Burn This

By Lanford Wilson

Book Overview

Commissioned by the Circle Repertory Company, Burn This first appeared at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1987 to near-universal praise. Set in the bohemian art world of downtown New York, this vivid and challenging drama explores the spiritual and emotional isolation of Anna and Pale, two outcasts who meet in the wake of the accidental death by drowning of a mutual friend. Their determined struggle toward emotional honesty and liberation--by no means guaranteed at the play's ambiguous end--exemplifies the strength, humor, and complexity of all of Lanford Wilson's work and confirms his standing as one of America's greatest playwrights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374521581
• ISBN13: 9780374521585
• Release Date: February 1988
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
• Length: 99 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A Well-Crafted Play

This was the first Lanford Wilson play I had read, so I didn't quite know what to expect. Though in the end I certainly wasn't disappointed. Without over-simplifying, "Burn This" is the story of the emotional turmoil associated with the death of a friend and an unlikely romantic pairing."Burn This" is a well-written play with both fleshed-out and believable characters. Wilson is able to convey meaning in subtle ways and does not bog-down the play with overly-verbose dialogue or obvious statements. He wonderfully weaves a story centered around a character we never even meet. Moreover, Wilson deals with the issues and themes in the play appropriately -- not over- or under-playing their importance. For example, the entire focus of the play is not on homosexuality, nor should it be. But it is still a key part of the play, and receives the attention and focus it deserves without becoming overly-inflated.I was lucky enough to see a production of this in New York in the fall of 2002, which was absolutely phenomenal. There was even a post-performance Q & A session with Lanford Wilson and the cast, which while brief, was very interesting. Nonetheless, seeing a live performance made the play even more powerful. (Of course, this was helped by having an excellent cast.) Even so, if you get the chance to see a production of "Burn This", don't hesitate to.

Don't burn it, its hot already

Every play Lanford Wilson writes is intelligent as well as passionate and dramatic. It is almost beyond belief how hard it is to combine all of these qualities in the same play. In "Burn This", Wilson is in top form. Pale (the male lead) is such a clearly written and deeply felt part that an actor does not have to fill in any gaps; if an actor can read well, he is assured of at least an above average performance. The dialogue is spicy, funny, sad, bitter and more. In movie terms, it is a Nicholas Cage part (although Malkovich originated it).Pale's love interest and foil (the Joan Allen part) is not secondary to Pale because she has the power to heal him. A magnificent love story.

Just right

This play is a meaningful, and yet almost simple, masterpiece. The story unfolds with the death of a gay man, which ultimately brings an unlikely match closer together. Wilson's use of homosexual issues is the perfect sprinkling: it is not the main focus of the play, but gives it just the extra touch. This is how homosexuality should be written about in the theatre (or any form of entertainment). It isn't over-played or under-played, but just right.