MasterPlayWorks

Recent Work by Kent Stetson

The World Above the Sky

A Novel

"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 ... 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... 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

"Wonderfully exotic and hopeful. The book is wildly descriptive. It is magical; you start to convince yourself that a spirit world exists. I once heard it said that when you read Saul Bellow you don’t see any point of writing again. Those sentiments come to mind when I think about what I just read." More Reader's Comments

Click the ship medallion, below, to read an excerpt.

Canadian Publisher

McArthur 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.

* * * * *

New Work

Excess: a post 9/11 comedy about
Sex, Shopping, and... War!

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...

Excess is fast-paced, sophisticated, contemporary social comedy.
The play's Canadian, Cuban and American characters are smart, funny, puzzled and,
suddenly,
way off kilter...

The world changed,
and their lives with it,
on 9/11/01.

It's March, 2003.
They've finally coming to their senses.
Or so they think.

Mostly, they're still scared silly.

Read the Complete Synopsis

As of March 15, 2011, Excess, in its seventh draft, is
stage-ready and awaiting its World Premiere!

Thanks to Playwright's Workshop Montreal...

And PARC, the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre

for all their generous, expert support.

* * * * * *

Other Work

"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

2001 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