“[A] violent, surrealist romp” from the Tony Award–winning playwright of Hurlyburly and Visiting Edna (The Brown Daily Herald). David Rabe explores the struggle between hope and anguish in the human spirit in this story of two small-time jewel thieves united in a strangely unsettling friendship and the constant fight to prove to themselves and others how tough they are. But when their frantic scheming suddenly begins to betray them in mysterious ways, they find themselves trapped into a kidnapping and a murder over which they seem to have no control. Or do they? David Rabe’s language creates and recreates reality in constantly surprising ways, magically dramatizing the danger of the power of illusion—and the illusion of power—with force and insight. “A potluck smorgasbord of surrealism, dream soliloquies, science fiction, noir potboiler and fairy tales, with the ghosts of such other writers as David Mamet, Harold Pinter, Sam Shepard and even novelist Thomas Pynchon hovering nearby . . . boasts ample proof of a top-notch writer at work.” —Chicago Tribune “A fast-paced, visceral work with a manic, anarchic energy . . . a chaotic examination of power and powerlessness in a frightening, irrational universe.” —The Brown Daily Herald “[A] surrealist, hilarious, mind-fuck of a play . . . a wild, high-energy ride through plot and action.” —LAist Praise for David Rabe “Few contemporary dramatists have dealt with violence, physical and psychological, more impressively than Rabe.” —Kirkus Reviews “A remarkable storyteller.” —Chicago Tribune “Rabe’s mastery of dialogue is the equal of Pinter and Mamet put together.” —The Boston Globe.

The men in plays such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman or Sam Shephard's True West are often presented as universal; little attention is given to the gender dynamics involved in the characters. This work looks at how contemporary playwrights, including Miller, Shepard, Eugene O'Neill, David Mamet, and August Wilson, stage masculinity in their works. It becomes apparent that male playwrights return often to the issues of troubled manhood, usually masked in other issues such as war, business or family. The plays indicate both the attractiveness of the model of traditional masculinity and the illusive nature of this image, which all too often fractures and fails the characters who pursue it. O'Neill's play The Hairy Ape and the character Yank receive much attention.

Offers a wide range of age, genre, and character choices for each duo scene.

“Lahr creates a book worthy of its title: It is a living celebration of theater itself.”—Caryn James, New York Times Book Review Joy Ride throws open the stage door and introduces readers to such makers of contemporary drama as Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, Wallace Shawn, Harold Pinter, David Rabe, David Mamet, Mike Nichols, and August Wilson. Lahr takes us to the cabin in the woods that Arthur Miller built in order to write Death of a Salesman; we walk with August Wilson through the Pittsburgh ghetto where we encounter the inspiration for his great cycle; we sit with Ingmar Bergman at the Kunglinga Theatre in Stockholm, where he attended his first play; we visit with Harold Pinter at his London home and learn the source of the feisty David Mamet’s legendary ear for dialogue. In its juxtaposition of biographical detail and critical analysis, Joy Ride explores with insight and panache not only the lives of the theatricals but the liveliness of the stage worlds they have created.

New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.