Cover art by Rich Sparks

The ’04-’05-’06 Trilogy

Brett Neveu

Note

This bundle consisting of three books is sold at 20% off the regular price for its individual titles.

$37.95

Book — Harmless

A creative writing professor is called to the office of the college president for questioning. What has been going on in his classroom to provoke a growing controversy and attract the attention of the United States military? Is there a real threat, or is it imagined?

Book — Weapon of Mass Impact

Three American career women find themselves bound to chairs and interrogated by masked men. One is asked to renounce her country. Another is forced to make a hostage video. And in between, they meet in a suburban coffee shop to compare notes on the experience.

Book — Old Glory

Shrouded in mystery, the circumstances surrounding six ordinary people grappling with the emotional casualties of war unfold.

Description

In Part I of the THE ’04-’05-’06 TRILOGY a creative writing professor is called to the office of the college president for questioning. What has been going on in his classroom to provoke a growing controversy and attract the attention of the United States military? Is there a real threat, or is it imagined? In Part II three American career women find themselves bound to chairs and interrogated by masked men. One is asked to renounce her country. Another is forced to make a hostage video. And in between, they meet in a suburban coffee shop to compare notes on the experience. In Part III, shrouded in mystery, the circumstances surrounding six ordinary people grappling with the emotional casualties of war unfold.

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Reviews

Press Quotes

PART I: HARMLESS

“At first glance Brett Neveu’s new play looks like yet another ripped-from-the-headlines docudrama: a troubled college freshman submits a disturbingly violent first-person story to his fiction-writing class, consequently pitting an adjunct professor’s insistence on the student’s free-speech rights against the college president’s need to protect his institution’s reputation. (The story is based on a 2003 incident at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University.) But when the student turns out to be an Iraq war vet and a military criminal psychologist shows up to investigate the possibility of war crimes — among other things — HARMLESS becomes a Mametian cat-and-mouse game full of ethical ambiguities and sickening betrayals … an engrossing and harrowing ride.” —Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader

“A powerful jolt to one’s head.” —Chicago Tribune

PART II: WEAPON OF MASS IMPACT

“Anxiety courses quietly throughout WEAPON OF MASS IMPACT, but not so quietly that it won’t haunt you indefinitely.” —Time Out Chicago

“… [a] thoroughly compelling new play … You come to see that we’re probing the definition of terrorism here. You get the sense that [Neveu] is observing that the traumas of our individual lives can impart just as much individual misery as those mysteriously absent weapons of mass destruction that preoccupy governments of all shades … for those of us who’ve deeply admired his writing from the start, it’s a very powerful reminder …” —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

PART III: OLD GLORY

“Neveau’s latest is a murder investigation, similarly filled with subterranean currents of subtext beneath vividly colloquial dialogues … The murder in OLD GLORY occurs in Fallujah where — never mind the war — two American GIs who share a barracks drive each other to paroxysms of mutual loathing. (So no, Gertrude, this is not really a play about the war but about the homefront) … The latent violence simmering between the soldiers — one a devotee of graphic novels, the other of real novels — speaks head-on to why the United States can’t seem to generate a reasonable discourse with herself about anything that actually matters. The isolation of the three scenic compartments underscores that point … Like [Neveu’s] AMERICAN DEAD, it’s a penetratingly written rumination, a lament even, for something indescribable that’s been lost in this country — and to this country.” —Steven Leigh Morris, L A Weekly

“Haunting, intimate and intensely moving.” —Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Author

  • Brett Neveu

    Brett Neveu's work has been produced by a number of theaters, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, A Red Orchid Theatre, Strawdog Theatre Company, TimeLine Theatre Company, American Theater Company, Spring Theatreworks, Aardvark Theatre and 29th Street Rep. He has developed plays with The New Group, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theater, The 42nd Street Workshop Theater, Marin Theatre Company and is a resident-alum with Chicago Dramatists. He has been commissioned by The Royal Court Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club (Sloan Commission), Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Writers' Theatre and Strawdog Theatre. Mr. Neveu is the recipient of The Goodman Theatre's Ofner Prize for New Work and the Emerging Artist Award from The League of Chicago Theatres. He is also an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre. Several of his plays have been published through Broadway Play Publishing. Mr. Neveu has taught writing at Northwestern University, DePaul University, and Second City Training Center.