Beth Henley, Vol. 1: Collected Plays, 1980-1989

by Beth Henley

Beth Henley was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play for her first full-length play, Crimes of the Heart, which was the co-winner in 1979 of the Great American Play Contest sponsored by the Actors Theatre of Louisville.Ms. Henley's screenplay for the film version of Crimes of the Heart won her an Academy Award Nomination. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford and starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard. She wrote the screenplay for Miss Firecracker starring Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen and Tim Robbins, the screenplay for Nobody's Fool starring Rosanna Arquette and Eric Roberts, a teleplay for the PBS series, Trying Times, and co-wrote David Byrne's True Stories.

Beth Henley was born and raised in Mississippi, is a graduate from Southern Methodist University and lives in Los Angeles with her son Patrick.

Genres: Plays, Drama

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Elizabeth Becker "Beth" Henley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her play Crimes of the Heart won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 1981 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and a nomination for a Tony Award.

Reviews

[Ciel Blue Rivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beth Henley is the most delightful, graceful playwright living in America today, and until she decides to write again, I will continue to revisit her two-volume collected plays with the same pleasure I might take in reconnecting with a lost, beloved friend. Her small tribe of sweet if batty, quicksilver unconventionals is often deeply moving and their quirks and eccentricities ripple through the mundane dreariness with such alacrity and spark that they suggest a smarter and kinder reality sits perhaps just beyond this one, and we too could wend our way to it, if only we were not these coarse creatures made of mud and malice. Henley has a delicate, sensitive touch that is never forced nor grasping, and with a few deft, light strokes, she is able to elevate unassuming commoners lost in the colorless fog of everyday life into some of the liveliest and most enjoyable characters you'll ever read.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although these are her early players and they are very funny, I find that a lot of high schools would not be able to do them due to the subject matter. They are great for community theater ad for college but for high school I would not recommend them.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was actually moved to read this book by hearing about her plays on the Tobolowsky Files. It was one of my first time reading plays casually. I really loved the style of dialog, and the relationships between the characters were simultaneously simple and complex. Definitely worthwhile read.

[Mathews · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful souther writer. Her eccentric characters are as clear as crystal and as resonant. These plays are a joy to read and would be wonderful to see staged.