An ancient bridge collapses over a gorge in Peru, hurling five people into the abyss. It seems a meaningless human tragedy. But one witness, a Franciscan monk, believes the deaths might not be as random as they appear. Convinced that the disaster is a punishment sent from Heaven, the monk sets out to discover all he can about the travellers. The five strangers were connected in some way, he thinks. There must be a purpose behind their deaths. But are their lost lives the result of sin? ... Or of love?
The Long Christmas Dinner - nine decades long - showcases the lives of several generations of the Bayard family. Wilder breaks the boundaries of time as we measure it, and invites us to partake of "one long, happy Christmas dinner" - past, present and future. As generations appear, have children, wither, and depart, only the audience appreciates what changes and what remains the same. "Every last twig is wrapped around with ice. You almost never see that," young Genevieve marvels, not realizing that her mother made this observation years earlier, or that her daughter-in-law will one day do the same.
In The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder weaves a poignant tale of love, fate and the human condition. Set in colonial Peru, the sudden collapseof a bridge sends five lives intertwined into the depths of tragedy. Wilder's masterful prose explores the mysteries of chance and destiny.
"The Cabala" by way of Thornton Wilder, is a singular that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the search for which means in lifestyles. Wilder, an American playwright and novelist, is pleasant acknowledged for his acclaimed works together with "Our Town" and "The Bridge of San Luis Rey." Set in Rome, the unconventional follows the reviews of Samuele, a younger American painter, who turns into entangled inside the lives of a collection of eccentric and influential characters. The narrative unfolds via a sequence of interconnected memories, exploring topics of love, friendship, artwork, and the search for non-secular achievement. Wilder's "The Cabala" is widely known for its intricate man or woman development and its portrayal of the bohemian lifestyle of the put up-World War I technology. The term "Cabala" refers to a paranormal and esoteric lifestyle, and Wilder weaves elements of thriller and introspection all through the novel, inviting readers to ponder the deeper dimensions of existence. Through colourful and evocative prose, Wilder crafts a narrative that transcends the boundaries of time and area, supplying a meditation on the human circumstance. "The Cabala" stands as a testament to Thornton Wilder's literary versatility and his exploration of profound philosophical and existential questions.
In Lima, Peru, an ancient Incan rope bridge breaks and plunges five people to their deaths. A Franciscan monk witnesses it and decides to investigate the lives of the five people, in order to prove that God is just, that He had a purpose in choosing those five to die, on that day, on that bridge.And so we learn of the lives of the Marquesa de Santamayor and young Pepita her companion; of Esteban, a young man of the city; and of Uncle Pio and Don Jaime, the mentor and son, respectively, of a famous actress in Lima. We see how many of their lives intersect, we learn of their dreams, their struggles, and the events that led to them being on the bridge that day.The Bridge of San Luis Rey earned Thornton Wilder the first of his three Pulitzers. The novel's structure, in which a major event is presented followed by the backstory of the people involved, has been duplicated countless times in books, plays, and movies. It was the best-selling book the year of its release, and has never been out of print since.
The story centers on a fictional event that happened in Peru on the road between Lima and Cuzco, at noon on Friday, July the twentieth, 1714. A rope bridge woven by the Inca a century earlier collapsed at that particular moment, while five people were crossing it, sending them falling from a great height to their deaths in the river below. The collapse was witnessed by Brother Juniper, a Franciscan friar who was on his way to cross the bridge himself. A deeply pious man who seeks to provide some sort of empirical evidence that might prove to the world God's Divine Providence, he sets out to interview everyone he can find who knew the five victims. Over the course of six years, he compiles a huge book of all of the evidence he gathers to show that the beginning and end of a person is all part of God's plan for that person.The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel. It was first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year. The Bridge of San Luis Rey tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. A friar who witnesses the accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die. The Bridge of San Luis Rey won the 1928 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, and remains widely acclaimed as Wilder's most famous work. In 1998, the book was rated number 37 by the editorial board of the American Modern Library on the list of the 100 best 20th-century novels. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. (wikipedia.org)
This anthology by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Thornton Wilder is acollection of twenty-two very short plays, three of which are published herefor the very first time. These snapshots of the creative spirit at play explorea variety of complex characters that range from the ordinary to the biblical,the haunted to the mystical. From the tale of a conflicted composer with astrangely familiar tune stuck in his head (The Song of Maria Bentedos) to apair of newlyweds who find themselves bizarrely affected by the color of theirhotel's tea room (Flamingo Red: A Comedy in Danger), all these tales - manytold with great wit and humor - ask the thought-provoking questions ofmortality, morality and faith that Thornton Wilder is famous for asking.Most of the plays run about four minutes in length, and can be presented withthree actors. The entire collection can be presented with a cast ranging fromsix to thirty-two actors.
?For much of the twentieth century, these remarkable early novels were hidden in the great shadow of The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Now we can examine them in the spotlight for the gifts that they are?memorable monuments to style and keys to understanding Wilder's genius.? ? Penelope Niven, Thornton Wilder BiographerFeaturing a foreword by Penelope Niven and a revealing afterword by the author's nephew, Tappan Wilder, this gorgeous reissue reacquaints readers with Thornton Wilder's first novel, The Cabala, along with The Woman of Andros, one of the inspirations for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town. The Cabala tells the story of a young American student who spends a year in the exotic world of post-World War I Rome. While there, he experiences firsthand the waning days of a secret community (a "cabala") of decaying royalty, a great cardinal of the Roman Church, and an assortment of memorable American ex-pats. A semiautobiographical novel of unforgettable characters and human passions, The Cabala launched Wilder's career as a celebrated storyteller and dramatist.The Woman of Andros, set on the obscure Greek island of Brynos before the birth of Christ, explores universal questions of what is precious about life and how we live, love, and die. Eight years later, Wilder would pose these same questions on the stage in a play titled Our Town, also set in an obscure location, this time a village in New Hampshire. The Woman of Andros is celebrated for some of the most beautiful writing in American literature.
The drunken sisters. Apollo challenges The Three Fates to a life-and-death battle of wits, but despite their taste for liquor, the sisters win the wager.
"Among these plays [Wilder's most famous one-acts] we encounter a first glimpse of Wilder's Stage Manager, his use of pantomime, minimal scenery and farce, as well as his signature connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of the human experience"--P. [4] of cover.
Drawing on such unique sources as the authors unpublished letters, business records, and obscure family recollections, Tappan Wilders Afterword adds a special dimension to the reissue of this hilarious tale about goodness in a fallen world.Meet George Marvin BrushDon Quixote come to Main Street in the Great Depression, and one of Thornton Wilders most memorable characters. George Brush, a traveling textbook salesman, is a fervent religious convert who is determined to lead a good life. With sad and sometimes hilarious consequences, his travels take him through smoking cars, bawdy houses, banks, and campgrounds from Texas to Illinoisand into the soul of America itself.
A father, mother and two of their three surviving children drive from Newark, New Jersey to Camden to visit their married daughter, who has recently lost her baby in childbirth. Their journey is punctuated by talk, laughter, memories (some mundane, some happy, some painful), and appreciation of the Now - ham and eggs, flowers, family, sunsets and the joy of being alive. In this family drama, nothing much happens-and yet everything important happens. As Ma Kirby says, "There's nothin' like bein' liked by your family."
The year is 1898 and the place is an over-sumptuous parlor in New York. Mrs. Mowbrey, a mature, wealthy woman with a history to bury, makes a plan--she'll befriend her estranged niece and fiancé, and their subsequent marriage will provide her own entre into respectable society. Or at least, that's what she tells the young couple. In Shakespeare and the Bible uncovers a mystery inside a melodrama inside a meeting. Mrs. Mowbrey invites her niece, Katy and her niece's fiancé Mr. Lubbock to her home separately and unbeknownst to each other. Mr. Lubbock arrives first, and is asked to become Mr. Mowbrey's attorney. Katy comes later, to meet this aunt who has fallen from her family's good graces for unknown reasons. With all three in the room, it becomes apparent that Mr. Lubbock and Mrs. Mowbrey share something that's not deemed proper for Katy to know. Yet Katy insists they tell her. When Mrs. Mowbrey leaves the room, insisting that they work things out among themselves, the mystery looms large. Katy discovers their secret and the true intent of Mrs. Mowbrey's agenda hangs in the balance: Did she intend to use her wealth to buy respectability and family relations? Or exact revenge?
A mother-daughter team of con-artists are putting the touch on the widows of military brass. Mrs. McCullem, housekeep for the wonderfully regal but now wheel chair-bound window of General Beattie, recognizes them in the drug store--having witnessed the two pull their game on her previous employer--and overhears them asking directions to the Beattie home! The play begins as she rushes back to warn Mrs. Beattie of the impending danger. Sure enough, the doorbell rings and our charlatans appear with quite a story. But instead of throwing them out or turning them over to the police, the widow Beattie allows the game to be played.
This play is thought to represent middle-age, in Wilder's unfinished cycle of The Ages of Man. On a point of land jutting into a lake in southern Wisconsin, the Carter family enjoys a summer's eve. It's an evening like many others: Nothing happens and everything happens. Each member of the family - sixteen year-old Tom, his seventeen-year-old sister Francesca and their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Carter - shares different memories somehow connected with their surroundings. These memories color the mo
Diana Colvin, 21, rich and "the finest girl in the world," is engaged to marry Roger Osterman, 27, very rich and "the finest young fellow in the world." With the help of a mystified waiter, Diana's uncle (her lawyer and guardian) sets up a play within a play to make sure Diana knows what she is getting into: marriage to a supreme tightwad who can give away millions to charity, but can't leave a tip. The action--full of high-jinks as well as a serious message--takes place in a fancy New York City hotel.
In this play, which represents "Sloth" in Wilder's projected cycle on The Seven Deadly Sins, Herb Hawkins, a jovial New Jersey - New York City commuter with iron-bound habits, has called to say he is coming home late. This news sets his wife and daughter on edge, a condition heightened when a neighbor informs them that an unidentified man is hiding in the shadows of their front lawn, staring in at them. The police arrive to arrest the supposed prowler, only to find Herb, quietly observing his family through the windows of his own home. It seems that earlier that day, he received word of a surprise inheritance, left to him by a kind, lonely elderly woman. This sudden gift of a large sum of money prompts Herb to question the meaning and purpose of his own life. He returns to his place in the family with touches of humor, irony and despair.
Millie the nursemaid brings baby Tommy to Central Park in the hopes of a rendezvous with the handsome Patrolman Avonzino. Mrs. Boker soon arrives with baby Moe, and as the two ladies trade snacks and advice on child rearing, the infants compare notes on their parents' bad behavior and pitiful lack of understanding. Babies act like grown-ups and grown-ups act like babies in this comedy about fulfilling basic human needs.
The Drunken Sisters is Wilder's satyr play that followed The Alcestiad, his adaptation of the ancient Greek "Alcestis" story. Apollo ventures into the land of the three sisters of Fate who control the threads of each man's life, and here in disguise he tricks the sisters into releasing their death hold on King Admetus. His trick: 3 flagons of wine which he declares to be Aphrodite's beauty drink but which make the sisters drunk. He then foils them with a riddle, releasing the king
Winner! 1938 Pulitzer Prize for DramaIn an important publishing event, Samuel French, in cooperation with the Thornton Wilder estate is pleased to release the playwright''s definitive version of Our Town. This edition of the play differs only slightly from previous acting editions, yet it presents Our Town as Thornton Wilder wished it to be performed. Described by Edward Albee as "...the greatest American play ever written," the story follows the small town
Meet George and Maggie Antrobus of Excelsior, New Jersey, a suburban, commuter-town couple (married for 5,000 years), who bear more than a casual resemblance to that first husband and wife, Adam and Eve: the two Antrobus children, Gladys (perfect in every way, of course) and Henry (who likes to throw rocks and was formerly known as Cain); and their garrulous maid, Sabina (the eternal seductress), who takes it upon herself to break out of character and interrupt the course of the drama at every o
An adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's most notable play about a waning marriage, and the social constructs between a husband and wife.Thornton Wilder's acting version of A Doll's House premiered on Broadway at the Morsco Theatre in December 1937, under the direction of Jed Harris.
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