Description
Book SynopsisTrue Story: A Trilogy gathers together three documentary plays by award-winning playwright and poet Dan O’Brien concerning trauma, both political and personal.
The Body of an American speaks to a moment in history when a single, stark photograph—of a US Army Ranger dragged from the wreckage of a Blackhawk helicopter through the streets of Mogadishu—altered the course of global events. In a story that ranges from Rwanda to Afghanistan to the Canadian Arctic, O’Brien dramatizes the ethical and psychological haunting of journalist Paul Watson.
In The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage the playwright applies journalistic principles to investigating the source of his childhood unhappiness, as he searches for the reason why his parents and siblings cut him off years ago. The more he learns about his family, the more mysterious the circumstances surrounding their estrangement become, until his sense of self is shaken by rumors regarding his true parentage.
The trilogy concludes with New Life, a tragicomedy that finds Paul Watson in Syria and the playwright in treatment for cancer, while together they endeavor to sell a TV series about journalists in war zones. New Life explores the paradox of war as entertainment, and dares to dream of healing after catastrophe.
These three gritty yet poetic plays stand as a testament to the value of witnessing, honoring, and perhaps transcending the struggles of living.
Trade ReviewPraise for
A Story That Happens “A master class in surviving through art.” ― Margaret Gray, The Los Angeles Times
“Powerful . . . . This is a book for our times. It reminds us that theatre is ‘fractured and failing yet struggling towards the mouth’s translation of the heart’s tongue’. Like [O’Brien], we buzz with the desire for the ‘chance for more life, and for that most valued of theatrical currencies – change’.” ― Alice Jolly, The Times Literary Supplement
"Subtly weaving between sometimes harrowing personal reminiscences and perceptive and astute lessons on the art of dramatic writing, the book is a quiet revelation.” ― Caridad Svich, Contemporary Theatre Review
Praise for Our Cancers
“Our Cancers is an excellent example of Shelley’s secret alchemy, which turns 'to potable gold the poisonous waters which flow from death through life.' . . . Writing the truth, [O’Brien] says, ‘saved him.’ And it has produced an exquisite and terrible beauty in these pages.” ― Stephen Wilson, The Times Literary Supplement
“O’Brien explains that his obligation as a writer is ‘To tell others the truth, as skillfully as possible. To make art out of pain. To heal.’ Our Cancers tells his truth not only skillfully but masterfully, making from pain a lasting chronicle of art that traces fragmentary moments of healing over time.” ― J. D. Schraffenberger, North American Review
“These are sparse and beautiful poems to live by.” ― Sophie Thomas, Magma Poetry
Praise for War Reporter
“A masterpiece of truthfulness and feeling, and a completely sui generis addition not just to writing about war but to contemporary poetry” ― Patrick McGuinness, The Guardian
Praise for The Body of an American
“Poetic . . . Truthful . . . A lyrical and poignant work of theater” ― Alexis Soloski, The New York Times
“Hauntings, on a personal and national scale, guilt, obsession and depression form the subject of this dense, knotty play . . . a play that tightens its grip as it probes where war lives, and discovers we each carry it inside ourselves.” – The Guardian
“An engrossingly subjective docu-drama which feels psychologically acute and politically important . . . a really superb piece of theatre.” – The Stage
Praise for The House in Scarsdale
“[A] tour-de-force…in an inexorable forward motion rife with adventure, anger, frustration, and a certain joy of the chase.” – Stage Stuck
“Dan O’Brien has written an American gothic tale on a par with Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard’s best works.” – TheaterMania
