Despite their iconic stature, Ira Levin’s landmark novels (Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives, The Boys from Brazil...) represent only half his output. Levin maintained a second career as a playwright—and now readers can experience this other half of his writing through a comprehensive new set of reading editions of his plays.
Spread across four volumes and featuring Levin’s entire catalog of commercially-produced stage plays, these brand new editions have been fully reformatted for casual reading, and showcase the author’s prodigiously diverse library of dramas, tragedies, comedies, and more. Levin's full, 50-year playwriting career is represented, from well-known successes like Deathtrap and No Time For Sergeants to lesser-known standouts such as Cantorial and Veronica's Room, with several titles making their reading debuts, including the taut character drama Interlock, the criminally-overlooked comedic gem Break A Leg, and the largely autobiographical Notebook Warrior (the offering’s one television play, unseen for 70 years).
The Levin Estate has overseen the entire production process in concert with Blackstone Publishing. Each play also includes a new introduction written by Nicholas Levin, one of Levin’s sons, and a composer-lyricist with his own theatre background. Nicholas’s introductions are brimming with new information, and personal insights, about Levin’s masterfully-crafted works.
Nicholas Levin shares: “Ira Levin’s full body of work is so much more expansive than oft-used labels such as 'horror' and 'thriller' can convey. Unlike his high-concept novels, his plays are predominantly chamber affairs, devoted to examining our more intimate conflicts: romantic entanglements, family discord, spiritual yearnings—with some darker fare present as well. From outright comedy to profound tragedy—even the supernatural—Levin covers all the bases. Beyond the sheer versatility on offer (one of the volumes is dedicated to his military plays, written while a young army draftee), what may surprise readers is how truly funny his comedies are—they’re hilarious.”
Blackstone’s Head of New Business Development, Rick Bleiweiss, adds: “These plays stand the test of time and are as good today as they were when Levin first wrote them. I’m hoping they will not only be enjoyed by those who knew them before, but also will be embraced by a whole new generation of readers and theater lovers.”
Levin’s plays join Blackstone’s recent reissues of his complete slate of novels – together, The Ira Levin Collection.
The four new releases include a volume of comedies, including Critic's Choice, Break a Leg, and Cantorial; a volume of dramas, including Interlock, Dr. Cook's Garden, and Veronica's Room; Levin's military plays, including No Time for Sergeants, General Seeger, and Notebook Warrior; and a solo edition of Deathtrap.
Visit IraLevin.org.
