In Traps; a set of characters meet themselves and their pasts to create "plenty of sinewy lines and joyous juxtapostions" (Plays and Players); Vinegar Tom "is set in the world of seventeenth-century witchcraft; but it speaks; through its striking images and its plethora of ironic contradictions; of and to this century..." (Tribune); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire is set during the Civil War and "unflinchingly shows the intolerance that was the obverse side of the demand for common justice. Deftly; it sketches in the kind of social conditions.. that led to hunger for revolution...The play has an austere eloquence that precisely matches its subject." (The Guardian) Cloud Nine sheds light on some of the British Empires repressed dark side and is "a marvelous play - sometimes scurrilous; always observed with wicked accuracy; and ultimately; surprisingly; rather moving. It plunges straight to the heart of the endless convolutions of sexual mores...and does so with acrobatic wit." (Guardian) Owners:"I was in an old womans flat when a young man offering her money to move came round; that was one of the starting points of the play" (Caryl Churchill).The plays in this volume represent the best of Churchills writing up to and including her emergence onto the international theatre scene with Cloud Nine.
#1628709 in eBooks 2013-10-16 2013-10-16File Name: B00GMIUDAG
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Radiant; indeed.By Bryan FernandezPhilip Ridleys writing is very tight; the dialogue balancing crisp language with deeper meanings. The story neat; absurd; but with adequate explanations.I had read The Day Room by Don DiLillo before this; and watched Waiting for Godot after. Radiant Vermin lies closest to the sun in terms of its characters being warmly relatable; but between the other two in dark mood.There is one scene that is hard to read in text form; where two characters are quickly re-peating what multiple (six; eight?) people had said almost simultaneously. Wish I could see it in person.The plays strength is in having morals while still being funny; even if its denegrating humour - but its so hard to build in a positive direction with jokes; really. (See if you can spot the catch-22 at the end; its what keeps the play from being heavy handed in its societal critique.)0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Dark RadianceBy Carl Tait"Radiant Vermin" is a jet-black and side-splitting play. The central idea is utterly outlandish and Im not going to reveal it here. What makes the play so successful (except for the overlong party scene with two actors playing multiple roles in quick alternation) is that Ridley takes his crazy idea and keeps building new and successful follow-ups that are funny all over again. It reminded me of some of Buster Keatons running gags that kept changing on every reappearance; combined with Bunuels sense of wicked glee in laughing at the morally reprehensible. Highly recommended.If you enjoy this play; youll certainly like Ridleys earlier play "The Pitchfork Disney" and his masterful film "The Reflecting Skin."