Our Town and the Cosmic One-Acts
"Thornton Wilder will survive. . . as long as there are people around who are willing to sit in something called a theater and be reminded of their common humanity." --New York TimesA special edition of Thornton Wilder's beloved masterpiece Our Town, together with three astonishing one-act plays that reach across space and time, redefining what theater can be.An American classic for nearly a century, Our Town, set in the mythical village of Grover's Corners, is the story of a love affair that asks timeless questions about love, life, and death. It explores the relationship between young neighbors George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, then marriage. With poignancy and loving irony, this landmark of world drama, hailed by everyone from Edward Albee to Albert Einstein, shows what it means to appreciate life while we're living it, and considers what awaits us after that.This exclusive edition also includes three of Wilder's acclaimed one-act plays, which he called "cosmic" The Long Christmas Dinner, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, and Pullman Car Hiawatha. Like Our Town, these breathtakingly original works are stripped to their essence, revealing vital truths about life and humanity. As Jeremy McCarter, literary executor of the Wilder Estate, writes in his foreword, "no American dramatist has done a more compact job of placing the minutiae of our daily routines alongside the vast mysteries of existence, and asking us to consider the relationship between them."The Long Christmas Dinner traces ninety years in the life of the Bayard family over the course of a single holiday meal. As generations appear, have children, grow old, and depart, only the audience appreciates what changes and what endures.The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden dramatizes a family's drive across New Jersey to visit their daughter--a simple trip with a devastating twist. Their journey is punctuated by laughter, memories, and little glimpses of everyday life--the fragile joys of being alive.Pullman Car Hiawatha is set aboard a train traveling from New York to Chicago in December 1930. As the diverse band of passengers races across America at night, Wilder takes the audience on a metaphorical journey through time, space, life, and death.These groundbreaking one-act plays were originally published in 1931 and blazed the trail for Our Town seven years later. Published together in this volume, the four masterpieces offer a fresh way to enjoy the singular genius and cosmic imagination of Thornton Wilder.
Native Nation Project
This three-play collection celebrates the vibrancy and vitality of modern Indigenous culture and draw attention to complex issues within the contemporary Native experience. This latest volume from the acclaimed author of The Thanksgiving Play collects a trilogy of plays co-created with Cornerstone Theater Company as well as urban Native artists and culture bearers. In Urban Rez, five interconnected stories depict members of a Native tribe in Los Angeles weighing the pros and cons of federal recognition. Developed through talking circles with Indigenous peoples of Arizona, Native Nation is an immersive theatrical production that seeks to combat the erasure of Native people from wider American culture by telling the story of the land through the eyes of its original people. Created with people of the Lakota and Dakota tribal nations, Wicoun centers on ?ya and their brother Khoskalaka, who are already busy enough raising cousins and siblings while trying to graduate high school. Then the zombies arrive. When ?ya summons a native superhero for help, they set off on a journey across the lands of the Oceti Sakowin. Together, these plays explore a wide range of urgent issues that continue to affect Indigenous communities today, including assimilation, two-spirit identity, food equity, water rights, tribal sovereignty, broken treaties, genocide, and violation of sacred lands. They also celebrate a rich history and essential culture, telling stories by and for Native people.
The Greek Tragedies
Chicago's renowned translations of the greatest surviving plays of ancient Greece, collected into a single volume. Drawn from the authoritative third editions of David Grene and Richmond Lattimore's collections of the complete Greek tragedies, expertly updated by Mark Griffith and Glenn W. Most, this collection brings together seventeen of the greatest surviving plays of ancient Greece. Combining accuracy, poetic immediacy, and clarity of presentation, the masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides have been rendered so compellingly in English that they remain the definitive translations. Each text has been carefully updated to bring it even closer to the ancient Greek original while retaining the vibrancy for which Chicago's versions are famous. Alongside the plays, this edition includes an introduction to the life and work of each tragedian; an introduction to each play offering essential information about its first production, plot, and reception through the centuries; and notes addressing textual uncertainties. Featuring lively translations by eminent classicists and authors including Anne Carson, Robert Fitzgerald, David Grene, Richmond Lattimore, Oliver Taplin, Emily Townsend Vermeule, and Elizabeth Wyckoff, this is an indispensable anthology for any reader of the foundational works of Western drama, art, and life.
Desolation and Decay of Maine
Explores forgotten Maine treasures, buildings, and eerie historical stories.In Desolation and Decay of Maine, Crystal Eastman shares fascinating treasures found in Maine's forests. Born an only child in Maine, she was curious and always asking questions. After spending summers growing up with her grandparents and playing in her grandfather's junk yard, she took to exploring. Eager to learn more about the old way of life, she captured each moment, knowing it wouldn't last. From hand-sewn dolls to a journal from the mid-1800s, Crystal shares with us her exciting journey around Maine.In this book, you'll find a treasure trove of stories and photographs getting to the bottom of some of Maine's mysteries. A lot of these buildings have been torn down, remodeled, or are slowly fading away. The history of these structures is worth noting, as some mistakes should never be repeated. From accidents to the deaths of three children, Crystal shares the rich truths behind Maine's eerie past and some of its darkest secrets.
Forgotten Virginia Volume Volume II
Captures new abandoned and decaying sites across Virginia, preserving their history.In his first book, Forgotten Virginia, Sean Toler photographically documented many of the abandoned places he'd been capturing on camera for nearly a decade. In the years since the publishing of that book, he has been busily travelling the back roads of Virginia hoping to digitally capture many more abandoned and decaying places and things. In fact, he has hundreds of locations that he still wants to visit across the state, marked with little green flags on his Google Maps account.In this second volume you will find new locations not covered in his first book, some of them iconic. He hopes that as you view the photographs and read the accounts in this book, you feel as though you are accompanying him visiting each location. He also hopes that you will gain a new appreciation and reverence for these magnificent edifices scattered across our wonderful Commonwealth that have long since known the everyday presence of those who once lived and/or worked in them.Many of the locations featured in the first book are no longer standing, as well as some that you will see in this book. This is the race against time that all abandonment photographers face, which is why the effort has been made to preserve them digitally for you all to enjoy in this second volume of Forgotten Virginia.
Abandoned Mansions of the Northeast
A celebration and memorial to beautiful, abandoned homes from the Northeastern United States.At what point does a house become a home? Is it simply when we familiarize ourselves with it? Perhaps it's more profound than that.In truth, a house becomes a home when we entrust it with enough memories that it knows us as well as we know it. However, this begs another question: After everyone leaves, and a house no longer has someone to watch over it, does it cease being a home? This question is not so easily answered. Unless, of course, you've personally spent time in an old house, especially one that knew generations of families. If you have, then you know the answer: Once a house becomes a home, it never forgets.This book exists to serve as a celebration and memorial to beautiful, abandoned homes from the Northeastern United States. Some are grand in scope and scale, others intimate and personal, but all are reflections of the families which they once held dear.
Martin Yesterday
At thirty-something, Matt suddenly finds himself looking for more than reckless flings with younger partners—he wants maturity and commitment. He meets Martin Yesterday, a middle-aged city councillor, and his prayer seems to be answered. Martin, however, is not always forthcoming about his private affairs, and holds some very dark secrets.
Oedipus the King, Second Edition
An updated stand-alone edition of Sophocles's Oedipus the King taken from Chicago's renowned translations of the Greek tragedies. Over the years, David Grene and Richmond Lattimore's Complete Greek Tragedies have been the preferred translations of millions of readers--for personal libraries, individual study, and classroom use. Drawn from the authoritative third edition of the University of Chicago Press's classic series, this updated stand-alone edition of Grene's Oedipus the King renders the original Greek in clear, vivid, and poetic English for a new generation to savor. Mark Griffith and Glenn W. Most's introduction to Sophocles's searing tale of jealousy, rage, and revenge provides essential information about the play's first production, plot, and reception in antiquity and beyond.
In Spite of it All
Kevin is a gifted chef and devoted father, battling kidney failure. With only his daughters to keep him grounded, he struggles through many emotions. Just when all seems lost, a young woman brings hope to his life. This book is a tribute to a man who struggled, endured, and inspired. It is also a lifeline for those navigating relational pain, grief, or silent battles- especially men who may not always feel permission to speak their truth. A powerful testament to the beauty of reconciliation, the strength found in vulnerability and the legacy of love that endures beyond goodbye.
The War Rings
Could Marta revisit the tragedy befallen her family? Because telling them meant she would be reliving it all over again.Marta has brought up the three children in Britain, but now she must tell them what happened to their parents. Can she do it? Alida and Dieter's love story is so beautiful despite what was happening in Germany. But Marta also lost her parents and other sister, leaving her the sole survivor in her family. They were all victims of the deadly Nazis as were thousands of people all over Europe.Were they ready for the truth?Based on a true story. A romance that will delight and a world of sorrow.
