Encounters

by Leonard Melfi

Collection of Six One Act Plays Birdbath, Ferryboat, Halloween, Lunchtime, The Shirt, Times Square.

Genres: Plays

188 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 2010

Reviews

[Emily Fortuna]

Almost all the female characters in these plays are the same. :-/

[Zach]

These plays were interesting little time capsules, although perhaps they could work as well now as they would have originally. "Birdbath" and "Ferryboat" were my favorites, but they felt more raw than polished. None of the plays really left me fully satisfied.

Weirdly, one of my favorite parts of the book was the introduction with its history of Off-Off-Broadway and of plays done in bars in the East Village. Even if they plays didn't always land, the promise they showed and the way that Melfi and his friends just went for it was still inspiring.

[lil queso]

just ewww.

[Drew]

Sam Shepard. Edward Albee. Leonard Melfi. He may not be as famous today as some of his playwright cohorts of yesteryear but Melfi was probably making just as much noise back in the 1960s as part of the birth of off-off-Broadway. This collection of his early one-acts reflects both why he's been forgotten and why he's worth remembering. The plays feel very much of their time yet pulse with the energy of the era. "Halloween" is, for me, the most exciting of the bunch but you can imagine young actors enjoyably chewing up the scenery in "Birdbath" and "Ferryboat," too.