Stone Cold Dead Serious And Other Plays

Recent plays from "one of the more daring young stylists working today" (David Cote, Time Out New York) Adam Rapp's plays have captivated audiences across the country with their unflinching explorations of the good, the bad, and the ugly in America's heartland and cities. Gathered here are three of his latest works: Faster, in which two young grifters try to strike a deal with the devil during the hottest summer on record; Finer Noble Gases, a lament for a band of arrested thirty-year-olds slouching toward adulthood amid East Village decay; and the Off-Broadway hit Stone Cold Dead Serious. An honest, strange, and humorous look at a blue-collar family struggling to survive in the face of disability and addiction, and the seemingly surreal lengths their teenage son will go to save them from themselves, the play prompted Bruce Weber to rave in The New York Times: "Rapp is very gifted, and, even rarer, he has something to say . . . Stone Cold Dead Serious [is] brave, compassionate, and . . . breathtakingly moving. It is the work of a playwright who is forging a real voice . . . Its rendering of the shared language of loved ones illustrates how families can remain intimate even when they are in shards. Its depiction of a working-class America that is unable to dream of anything beyond enduring is as sincerely sad a commentary on our culture as I've seen in recent memory. And its fear for young people is, unfortunately, deeply convincing." Adam Rappis the author of numerous plays, most notablyNocturne, as well as six novels for young adults. He lives in New York. Adam Rapp's plays have captivated audiences across the country with their unflinching explorations of the good, the bad, and the ugly in America's heartland and cities. Gathered here are three of his latest works:Faster, in which two young grifters try to strike a deal with the devil during the hottest summer on record;Finer Noble Gases, a lament for a band of arrested thirty-year-olds slouching toward adulthood amid East Village decay; and the Off-Broadway hitStone Cold Dead Serious. Honest, strange, and humorous, the title play looks at a blue-collar family's struggle to survive in the face of disability and addiction, and the seemingly surreal lengths to which their teenage son will go to save them from themselves. It prompted Bruce Weber to rave inThe New York Times: "Stone Cold Dead Serious[is] the work of a playwright who is forging a real voice . . . Its rendering of the shared language of loved ones illustrates how families can remain intimate even when they are in shards. Its depiction of a working-class America that is unable to dream of anything beyond enduring is as sincerely sad a commentary on our culture as I've seen in recent memory. And its fear for young people is, unfortunately, deeply convincing." "An ambitious and prodigiously talented writer."Charles Isherwood,Variety "Rapp [shows] an exuberant love for the written word . . . [He] tells stories that encase classical themesclass and envy, ambition and alienationin blunt terms and in modern settings."Jesse McKinley,The New York Times "One of the most daring young stylists working today."David Cote,Time Out New York "Rapp is very gifted, and, even rarer, he has something to say . . .Stone Cold Dead Serious[is] brave, compassionate and, at times . . . breathtakingly moving."Bruce Weber,The New York Times

Adam Rapp is the author of numerous plays, most notably Nocturne (Faber, 2002),
as well as six novels for young adults. He is at work on his first feature film, Winter Passing. He lives in New York.