Dead Metaphor

A note to US-based customers: All Lit Up is pausing print orders to the USA until further notice. Read more

Canada’s top playwright sears the page with three new darkly comic plays that denounce political culture, individualism, and the accompanying moral depravity. The title play, Dead Metaphor, examines the collision of a politician’s personal and professional lives, complicated by a son’s return from Afghanistan. In The Ravine, a mayoral candidate learns that his ex-wife is living in a gully nearby and wants to put a hit on him. The Burden of Self-Awareness has money at the centre of a dramatic conflict of values. Each of the three plays is populated by characters trying to navigate the increasingly blurred lines of what’s right and wrong – trying to always stay informed, alert, and ready to act for the common good. Or just to get even.

AUTHOR

George F. Walker

George F. Walker is one of Canada’s most prolific, decorated, and popular playwrights. Since beginning his theatre career in the early 1970s, Walker has written more than 30 plays, including Suburban Motel, Love and Anger, and Nothing Sacred. His plays have been translated into more than ten languages and have received many hundreds of productions around the world.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR DEAD METAPHOR

“gritty, grungy and in your face. Its humour drips like drops of liquid tranquillizer designed to soothe undercurrents of lethal pain. While the play’s mind-numbing rage fuels anger, its excoriating comedy leaves you breathless. … Did I say Walker’s work is threatening and provocative, theatre that ought to be seen? Well, it is. The language is unremittingly rough, but true. These people talk like they think.”
– Hamilton Spectator

PRAISE FOR DEAD METAPHOR

“an important play … there is plenty of raunchy humor (with the emphasis on raunchy, so be prepared), and even a kernel or two of truth, which are more than enough to make your experience worthwhile … while you’ll laugh all night, you might also squirm a little from time to time. I highly recommend the experience.”
– Finger Lakes Times

PRAISE FOR DEAD METAPHOR“funny, disturbing and highly reflective of our drastically divided post-Sept. 11 political climate. The playwright, a master of the theatrical twist, turns conventional wisdom on its head”
– Finger Lakes Times

PRAISE FOR THE RAVINE:

“a gritty, dark comedy … Brimming with timely political commentary”
– Today Magazine

PRAISE FOR THE RAVINE:

“a dark, dirty good time … gloriously unhinged”
– Niagara Falls Review

PRAISE FOR THE RAVINE:

“filled with clever lines and moments as well as death, desperation, love, treachery and opportunity.”
– Descant blog