Almost an Evening

Three satiric plays by Oscar-winning screenwriter Ethan Coen

"Raising Arizona, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading"-the Coen brothers'films are some of the most critically acclaimed and iconic of our time. Now, one half of the duo, Ethan Coen, adds playwriting to his eclectic bio. In these three short plays that ran to sold-out audiencesOff-Broadway in 2008, the theme is hell-both on earth and in the hereafter.

In "Waiting," a man faces an uncertain future in an uncertain location that seems to be some kindof waiting room. The anxiety and despair hark back to dramas of the fifties-Sartre, Beckett, Pinter.

"Four Benches" depicts an unlikely meeting in a steam roombetween a straight-talking Texan and an uptight Brit. Both men learn from the encounter, though only one survives it.

In "Debate," the cantankerous god of the Old Testament roundlyabuses the mealymouthed god of the New. His profanity and ill humor receive a startling comeuppance, and further reversals and changes of point of view lead to a denouement that is no more preposterous than anything elsein the play.

Clever, provocative, and as engaging as the best fiction, these plays showcase yet another talent of one of our most celebrated contemporarywriters. "From the Trade Paperback edition."