Kirjahaku

This collection contains three full-length plays: TAPE, THE TRANSPARENCY OF VAL, and GEOMETRY OF FIRE. "When it comes to reminding us just why we leave our homes on a cold winter's night and seek the special joys of a live theatrical performance, playwright Stephen Belber has the big boys beat."Wall Street Journal "Mamet is angry and has a point of view-two points of view, really-while Belber's subject is points of view."Roger Ebert "Belber favors fast-talkers who use chitchat, digression and eloquent bluster to maneuver their way out of tricky situations. ...Like any good playwright, he is less interested in determining what's real than in exploring what makes solid fiction."Time Out

"What does it take to become a charismatic spiritual leader, one who has people questioning and empowering their own faith? Is it possible in our media soaked society to grab the attention of millions of people simply by speaking your mind and sharing your faith, ultimately proving the power of positive thinking? In...the complicated and timely play THE POWER OF DUFF by Stephen Belber, TV anchor Charlie Duff begins to sign-off each Rochester news broadcast with a prayer from his heart about a situation in his own life. His co-workers react negatively, but when a growing crowd of believers becomes glued to their TV sets wondering when their prayers will be answered, the jump in ratings quickly changes the minds of his co-anchors Sue Raspell, sports co-anchor John Ebbs, and sufficiently slimy station boss Scott Zoellner. The play is ultimately about a person who is fundamentally ambivalent about religion, even about spirituality-who undergoes an emotional transformation, which in turn leads him to a position of being a suddenly looked-to spiritual leader even as his ambivalence continues. But what his on-air prayers do-and don't do-to those closest to Duff tests the news anchor's own beliefs. Can he inspire others to help each other when he has trouble doing just that in his own life? Stephen Belber's sharp new play asks if there is anything more vital than the faith we have in ourselves and one another.... Playwright Stephen Belber 's]... ability to look inside the hearts and souls of his characters always shines through even the most difficult situations. You will walk out questioning your own life and how you can change it for the betterment of yourself as well as all around you."Shari Barrett, broadwayworld.com

The story of a younger generation grappling with the actions and inactions of those who came before. When Beau, a directionless 19 year-old, discovers that his mother was involved in a decade-old unsolved crime during her time as a military contractor, he seeks out the Afghan victim's daughter in California. As the web of the past widens, we see how a single, largely forgotten evening is still affecting people-and politics-throughout the country and world. A series about how people move forward when the past refuses to fade. "Rather than sensationally ripped from the headlines, the play's dilemmas grow organically. And then there's a strong post-play half-life, leaving you debating your emotional allegiances. Although figuring out what happened provides the machinery of the plot, WE ARE AMONG US isn't exactly a mystery. It's more about figuring out its people, including the "us" of the title. Its half-life is vivid, like that of war, where figuring out the facts can't remotely relieve the pain.... It's remarkable how this seemingly predictable small play becomes big and how quickly it forced me to invest in its three central characters. This is even though (this is at the heart of the play's power) it's a zero-sum story where what we wish for each character complicates what we can wish for the others. No, make that a negative-sum story in which each revelation further contracts the options. We're forced into a pattern of tightening choices, just as the people the play dramatizes."Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A beautifully crafted play from the American playwright, author of Tape and associate writer of The Laramie Project, whose events are echoed in this play. Twenty-four years ago, the future was going to be different. Molly was going to be happy; older and smarter and married with kids. Ray was going to be a heart surgeon. When they meet again, by chance – she divorced and childless; he a caretaker and gardener – they discover that their lives are even further from that future than they could have imagined. Steeped in both regret and possibility, Dusk Rings A Bell is about the difficulty of taking responsibility for our choices, and how life will make them for us, if we're not careful. Stephen Belber's play Dusk Rings A Bell was first staged by Atlantic Theater Company in New York in 2010. It had its UK premiere at HighTide Festival in Suffolk in 2011.

An unsettling and unpredictable drama about the love-hate chemistry that endures between friends, filmed by Richard Linklater in 2001 with Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard. Three friends from high school revisit a shocking event that occurred ten years before. Ruthless accusations, festering resentment and unresolved sexual jealousies are exposed. Stephen Belber's play Tape was first produced at the Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the 2000 Humana Festival of New American Plays. It had its UK premiere at Soho Theatre, London, in 2003.