{"product_id":"9781559366564","title":"The Designated Mourner","description":"\u003cp\u003e“The play nicely combines Pinterian menace with caustic political commentary.” –\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Acerbic, elusive, poetic and chilling, the writing is demanding in a rarefied manner. Its implications are both affecting and disturbing.” –\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In his exquisitely written dramatic lament for the decline of high culture. . . . [Shawn] offers a definition of the self that should rattle the defenses of intellectual snobs everywhere.” –\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriter and performer Wallace Shawn’s landmark 1996 play features three characters—a respected poet, his daughter, and her English-professor husband—suspected of subversion in a world where culture has come under the control of the ruling oligarchy. Told through three interwoven monologues, the Orwellian political story is recounted alongside the visceral dissolution of a marriage. The play debuted at the Royal National Theatre in London, in a production directed by David Hare, who also directed the film version, starring Mike Nichols and Miranda Richardson. The play’s subsequent New York premiere was staged in a long-abandoned men’s club in lower Manhattan, directed by Shawn’s longtime collaborator André Gregory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWallace Shawn\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eOur Late Night\u003c\/i\u003e (OBIE Award for Best Play), \u003ci\u003eMarie and Bruce\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAunt Dan and Lemon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Fever\u003c\/i\u003e, and the screenplay for \u003ci\u003eMy Dinner with André\u003c\/i\u003e. His most recent play, \u003ci\u003eGrasses of a Thousand Colors\u003c\/i\u003e, premiered last year in London.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Theatre Communications Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47162934427888,"sku":"9781559366564","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781559366564_p0.jpg?v=1763755929","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781559366564","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}