Neil LaBute

xii, 89 p. : 22 cm

In this collection of one-act plays set within the confines of the automobile, the playwright employs his signature plaintive insight to great effect, investigating the innate apprehension that surrounds the steering wheel.

"Three years after a contentious break-up, Steph and Greg are wondering if they can make a fresh go of it. Trouble is, she's married to someone else and he's just embarked on a relationship with Steph's best friend, Carly, a single mom whose jealous ex-husband, Kent, has trouble articulating his feelings. Navigating the rocky landscape of conflicting agendas and exploding emotions isn't going to be easy for any of them. Reasons to be Happy is a funny, surprising, and poignant play about the choices and sacrifices we are willing to make in the pursuit of that often elusive ideal: happiness."--Page 4 of cover.

Two little words, and suddenly your whole world changes. An A-list lineup of writers offers unique takes on the moments before, during and after "I do." Witty, warm and occasionally wacky, these plays are vows to the blessings of equality, the universal challenges of relationships and the often hilarious power of love.

Your career as a writer is blossoming, your beautiful young fiancée is waiting to get married and rush off to Cancun by your side. So what is your natural reaction? Well, if you're a man, it's probably to get nervous and start calling up old girlfriends. And so begins a single man's odyssey through four hotel rooms as he flies across the country in search of the perfect woman (whom he's already broken up with). [From back cover]

"On the grounds of a private psychiatric facility, two brothers confront each other. Drew has been court-confined for observation, and he has called his older brother, Terry, to corroborate his claim of childhood sexual abuse by a young man many summers ago. Drew's request releases barely hidden animosities between the two men. Is he using these repressed memories to save himself while smearing the name of his brother's friend? Through pain and acknowledged betrayal, the brothers come to grips with and begin to understand the legacy of abuse, both inside and outside their family home."--Jacket.

"Features the scripts for Neil LaBute's groundbreaking DirecTV project Ten x Ten - a series of short films written and directed by LaBute based on ten compelling original monologues, five for man and five for women. Also included and published here for the first time, are five short plays ... Rounding out the collection are two monologues, one male and one female, commissioned as part of Center Stage Theatre's 'My America' project."--Provided by publisher.