Steambath (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Bruce Jay Friedman
- First Published: 1971
- Type of Plot: Dark comedy
- Time of Work: The late twentieth century
- Setting: A steambath
- Principal Characters: Oldtimer, Tandy, Meredith, Gottlieb, Morty
- Genres: Drama, Absurdist literature, Dark comedy
- Subjects: God, Death or dying, Afterlife, Life and death, Morality or morals, Mortality, Atonement, Eternity
The Play
Steambath is set in a nondescript steambath that serves as a metaphor for Sheol, Purgatory, or Limbo. Characters are clothed in towels and sit on benches. The curtain opens on Tandy and the Oldtimer discussing how the hot benches cause one to develop tough bottoms. Tandy, who taught art appreciation in a prison and works for a charity for brain-damaged welders, meets a series of characters, who help him to realize that he has died. Among these characters is Meredith, a beautiful young blonde woman, who appears to be a prostitute or, at the very least, a woman of...
[The entire page is 1985 words long]
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