The Lost Bookshelf Plays

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Denis Emorine | Kirby Congdon | Miriam Gallagher | Michael Nash | Lou Orfanella

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Denis Emorine

Passions (monodrama) by Denis Emorine Translated from the French by Brian Cole Červená Barva Press, 2010

Denis Emorine is the author of short stories, essays, poetry, and theater. He was born in 1956 in Paris and studied literature at the Sorbonne (University of Paris). His theatrical output has been staged in France and Russia. He has a great interest for Eastern Europe. In 2004, he won first prize (French) for his poetry at the Féile Filiochta International competition. His poetry has been published in Pphoo (India), Blue Beat Jacket (Japan), Snow Monkey, Cokefishing, Be Which Magazine, Poesia, (USA). His texts have been published in numerous e-zines including Cipher Journal, Mad Hatter's Review, Milk, The Salt River Review, Istanbul Literary Review, and WHL Review. His last publication was a play called, "On The Platform," (Červená Barva Press).

Salt for the Dead: 'Passions' by Denis Emorine
article by Michael T. Steffen

Sometimes while watching or reading drama we're struck by an insight, however subjective, that the theatre the author is presenting to us is the theatre of our own mind. The notion was impressed convincingly upon me once as I read 'Othello' and realized that Iago was not an actor of acts, but a protagonist, in the true sense of the word, of the tragic hero's passions. That is, Iago is the powerful agent of Doubt within Othello's own psyche.

It's interesting that Denis Emorine's one-act monodrama 'Passions' (released earlier this year by Cervená Barva Press) so deftly evokes this sense of isolated inner psychology, though unusually the drama of 'Passions' takes place in the wake of a personal crisis or tragedy, and the tables are turned. The protagonist, Frank, now has nothing to say. He lies on a bed motionless and speechless throughout the short play. Frederick, we gather from his bitter and plaintive monologue, has been the victim of a conspiracy (just what we are not told specifically) which Frank and another referred to as George have played out on him.

This whole displacement of focus from the acts that build to a climax, to the worded invective after, makes a good point in its demonstration of the destructive senseless gestures of regret and spite. We sense throughout the first half of the act that Frederick's wounded pride is fruitless. He can't even evoke the events of Frank and George's treachery, and we suspect moreover, because of this lack of details, that Frederick in fact has no case whatsoever, that he is suffering from delusions.

A further and more poignant point made by 'Passions' comes to our awareness when the insularity of the drama is disrupted toward the end of the play by the sound of footsteps rushing to the door outside the room. Here Frederick must realize that he has only deepened his own dilemma by elaborating his grief against his companion. Threatened by the arrival of a soldier, Frederick's roaring indignation is deflated. He is again frightened and pleading for Frank to help him. At this moment Frank's unresponsiveness grows haunted and meaningful.

Emorine's vision operates in terms of shadows and impulses, at the vanities of the essential soul, revealing his subjects unflinchingly at precisely their weakest, at the waste of their own worst powers. In its modest format of a chapbook, 'Passions' lurks with dark energy under the surface and filter of our all too frail human confidence.

$7.00 | 16 Pages | In Stock

On The Platform A play by Denis Emorine Translated by Brian Cole, Červená Barva Press, 2008

Cover Art: L' Echo oculaire by Farah Willem Dahri

On the Platform, by Denis Emorine, takes us to a crowded platform where impatient travelers wait for a train from Paris. We are introduced to a character named Laure. She is waiting for her fiancé Julien to arrive. Is it chance or fate that Laure meets a man named Marek? What transpires is an encounter we may all one day face. How extraordinary that in this crowded landscape, Laure realizes her destiny and his are intertwined.

Denis Emorine perfectly captures the torment of Marek and the innocence of Laure, imparting to us a vivid picture of his tortured soul and her radiant spirit. But, as the whims of Fate are unavoidable, Laure's life takes a profound turn…
-Gloria Mindock, Červená Barva Press

$14.00 | ISBN: 978-0-615-25983-3 | 42 Pages

Order at Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/content/4554124

Kirby Congdon

GOD Is Dead (again) One Act Plays by Kirby Congdon PRESA :S: PRESS, 2006: Congdon's liquid language captures the tenuousness of our existence, the sheer power of change, but the frail human form is placed, in all its inconsequential perfection, against these primal forces.
--Alyson Matley, Cayo Magazine
$20.00 | ISBN 0-9772524-2-6 | 119 Pages | In Stock: 3

Miriam Gallagher

Fancy Footwork selected plays by Miriam Gallagher 1991

A memorable piece of theatre. Irish Press

Vivid imagination at the heart of both plays. Irish Times

A macabre dance of characters locked in an illusion of choice.
City Limits

Informative and absorbing entertainment with a sensitivity of construction.
Irish Times, 1987

In originality Irish people come close to Finns. A performance of joy and confidence.
Turun Sanomat, Helenski, 1989

$18.95 | 565 Pages | In Stock: 3

Kalahari Blues and other plays by Miriam Gallagher 2006

What has been said about her work;

She shows vivid imagination and is something of a surrealist.
Irish Times

Vigorous and lively work. New York Daily News

Displays inventiveness and style. Sunday Tribune

Impressive. Books Ireland

Combines the real with the surreal. Evening Herald

A Kafkaesque journey. Daily Ireland

She tackles exile, sexual liberation, Shakespearean role-playing…and concern with human rights.
Irish Women Writers: An A-Z Guide

$7.95 | 91 Pages | In Stock: 5

Michael Nash

They're Dropping Bombs Not Ham Sandwiches A play by Michael Nash Červená Barva Press, 2009

Michael Nash, originally from Hampshire, has written several works for the stage including ‘Public Heroes Private Friends,’ and ‘Signs of Fire,’ a musical about the last year in the life of Van Gogh. Nash has been employed as a writer, a teacher of Drama and English, a publisher, and all around artist. His interests include cooking, computing, and travel, especially to Turkey and Istanbul, where Nash received a degree from Istanbul University. Involved in over twenty stage productions, onstage and off, Nash has been an active participant appearing in both amateur and professional productions including ‘Under Milkwood,’ ‘A Man for All Seasons,’ and ‘The Pajama Game.’ ‘They’re Dropping Bombs Not Ham Sandwiches’ takes place in a hospital corridor and is a dialogue between a WWII veteran and a young man embroiled in the troubles of Northern Ireland. This is Nash’s tenth completed work for the stage. Michael Nash currently resides in Middlesbrough.

They’re Dropping Bombs Not Ham Sandwiches, set not so very long ago, between a World War II veteran and a youth caught up in the troubles of Northern Ireland. The play takes place in a hospital corridor and the story illustrates the Second World War through flashbacks.

It is a heart-rending awareness of World War II as seen through the eyes of an elderly hospital patient in 1989. His recollections are shared with a youth who is, as the play eventually reveals, a victim of a terrorist bomb attack in Northern Ireland. Scenes from the war years are illustrated by poetry, dialogue, and action in fantasy sequences, and enacted by the two central characters and three of the hospital staff.

$14.00 | ISBN: 978-0-578-00416-7 | 90 Pages | In Stock

Lou Orfanella

A Cabin in the Pines A One Act Play by Lou Orfanella The Last Automat Press, 2009: Lou Orfanella is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama including A Cabin in the Pines: A One Act Play, Shoot the Unicorn: Reading, Writing and Understanding Poetry, Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear, In a Flash: Twenty-One Short Short Stories, Excursions: Poetry and Prose, Streets of New York, How I Happened, Allurements and Lamentations, Composite Sketches, and Scenes from an Ordinary Life: Getting Naked to Explore a Writer's Process and Possibilities. His work has appeared in publications including The New York Daily News, College Bound, English Journal, World Hunger Year Magazine, Discoveries, Teacher Magazine, and New York Teacher. He holds degrees from Columbia University and Fordham University and teaches writing at Western Connecticut State University and English in the Valhalla, New York school district. He has presented dozens of public readings of his work and offers individual and group writing workshops. He can be contacted at LORFANELLA@hotmail.com.
$10.00 | ISBN 13: 978-0-9842128-1-1 | 44 Pages | 3 Copies