Three birds alighting on a field

by Timberlake Wertenbaker

Art galleries and auction houses often artificially inflate the values of works of art and in doing so, they undermine the appreciation of intrinsic artistry. This is the issue that confronts the central character in this play. The playwright also wrote "Our Country's Good".

Genres: Plays, Theatre

85 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

Reviews

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play mocks the inflated prices of the art world this time, as it overvalues the “new” and “latest” fashion in art – is this year going to popularise grey colours, black or stark white? Are the critics going to praise X over B? Will paintings be bleak, or just miserable? And rich foreigners send their wives, armed with a blank chequebook, to bid for paintings they themselves have never seen. And all the time, the financial crisis in the UK is one in which the art market is the first to go under, taking the nouveau riches with it. The irony of it all is that painters with an eye to beauty or naturalism are ignored or despised.

[Sophie Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

suddenly i feel so connected to the play and am so grateful to have seen this live. by reading this, i feel like i know something no one else in the audience did. i've seen scenes that were cut for the play and messages hidden behind the lines. this book holds so much more meaning with the uncut scenes. those scenes really made a difference to the blues of this play. i thought this was absolutely beautiful, the writing, the relationship between biddy and stephen ...etc.

[Livana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending was quite a shock

[Mick Dickinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read the script approx 19 years after seeing the play at the Royal Ct in London. Very clever, funny and insightful about the then contemporary art scene and how it reflected the Thatcher era: greedy, corrupt and vacuous in many ways. Highly enjoyable — but kind of sad, too.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really admire Wertenbaker's writing, probably because of her ability to weave the mythological world into the contemporary one. This play deals with the value of art and beauty in the world.

[Alane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this playwright. So many great moments in this piece. Looking forward to reading more great works from her.