From Library Journal
Start with Sam Shepard-esque characters, add western Canadian settings, and sprinkle with Christopher Durang-ian satire, and you have the basic ingredients of a comedy by the very talented but little-known (outside Canada) Alberta playwright Stickland. In Sitting in Paradise (1996), a Banff developer and his poor, back-to-the-earth friend plan a New Age development for an as-yet unspoiled tract of land but must first win over the developer's materialistic wife. In A Guide to Mourning (1998), the winner of four Betty Mitchell Awards and the stronger of the two plays, a widow and her three grown children, all with quite divergent sets of values, plan the funeral of their husband/father while showing few signs of grief. Each play targets materialism and commercialization, but anti-materialists are not spared the author's satire, either. Stickland also deftly examines sex roles, organized and "New Age" religion, the incompatibility of values within families, and the entrenchment of social and psychological status quos. Stickland's concerns transcend Canadian borders, and he should and will become more widely performed in the United States. Recommended for large drama and all Canadian literature collections.
-Robert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Eugene Stickland is a Governor General's Award-winning playwright. Encountering his plays is like catching a glimpse of yourself in front of the funhouse mirror.
