Dead Code and Other Dramatic Entertainments

This collection of dramatic entertainments brings together innovative plays from six authors, all of whom are known for their work in different genres and fields, ranging from poetry, science fiction, and irrealism to creative nonfiction, literary criticism, and film theory. In the tradition of the theatre of the absurd, Jeff Noon, D. Harlan Wilson, Gary Barwin, Tom Prime, Andrew Joron, and Andrew C. Wenaus embrace classic avant-garde experimentalism while making a concerted effort to break from tradition and manifest the New. Comical, stylish, erudite, and intense, these plays gesture toward what Steve Beard calls a "theatricum novum." Also included are interviews with the playwrights about their influences, the role of avant-garde literature, and the craft of writing for the theatre.