The Art of Sacrifice
Note
The Alternative Version, available as a PDF manuscript, includes a mother-daughter relationship in lieu of the original's father-son relationship.Description
An American chess master returns home for a defining emotional match with his challenging and unpredictable father, who years ago coached him to success. A taut, true and ultimately forgiving play about the negotiations we all make as parents and children, this intricate drama beautifully delineates the complexity that exists within the strict boundaries of a chessboard or a family.
Production Info
Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
Press Quotes
review of premiere production (father-son):
“An interesting mind bender that examines the love-hate relationship that a father and son have with each other and with the war game that defines them.” —Jan Nargi, broadwayworld.com
reviews of the Alternative Version (mother-daughter):
“Hard upon the heels of The Queen’s Gambit—but written before that blockbuster film existed and first produced in 2005—comes Berkeley playwright Anthony Clarvoe’s THE ART OF SACRIFICE, a taut two-hander about a troubled chess champ and her ultra-controlling mother. … Clarvoe—author of such plays as PICK UP AX and CONTROL+ALT+DELETE—wrote it as a father-son drama, but at the behest of the locally based Remote Theater reconfigured it for two women. … Clarvoe’s story is nuanced, and full of surprises. … The ways that mothers and daughters interact, the ways they influence each other, for better and for worse, is an endlessly fascinating and drama-worthy topic, and Clarvoe has mined and distilled one particular such scenario to its full potential.” —Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
“Sharp, biting dialogue between a desperate mom and her Chess champion daughter reminds me of corporate skullduggery. Each side attempts to undermine the other, while pretending to serve a higher cause. The age of cutthroat competition has come down to the family unit, wreaking havoc between parent and child. … Women are not immune to the demands of winning in this tussle between the older and younger generations. Cruelty has replaced compassion, and cynicism beats out sisterhood. … In Remote Theatre’s production, two protagonists share the screen in Anthony Clarvoe’s THE ART OF SACRIFICE, a confrontation between mother and daughter. … Clarvoe’s strategic two-hander is a black comedy about sacrificing your wits and gifts in order to win, however fleetingly. THE ART OF SACRIFICE shows how extreme competition and individualism will deform mother-daughter love. … Clarvoe’s human chess stratagems, as they suprisingly exchange roles, serve up a tantalizing drama fit for our world of breakneck narcissism.” —Barry David Horwitz, theatrius.com
Author
Anthony ClarvoeAnthony Clarvoe’s plays PICK UP AX, SHOW AND TELL, THE LIVING, LET’S PLAY TWO, THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, AMBITION FACING WEST, WALKING OFF THE ROOF, CTRL+ALT+DELETE, THE ART OF SACRIFICE, GUNPOWDER JOE, and PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE and his translations of Henrik Ibsen’s GHOSTS and THE WILD DUCK are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. He has received American Theatre Critics, Will Glickman, Bay Area Theatre Critics, Los Angeles Drama Critics, Garland, Elliot Norton, and Edgerton New American Play awards; fellowships from the Guggenheim, Irvine, Jerome, and McKnight Foundations, National Endowment for the Arts, Theater Communications Group/Pew Charitable Trusts, and Kennedy Center; commissions from South Coast Rep, Mark Taper Forum, and Playwrights Horizons; the Berrilla Kerr Award for his contributions to American theater; and many others. He teaches dramatic literature at OLLI@UC Berkeley and playwriting in Oakland, CA. A native San Franciscan and long-time resident of New York City and the Midwest, he lives with his family in Berkeley, CA.
Book Information
| Publisher | BPPI |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 11/1/2005 |
| Pages | 80 |
| ISBN | 9780881452938 |
Special Notes
Originally produced by Merrimack Repertory Theater, Lowell MA
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypublishing.com