Glen Berger Livres

Playwright Glen Berger's hilarious memoir of a theatrical dream--or nightmare--come true with a cast of characters including renowned director Julie Taymor and two superstar rock legends U2's Bono and Edge.

“What if the great mind of our time belonged not to an inventor or historian, but a playwright? It’s a question prompted by each new work from former Seattle resident Glen Berger, who delivered the most literate — and funniest — play produced in Portland last season, Portland Center Stage’s O LOVELY GLOWWORM.” —Portland Tribune“A If Glen Berger isn’t one of the American theater scene’s most respected writers by the next decade, I’ll sit twice through every pretentious wank by every fringe playwright currently trying to emulate him. Berger has what most ambitious young artists would kill the ability to be off-the-chart unusual and still say something of universal resonance.” —Seattle Weekly“Glen Berger’s work feels like what an entire generation of playwrights have been struggling to write.” —The Stranger, Seattle“Along with Kushner and Stoppard, Berger is one of only a handful of playwrights of wit and vocabulary creating works of dramatic weight and size. Although they take political positions and tackle cosmic questions to which no one has the answers, these plays never abandon theatrical flair and entertainment value.” —Windy City Times, Chicago“Berger is one of those today finding great humor in hardships, expanding and redefining tragedy, while claiming this form for a new generation.” —The Columbian, Portland

Battling obstacles both grand and trivial in eighteenth-century France, two little-known scientists strive mightily to advance humanity's understanding of life and the universe at the heady height of the Age of Enlightenment. "What if the great mind of our time belonged not to an inventor or historian, but a playwright? It's a question prompted by each new work from former Seattle resident Glen Berger." -Portland Tribune "A wager: If Glen Berger isn't one of the American theater scene's most respected writers by the next decade, I'll sit twice through every pretentious wank by every fringe playwright currently trying to emulate him. Berger has what most ambitious young artists would kill for: the ability to be off-the-chart unusual and still say something of universal resonance." -Seattle Weekly "Glen Berger's work feels like what an entire generation of playwrights have been struggling to write." -The Stranger, Seattle "Along with Kushner and Stoppard, Berger is only a handful of playwrights of wit and vocabulary creating works of dramatic weight and size. Although they take political positions and tackle cosmic questions to which no one has the answers, these plays never abandon theatrical flair and entertainment value." -Windy City Times, Chicago "Berger is one of those today finding great humor in hardships, expanding and redefining tragedy, while claiming this form for a new generation." -The Columbian, Portland

“Just to get your bearings, you might want to think of THE WOODEN BREEKS—Glen Berger’s altogether whimsical and verbally intoxicated play—as a variation on BRIGADOON. But it’s a BRIGADOON as might be reimagined by such cross-century literary aces as Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, James Joyce, Dylan Thomas and Dave Eggers. Sound a bit mind-boggling? Well, it is.…this impossibly brainy, altogether quirky, simultaneously heartfelt and satirical examination of mortality turns out to be perfectly comprehensible and more than a little enchanting.”Chicago Sun-Times “The success of Berger’s play is no his knack for dialogue and storytelling is irresistible, and the result is full of Dickensian delight in human eccentricity.” The New Yorker “I enjoyed this play immensely—so much, in fact, that it is somewhat embarrassing. It is, after all, just a ghost story—and a love story (seven, in fact) and a pre-urban legend of mythical proportions, and a fairy tale and a shaggy dog story. THE WOODEN BREEKS is incredibly and indelibly engaging…a very good play, very well done. Go and enjoy.” Juneau Empire“Playwright Berger displays rare virtuosity in his richly comic portraits… This quirky gem never fails to engage.” Los Angeles Times

The story follows Cristóbal, a flamboyant gaucho hustler and self-proclaimed descendant of Charles Darwin, who is sentenced to deliver a public apology for his crimes, including stealing rare manuscripts. His apology transforms into a humorous and poignant narrative about his life as an orphan in Tierra del Fuego and his obsession with Darwin's theories. Blending comedy and serious themes, the play explores concepts of survival, sexual selection, and identity, all while providing a unique theatrical experience filled with wit and insight.