{"product_id":"9780857421111","title":"Instructions for Breathing and Other Plays","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy turns astonishing, fierce, and tender, these seven plays by Latina-American dramatist Caridad Svich highlight more than two decades of boundary-breaking and genre-defying dramatic work. Populated by characters struggling to survive, these plays are joined by thematic threads of loss, remembrance, resurrection, grave wit, and heroic survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe centerpiece of this collection, \u003ci\u003eInstructions for Breathing\u003c\/i\u003e, is a lyrical, dreamlike meditation on responsibility and parenthood that asks an audience not only to suffer the unthinkable loss of a child as Svich’s characters do, but also to laugh at the couple’s flaws and at the hilarity of the suburban life they lead. This commingling of emotion happens in each of these dramatic portraits of  homeless castaways (\u003ci\u003eFugitive Pieces\u003c\/i\u003e), women in war (\u003ci\u003eThrush\u003c\/i\u003e), and sex traffickers (\u003ci\u003eRift\u003c\/i\u003e). And Svich’s work is not without a nod to the classical: \u003ci\u003eWreckage \u003c\/i\u003ereframes the story of Medea and \u003ci\u003eSteal Back Light from the Virtual\u003c\/i\u003e depicts a labyrinthine society torn apart by a monstrous beast. In sum, \u003ci\u003e\"Instructions for Breathing\" and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e serves as an illuminating introduction to the work of a major playwright and an inspiring example of the breadth of possibilities in North American drama.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seagull Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47027227001072,"sku":"9780857421111","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780857421111_p0.jpg?v=1763816277","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780857421111","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}