Neil LaBute: Plays 1 Filthy Talk for Troubled Times; The Mercy Seat; Some Girl(s); This Is How It Goes; Helter Skelter; A Second of Pleasure

<p><i>Filthy Talk for Troubled Time</i> is one of his earliest plays. A downbeat night at a topless bar exposes the gulf between the twitchy clientele and the waitresses who serve but despise them. <i>The Mercy Seat </i>examines a couple who, on the day after a world-changing atrocity, toy with exploiting it to start a new life. <i>Some Girl(s)</i> follows a young writer's panicked retreat from his imminent wedding as he seeks out old girlfriends and opens new wounds, while in <i>This Is How It Goes </i>the breakdown of a seemingly successful marriage is complicated by submerged bigotry and hatred. The collection also includes two short plays about relationships in crisis - <i>A Second of Pleasure</i> and <i>Helter Skelter</i> - which are in equal part tender and chilling.<br><br>Together these plays form a complex and compelling portrait of the sexes - sometimes warring, sometimes loving, but never fully at peace.</p>