MasterPlayWorks

New Work

"One welcome, hard fact is that The World Above the Sky is Stetson's debut as a novelist. Stetson, a Prince Edward Islander who's no slouch in the dreaming department, may in fact remind some here of a latter-day J.R.R. Tolkien. In good Hobbit-ual tradition, The World Above the Sky charts an arduous journey through Nature-gone-unnatural... The reddened sands and foaming seas of his constructs churn into a phosphorescent cosmos of grace. Sail as far as you like and with whatever tales of the Templars you choose – you should be so lucky as to drop anchor in The World Above the Sky." Porter Anderson is a former critic for the Village Voice, NYC, CNN Anchor/Producer, and fellow of the National Critics Institute of the USA.
Read full review.

Click cover image, below, to read an excerpt.

Canadian Publisher

MacArthur and Company Publishing Limited

The World Above the Sky is available at:

Chapters/!ndigo
Amazon.com & Amazon.ca

and fine independant bookstores world-wide.

Notes on the book design:

The ship "medallion" and the title lettering are treated with a raised spot uv - a glossy coating applied with high-heat. The overall finish for the cover is matte lamination. The oversize, trade paperback format features "french flaps". The edging is known as deckle edge: it's actually the untrimmed edges of the cut paper. The text and cover stock are both Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC). The paper is a mixture of recycled stock and stock from well-managed, ancient forest-friendly paper operations.

* * * * * *

Works Written

by

Kent Stetson

"The supremely creative Kent Stetson
doesn't lack for praise . . .
the one thing that all Canadians need to know about Kent Stetson is . . .
he's the author of THE HARPS OF GOD,
probably the best single play written about this country."

Matt Radz, Montreal Gazette Theatre Critic

Full text of Mr. Radz' feature article

* * * * * *

THE HARPS OF GOD

French Text
La mer de cristal
Traductrice:
Isabelle Famchon,
Paris

Winner;
The Governor General's Literary Award
English Drama.

Jury Citation:

"In The Harps of God, Kent Stetson creates a new theatrical language -- authentic to its idiom and as powerful and economic as poetry. An epic tragedy in three acts, the play explores faith and meaning and pays tribute to the survival of a people and a nation. With this masterful work, Kent Stetson has raised the bar to a new level in Canadian playwrighting."

Excerpt from The Harps of God, with photo:

The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.
It is the one thing that cannot be learnt from others;
and it is also a sign of genius,
since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception
of the similarity in dissimilars.

ARISTOTLE.

“Though not all of the plays that have won the Governor general's Literary Award for Drama
have been magnificent...

this year's GG winner truly deserves the accolade; it is a terrific read,

and theatrically its ambitions are breathtaking.”

Gaëtan Charlebois, Hour Magazine.

Complete Review

The Harps of God

is available at

MacArthur and Company Publishing Limited

(ISBN 1-55278-544-0)

and

Chapters/!ndigo

Amazon.com

* * * * * *

Excess
a play in two acts for five actors
(3f, 2m)

“Nothing is enough for the man for whom enough is too little.”
— Epicurus

If America and Canada are Fire and Ice (Michael Adams),
America and Cuba are fire and brimstone...

Questions of nationalism, globalization, world domination, socialism,
social democracy vs. capatilist democracy
. . . and the very survival of Canada itself
animate the lives of Excess' five characters.

How strong is the true north?

How long will we stay free?

Excess careens between social comedy
and a deadly serious examination of the contemporary Canadian experience.

In Excess, the future of Canada looks very promising indeed.

Read the Complete Synopsis