The Black Comedy of John Guare by Gene A. Plunka (review)

Reviews American Judaism. The work sometimes indulgently fawns over its subject, with repeated descriptions of the plays as "masterful" (64,169) and "poignant" (229), filled with "rapier wit" (123) and "stunning images and radiant poetry" (228), and "[riveting] our attention" (304), but these occasional excesses are easily forgiven in view of the book's mighty virtues. Looking at Mamet through the lens of Judaism provides an original and compelling analysis, one that will cast its influence on directors and scholars alike. GENE A. PLUNKA. The Black Comedy ofJohn Guare. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002. Pp. 289. $45.00 (Hb). . Reviewed by Tice L. Miller, University ofNebraska-Lincoln As I write this review, two of John Guare's dramatic efforts (the book for the musical Sweet Smell of Success and his play A Few Stout Individuals) are running in New York; thus it is hard to fault him for a lack of industriousness. Since the late 1960s he has contributed a large body of work to the American theatre, including one-acts, full-length plays, adaptations, musicals, and even an attempt at opera. His short plays have been favorites at fringe and college theatres, and two of his full-length works - The House ofBlue Leaves and Six Degrees ofSeparation - are regularly revived internationally. I was introduced to Guare in the early 1970s, when I viewed a production of The House ofBlue Leaves. Bored with realistic drama, I took a liking immediately to the rather bizarre qualities of his plays. His unconventional style was fresh, innovative, surprising. When I had the opportunity to direct Six Degrees ofSeparation in '997, I learned how well Guare understood dramatic structure, as the play immediately gained the audience's attention and held it almost spellbound for ninety minutes. In his book, The Black Comedy ofJohn Gum'e, Gene A. Plunka attempts to sort out Guare's career, describe what the playwright has attempted to do, and reach some conclusions about his worth. Plunka's organizational scheme is simple. After a fairly lengthy and comprehensive introduction, he divides Guare's career into eight parts, beginning with the early one-acts, including The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year and Something I'll Tell You Tuesday, both written in 1966. He allots separate chapters to The House ofBlue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Atlantic City, and he groups plays that seem to belong together for the other chapters: Marco Polo Sings a Solo with Rich and Famous; Landscape of the Body with Bosoms and Neglect; and his tetralogy, Women and Water, Gardenia, and Bulfinch's Mythology (unfinished), with Lydie Breeze. Another chapter focuses on Guare's later plays, including Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, perhaps his most complex work. Plunka's con- REVIEWS clusion summarizes his findings, and his endnotes provide not only excellent documentation of this study, but additional comments, especially about the real-life hustler that Guare drew on for Six Degrees of Separation. The organization of the book is effective in getting before us Plunka's analysis of Guare's plays up to about 2000. The challenge of writing any book about the lifetime accomplishments of a major playwright is how to talk about a number of plays and get beyond just providing plot summaries. Plunka succeeds in doing so only in pan. He tells us how Guare built his reputation in the 1970S and 1980s, when plays such as Marco Polo Sings a Solo, Landscape of the Body, and Bosoms and Neglect became staples of theatres tucked away in alleys and storefronts - spaces that were filled mainly by young audiences. We learn that The House of Blue Leaves became his first major success in 1971, running 337 performances and winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play; and that his reputation received another major boost in 1981 , when his screenplay for Atlantic City, a film directed by Louis Malle, won the Best Screenplay Award from the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics' Circle Award. His 1990 play, Six Degrees ofSeparation, established his reputation internationally as a significant American playwright, winning him the Olivier Best Play Award for the 1992 season in London, and Plunka...