Almost an Evening
by Ethan Coen

Name: Almost an Evening
Brand: Ethan Coen
SKU: 9780822224228
Rating: 3.49 (2 reviews)

Almost an Evening Book Cover — Almost an Evening Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

One Act45 minsUnit Set/Multiple SettingsComedy

What readers are saying

Readers find the play an engaging collection of absurd sketches that explore deep themes with a humorous touch. Many appreciate Ethan Coen's distinct style and clever writing, noting that the individual plays vary in quality but maintain an entertaining vibe. Some feel the works read better than they play out, however, leading to mixed reactions concerning their impact.

Engaging and quirky humorClever exploration of themesQuick and fun to readSome sketches feel half-finishedMixed quality among plays

Synopsis

THE STORY: In ALMOST AN EVENING three short plays unsuccessfully tackle important questions.

In Waiting , someone waits somewhere for quite some time.

In Four Benches , a voyage to self-discovery takes a British intelligence agent to steam baths in New York and Texas, and to park benches in the U.S. and U.K.

In Debate , cosmic questions are taken up.

Not much is learned.

Press Reviews

"With their macabre humor and dark sense of irony, the Coen Brothers' films offer a distinctively skewed view of Americana, appropriating genres from screwball to noir to convey a bizarre world in which heinous things happen. A similarly twisted perspective—and a reference frame ranging from Beckett to Mamet—is applied in Ethan Coen's first solo work for the theater, ALMOST AN EVENING, three short plays that swap planet U.S.A. for a more abstract universe in which philosophical, existential and metaphysical questions bounce around."
— Variety