Power Plays: Three One-Act Plays

Rating:
Summary: Shallowly riotous
Review: Of the three one-acts collected here, the first two have only minimal depth and the third doesn't have any. Doesn't matter. Alan Arkin and Elaine May have brilliant comic minds, and put them to excellent use on this project.

My personal favorite of the three is May's opener, "The Way of All Fish", in which a meek secretary attempts to shift the balance of power away from her difficult boss, with bizarre and side-splitting results. But there are amusing lines and intriguing situations in all three. Reading this book isn't quite a substitute for watching May and Arkin perform in their own pieces (or for watching Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, their replacements in the original production), but it has the added benefit of allowing you to go back and excerpt the most quotable lines at your leisure.

Don't hesitate -- just grab it.