Rain Dance

by Lanford Wilson

In a ramshackle cantina in Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the night of July 15, 1945, four people await the test of the atomic bomb. Each of them is connected directly or indirectly with the top-secret Trinity project, and over the course of the evening the horror of what is about to be unleashed on the world begins to dawn on them. As tensions mount, and questions of science, religion and morality collide, Rain Dance makes palpable the thrilling and terrifying journey of our first steps into the atomic age.

Genres: Plays, Drama

37 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

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

[Jacob MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plays are interesting books to approach, and I'm a twice-tainted reader with all the nuke fatigue in last year's air. Rain Dance - title-first - erects a new viewing facet around 1945, one that feels necessary. Looking inward and back are good. Take the prevailing way we think about the Manhattan Project results in the West: A new start to history, the imaginable world order, technology of a certain level under human "control". Wilson sees history a bit differently, an extent worth viewing in reverse from '45, Oppenheimer's choice of mesa as much a turning point as the rushed test or targeting meeting. On the characters of Rain Dance, Oppie's attitude shines if anywhere on Hank, who is left ambiguous with regard to his secrets. This is one I'd like to see staged; The big and little pictures don't join on the page.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stage drama with no drama. Low stakes, no obstacles, little conflict to speak of…. Seems to ignore the basic elements of playwriting 101. Lanford Wilson was a top American dramatist, but this later play seems like the beginning of an idea rather than a script ready for production. A lesser known writer would have never gotten away with it.

[Night · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short play. I'd be curious as to what type of subtext comes out if this were done with a majority PoC cast.

[Spencer Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

See the play it’s an amazing piece of American theatrical work. That’s all I can say without giving the story line away. It’s truly an awesome piece.