Thornton Wilder’s Playlets

This anthology by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Thornton Wilder is a

collection of twenty-two very short plays, three of which are published here

for the very first time. These snapshots of the creative spirit at play explore

a variety of complex characters that range from the ordinary to the biblical,

the haunted to the mystical. From the tale of a conflicted composer with a

strangely familiar tune stuck in his head (The Song of Maria Bentedos) to a

pair of newlyweds who find themselves bizarrely affected by the color of their

hotel’s tea room (Flamingo Red: A Comedy in Danger), all these tales - many

told with great wit and humor - ask the thought-provoking questions of

mortality, morality and faith that Thornton Wilder is famous for asking.

Most of the plays run about four minutes in length, and can be presented with

three actors. The entire collection can be presented with a cast ranging from

six to thirty-two actors.