Secondhand World Drama and Existentialist Theatre Bargain Book Box DSH1106

Secondhand World Drama and Existentialist Theatre Bargain Book Box

Experience the revolutionary and enduring power of global theatre with this collection focused on dramatic masterpieces and philosophical texts from the 17th to the 20th century. This box is a feast of European drama, featuring the absurdism of Samuel Beckett, the subversive theatre of Jean Genet, and the classical foundations of Molière and Ibsen. It also includes rare works from playwrights like Fassbinder and Havel, exploring themes of existential despair, social critique, and the human condition on stage. Each book is secondhand and may show signs of wear.

1. Molière's Don Juan (Translated by Christopher Hampton)
   Molière’s notorious comedy centers on the charming, arrogant, and atheistic libertine Don Juan, who delights in seduction, moral transgression, and challenging societal norms. This translation captures the biting wit, philosophical depth, and social satire of the 17th-century French masterpiece. The play remains a powerful exploration of hypocrisy, moral responsibility, and the nature of belief.

2. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant / Blood on the Neck of the Cat by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
   This volume contains two key plays from the celebrated German filmmaker and playwright. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is a stylised, intense examination of codependent lesbian relationships and emotional cruelty. Blood on the Neck of the Cat is a highly political, avant-garde work that explores themes of social conformity and alienation through fragmented dialogue. These plays exemplify Fassbinder's stark, highly dramatic style.

3. Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello (Translated by Julian Mitchell)
   Pirandello’s complex psychological drama centers on an Italian nobleman who, after a riding accident, believes himself to be the 11th-century Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. Years later, he maintains the illusion, questioning the nature of sanity, identity, and the difference between reality and performance. The play is a brilliant, unsettling meditation on the masks we wear and the fluid boundaries of selfhood.

4. Deathwatch by Jean Genet
   Set entirely within a French prison, this early play by Genet explores the intense, claustrophobic world of three young prisoners—Green-Eyes, Maurice, and Lefranc—who are bound by jealousy, desire, and the violence of their environment. Genet turns traditional morality upside down, celebrating transgression and the inherent beauty of the criminal act. The play is a raw, stylized examination of power dynamics and desperate psychological games.

5. All That Fall by Samuel Beckett
   This radioplay features the blind, elderly Mr. Rooney and his wife, Maddy, as they navigate their dreary, decaying existence in the Irish countryside while Maddy attempts her weekly walk to meet her husband at the train station. All That Fall is a darkly comic, atmospheric piece that captures the absurdity and futility of routine, filled with Beckett's signature bleak humour and profound sense of despair.

6. Breath and Other Shorts by Samuel Beckett
   This collection gathers several of Beckett’s shorter, more experimental dramatic works, demonstrating his relentless stripping away of conventional theatrical elements. Breath, famously less than a minute long and consisting only of an opening and closing cry, showcases his interest in extreme minimalism. The other shorts explore similar themes of physical entrapment, linguistic breakdown, and existential stasis with dark precision.

7. The Makropoulos Secret by Karel Čapek
   Čapek's fantastical play centers on Elina Makropoulos, a glamorous opera singer who is actually over 300 years old, having acquired the secret to eternal youth. As she nears the end of the 300-year lifespan of the elixir, she battles legal opponents to obtain the original formula. The play is a philosophical comedy exploring the true value and meaning of life, questioning whether immortality is a blessing or a curse.

8. The Liar by Carlo Goldoni
   This delightful 18th-century Venetian comedy of manners centers on Lelio, a young man who arrives in Venice and immediately begins weaving an intricate web of elaborate and increasingly ridiculous lies to impress the ladies and navigate social circles. Goldoni’s work is a spirited, witty examination of vanity, deception, and the comedic chaos that ensues when illusion confronts reality.

9. The Blacks: A Clown Show by Jean Genet
   Subtitled "A Clown Show," this highly stylized and controversial play is performed entirely by Black actors wearing masks and makeup, reenacting the murder of a white woman before an audience of symbolic white judges. Genet uses ceremony and ritual to subvert colonial power structures and expose the psychological violence inherent in racial prejudice. It is a powerful, disturbing, and profoundly political work of avant-garde theatre.

10. Endgame by Samuel Beckett
    Set in a bare room that might be a bunker or a skull, the play features the blind, domineering Hamm and his servant Clov, alongside Hamm's parents who live in separate ashbins. This post-apocalyptic drama explores the final, agonizing moments of existence, marked by repetitive routines, physical decay, and the absolute lack of purpose. Endgame is a cornerstone of the Theatre of the Absurd, famous for its bleak poetry.

11. The Maids by Jean Genet
    Based loosely on a real-life murder case, this intense psychological thriller features two sisters, Solange and Claire, who work as maids for a wealthy, cruel Madam. The play opens with the sisters performing an elaborate, ritualistic game where one pretends to be Madam and the other her killer. Genet explores themes of class resentment, identity collapse, and the subversive power of fantasy and role-playing.

12. Crime Passionnel by Jean-Paul Sartre
    Sartre's intense political drama is set in a fictional Eastern European country in 1944, revolving around the assassination of a Communist party leader, Hoederer. The play forces the young intellectual Hugo to confront the moral ambiguity of political action, terrorism, and the existential choices involved in committing violence for a cause. It is a defining text of existentialist political philosophy in action.

13. Happy Days by Samuel Beckett
    Winnie, a woman buried up to her waist (and later her neck) in a mound of earth on a scorched landscape, struggles to maintain a positive outlook and continue her daily routines despite her absurd, immobile predicament. Her husband, Willie, offers only minimal, monosyllabic interaction. Happy Days is a darkly funny, profoundly moving meditation on human resilience, the power of habit, and the necessity of hope in the face of oblivion.

14. The Increased Difficulty of Concentration by Václav Havel
    Havel’s satirical farce, written during his time as a dissident playwright in Communist Czechoslovakia, centers on a philosopher who attempts to use an absurd, all-knowing computer to organize his chaotic personal and professional life. The play is a sharp, witty critique of bureaucracy, the dehumanizing effects of technology, and the struggle for genuine human communication in a surveillance state.

15. Painting a Wall by David Lan
    This play explores the complex relationship between a father and son as they engage in the simple, yet profound, act of painting a wall together. Lan uses the domestic, repetitive action to delve into themes of communication breakdown, inherited trauma, and the unspoken emotions that define family bonds. It is a powerful, minimalist drama focused on psychological depth and the weight of personal history.

16. Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (Translated by Michael Meyer)
    Ibsen’s magnificent dramatic poem follows the life of the imaginative, irresponsible, and self-serving anti-hero, Peer Gynt, as he chases wealth, status, and adventure across the globe. From Norway to the Sahara, Peer consistently evades true self-knowledge and commitment until he is finally forced to confront his failures late in life. It is an epic, fantastical work that explores the dangers of excessive individualism and the search for authentic identity.

17. 'Breakfast in Miami' and Other Plays by Reinhard Lettau
    This collection features several short, absurdist plays from the German author and member of the Group 47. Lettau's dramas are characterized by their surreal dialogue, fragmentation, and political subtext, often commenting ironically on post-war consumerism and the banality of modern life. They represent a key moment in post-war European avant-garde theatre, blending wit with philosophical disorientation.

18. Amy's View by David Hare
    Set over sixteen years, this compelling drama focuses on the strained, yet loving, relationship between Esme, a celebrated but fading West End actress, and her fiercely independent daughter, Amy. Hare explores the generational clash between Amy's realism and her mother's theatrical illusions, tackling themes of art, commerce, and the changing role of theatre in contemporary society.

19. Queen Christina, Charles XII, Gustav III by August Strindberg
    This volume collects three of Strindberg’s historical dramas focused on powerful, complex Swedish monarchs. Queen Christina is a profound study of the 17th-century queen's intellectual brilliance and eventual abdication. Strindberg uses these historical figures to explore themes of power, sexuality, and the crushing demands placed upon rulers.

20. Villeggiatura: A Trilogy by Carlo Goldoni
    This trilogy of plays (The Trilogy of the Summer Resort) satirizes the follies, vanities, and financial strains of the Venetian middle class as they desperately try to maintain appearances during their annual summer vacation. Goldoni meticulously observes the social pressures, the petty jealousies, and the comic disasters inherent in these attempts to escape urban life. This work is a masterclass in social satire and character comedy.

21. Feydeau, First to Last: Eight One-Act Comedies by Georges Feydeau
    Georges Feydeau is the undisputed master of the French farce, and this collection showcases his brilliant timing, intricate plots, and relentless pacing in eight short works. These comedies are characterized by mistaken identities, frenetic action, and absurd situations involving marriage, adultery, and social hypocrisy. Feydeau’s work remains the standard for theatrical precision and sustained comic energy.