POW! (Play Of The Week)

ALMOST AN EVENING: THREE SHORT PLAYS
by Ethan Coen

Are you looking for new monologue? If so, look no further. A scene for class, perhaps? I hope your teacher’s a fan of scenes that are 2 minutes or less. Maybe you're simply a theatre lover who's looking for a fun and easy read. The kind of read you can do on the subway heading into work or digest in that cozy chair at your favorite pub or coffee shop? If that's the case, I present to you Almost An Evening.

If you're a Coen Brother's fan, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this staged work of brother Ethan Coen. The title is very telling of the structure behind these three short one-acts. Philosophical questions are threaded throughout the plots, none of which are resolved by the end. In WAITING, a man finds himself waiting for a thousand years in what appears to be a waiting room. In FOUR BENCHES, a CIA spy contemplates retirement after one civilian's death at a sauna in Texas. And DEBATE, is a play within a play that debates two questions: One, is God loving or angry? And two, was the play within the play good or bad?

It's clear that Mr. Coen's screenwriting talents strongly influence his abilities as a playwright. And that's not a bad thing. Just don't go in expecting conventional theatre. Then again, what is conventional theatre?

Waiting: 4 m, 1 w
Four Benches: 5 m, 1 w
Debate: 7 m, 2 w
Note: All characters are late 20s or older.

Almost an Evening
By Ethan Coen
Paper. $8.95