The men and women of Craig Lucas’s plays abandon their illusions of safety and bravely enter wonderlands full of strangeness, cruelty and compassion. Equally attentive to the smallest details of human behavior and to the wellsprings of isolation and hope that inform it, Lucas’s lyrical precision creates timeless works of tragedy for the 21st century. This collection includes:
Reckless
"A perkily told sad story of a runaway waif-woman in the wide, wild world, Reckless remains a beguilingly sneaky crash course in the loss of innocence…When [Lucas] is at his best, and Reckless definitely qualifies as that, no one can beat him at plying cartoon cuteness to probe the fears that keep grownups awake at night.” –Ben Brantley, New York Times
“A satiric fantasy… this comic odyssey, which is as dark as it is hilarious, is as wonderful and indelible as anything Frank Capra could have imagined.” –Stark Insider
“Reckless is a slickly warm, yet zany dark comedy, often lying just on the borders of the mundane. Characters and situations seem to exist as if in a waking dream, just a heartbeat away from dissolving into nothingness and making you wonder whether they ever really existed at all.” –Talkin’ Broadway
Blue Window
“Blue Window…has something of the clarity of a Mozart quintet. It’s light, but it also seems to shed light. It’s clear, but it suggests mysteries. And it’s faultlessly spun.” –Dan Sullivan, Los Angeles Times
“Lucas identifies with his most victimized characters; the absurd comedy that permeates most of these works is the result of a victim's paranoid sense of humor.” –Chicago Reader
Stranger
“Crackling! Stranger has powerful heights of excitement…it’s the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, a collision that sends off sparks.” –Michael Feingold, Village Voice
“The ever-questing author of Prelude to a Kiss and The Dying Gaul here presents an extreme portrait of a couple that suggests that at the heart of all relationships are the urges to torture and be hurt. Whatever role you choose, it seems, there is fear and loathing in love, much of it self-directed.” –Ben Brantley, New York Times
“Chill-inducing! A stranger play than Stranger we are not likely to see anytime soon… There is a breathtaking fearlessness to Lucas’ writing here.” –Variety
Craig Lucas is a playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays include Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, Blue Window, God’s Heart, The Singing Forest and Small Tragedy. His screenplays include Longtime Companion, The Secret Lives of Dentists and The Dying Gaul, which he also directed. Mr. Lucas’ awards include the L.A. Drama Critics Award, an OBIE Award for Best Play and Best Director, and the Excellence in Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
