cover photo by Richard Termine
“Impressive. A sleek,
stirring adaptation…LORENZACCIO is a civic tragedy, charting the cruel decline
of a formerly free city-state… Recounted by…playwright John Strand with clarity
and directness, Musset’s story of a society cowed by and despairing over its
political leadership seems an apt one to tell just now. Its bitter conclusion is
designed as a final dagger to the spirit…. LORENZACCIO speaks to our time, loud
and clear.”
Peter Marks, The Washington
Post
“Inherently dramatic,
the stakes being so high and the game so dangerous. [Yet] humor still finds its
way to the surface through Strand’s script…. LORENZACCIO may be a play for our
time in the way that it was in 1833. But whether we choose to see it in a modern
light, the play is a masterpiece for all times.”
Margaret Lawrence, The Star-Exponent
“The play connects
electrically and viscerally to our times…. Spendid, powerful and affecting…
Strand hits just the right mark in this almost grand guignol tale of
power, politics, murder, courage and betrayal in Renaissance Italy.”
Gary Tischler, The Georgetowner
“If only George W Bush
could have seen the gripping 19th-century French drama LORENZACCIO
before being sworn in as commander–in-chief. Musset’s play centers on the
assassination of a tyrant. There’s an occupying army detested by its citizenry.
And there’s the utter lack of a day-after plan once the repressive regime has
been toppled, plunging the country into chaos. Sound familiar?”
Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun
“French playwright
Alfred de Musset’s LORENZACCIO has long been a fixture in French theater but the
1833 play is seldom performed in the U S. One chief reason is the absence of an
English translation that addresses its unwieldy structure. Consider the problem
fixed in this nicely accessible version from playwright John Strand. A welcome
addition to American theater of one of France’s cultural pillars.”
Paul Harris, Variety
Originally produced by The Shakespeare Theater, Washington DC
8+ M, 4+ F
I S B N: 0-88145-327-7, $12.95