The Rimers of Eldritch and Other Plays

by Lanford Wilson

"Mr. Wilson handles the collage technique so beautifully that we leave convinced no other method would have served half so well. This reviewer liked Rimers for its fluidity, for its language, for its almost musical sense of pattern."--The New York Times

Genres: Plays, Theatre

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Lanford Wilson was an American playwright, considered one of the founders of the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first encountered Lanford Wilson back in the seventies when I saw a production of his play, 5th of July. This year I have read several of his plays including 5th of July. The prequel to 5th of July, Tally's Folly, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980. Of all the plays I've read by Wilson, Talley's Folly was the least interesting.

Lanford's works fall into two categories, the experimental - which defined his early output - and the realistic that defined his later efforts. The Rimers of Eldritch and Other Plays covers Wilson's works up until 1967. The plays within this volume are The Rimers of Eldritch, Days Ahead, The Madness of Lady Bright, Wandering and This is the Rill Speaking. My favorite of these is This is the Rill Speaking.

In The Rimers of Eldritch, Wilson utilizes a dialogue collage effect to tell the story of the characters in the play. While this approach presents a challenge to the reader, it did not take long before I entered the cadence of the dialogue. And, yes, there is a musical cadence to Wilson's writing. This, along with the collage technique of dialogue, makes for very interesting drama. I was fortunate enough to have seen several experimental plays back in the sixties and early seventies. There is an excitement that pervades these works. Rather than exploring tried and true styles of storytelling which, more often than not I find boring, Wilson's experimental plays spotlights areas of human interplay in ways that are new, exciting and thought provoking. In This is the Rill Speaking, the way in which an experimental approach tells the story of a small town neighborhood was fascinating and extremely effective. mesmerizing. This is a short play, but, by its end I felt I knew this place, these people.

I have more plays by Wilson waiting on my bookshelves and more I need to purchase. For anyone who enjoys the literature of plays, I strongly recommend The Rimers of Eldritch & Other Plays. These are not your normal, ordinary stories. They are told in such a way that I was challenged, intrigued and excited. The sophistication is high, the subject matter is intelligently explored and presented. Again, highly recommended!!

[Fred Daly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nostalgia trip -- I directed The Rimers of Eldritch more than forty years ago at my old school. I still like it, but the short plays in this volume I found mostly dreary.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 5 stars are extremely biased...I played Skelly last year.

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite like Wilson's plays. They seem contemporary without trying too hard to be modern.