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Rats
Rats
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Author: Israel Horovitz Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 18 Pub. Date: 1968 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822209306 ISBN-13: 9780822209300 Cast Size: 3 male
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About
the Play:
Rats is a one-act drama by Israel Horovitz. An
excellent example of experimental theatre, Rats is a highly
original, often comic, and ultimately shattering play that comprises
a parable for our time in its portrayal of two "rats" who
fight for survival and control in a baby's crib in a Harlem
apartment. The lessons learned apply to all of us in the hectic
rat-eat-rat world of today.
Rats brings together a legendary rodent who lives in a
Harlem tenement – where resistance to the creatures is ineffective
– and an up-and-coming rat who has made the arduous journey to the
greener pastures of the inner city. The newcomer discovers to his
shock that the revered veteran is protecting a squalling baby from
being bitten. In the words of American critic, columnist and author
Martin Gottfried: "The story is about two rats. One
has control over a rich hunting ground in New York City and the other
has come down from Greenwich, Connecticut, looking for an in. The
power rat is reluctant to let anybody into his domain but his visitor
is convincing and talks his way in, until an infant child makes his
appearance. Then the country rat wants his bite, the city rat is
revealed as kindhearted and they fight over the screaming baby. It is
a hideously powerful conclusion to a fascinating and comic play. The
play's fascination, though, is more with its treatment of rats as
souls. Mr. Horovitz is not simply dealing with sewer rats in the
city. He is also dealing with people-rats in their conniving for
position (a subject which he has artfully treated before). The play
moves from very funny parallels with social status to very grisly
parallels with greed. It is superb and Horovitz has quickly
established himself as a playwright of smooth technique, serious
intent and great imagination."
Rats was first presented in 1968 as the final piece in an
anthology production of a dozen short plays by promising dramatists
on one off-Broadway program entitled Collision Course at the
legendary Greenwich Village venue Cafe Au Go Go that hosted such
up-and-coming acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, George Carlin,
Lily Tomlin, and more. The
production,
which also included works by Lanford Wilson, Robert Patrick, Jules
Feiffer, Leonard Melfi, Terrence McNally, and Jean Claude van
Itallie,
transferred
to the
historic Actors Playhouse off-Broadway in New York City.
Cast: 3 male
What people say:
"This story of the rats is
rough, tough, funny and moving, and both Mr. Horovitz's considerable
skill and dramatic originality are again outstanding." —
New York Times
"…(a) superior play."
— Women's Wear Daily
"…uncommonly interesting."
— Village Voice
About the Playwright:
Israel Horovitz (1939-2020) was an American playwright,
director, and actor who first made a splash in the winter of 1967-68,
with four critically acclaimed plays produced Off Broadway. Since
then, nearly 70 Horovitz plays have been performed throughout the
USA, and dozens have been translated and performed in as many as 25
languages, worldwide. He won numerous awards, including the OBIE
(twice), the Emmy, Priz du Plaisir de theatre (for Line In Paris),
Prix du Jury (Cannes Film Festival), the New York Drama Desk Award,
and Award in Literature of The American Academy of Arts and Letters,
The Eliot Norton Prize, and many others.
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