War and Four Other Plays

THE STORIES: WAR. Two actors, one young, one old, and a bizarre lady, engage in a series of fantasy-like improvisations, articulating the relentless war that humankind is doomed to wage against harsh reality and the inexorable passage of time. (2 men, 1 woman,) WHERE IS DE QUEEN? A brilliant, haunting, and strikingly imaginative play, which illuminates the shadowy reaches of a man's dream-taking place in that brief but timeless moment between sleep and sudden wakefulness. (5 men, 4 women.) ALMOST LIKE BEING. A delightfully acerbic spoof of the unreal world of show business and the fraudulent sentiment from which it is contrived. Successfully produced on the National Educational Television Network. (3 men, 2 women.) THE HUNTER AND THE BIRD. Humorous, fantastic, and yet telling in its perceptions, this brief but arresting exercise in absurdist style delights and intrigues both by what is said and what is left unsaid. (1 man, 1 woman.) I'M REALLY HERE. Gay Paris, a young American tourist, a dashing Italian guide, and romance-all handled with a marvelously stylized tongue-in-cheek approach which treats the play as if it were a movie being filmed. (1 man, 1 woman.)Van Itallie, Jean-Claude is the author of 'War and Four Other Plays ', published 1967 under ISBN 9780822212027 and ISBN 0822212021.