Filthy Talk for Troubled Times

A collection of early work and new short pieces from "the bad boy of American theater" ( Time ).

Neil LaBute burst onto the American theater scene in 1989 with his controversial debut Filthy Talk for Troubled Times. Set in a barroom in Anytown, USA, and populated by a series of everymen (and two beleaguered everywomen), this series of frank exchanges explores the innumerable varieties of American intolerance. A unique snapshot of the times, the play--seldom allowed production by the author since--provides a compelling look at the early thinking and evolution of one of our great theater artists.

Also in this collection is a series of new, short works, some never before produced. They include "The New Testament," a showbiz satire that takes a close look at the perils of color-blind casting, and "The Furies," in which a woman helps navigate her brother's breakup with his out--and then perhaps in-the-closet again--lover.

"There is something of the sinister menace of Pinter in LaBute's work (along with David Mamet, he is very much the heir apparent to that master)." --Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

"There is no playwright on the planet these days who is writing better than Neil LaBute." --John Lahr, The New Yorker