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The Flu Season and Other Plays

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 · rating details · 45 ratings · 4 reviews

“Will Eno is one of the finest younger playwrights I have come across in a number of years. His work is inventive, disciplined and, at the same time, wild and evocative. His ear is splendid and his mind is agile.”—Edward Albee

“An original, a maverick wordsmith whose weird, wry dramas gurgle with the grim humor and pain of life. Eno specializes in the connections of the unc...more

Paperback, First Edition, 110 pages

Published December 1st 2006 by Theatre Communications Group

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Apr 22, 2012 Benjamin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good, but not great; insightful, but not profound. Will Eno struggles against all odds to portray life and give it meaning, and to unearth some truth or understanding. He fails, yes, but only just slightly. He searches deep into the human experience and finds some pure gems, but he never quite manages to bring them to the surface. Instead, they remain just underneath. They call to the reader as if from underwater, and only little bubbles come up, the remnants of powerful and valuable words spoke...more Good, but not great; insightful, but not profound. Will Eno struggles against all odds to portray life and give it meaning, and to unearth some truth or understanding. He fails, yes, but only just slightly. He searches deep into the human experience and finds some pure gems, but he never quite manages to bring them to the surface. Instead, they remain just underneath. They call to the reader as if from underwater, and only little bubbles come up, the remnants of powerful and valuable words spoken just beneath the surface. Much of this - perhaps most - is Eno's fault. He seems afraid of his own shadow, of what he might find, or of what we, his audience, might think of him. When prefacing Tragedy: A Tragedy (which should in and of itself tip the reader off that Eno is too self conscious and unsure to let his writing and the powerful title speak for themselves) he writes movingly about a reporter who,

"...Stands for us, somehow, standing there. He stands for us standing here wondering what we're standing here for. Us, in the wrong place, the wrong time, in a sort of rapture, with life behind us. Us, with only the early technology of our vocabulary, a tongue, trying to identify the rapturous, trying to sum up the miraculous, standing right in front of it. Possibly." (74)

Possibly, he writes, as if he fears he has gone too far in humanizing the character, and the audience. It is, in its full context, somewhat clever. But this very wit that so often propels him to moments of greatness, both in this collection and in Thom Pain, can be equally detrimental. When he uses it well, it can augment his insight. But sometimes, (as in this instance) it serves to disguise his fear. And that fear, of course, is exactly what Eno repeatedly tries to address in his work. How can a writer address the fear of being human, when he is too afraid to write it honestly? When he hides behind humor, and cannot will himself to bring what gems he has mined into the open, for all to see? If Will Eno ever learns how to manage this, he'll deserve a five-star rating. But until then, a disappointing four stars for the immense effort and wit he has managed to pull together, without actually reaching his - and our - desires.(less)

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Jul 22, 2010 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars

Will Eno is one of the most brilliant playwrights of this age! I adore his cynical viewpoint and humor. The Flu Season is my favorite play, and probably always will be.

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Sep 07, 2010 Dylan added it

I may need to re-read this...It is not a light "transit-read"

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Nov 03, 2011 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tragedy: a Tragedy was particularly brilliant.

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