Colours in the Dark - Softcover
From the author’s note from the original production: Colours in the Dark might best be called a play box. Why?
I happen to have a play box and it’s filled with not only toys and school relics, but also deedboxes, ancestral coffin plates in short, a whole life. When you sort through the play box you eventually see your whole life as well as all of life things like Sunday School albums which show Elijah being fed by ravens, St. Stephen being stoned. The theatrical experience in front of you now is designed to give you that mosaic that all-things-happening-at-the-same-time-galaxy-higgledy-piggledy feeling that rummaging through a play box can give you. But underneath the juxtaposition of coffin plate with baby rattle with Royal Family Scrapbook with Big Little Book with pictures of King Billy and Hitler, there is the backbone of a person growing up, leaving home, going to big cities, getting rather mixed up and then not coming home again, but making home and identity come to him wherever he is. The kids at the very end of the play manage to get their lightning rod up and attract the thunder that alone can wake the dead. Or, on the other six hands, as Buddha says, there are any number of other interpretations that fit the mosaic we’re (director, writer, actors, kids, designers, composer) giving you
I happen to have a play box and it’s filled with not only toys and school relics, but also deedboxes, ancestral coffin plates in short, a whole life. When you sort through the play box you eventually see your whole life as well as all of life things like Sunday School albums which show Elijah being fed by ravens, St. Stephen being stoned. The theatrical experience in front of you now is designed to give you that mosaic that all-things-happening-at-the-same-time-galaxy-higgledy-piggledy feeling that rummaging through a play box can give you. But underneath the juxtaposition of coffin plate with baby rattle with Royal Family Scrapbook with Big Little Book with pictures of King Billy and Hitler, there is the backbone of a person growing up, leaving home, going to big cities, getting rather mixed up and then not coming home again, but making home and identity come to him wherever he is. The kids at the very end of the play manage to get their lightning rod up and attract the thunder that alone can wake the dead. Or, on the other six hands, as Buddha says, there are any number of other interpretations that fit the mosaic we’re (director, writer, actors, kids, designers, composer) giving you
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
James Reaney
James Reaney was born in 1926 near Stratford, Ontario. Reaney taught at the University of Manitoba and the University of Western Ontario for a total of forty years. He received his doctorate with Northrop Frye. Talonbooks published his plays Colours in the Dark (1969) and Listen to the Wind (1972). In 1975, The St. Nicholas Hotel: the Donnellys Part II won a Chalmers Award. Reaney received the Order of Canada in 1976. He passed away in June 2008.
Review:
James Reaney was born in 1926 near Stratford, Ontario. Reaney taught at the University of Manitoba and the University of Western Ontario for a total of forty years. He received his doctorate with Northrop Frye. Talonbooks published his plays Colours in the Dark (1969) and Listen to the Wind (1972). In 1975, The St. Nicholas Hotel: the Donnellys Part II won a Chalmers Award. Reaney received the Order of Canada in 1976. He passed away in June 2008.
"Both funny and touching intriguingly original in its conception."
Quill & Quire
"Both funny and touching ... intriguingly original in its conception."
― Quill & Quire
Quill & Quire
"Both funny and touching ... intriguingly original in its conception."
― Quill & Quire
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherTalonbooks
- Publication date1969
- ISBN 10 0889220018
- ISBN 13 9780889220010
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages136
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Colours in the Dark
Published by
Talonbooks
(1969)
ISBN 10: 0889220018
ISBN 13: 9780889220010
Used
Softcover
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00035610888
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Colours in the Dark
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. Reprint. Reaney refers to this work as a "play box." A presentation copy with gift inscription neatly written in black on front of green ffep, else clean and tight, very lightly worn around edges. Seller Inventory # 003745
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Colours in the Dark
Published by
Talonplays with Macmillan Canada
(1969)
ISBN 10: 0889220018
ISBN 13: 9780889220010
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Soft cover
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. Reaney refers to this work as a "play box." One of his most important works. Seller Inventory # 007484
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COLOURS IN THE DARK A Play By James Reaney
Published by
Talonbooks, Vancouver
(1978)
ISBN 10: 0889220018
ISBN 13: 9780889220010
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Soft cover
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Fifth Printing. Cover has light edgewear, otherwise without flaw. Seller Inventory # 65270
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Colours in the Dark Reaney, James
Published by
Talonbooks
(1969)
ISBN 10: 0889220018
ISBN 13: 9780889220010
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Paperback
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Used: Acceptable. book has significant signs of wear and usage, such as spine creases etc. May have former owner's marks or be ex-library. However still fine as a reading/reference copy. Sold by a UK seller. Seller Inventory # 5116--04642-04-01-2021
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