Playhouse

Contents Cover Other Titles Title Page Copyright Contents Dedication Epigraph Cast of Characters I: Exits and Entrances Monday, June 1 Wednesday, June 3–Monday, June 15 II: Ghost Light Tuesday, June 9–Wednesday, June 17 III: All-Call Saturday, June 20 Monday, June 22 Tuesday, June 23–Thursday, July 2 IV: Run-Throughs Sunday, July 5–Wednesday, July 22 V: Blaze Saturday, July 25–Thursday, July 30 VI: Glorious Friday, July 31–Saturday, August 15 Acknowledgments A Note About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List b iii iv v vii viii ix 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 115 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 247 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 335 337 
 
 
 
 
 ALSO BY RICHARD BAUSCH
 Novels
 Before, During, After
 Peace
 Thanksgiving Night
 Hello to the Cannibals
 In the Night Season
 Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea
 Rebel Powers
 Violence
 Mr. Field’s Daughter
 The Last Good Time
 Take Me Back
 Real Presence
 Short Fiction
 Living in the Weather of the World
 Something Is Out There
 Wives & Lovers: 3 Short Novels
 The Stories of Richard Bausch
 Someone to Watch Over Me: Stories
 Selected Stories of Richard Bausch
 Rare & Endangered Species
 The Fireman’s Wife and Other Stories
 Spirits and Other Stories
 Poetry
 These Extremes: Poems and Prose
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
 Copyright © 2023 by Richard Bausch
 All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.
 www.aaknopf.com
 Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Bausch, Richard, [date] author.
 Title: Playhouse / Richard Bausch.
 Description: First edition. | New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. | “This is
 a Borzoi book”—Title page verso.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2021040262 (print) | LCCN 2021040263 (ebook) | ISBN 9780451494849 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780451494856 (ebook)
 Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
 Classification: LCC PS3552.A846 P58 2022 (print) | LCC PS3552.A846
 (ebook) | DDC 813/.54—dc23
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2021040262
 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2021040263
 Ebook ISBN 9780451494856
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Cover images: The Storm by Georges Michel (detail). The Art Institute of Chicago; theater seats Paleha/Getty Images
 Cover design by John Gall
 ep_prh_6.0_142519746_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Also by Richard Bausch
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 Epigraph
 Cast of Characters
 
 
 I: Exits and Entrances
 
 Monday, June 1
 
 
 Wednesday, June 3–Monday, June 15
 
 
 
 II: Ghost Light
 
 Tuesday, June 9–Wednesday, June 17
 
 
 
 III: All-Call
 
 Saturday, June 20
 
 
 Monday, June 22
 
 
 Tuesday, June 23–Thursday, July 2
 
 
 
 IV: Run-Throughs
 
 Sunday, July 5–Wednesday, July 22
 
 
 
 V: Blaze
 
 Saturday, July 25–Thursday, July 30
 
 
 
 VI: Glorious
 
 Friday, July 31–Saturday, August 15
 
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 A Note About the Author
 
 
 _142519746_
 
 
 
 To Lisa and Lila.
 And in loving memory of my identical twin, Robert Bausch—brilliant writer, artist, teacher, raconteur of matchless genius, and, by whim, whenever he felt like it, a superb satirical cartoonist. Also, always, a kind and tough counselor, a completely trustworthy and wise confidant, my 
 
 
 
 Give me an ounce of civet; good apothecary, sweeten my imagination.
 —Shakespeare, King Lear
 
 
 
 
 
 Cast of Characters
 THE THREE MAIN CHARACTERS
 
 Thaddeus Deerforth—General manager, Shakespeare Theater of Memphis
 Malcolm Ruark—Former TV news anchor, new member of the company
 Claudette Bradley—Company