Filthy Talk for Troubled Times

Book excerpt: A collection of early work and new short pieces from “the bad boy of American theater” (Time). Neil LaBute burst onto the American theater scene in 1989 with his controversial debut Filthy Talk for Troubled Times. Set in a barroom in Anytown, USA, and populated by a series of everymen (and two beleaguered everywomen), this series of frank exchanges explores the innumerable varieties of American intolerance. A unique snapshot of the times, the play—seldom allowed production by the author since—provides a compelling look at the early thinking and evolution of one of our great theater artists. Also in this collection is a series of new, short works, some never before produced. They include “The New Testament,” a showbiz satire that takes a close look at the perils of color-blind casting, and “The Furies,” in which a woman helps navigate her brother’s breakup with his out—and then perhaps in-the-closet again—lover. “There is something of the sinister menace of Pinter in LaBute’s work (along with David Mamet, he is very much the heir apparent to that master).” —Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times “There is no playwright on the planet these days who is writing better than Neil LaBute.” —John Lahr, The New Yorker