The Dazzle And, Everett Beekin : Two Plays
The Dazzle And, Everett Beekin: Two Plays by Richard Greenberg, published by Faber & Faber in 2003, presents two distinct narratives that delve into the complexities of human relationships and obsessions. This edition spans 197 pages and is written in English. The first play, The Dazzle, recounts the story of the Collyer brothers, eccentric figures in New York history, who were discovered to have amassed an overwhelming collection of items in their home. Through the characters of Langley and Homer Collyer, Greenberg explores themes of obsession and the allure of objects, creating a narrative that is both poignant and darkly humorous.
The second play, Everett Beekin, examines the dynamics of family and the desire for a broader existence through the lives of two sets of Jewish sisters across generations. Set in the 1940s and later in the 1990s, the play juxtaposes the intimate setting of a Lower East Side tenement with a California beach, highlighting the evolving nature of familial ties and aspirations. As the characters navigate their relationships, the name Everett Beekin serves as a thread connecting their stories, ultimately reflecting on themes of American identity and rootlessness. This collection offers readers a thoughtful exploration of drama within the American context.
Official synopsis Publisher
Two “haunting and luminous” (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times) plays from the author of Take Me Out and Three Days of Rain
In The Dazzle, Richard Greenberg takes on the story of the Collyer brothers, legendary New York eccentrics who, following their deaths in 1947, were found to have collected more than 136 tons of trash within their grand but crumbling Harlem manse. As depicted by Richard Greenberg, Langley and Homer Collyer are consumed by their obsessions—Homer reveling in telling tall tales, Langley captured by the “dazzle” of images contained within objects—in this “beautiful, disturbing, shockingly funny and profoundly humane play by a masterful dramatist” (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times).
Everett Beekin explores the tensions between the safety of family and the yearning for a larger life through the relationships of two sets of Jewish sisters. Set in the 1940s, Act One opens with Anna and Sophie dining in their mother’s Lower East Side tenement, bickering over the presence of their sister Miri’s Gentile suitor, Jimmy. In Act Two, fifty years later, Anna’s daughters Nell and Celia meet on a California beach before the wedding of Nell’s daughter Laurel. Linking the generations is the name Everett Beekin—Jimmy’s business partner and, later, Laurel’s prospective bridegroom Everett Beekin VIII. As the play unfolds, Everett Beekin becomes “a haunted, restless meditation on American rootlessness” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times).
Two “haunting and luminous” (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times) plays from the author of Take Me Out and Three Days of Rain
In The Dazzle, Richard Greenberg takes on the story of the Collyer brothers, legendary New York eccentrics who, following their deaths in 1947, were found to have collected more than 136 tons of trash within their grand but crumbling Harlem manse. As depicted by Richard Greenberg, Langley and Homer Collyer are consumed by their obsessions—Homer reveling in telling tall tales, Langley captured by the “dazzle” of images contained within objects—in this “beautiful, disturbing, shockingly funny and profoundly humane play by a masterful dramatist” (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times).
Everett Beekin explores the tensions between the safety of family and the yearning for a larger life through the relationships of two sets of Jewish sisters. Set in the 1940s, Act One opens with Anna and Sophie dining in their mother’s Lower East Side tenement, bickering over the presence of their sister Miri’s Gentile suitor, Jimmy. In Act Two, fifty years later, Anna’s daughters Nell and Celia meet on a California beach before the wedding of Nell’s daughter Laurel. Linking the generations is the name Everett Beekin—Jimmy’s business partner and, later, Laurel’s prospective bridegroom Everett Beekin VIII. As the play unfolds, Everett Beekin becomes “a haunted, restless meditation on American rootlessness” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times).
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