\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;The play nicely combines Pinterian menace with caustic political commentary.\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash;\u003cI\u003eTime\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Acerbic, elusive, poetic and chilling, the writing is demanding in a rarefied manner. Its implications are both affecting and disturbing.\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash;\u003cI\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;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.\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash;\u003cI\u003eThe New York Times\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriter and performer Wallace Shawn\u0026rsquo;s landmark 1996 play features three characters\u0026mdash;a respected poet, his daughter, and her English-professor husband\u0026mdash;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\u0026rsquo;s subsequent New York premiere was staged in a long-abandoned men\u0026rsquo;s club in lower Manhattan, directed by Shawn\u0026rsquo;s longtime collaborator Andr\u0026eacute; 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 Andr\u0026eacute;\u003c/I\u003e. His most recent play, \u003cI\u003eGrasses of a Thousand Colors\u003c/I\u003e, premiered last year in London.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e
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