About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
The year is 1964 and first-time film director Alan Schneider is about to embark on a project combining the talents of Buster Keaton and Samuel Beckett. When Alan visits the home of Keaton to discuss the project, titled simply Film, he discovers the former star engaged in an imaginary card game with the long-deceased Irving G. Thalberg.
It doesn’t take long for Alan to realize that he has entered into an altered universe resembling the surreal world of the Buster Keaton film, a world where doors solve problems and card games provide lessons in life. Alan turns to Beckett for help in making sense of this world, only to find that Sam is perfectly at home in it.
The Stone Face tracks Alan’s journey through the maze that is the world of the Keaton film, a world which, as the making of Film progresses, also takes on elements that might be found in a Beckett absurdist play. By examining the making of Film, as well as the comedy of the Keaton film, the play examines the process by which we create art in general as well as the process by which we live our lives.
Praise for The Stone Face:
"[L]ocal playwright Sherry MacDonald skillfully manages to pay homage to Buster Keaton and Samuel Beckett while jibing at subjects as diverse as theatre of the absurd, Abbott and Costello and academic literary theory. … both my hands are clapping."(ReviewFromTheHouse)
"The energetic tone of the piece is rich and appealing. The slapstick world of Buster Keaton is exploited to full theatrical effect. The voices are vivid, unique, and imbued with useful subtext." (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago)
"A wonderfully clever and inventive tale of an interesting collaboration. The comic traditions of Buster Keaton and other silent film stars are drawn on to create a story of a man coming to understand the nature or genius and the mystery of great art." (Actors Theatre of Louisville)
