New Plays

Oates's fourth and most accomplished collection includes three full-length plays, Bad Girls, Black Water, The Passion of Henry David Thoreau, and eight shorter pieces. Bad Girls is the story of three teenage sisters who ruin the life of the man who comes between them and their single mother; Black Water, a dramatization of Oates's widely acclaimed novel of that title; and The Passion of Henry David Thoreau, a portrayal of the passionate life and premature death of one of the romantic heroes of American literature. The subjects of the shorter pieces range from a serial murder to a nightmarish visit to an adoption agency.