Dimes Square and Other Plays

Matthew Gasda author Christian Lorentzen editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Hal Leonard Corporation

Published:15th May '23

Should be back in stock very soon

Dimes Square and Other Plays cover

Performed in loft apartments, pop-up theatres, and other nontraditional spaces, the 2022 underground hit Dimes Square announced Matthew Gasda as a dramatist of lasting power and impressive range, the theatrical chronicler of a self-chronicling generation. At a time when large, institutional theatres were still finding their post-pandemic footing, this brutal, hilarious portrait of New York City scenesters drew in new and diverse audiences by distilling the zeitgeist of our strange new era—a bitter cocktail of dirtbag politics, casual depravity, and pitiless ambition.
Bringing together four of Gasda’s most penetrating works—Dimes Square, Quartet, Berlin Story, and Minotaur—this collection surveys a fractured and exhausted cultural-intellectual landscape. From squalid apartments to country estates to hipster bars, these plays give us characters grasping for meaning and human connection in an age of material abundance and moral dislocation. Unflinching, yet marked by exquisite moments of grace, they mark the arrival of a significant dramatic voice.

“Gasda has a deft, humorous touch and a rare talent for steering large numbers of characters.” * Vulture *
The plays never feel self-indulgent or claustrophobic. Instead, they are intelligent, light-footed, and witty ... Essential to Gasda’s work is its willingness to skate in the direction of thin ice. * First Things *
Gasda has an ear for repartee as sharp as Henri Cartier-Bresson’s eye for immortalizing the 'decisive moment' in a photograph. * The Millions *
Matt Gasda is such an incisive playwright, I hesitate to chuck more adjectives in his direction—what if they're the wrong ones? His work is funny and lovely and human in the best way. Perhaps we are, as Nate from Dimes Square says, 'living through the dumbest time in human history,' but here are four retorts. -- Sloane Crosley, author of Cult Classic and I Was Told There'd Be Cake
“Life and art tangle stickily together in these plays. Gasda holds a powder-smudged mirror up to our self-obsessed age.” -- Matthieu Aikins, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of The Naked Don't Fear the Water
“Attending one of Matt Gasda’s plays in the homemade theaters he finds across town, I feel like I’m part of his dark, funny visions of bohemia; and I feel very inspired to write more and be more ambitious, and I’m reminded of how stories can change your experience of life, how you can live your life as though it were a play, and create your own character, and write your own fortune. -- Dean Kissick
“As a comedy of manners, [Dimes Square]is as good as it gets … It’s a generational snapshot—someone had to do it, and at least it’s someone who knows how to write.” * Spike *
“Decadent and delicious.” * The Last Estate *
What preserves [Dimes Square] from triviality (and, more damningly, from being boring) and elevates it to excellence is that, though this may be how things are, this is not how they should be. * Dappled Things *

ISBN: 9781493075713

Dimensions: 223mm x 155mm x 21mm

Weight: 426g

284 pages