Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Other Plays by Nottage, Lynn (2003) Paperback

by Lynn Nottage

This collection includes Lynn Nottage’s best known work, Crumbs from the Table of Joy , which has been produced widely since its premiere in May 1995 and which the Chicago Tribune hailed as "a complex and thought provoking new play." Also included are Mud, River, Stone, Poof, Por’Knockers and her latest work , Las Meninas , inspired by the playwright’s research into the African presence in 17th century Europe. Lynn Nottage lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her plays have been produced in many theatres across the U.S. including Second Stage (NY), South Coast Rep (Costa Mesa), Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven), Alliance Theatre (Atlanta) and Steppenwolf (Chicago). She has won the Heideman and the White Bird awards and was a runner-up for the Susan Blackburn award.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Academic, Theatre

Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of marginalized people. She is a professor of Playwriting at Columbia University. She was the first woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice; the first in 2009 for Ruined, and the second in 2017 for Sweat.

Reviews

[Wei Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the start of my working through Lynn Nottage's works after seeing her this past Tuesday but having only read Ruined, and I can already see why she said this and Sweat were more anomalous in her output. There's charm and tenderness in the title work and Las Meninas; absurdity in the rest, particularly Pinteresque menace in Por'nockers. It's such a diverse collection of work and makes you want to see these plays revived to see how they speak to an audience now. They're not all perfect, but they all reveal their respect to theatrical traditions while introducing Nottage's inimitable reckoning with race. She's such a great voice in the modern American theater.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

(review of por'kockers only) I found this play on a list of 'the most controversial plays,' and when I saw Lynn Nottage, I was a bit shocked. I basically associate her with institutional success and liberal sanctimoniousness, so I was excited to give this play a try. Some of her most interesting dialogue and characters, but for all the controversial reception, this play still refuses to go there. sorry but I want to see the bodies, I want to see the violence, this is the 21st centruy and we are not greeks who need the action to happen offstage. wonderfully crafted as per usual, but maybe a bit too sensitive.

[Graham Cifelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Crumbs for a class I was taking, loved it

[julz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

luv

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[mengwe · Rating 4 out of 5]

to be clear i just reread crumbs bc im in it lmao so im probably going to reread it like 100 times before rehearsals start 😭

[dailes · Rating 1 out of 5]

school