Written with characteristic Berkoff flair and an understanding of the subtle power and violence of the English language, this second collection of his plays includes Decadence, described by the Guardian as being 'enthused with Berkoff's violent, imagist, vivid wordplay'. The collection also includes Kvetch, Acapulco, Harry's Christmas, Brighton Beach Scumbags, Dahling You Were Marvellous, Dog and Actor, and is introduced by the author.
Hamlet and Ophelia express the infinite variety of their passion in a work which takes the form of an epistolary play in verse. Steven Berkoff's startlingly original drama charts the lovers' story beneath the surface of Shakespeare's play. With a muscularity of language tempered with tenderness, Berkoff's play is shot through with images of courtly love, sexual desire and intimations of future tragedy. The chill of the ending perfectly offsets the preceding violent heat in what is another unique piece of work from the individual talent that is Steven Berkoff. The Secret Love Life of Ophelia was first performed at the King's Head Theatre, London, on 25 June 2001.
How a certain Jewish family mourns a dead patriarch. The term is 'sitting Shiva' (mourning for seven days), when friends and relatives commiserate, usually in the home of the deceased. As children, we always understood this to be 'sit and shiver', which also seemed most appropriate. While death has claimed the old man and triggered the usual inflated eulogies - 'how important a man becomes when they die' - it has also brought to the surface hidden anxieties and grievances, only exacerbated when a visitor shows up bearing strange news that threatens to tear the family apart. A Jewish black comedy in the Berkoff tradition. Sit and Shiver was first presented at the Odyssey Theater, Los Angeles, in March 2004. The European premiere was held at the New End Theatre, London, in association with Saw Productions, in May 2006.
What happens when an ordinary gathering is peeled back to expose the fears and insecurities beneath? Frank and Donna are having dinner with her mother-in-law and friends George and Hal, but under the surface there lie anxieties and desires waiting to be unleashed. In 'Kvetch' Steven Berkoff examines the tension and frustration seething under the surface of domesticity in an American marriage that has run out of steam. A play that explores the nature of neurosis, but also personal and cultural identity, 'Kvetch' was named London's Evening Standard comedy of the year in 1991, having premiered at the Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles, in March 1986.
A typical day in Brighton; two working class couples - Derek and Dinah, Dave and Doreen - are on a day trip to the beach. But Brighton is changing, and the friends can't keep up. The result is a vengeful act of violence that exposes the gaps and similarities between class, gender and sexual orientations. Brighton Beach Scumbags' compassionately explores the mutual incomprehension inherent in the divide between heterosexuality and homosexuality, and the middle and working classes. It premiered at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton, in October 1991.
Steven Berkoff has been variously described as controversial, thrilling, electric and dynamic. A Renaissance man of the theatre, he is known equally for his writing, directing and acting. Collecting together nineteen one-act plays, this volume presents never-before-published material. Abusive, shocking and endlessly surprising, these sharply written pieces showcase Berkoff's trademark controversy, black humour and dramatic dialectics. Themes that haunt much of his work are present: his luxurious verbosity; his counterpoint of crude street-patter and elegiac proclamation; sex wars; class wars; dislocation and abandonment of love in a thankless and unyielding world. The selection of plays allows the performer and reader to experience Berkoff's fluid anarchic poetry at its most profane within the complete and pithy structure of the one-act play. Established plays such as The Biblical Tales (which enjoyed success in their 2010 run at the New End Theatre, Hampstead) stand alongside previously unpublished material, giving the range of Berkoff's work full expression, from his established thematic concerns to his new and unseen work. Perfect for student and amateur performances, this volume contains a full introduction by Geoffrey Colman, Head of Acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Steven Berkoff is a phenomenon. Among the artists working in the theatre today he is probably the most theatrical - his special combination of speech, movement and spectacle is uniquely powerful. This first collection of his plays includes East, described by Berkoff as 'an outburst or revolt against the sloth of my youth and a desire to turn a welter of undirected passion and frustration into a positive form'. Also included in this collection are the plays West and Sink the Belgrano!
Steven Berkoff plunders his own East End Jewish roots for this revealing comedy set around the tradition of sitting shiva - seven days of mourning after a loved one has passed away
