''Dirty Story'' is a 2003
play
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* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
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by
John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer P ...
. It allegorically presents the
political relationship between
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
as a sexual,
sadomasochistic
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
relationship between a man and a woman. This turbulent relationship is refereed by a gun toting, cigarette selling American cowboy and his snide British side-kick.
It premiered in 2003,
and was revived in 2012.
It was published in 2008.
Reception
A review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it "appallingly entertaining".
Another review in ''The New York Times'' wrote that "The play's strength lies in Mr. Shanley's keen ear for each side's stereotypes, both of itself and of the other."
A review on ''TheaterMania'' wrote that "By play's end, the dialogue has devolved into baldly polemical statements; each actor is nothing more than a mouthpiece for a political position, and there is no sense of character remaining. This may have been the playwright's intention, but it's a losing strategy."
A negative review on
Crosscut.com wrote "In the end, though, it’s hard to know what the point of Dirty Story is."
References
2003 plays
Plays by John Patrick Shanley
Books about the Arab–Israeli conflict
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