Bitesize Theatre

Alexandra Coghlan makes a case for shorter plays

Harold Pinter's One for the Road/Victoria Station, Young Vic, 2011

From The Guardian: 'The short story is a virtuoso form – think of it as the brilliant friend at a dinner party who tells a great story but doesn't outstay their welcome (the novels, meanwhile, are like those guests who plod onwards, droning on about house prices). Yet while we celebrate such technical bravura on the page, on stage the short play has never achieved the same stature. We revere the likes of Kafka, Poe, Saki and Borges primarily – if not solely – as writers of short stories, but where are the major playwrights for whom the short play is more than just an occasional dramatic away-day or bit on the side? Where, in other words, are the great short plays?' [Read More]

Also at A Piece of Monologue:

• Writers: Franz Kafka
• Writers: Samuel Beckett
• Samuel Beckett's Breath
• Lydia Davis on very short stories