Nocturne: A Play

by Adam Rapp

"Fifteen years ago I killed my sister."

So begins Adam Rapp's highly acclaimed play Nocturne , in which a 32-year-old former piano prodigy recounts the tragic events that tore his family apart.

With a keen eye for human relationships and a deft ear for language, Rapp explores the aftershock of this unimaginable event. The father is so incapable of forgiveness he puts a gun in his son's mouth; the mother so shattered, she deserts the family and eventually takes leave of her sanity altogether; the son--only 17 years old at the time--sets out for New York City. There, he seeks an uneasy refuge in books and reinvents himself as a writer. Across the decade and a half that follows he tries to cope with the ramifications of his own anguish and estrangement while making a desperate search for redemption.
A devastating, elegant, and gripping dissection of the American dream, Nocturne signals a brave new voice in American theater.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Adult, Fiction, Contemporary

81 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Adam Rapp says that when he was working on his chilling, compulsively readable young adult novel 33 SNOWFISH, he was haunted by several questions. Among them: "When we have nowhere to go, who do we turn to? Why are we sometimes drawn to those who are deeply troubled? How far do we have to run before we find new possibilities?"

At once harrowing and hypnotic, 33 SNOWFISH--which was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association--follows three troubled young people on the run in a stolen car with a kidnapped baby in tow. With the language of the street and lyrical prose, Adam Rapp hurtles the reader into the world of lost children, a world that is not for the faint of heart. His narration captures the voices of two damaged souls (a third speaks only through drawings) to tell a story of alienation, deprivation, and ultimately, the saving power of compassion. "For those readers who are ready to be challenged by a serious work of shockingly realistic fiction," notes SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, "it invites both an emotional and intellectual response, and begs to be discussed."

Adam Rapp’s first novel, MISSING THE PIANO, was named a Best Book for Young Adults as well as a Best Book for Reluctant Readers by the American Library Association. His subsequent titles include THE BUFFALO TREE, THE COPPER ELEPHANT, and LITTLE CHICAGO, which was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. The author’s raw, stream-of-consciousness writing style has earned him critical acclaim. "Rapp’s prose is powerful, graphic and haunting," says SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. [He] writes in an earthy but adept language," says KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Takes a mesmerizing hold on the reader," adds HORN BOOK MAGAZINE.

In addition to being a novelist, Adam Rapp is also an accomplished and award-winning playwright. His plays--including NOCTURNE, ANIMALS AND PLANTS, BLACKBIRD, and STONE COLD DEAD SERIOUS--have been produced by the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the New York Theatre Workshop, and the Bush Theatre in London, among other venues.

Born and raised in Chicago, the novelist and playwright now lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Jemppu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully intimate reflections.

"Grief does not expire like a candle or the beacon on a lighthouse. It simply changes temperature."

[Keren · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you continue a life interrupted by grief? When the life of someone you love ends abruptly and too soon, is it even possible to move forward? I think about this maybe more than I should. Every time someone I know suffers a loss, I lose myself in what-ifs for a time. So this brief but intensely moving play speaks to that dark part of me. The poetry of each image and each thought sparks connection, memory, fear. This is a text to brood over.

[Elliot Chalom · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a little difficult to picture how this play would have worked on stage, as it is largely (except for some of the final act), a monologue. However, I'm not here to review a play I've never seen; this is about a book, one that stirred me and hit on several deeply emotional levels. I don't know anything about the author but I suspect that like his main character he has at some point suffered extreme and tragic loss. I also think that his familial bonds (and perhaps some lack thereof) played a profound role in his life. Otherwise I just don't understand how he could have captured and conveyed the emotional realities of these aspects of life. At once I felt the anguish of the son and my own emotions. Couldn't be better.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best play I have read in a long time. Simply superb, it hooks you from the first page. The writing is spare and gorgeous, and makes the subject matter, though ghastly, easy to ruminate on. I'm very interested to know how this was staged, as I would think putting on a play of this nature (basically one long monologue) would be difficult.

[Will Radford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a fun piece, but it is an immersive and important one. It’s about the way irreversible tragedy turns every ordinary detail of every ordinary day into a waking nightmare. It’s beautifully written - like the bleakest and longest prose poem ever conceived. Reading it, it’s like you can feel the weight of darkness resting on the pages and the individual lines. Haunting stuff, and a real challenge to the actor brave enough to tackle this material.

[Ricky Lomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good god.

[Jennifer Kabay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesus H. My headspace should be merry and bright. I can’t tell if I’m mad or happy I read this. Nocturne is a short, psychological slow-burn that curls up in your psyche. And lays eggs.
The first sentence reads: “Fifteen years ago I killed my sister,” and then you don't breathe comfortably for 81 pages.

The prose is strong and atmospheric:
"I cross to the kitchenette and open a small refrigerator that looks more like something you use for the storage of fishing supplies. Inside, there are three tubs of cottage cheese, a gallon of milk, some strange medicinal ointments in silver tubes, and a small Tupperware container of what appears to be chunks of liver."

I’m mad because I already published my now faulty TOP 10 list, and glad because these are the hidden gems I seek. Now I have to bake cookies and play Perry Como to restore what Nocturne sliced away.

Still. Five solid stars.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Rapp delivers an astonishingly beautiful story of a brother trying desperately to forgive himself and move on after a tragic accident involving his younger sister. The writing is breathtakingly poetic and achingly honest, and the author's gift for language is one to be shared with the masses. This play is so much more than a play, and should be read by anyone who takes pleasure in writing as a craft.

[Triston Langstraat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nocturne is a fiction story with a theme centralized on the mindset that bad things can happen, but no matter what you can bounce back. A large majority of the conflict conveyed in the story is just constant regret and anguish because of the events that our protagonist goes through all the way to the last few pages of the book. This message is extremely evident because the thoughts and feelings of our main character poured over the reader throughout the whole story.
After a terrible tragedy with his sister and his family in shambles after the fact, the man of the hour at age 17 leaves his family and moves to New York attempting to escape guilt and suffering. He gets a job and writes a book which brings in some income which he uses to relieve the pain of what happened to his sibling. The plot is brutal and sad but a it contains a story with something to ponder on.
It's important to understand the main character because his stance in the world can be so deformed that it's hard to understand what is going on. He’s a completely normal 17 year old with a night job and not much of a reason to live other than to hopefully have a happy life one day. The plot is doing the equivalent of throwing boulders at him and he has the courage to push forth and find refuge from that which persecutes him. Relating to him is hard, but I think everyone can find something in the world that he does as well. I, for example, do find myself wondering if I will make it out successful and end up being someone that can have a life that they feel was worth living. If I were to give the best three words to describe him I would say I find him puny, brave, and guilty all at the same time merely from the monologue and his actions throughout the story.
I find the book difficult to read because of the onslaught of undesired situations the protagonist is put into with no real sense of a plot. I found it interesting because I didn’t want to read to see how his problems would get fixed, I was drawn in because of the almost grim feeling that the book conveys in the reader in more than one way that nobody could possibly predict. An issue that the book builds in me would be the constant fear that everyone has of bad things happening. If the world didn’t have anything wrong with it, there would be nothing to do. Everyone would be the same. This story not only brings the worst of the worst situations to think about, but also raises a few chilling suggestion. Are you living your life correctly? Are you happy? For me this book hits hard on my values and motives to keep pushing to be great and to be successful, and I think everyone can find a little bit of hope in this book.
If you are looking into reading, I think it's important to keep in mind the message that the book is communicating for you. Things like your motives, values, and your ability to understand why you continue to push forth could be the subject that the book is trying to convey for you. In Nocturne especially, I think it's good to keep in mind while you're reading why you continue to strive and look forward tomorrow as it challenges the drive of the main character hard throughout the book.

[Kate Ringer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it's something that's been taught in my school for the past few years. I have NO INTEREST in teaching it. I think it is overwhelmingly ordinary in its construction. There are many things that could be read about grief, the tragedy of life, etc that are more enjoyable and not written by a white, American man. This felt very East Coast to me. Pretentious. Not my cup of tea.

[Michael Fanning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it. The suspense between The narrator and his father was immaculate. The start of the play where the father was angry over an event and then the anger resolving as the Father was dying. Overall, it was a good play. However maybe it could have been more suspensful.

[Daniel Giron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and emotional, Nocturne shows the disintegration of a family and whatever dreams there may have been, the only reason to live being for the sake of living. A final act that is tense and inspiring, Rapp writes an excellent story on grief.

[Gates Smyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just oh my goodness. This was an amazing and fantastic book. There is so many choices for a director to make in this play, the formatting and such.
When summed into a word, I can only say that this script is moving. Just. Moving.
It leaves me feeling empty and amazed. Wow

[☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alicia Grega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good study for solo show. Clean, potent writing.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s got a bunch of pretty turns of phrase and a riveting beginning but the way it spins out overall lacked something greater for me. A “fun” quick dramatic read nonetheless.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and haunting play.

[Liv Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

big fan of the lyrical quality of this play

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quiet yet brutal play that in the end falls short. Rapp is obviously an ambitious young talent but he hasn't really learned how to work the dichotomy between shocking and mundane. Much of this tragic story is tiresome and the form of a dramatic txt without characters denoted work on several occasions (Kane's Pyschosis for example) but doesn't really cut the mustard in this short play.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the narrator's fault in the chief tragedy in the story to be negligible. Like the playwright was pulling punches. It disturbed my enjoyment of the rest of the piece. Would like to see it on stage to find out if this flaw is still distracting.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

this should not really be categorized as a play. it's more like a long short story. sympathetic narrator, and kept me engaged while i was reading it, but i probably won't remember much about it in a few months.

[CSC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little confused how this was mounted in play form, since the whole thing reads as one long stream of consciousness short story. Made it an easier narrative to digest on the page, but also dampened some of the impact of envisioning the story's onstage depiction while reading.

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to actually see this play, though I was able to picture it all very well in my head.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great!

[Bunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Rapp has quickly become one of my playwrights of all time. The way he writes his character and their dialogue between each other is mesmerizing.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't quite imagine how this was performed on stage because of the lack of stage directions, but I thought the writing was beautiful.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling. Reads like a short story, so don't be put off that it's a play.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, not so much a play, but an epic monologue. I would like to see it performed.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

excellent writing, but hard to imagine as an entertaining play. What do I know? I would check it out if it was playing in town.

[Chez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart-breakingly well-written, Nocturne expresses real-life events and emotions in a horrifically frank, yet fascinating disjointed poetry. A classic Adam Rapp tale.