Almost an Evening
Three satiric plays by Oscar-winning screenwriter Ethan CoenRaising Arizona, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading€“the Coen brothers€™ ï¬lms are some of the most critically acclaimed and iconic of our time. Now, one half of the duo, Ethan Coen, adds playwriting to his eclectic bio. In these three short plays that ran to sold-out audiences Off-Broadway in 2008, the theme is hell€“both on earth and in the hereafter.In €œWaiting,€ a man faces an uncertain future in an uncertain location that seems to be some kind of waiting room. The anxiety and despair hark back to dramas of the ï¬fties€“Sartre, Beckett, Pinter.€œFour Benches€ depicts an unlikely meeting in a steam room between a straight-talking Texan and an uptight Brit. Both men learn from the encounter, though only one survives it.In €œDebate,€ the cantankerous god of the Old Testament roundly abuses the mealymouthed god of the New.