THE STORY: Arthur Przybyszewski owns a decrepit donut shop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Franco Wicks, a black teenager who is his only employee, wants to change the shop for the better. This comedy-drama by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-w

The star of Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin presents her personal story of the real plight of undocumented immigrants in this country.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in drama as well as Tony Awards for best play and best actor, Tracy Letts has emerged as one of the greatest playwrights of the twenty-first century. Understanding Tracy Letts, the first book dedicated to his writing, is an introduction to his plays and an invitation to engage more deeply with his work—both for its emotional power and cultural commentary. Experiencing a Tracy Letts play often feels akin to reading a Cormac McCarthy novel, watching a Cohen Brothers film, and seeing an episode of Breaking Bad at the same time. His characters can be ruthlessly cruel and funny, selfish and generous, delusional and incisive, and deceptive and painfully honest. They keep secrets. They harbor biases and misconceptions. And in their quest to find love and understanding, they often end up being the greatest impediments to their own happiness. As a writer, Letts can move seamlessly from the milieu of a Texas trailer park to the pulsating nightlife of London's countercultural scene, the stifling quiet of small-town Ohio to the racial tensions of urban Chicago. He thrives in the one-act format, in plays like Mary Page Marlow and The Minutes, as well as the epic scope of August: Osage County and Linda Vista. With a musician's sense of timing, Letts shifts between humor and heartache, silence and sound, and the mundane and the poetic. And he fearlessly tackles issues such as gender bias, racism, homophobia, and disability rights. Contemporary American life thus becomes a way to comment on the country's troubled history from Native American genocide to the civil rights movement. The personal narratives of his characters become gateways to the political. Understanding Tracy Letts celebrates the range of Letts's writing, in part, by applying different critical approaches to his works. Whether through the lens of disability studies, the conspiracy genre, food studies, the feminist politics of quilting, or masculinity studies, these readings help bring out the thematic richness and sociopolitical dimensions of Letts's work.

Illustrated lettering is one of the most recognisable trends in design, but how do you take your work in this area to new levels and make your projects stand out from the crowd? Illustrator, designer and educator Marty Blake takes you through the craft of creative lettering: what you need to know about working with various media and how to incorporate image and text successfully. Each chapter focuses on one technique, covering its history, the tools and techniques needed to achieve it, along with examples from designers and illustrators from around the world – all with critical reflection on what works, and why. Whether you're lettering by hand or digitally, Drawn to Type is perfect for use alongside courses in illustration and typography, and as an inspirational guide for designers looking to give the written word that visual impact.

Doughnuts, like hot dogs and apple pie, are widely seen as a quintessentially American food.But their story is much older, one that began in the Old World. Doughnut: A Global History reveals the long history and wide reach of these deep-fried dough delights. Heather Hunswick takes readers on an exciting ride from pre-history, to Ancient Egypt and Rome, through medieval and Renaissance Europe, and up to the New World. Here, doughnuts evolved from the open-hearth to the present, with its many old and familiar local favorites, popular commercial brands, and new waves of mouth-watering artisanal creations. It’s a story that encompasses not just culinary history, but the doughnut’s role in art and culture, health and social changes, and fad and fashion. So pour a cup of coffee and settle in for a great read, one sure to delight doughnut lovers and food historians alike.

(Applause Acting Series). Culled from the finalists for the prestigious Steinberg/American Theatre Critics New American Play Award from the years 2008-2012, Scenes and Monologues from Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Finalists, 2008-2012 presents some of the finest, sharpest, and most immediate scenes and monologues from contemporary American drama. The book is divided into male-female, male-male, female-female scenes as well as male and female monologues and multiple character scenes. Actors, teachers, students of drama, as well as theater lovers will be thrilled by entries from such recent hits as Time Stands Still , Superior Donuts , Detroit , Water by the Spoonful , and Dead Man's Cell Phone , as well as material from such lesser known-but soon to be widely celebrated plays as 9 Circles , Becky's New Car , Perfect Mendacity , Splinters , and On the Spectrum . All are superbly constructed dramas told with ferocity, passion, wit, and supreme insight. Collectively, these scripts by our most promising and creative playwrights including Sarah Ruhl, Tracy Letts, Lee Blessing, Rebecca Gilman, Donald Margulies, Naomi Iizuka, Bill Cain, Rinne Groff, Quaira Alegria Hudes, and Yussef El Guindi reflect a collective vision of today's America that is startling in its ability to reveal the pressing circumstances and realities, the diverse characters and conflicts, and the "forms and pressures" of our emerging millennial era.

From the creator of the hit TV series The Bold Type comes an empowering and heartfelt novel about a future female president's senior year of high school. Ava, CJ, Jordan, and Martha (listed in alphabetical order out of fairness)have been friends since kindergarten. Now they're in their senior year, facing their biggest fears about growing up and growing apart. But there's more than just college on the horizon. One of these girls is destined to become the president of the United States.The mystery, of course, is which girl gets the gig. Is it Ava, the picture-perfect artist who's secretly struggling to figure out where she belongs? Or could it be CJ, the one who's got everything figured out . . . except how to fix her terrible SAT scores? Maybe it's Jordan, the group's resident journalist, who knows she's ready for more than their small Ohio suburb can offer. And don't overlook Martha, who will have to overcome all the obstacles that stand in the way of her dreams. This is the story of four best friends who have one another's backs through every new love, breakup, stumble, and success -- proving that great friendships can help young women achieve anything . . . even a seat in the Oval Office.

Encouraged by his minister, Ken decides to find himself and his faith by impulsively flying to London, where he navigates the new and somewhat dangerous realm of British counterculture. Tracy Letts's play dares to ask the big questions, revealing the hidden yearning and emotion that can spur eccentric behaviour in outwardly conventional people."--BOOK JACKET.

Introduces nine exciting and talented playwrights who have emerged in twenty-first century America, exploring issues of race, gender and society.

Every great design has its beginnings in a great idea, whether your medium of choice is scenery, costume, lighting, sound, or projections. Unmasking Theatre Design shows you how to cultivate creative thinking skills through every step of theatre design - from the first play reading to the finished design presentation. This book reveals how creative designers think in order to create unique and appropriate works for individual productions, and will teach you how to comprehend the nature of the design task at hand, gather inspiration, generate potential ideas for a new design, and develop a finished look through renderings and models. The exercises presented in this book demystify the design process by providing you with specific actions that will help you get on track toward fully-formed designs. Revealing the inner workings of the design process, both theoretically and practically, Unmasking Theatre Design will jumpstart the creative processes of designers at all levels, from student to professionals, as you construct new production designs.