Playing with fire? No, plays about fire!

April 3, 2009 6:03 PM

Sort of a two-part question, though answering the first part will help me answer the second. First, does anyone know of a (preferably online) way to search for plays by topic or subject matter? Searching for title keywords is sometimes useful but not ideal, and I haven't been able to make the search functions at the major playhouses' websites play nicely either. Second, in particular, I'm looking for plays about, referencing, or otherwise related to fire, smoke, etc. Any thoughts on either?

So I'm hoping to propose a show for an amateur theatre company I work with. Having realized that short plays are a wonderful genre that rarely get produced, I'm planning to propose an evening of three short plays. I've got two picked already (The Still Alarm by Kaufman, and Smoke Scenes by Nick Zagone), and I had selected Ray Bradbury's Pillar of Fire as the third, longer, serious play in the middle. But it's not exactly a common work, and the only contact info I have is from 1975, and my letter was just returned as undeliverable — frankly, I don't have time to find new contact info for an agent representing a play which might not even be available for production.

That brings us to now, when I'm frantically looking for other plays: hopefully as great as Pillar of Fire, at least fitting the theme, and possibly (oh hope of hopes!) with low royalties. Any pointers to either a way to search thematically or to particular plays would be fantastic.

posted by hatta to media & arts (9 comments total)

Google Directory > Arts > Literature > Drama

I'll check it out and report back
posted by koeselitz at 6:11 PM on April 3

Facing Death, by August Stringberg

Free Range Chickens, by Ann Wuehler

found on one act plays
posted by koeselitz at 6:41 PM on April 3

A whole act of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" takes place during a fire.
posted by grumblebee at 6:49 PM on April 3

Grave Matters, by Peter Stallard

found here
posted by koeselitz at 6:49 PM on April 3

koeselitz, you rock. I need to read further, but these look like excellent possibilities.
posted by hatta at 7:17 PM on April 3

... and if you want something completely awesome but somewhat challenging, you could always try one of my favorites:

Krapp's Last Tape, by Samuel Beckett
posted by koeselitz at 8:20 PM on April 3

Pretty Fire by Charlayne Woodard
Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deveare Smith
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:38 AM on April 4

Check your local or college library web site to see if they have access to the Play Index database - it lets you search subject indexing and abstracts by keyword even for plays that are not available online.
posted by zepheria at 10:33 AM on April 4

koeselitz: Hmm. I had forgotten about the fire connection in Krapp. It might be a bit too tenuous, and I feel it's almost certainly beyond me as a director.

pseudostrabismus: Also great suggestions. Thanks!

zepheria: good to know — indeed the very sort of thing for which I was looking — but I don't think I have access at the moment. I'll keep looking, though!
posted by hatta at 2:24 PM on April 4