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More about Vanishing Act:


Vanishing Act

Author(s):
Richard  Greenberg

Young Anya's hair must be brushed exactly one hundred times (if it's stroked even one hundred and one, she is convinced that she may die). The task falls to her older sister, Minna, who, as she brushes, tells a dark tale of a woman who murdered her neighbor. Meanwhile the other members of the family are engaged in their own pursuits: Their brother, Spence, contemplates suicide; their mother is occupied with various hobbies (including architecture); and their grandfather deliberately feigns decrepitude. When Minna's shiftless fiance, Sky, fails to help her escape the madness which she sees growing in her family, she apparently wills her own death--and is replaced onstage by Carla, the woman who figured in her macabre bedtime story. And Carla, in turn, brushes her own daughter's hair and spins her own tales of evil deeds and gnawing guilt. Moving from a starlit dock to a languid summerhouse, the play captures a sense of consuming ennui and futility; of people whose self-absorption robs their lives of purpose; and, in the end, conveys the simple truth that while individuals may be replaceable (and often slightly ridiculous) the family unit remains--and prevails--and embodies what meaning life can offer.

Play Details:
Genre(s): Not Available
Time Period(s): Not Available
Play Type: Play
Runtime: Not Available
Acts: Not Available
Set Complexity: Not Available
Set Information: Not Available
Year First Published: Not Available
Total Characters: 8
Male Characters: 5
Female Characters: 3
Androgynous Characters:Not Available
Minimum Cast: Not Available
Maximum Cast: Not Available
Cost: FEE: $25 per performance
Royalty/cost information prone to change.
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Publisher: Dramatists Play Service
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ISBN:
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