• My Account
  • Quick Order
  • Cart
  • Checkout
 
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Clients

 
  • Home
  • The Plays
    • The Plays
    • Not Yet Published
    • Newly Published
    • Bestsellers
    • Classics
    • Collections
    • Bundles
    • Catalog
  • Performance Rights
    • Restrictions
    • Payments
    • Performance Rights
    • Upcoming Productions
  • Authors
  • FAQs
    • FAQs
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Wholesale Customers
    • Desk Copies
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Home
  • The Plays
    • The Plays
    • Not Yet Published
    • Newly Published
    • Bestsellers
    • Classics
    • Collections
    • Bundles
    • Catalog
  • Performance Rights
    • Restrictions
    • Payments
    • Performance Rights
    • Upcoming Productions
  • Authors
  • FAQs
    • FAQs
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Wholesale Customers
    • Desk Copies
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
 

  • Home
  • The Plays
    • The Plays
    • Not Yet Published
    • Newly Published
    • Bestsellers
    • Classics
    • Collections
    • Bundles
    • Catalog
  • Performance Rights
    • Restrictions
    • Payments
    • Performance Rights
    • Upcoming Productions
  • Authors
  • FAQs
    • FAQs
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Wholesale Customers
    • Desk Copies
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
 
  • Home
  • >
  • The Plays
  • >
  • What Do We Need to Talk About?
    Cover photo by permission of The New York Shakespeare Festival d/b/a The Public Theater ("NYSF")

    What Do We Need to Talk About?

    Richard Nelson
    Trade Edition$15.95
    Performance Rights

    Note

    WHAT DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT? is the first play in The Apple Family trilogy:
    WHAT DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT?
    AND SO WE COME FORTH
    INCIDENTAL MOMENTS OF THE DAY

    All three titles may be purchased as a bundle at 20% off the regular price: THE APPLE FAMILY: CONVERSATIONS ON ZOOM: A PANDEMIC TRILOGY

    Play Description

    In the midst of our unsettled world, The Apple Family, last seen in 2014, return; though not over the dinner table but via Zoom. This hour-long play picks them up in the midst of their now suspended and quarantined lives. They talk about grocery shopping, friends lost, new ventures on a hoped-for horizon, all during a time when human conversation (and theater) may be more needed that ever before.

    Production Info

    Cast: 5 total (3 female, 2 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 60 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    Categories: The Plays Tags: Family, Family: Sisters
    • Reviews
    • About the Author(s)
    • About the Book
    • Special Notes
    • Productions

    Press Quotes

    The Apple Family plays:

    “No previous works of theater have been topical in the resonant and specific ways of The Apple Family plays … They are a rare and radiant mirror of the way we live … ” —Ben Brantley, The New York Times

    The critics on The Apple Family’s first Zoom play, WHAT DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT? viewed over 80,000 times in over 30 countries:

    “Infinitely poignant.” —The New York Times, Critics Pick

    “The first great original play of quarantine.” —The New Yorker

    “The best example of Zoom theatre I have watched so far.” —The Guardian, Five Stars

    “It’s almost like you are watching a new art form being born.” —Vogue

    “It couldn’t be more relevant to how we are right now.” —The Washington Post

    “Brilliant theater on Zoom.” —Daily Beast

    “Stakes claim as first powerful drama of the pandemic.” —Deadline

    “Immensely tender and beautifully constructed new drama that responds directly to the current situation.” —Financial Times

    Author(s)

    • Richard Nelson

      Richard Nelson's plays include the four-play series, THE APPLE FAMILY (THAT HOPEY CHANGEY THING, SWEET AND SAD, SORRY, REGULAR SINGING (Nominated for Outstanding Play in Drama Desk Awards 2014; Public Theater, 2010 – 2013), NIKOLAI AND THE OTHERS (Lincoln Center Theater, 2013), FAREWELL TO THE THEATRE (Hampstead Theatre, 2012), HOW SHAKESPEARE WON THE WEST, (Huntington Theater, 2008), CONVERSATIONS AT TUSCULUM (Public Theater, 2008), FRANK'S HOME (Goodman Chicago, Playwrights Horizons, 2007), RODNEY'S WIFE (Playwrights Horizons, 2004), WHERE I COME FROM (National Theatre Connections), MADAME MELVILLE (which ran in the West End starring Macaulay Culkin and Irene Jacob and opened in May 2001 Off-Broadway); GOODNIGHT CHILDREN EVERYWHERE (winner of Olivier Award for Best New Play, 2000), KENNETH'S FIRST PLAY (with Colin Chambers, RSC), THE GENERAL FROM AMERICA (at the RSC and the Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York), NEW ENGLAND (RSC and Manhattan Theater Club), MISHA'S PARTY (with Alexander Gelman, RSC and Williamstown Theater Festival), TWO SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS (Tony nomination for Best Play, RSC and Broadway), COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF JAPAN (RSC Barbican), SOME AMERICANS ABROAD (Olivier nomination, Best Comedy; RSC, Lincoln Center and Broadway), LEFT, BETWEEN EAST AND WEST (Hampstead), PRINCIPIA SCRIPTORAE (winner of Time Out Award, RSC and Manhattan Theater Club), THE RETURN OF PINOCCHIO, AN AMERICAN COMEDY, BAL, CONJURING AN EVENT, RIP VAN WINKLE, JUNGLE COUP, THE KILLING OF YABLONSKI, THE VIENNA NOTES (Obie Award). His musicals include JAMES JOYCE'S THE DEAD (starring Christopher Walken and Blair Brown; Playwrights Horizons, Belasco Theatre, Broadway, Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, Kennedy Center, Washington; for which he received a Tony Award in 2000 for Best Musical Book), CHESS (the book for the Broadway musical), PARADISE FOUND (dir: Harold Prince and Susan Strohman), MY LIFE WITH ALBERTINE (with Ricky Ian Gordon; Playwrights Horizons), UNFINISHED PIECE FOR A PLAYER PIANO (with Peter Golub). His translations and adaptations include TYNAN starring Corin Redgrave (with Colin Chambers, RSC and West End), LOLITA with Brian Cox (National), Molnar's THE GUARDSMAN (Kennedy Center), Carriere's THE CONTROVERSY (Public Theater), Fo's ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST (Broadway), Strindberg's THE FATHER with Frank Langella (Broadway) and MISS JULIE (Yale Rep), Beaumarchais' THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (the Guthrie and Broadway); Molière's DON JUAN, Ibsen's WILD DUCK and ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, Pirandello's ENRICO IV, Goldoni's IL CAMPIELLO, Erdmann's THE SUICIDE. With the esteemed translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, he was co-translated Chekhov's THE CHERRY ORCHARD, Gogol's THE INSPECTOR, Turgenev's A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY and Bulgakov's DON QUIXOTE. Films: Hyde Park on Hudson, staring Bill Murray and Laura Linney (Dir: Roger Michell), Ethan Frome, starring Liam Neeson (Dir: John Madden); Sensibility and Sense, staring Elaine Stritch and Jean Simmons (Dir: David Jones). Television: The End of a Sentence with Edward Herrmann (Dir: David Jones). Radio Plays include: HYDE PARK ON HUDSON, LANGUAGES SPOKEN HERE (Giles Cooper Award), EATING WORDS (Giles Cooper Award), ADVICE TO EASTERN EUROPE, AN AMERICAN WIFE (all BBC).

    Book Information

    Publisher BPPI
    Publication Date 11/10/2020
    Pages 54
    ISBN 9780881458879

    Special Notes

    If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:

    WHAT DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT? was first produced by the Public Theater,
    Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director,
    on the Public's dedicated YouTube Channel.

    In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:

    What Do We Need to Talk About? is produced
    by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
    www.broadwayplaypublishing.com

    Upcoming and Recent Productions

    Nonprofessional


    10/20/2021 – 10/20/2021
    Uc San Diego
    La Jolla, CA

    5/6/2021 – 5/6/2021
    Leather And Lace Theatre
    Vancouver, BC, Canada

    2/11/2021 – 2/21/2021
    Eve Theatre Company
    Louisville, KY

    Related Plays

    $11.95–$15.00
    Generations of the Dead in the Abyss of Coney Island Madness
    Michael Henry Brown
    $11.95–$15.00

    Play Description

    Described by the New York Times as “a threatening portrait of urban insanity. A drug lord is king, corruption is endemic and parents instill offspring with perverse values. In Mr Brown’s Coney Island, everything is for sale.”

    Production Info

    Cast: 7 total (3 female, 4 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 125 minutes)
    Multiple Sets
    Contemporary Costumes
    $11.95–$15.00
    Tales of the Lost Formicans
    Constance Congdon
    $11.95–$15.00

    Play Description

    This witty and passionate play explores the story of a man with Alzheimer’s and at the same time turns into “a travel guide to Middle America conducted by aliens from outer space.” The play has a wonderful comic sensibility, but this is a chillingly painful play addressing postmodern society’s collective nervous breakdown.

    Production Info

    Cast: 7 total (3 female, 4 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
    Multiple Sets
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    Far East
    A R Gurney
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    Set in the 1950s, FAR EAST tells of a young naval officer looking for fun in Japan before Voice of America calls him home.

    Production Info

    Cast: 5 total (2 female, 3 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    Adult
    Christina Masciotti
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    When Stanley invites his estranged 18-year-old daughter to spend her first winter break from college with him in his recently robbed row home that doubles as a gun shop, he is stunned by a stray jolt of the unfamiliar: a home suddenly alive with disquiet, and a shocking glimpse at a life with potential.

    Production Info

    Cast: 2 total (1 female, 1 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
    Single Set
    Contemporary Costumes
    $11.95–$15.00
    The Church of the Holy Ghost
    Ludmilla Bollow
    $11.95–$15.00

    Play Description

    A Stephen King–like thriller involving a haunted church, supernatural happenings, and — of course — a homicidal maniac. From the bestselling playwright of THE WOMAN WITH 27 CHILDREN.

    Production Info

    Cast: 5 total (3 female, 2 male, Child Actor)
    Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    Ambition Facing West
    Anthony Clarvoe
    $15.00–$15.95
    Winner of the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Play

    Play Description

    Three generations of a family move ever westward, restless, seeking. As they migrate from Croatia, through Wyoming, and on to Japan, the land of opportunity keeps moving, and the past keeps catching up. This unforgettable family provides an exquisitely rendered commentary on the human condition.

    Production Info

    Cast: 7 total (3 female, 4 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 135 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    No Such Cold Thing
    Naomi Wallace
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    In this lyrical, searing one-act, an American soldier has an unexpected encounter with two Afghan sisters who are ready to embark on a new life. Their fates — and his — become entangled as the lines between their divergent realities become dangerously blurred.

    Production Info

    Cast: 3 total (2 female, 1 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 50 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $11.95–$15.00
    Dream of Perfect Sleep
    Kevin Kautzman
    $11.95–$15.00
    The Southwest Playwriting Competition—2013
    The Kernodle New Play Award—2013

    Play Description

    DREAM OF PERFECT SLEEP is the story of an aging couple, Mary and Gene, and their adult children — recovering-addict Robert and new-ager Melissa. Mary suffers from severe vertigo and just wants to watch her TV show. Gene is busy organizing a very special holiday dinner, but party planning isn't exactly his strong suit. When the estranged kids come home for the holidays, Gene reveals some unexpected news that threatens to destroy the family's already strained bonds.

    Production Info

    Cast: 4 total (2 female, 2 male, including 1 older female and male)
    Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
    Single Set
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.95
    Sorry
    Richard Nelson
    $15.95

    Play Description

    The Apples sort through family anxieties and confusion on the day of electing the President.

    Production Info

    Cast: 5 total (3 female, 2 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 110 minutes)
    Single Set
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    Green Whales
    Lia Romeo
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    Karen is a 38-year-old philosophy professor who suffers from a rare chromosomal disease that makes her look like a 13-year-old girl. As a result, she has trouble meeting men until her alcoholic sister Joanna decides to set her up on a date with the local pedophile. The real problem is, she actually likes him. In this bizarrely comic love story, two sisters try to figure out what love means, and exactly how much they're willing to settle for.

    Production Info

    Cast: 4 total (2 female, 2 male)
    Full Length Comedy (about 100 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    American Home
    Stephanie Alison Walker
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    One out of every 54 homes in America received a foreclosure notice in 2008. Stephanie Alison Walker takes us on a deeply personal journey through recent history as she shines a light on three out of the millions of stories of loss. A young couple faces eviction from the dream house they stretched to buy, an elderly widow falls prey to a reverse mortgage scheme, and a minister of the prosperity gospel must face the flock she's led astray. AMERICAN HOME takes an unflinching look at the impossible choices people make when faced with losing everything, and, ultimately, celebrates the powerful resilience of community and the human spirit.

    Production Info

    Cast: 9 total (5 female, 4 male, doubling)
    Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes

    Contact Info

    BROADWAY PLAY PUBLISHING INC
    148 W 80th St, NY, NY 10024
    Open: Mon – Fri, 8am – 6pm EST
    Tel: 212-772-8334
    info@broadwayplaypublishing.com
    www.broadwayplaypublishing.com

    Company Info

    • About Us
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Contact Us

    Pages

    • Home
    • The Plays
    • Performance Rights
    • Authors
    • FAQs
    • Blog

    Newsletter Sign Up

    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
    © Broadway Play Publishing Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

    ‹ › ×