Intimacy and Other Plays

Book excerpt: "Bradshaw has proved in play after play that he has a confident vision of the theater that is his own. The politically incorrect plots jump merrily from one outrage to another, never pausing to explain motivation or linger on subtext. His dramas ask: What would happen if every dark urge, lingering resentment and unedited ugly insult that popped into your head came spilling out of your mouth? . . . No playwright applies as ruthlessly Hitchcock's definition of drama as 'life with the boring parts taken out.'"—The New York Times Interracial couple Jerry and Pat borrow tools from their recently widowed, white evangelical neighbor James, and they even share the same Latino contractor, the mysterious Fred. Everything's suburban bliss until James, after discovering his neighbors' daughter Janet is a budding porn star, shuns the family. But what James doesn't know is that his aspiring-filmmaker son Matthew has other ideas... An outrageous and revealing comedy about race, sex, and familiarity, Intimacy, the newest work by playwright Thomas Bradshaw, premiered Off-Broadway with The New Group in winter 2014. This collection from the fiercely provocative and funny playwright also includes Dawn, Fulfillment, Southern Promises, Job, Strom Thurmond Is Not a Racist, Lecture on the Blues and Purity. Thomas Bradshaw's other plays include The Bereaved, declared a New York Times Critic's Pick and one of the Best Plays of 2009 by Time Out New York; Mary; and Burning. He was hailed as the Best Provocative Playwright of 2007 by the Village Voice.