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Charles Dizenzo

CHARLES DIZENZO

  (1938 - )
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Helen Harvey Associates  

Charles Dizenzo's plays including theatres, agent, synopses, cast sizes, production and published dates

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below is a list of Charles Dizenzo's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Big Mother         Disaster Strikes the Home         Drapes Come, The         Evening For Merlin Finch, An         Great Career, A         Last Straw, The         Metamorphosis         Nixon Show, The         Shaft Of Love, The         Sociability         Two Times One         Why I Went Crazy

Big Mother

Synopsis:
In the author's own words: "Surprising things happen: Gretel wife and Big Mother, tries to force her son Buster to eat his corn flakes by chasing him with a bullwhip; she gets angry at her infant daughter Sweetums and wrestles with her in her oversized playpen; she tries to remove her husband from the scene by sucking him into a vacuum cleaner; when that fails she tries to electrocute him with the family toaster; he survives, and when he later spurns her affections, she castrates him. However, nature restores him to his former state, and all ends happily."

Notes:
music by Braden

1st Produced:
New York     1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1970   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
absurd Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Disaster Strikes the Home

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: Traverse - Dep.256/Box 14/9

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Drapes Come, The

Synopsis:
When Barbara comes home from school she finds her rather mousy mother still waiting patiently for the new living room drapes to arrive-the final touch which will make the room (and her life) complete. Teenaged Barbara is as forceful and assertive as her mother is retiring, and she has some caustic comments to make on the way in which her mother has let herself be imposed upon by others. But then lights flash and whistles whistle-and suddenly Mrs. Feirs becomes the brash and bumptious one-berating her now shy daughter for not being more aggressive. these lightning transformations in personality occur repeatedly, as first one then the other shifts explosively from meek to overbearing. In the end we are left with a disturbing but engrossing revelation of deep-seated duality-how we see ourselves versus how others see us, what we think we are as opposed to what others consider us to be. the drapes do arrive at last, but with them comes the realization that such petty and selfish obsessions are the stuff that alienation is made of, the egocentricity which is all of us and which raises a barrier against meaningful communication.

Notes:
televised 1965

1st Produced:
New York     1965

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1966   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Evening For Merlin Finch, An

Synopsis:
In the words of edith Oliver, the play "deals with the horrors of family life-with the warfare, both guerrilla and open, primarily between Father and son but also between mother and grandmother. the characters are, and are meant to be, types. When the play opens, Mother is sitting with a hair dryer wrapped around her head, loudly singing a show tune and stopping occasionally to weep over a heartrender in a ladies' magazine. Father, a businessman-at one point, he gives us an extremely savage and funny rundown of his humdrum working day-cannot stand his son. Merlin, the son, is a teenager who prefers books and band practice to team sports, and whose dislike of his Father is just as overt. Mother spends most of her time trying to make peace between Father and son. ('that must be Fanny and Jack,' she says when the doorbell rings in the midst of a row. 'Calm down, and be more typical.') the play has no plot to speak of, which doesn't matter a bit. there is a lot of nutty stage business, all of which pays off, but it is Mr. Dizenzo's stylish humor and control of language that are so encouraging."

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Lincoln Center's Forum Theatre, New York     1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Tragicomedy One act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Great Career, A

Synopsis:
the action takes place in a sparsely furnished office. at one desk sits a womanish man (George), at another a mannish woman (Zelda), and at the third a young girl (Linda) who is so fed up with office work that she is at her wit's end. the womanish man (played by an actress) is a sad, defeated sort who has slipped out of the mainstream of life and has settled for what "he" has. the same performer later impersonates Roslyn, an aging office worker who lives for lunch hours and low-budget shopping sprees, and is an unhappy portent of what lies ahead for her colleagues. the actor playing Zelda later takes the role of the boss, Mr. Gray, a blustering, self-impressed martinet who tries to convince himself and everyone else that the work they do is challenging and worthwhile. But the third office worker, Linda, is finding it impossible to get at the report that the boss is waiting for, and before long she erupts in open revolt, tells Mr. Gray off, flings the contents of the filing cabinet about the room, and finally gains her wish of being fired. But then, in all too short a time, she is back to plead for reinstatement. the sad truth is that she has nowhere else to go, nothing to hope for other than what the office offers. as the curtain falls she is on her knees picking up papers, while the mincing George assures her that she has a great career in store if she will only settle down and play by the rules of the game.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Lincoln Center's Forum Theatre, New York     1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1968   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Straw, The

Synopsis:
the New York Times describes the LaST STRaW: "a young man answers a newspaper advertisement offering a happier life. a 'doctor' alone in a shabby, empty office and a boy full of failure and malaise have a confrontation that is short, sweet and funny. the quack is prepared to cure anything, from homosexuality to boredom, and the patient is at the end of every tether he can find. First, the doctor seems nothing but a crook, hopefully out for a quick buck. But as the play proceeds, he reveals a certain madness in his method-it is eccentricity beyond the common call of duty. Mr. Dizenzo has a delicate way with situations, and he can write some genuinely funny lines, here most of them coming from the logical illogicality of the slightly disturbed, mildly crazy."

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1970   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: Traverse - Dep.256/Box 14/9

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Metamorphosis

Synopsis:
everyone is familiar with Kafka's macabre tale of a man who has suddenly, and unaccountably, turned into a giant cockroach. But here, thanks to the skill of the adaptor, the humor and pathos of the situation are heightened through their theatrical setting-and the irony of Gregor's plight becomes even more eloquently clear. It is not only the story of a man fallen victim to a cruel fate, but also of the pettiness and stupidity of those who should feel the deepest compassion for him. the terrible thing which has happened to Gregor is apparently of less concern to them than how this affects their own selfish purposes. as a result his ultimate lot becomes immensely moving, and vividly instructive of the callousness of men toward their fellows.

Notes:
works by Kafka

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation One act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Nixon Show, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: Traverse - Dep.256/Box 14/9

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Shaft Of Love, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York     1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sociability

Synopsis:
Fanny and Frank receive their callers, Milly and Jack, and the banter begins-always with a smile, always with the bumptious tone of good friends getting together. the friendly mood doesn't change, but the conversation does, touching on who has two cars, the biggest raise in salary, the most expensive clothes, until a chilling dislike becomes palpable behind the frozen smiles. Ultimately the visitors rip the clothes off the backs of their hosts and wreck their living room. they are sent packing, but soon are back again, to be greeted with the usual mock-heartiness-and so the game goes on.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York     1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1970   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Two Times One

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater At St Clements Church, New York     09 Mar 1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Why I Went Crazy

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
aka Disaster Strikes Home

1st Produced:
Westport, Connecticut     1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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