Marsha Norman - Marsha Norman Collected Plays

Marsha Norman
Collected Plays

In the absolute truthfulness of her treatment and dialogue, in the unforced poetry of her modern speech, and in her capacity to create major climaxes out of petty quotidian affairs, Miss Norman has followed the path of Chekhov, who believed that the great stakes of modern drama must emerge from under the trivial course of the daily routineI believe Miss Norman, consciously or not, is writing in a great dramatic tradition andhas the potential to preserve and revitalize it. Nothing reinforces ones faith in the power and importance of the theatre more than the emergence of an authentic universal playwrightnot a woman playwright, mind you, not a regional playwright, not an ethnic playwright, but one who speaks to the concerns and experiences of all humankindI have grown convinced that Marsha Norman is the genuine articlean American writer with the courage to look unflinchingly into the black holes from which we normally turn our faces.

Robert Brustein
from Who Needs Theatre

Marsha Norman

Collected Plays

CONTEMPORARY PLAYWRIGHTS SERIES

SK

A Smith and Kraus Book

A Smith and Kraus Book

Published by Smith and Kraus, Inc.

PO Box 127, Lyme, NH 03768

Copyright 1998 by Marsha Norman

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

Cover and Text Design by Julia Hill

First Edition: April 1998

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Third and Oak 1978 by Marsha Norman. The Laundromat 1980

by Marsha Norman. The Pool Hall 1985 by Marsha Norman.

Circus Valentine 1979 by Marsha Norman.

Getting Out 1978 by Marsha Norman, 1979 by Marsha Norman.

The Holdup 1987 by Marsha Norman.

Loving Daniel Boone 1992 by Marsha Norman.

Sarah and Abraham 1988 by Marsha Norman, 1992 by Marsha Norman.

Traveler in the Dark 1984 by Marsha Norman, 1988 by Marsha Norman.

The excerpt from Who Needs Theatre, by Robert Brustein 1987 is reprinted by kind permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-4793.

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that the plays represented in this book are subject to a royalty. They are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproductions such as CD-ROM and CD-I, information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of public readings, permission for which must be secured from the Authors agent, Charmaine Ferenczi, The Tantleff Office, Inc., 375 Greenwich Street, Suite 700, New York, NY 10013.

The stock and amateur production rights in The Laundromat, The Pool Hall, Getting Out, The Holdup, and Traveler in the Dark are controlled exclusively by Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016. No stock or amateur performance of the play may be given without obtaining in advance the written permission of Dramatists Play Service, Inc. and paying the requisite fee. All other inquiries concerning rights should be addressed to the Authors agent.

The Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data

Norman, Marsha.

[Plays. Selections]

Collected plays / Marsha Norman. 1st ed.

p. cm. (Contemporary playwrights series)

Contents: Loving Daniel BooneSarah and AbrahamGetting outThird and oakTraveler in the darkCircus ValentineThe holdup.

ISBN 1-57525-029-2

I. Title. II. Series.

PS3564.0623A6 1997

812'.54dc21 97-7665

CIP

Getting Out

Getting Out was originally produced in November 1977 by Actors Theatre of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky, under the direction of Jon Jory. The original cast was as follows:

The West Coast premiere of Getting Out was produced in 1978 by the Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles, Mark Taper Forum, Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director, under the direction of Mr. Davidson. The cast was as follows:

Originally produced in New York in 1978 by The Phoenix Theatre, under the direction of Jon Jory.

Produced Off-Broadway in 1979 in New York City by Lester Osterman, Lucille Lortel, and Mac Howard, under the direction of Jon Jory. The original cast was as follows:

Getting Out was the co-winner of ATLs Great American Play Contest for 1977, and went on to receive numerous other honors, including the Oppenheimer / Newsday Award, the John Gassner Playwriting Medallion awarded by the Outer Critics Circle, and the American Theatre Critics Association citation as the outstanding new play produced outside of New York during the 197778 season. The following year Getting Out was featured in The Burns Mantle Theatre Yearbook as one of the best plays of the New York season, published by Avon Books, and chosen as a Fireside Book Club Selection.