Neil LaBute Stage and Cinema

Neil LaBute is one of the most exciting new talents in theatre and film to have emerged in the 1990s. Influenced and inspired by such writers as David Mamet, Edward Bond and Harold Pinter, he is equally at home writing for the screen as for the stage, and the list of films he has written and directed includes The Wicker Man (2006), Possession (2002) and In the Company of Men (1998). As a playwright, screenwriter, director, and author of short stories, he has staked out a distinctive, and disturbing, territory. In the first full-length study on LaBute, Christopher Bigsby examines his darkly funny work which explores the cruelties, self-concern and manipulative powers of individuals who inhabit a seemingly uncommunal world. Individual chapters are dedicated to particular works, and the book also includes an interview with LaBute, providing a fascinating insight into the life of this influential and often controversial figure.

1. Introduction; 2. Bash: a gaggle of saints; 3. In the company of men; 4. Your Friends & Neighbors; 5. The shape of things; 6. The Mercy Seat; 7. The Distance From Here; 8. Seconds of Pleasure; 9. autobahn; 10. Fat Pig and This Is How It Goes; 11. Nurse Betty, Possession, The Wicker Man; 12. Some Girl(s) and Wrecks; 13. An interview with Neil LaBute.

Neil LaBute - playwright, screenwriter, director and author of short stories - is one of the most exciting new talents in theatre and film. In the first full-length study of LaBute's work, Christopher Bigsby examines how he explores the cruelties, self-concern and manipulative powers of individuals who inhabit a seemingly uncommunal world.

Christopher Bigsby is Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia.