, style, and content.

More from Elizabeth Egloff

More plays from Elizabeth Egloff that we think you'll enjoy.