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The Boy on the Swing Joe Harbot

The Boy on the Swing By Joe Harbot

The Boy on the Swing by Joe Harbot


$11.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 1 left

Summary

The Boy on the Swing is essentially a black comedy that confronts the power of a corpororation to brainwash and destroy an individual through the manipulation of emotions, beliefs and the truth. Joe Harbot's play is a brilliant tale of one such individual who ends up entwined in a series of dark power games.

The Boy on the Swing Summary

The Boy on the Swing by Joe Harbot

The Boy on the Swing portrays an individual in the throes of a corporation with intimidating authority and an almost inexplicable leverage to trap and injure. Upon finding a mysterious business card labelled 'Talk to God' in the street, protagonist Earl Hunt comes into contact with the Hope and Trust Foundation which offers the chance to meet God - for a price. After submitting credit card details during a bafflingly threatening phone interview, Earl proceeds to a visit to the Hope and Trust office full of unfathomable power games which alternate between geniality and intimidating menace. The promised meeting with 'God' arrives when, in a dingy room, Earl finally comes into contact with an old man of 85. From the pseudo business-evangelical spiel of the Hope and Trust Foundation to the frugal simplicity of the man presented as God, Joe Harbot's range and pace is cleverly broad and elusive. From a set-up which subtly suggests the mercenary exploitation of the lost and the lonely, the play's arc turns to darker and stranger themes of metaphysical significance. The Boy on the Swing is an enigmatic piece of writing, sometimes baffling and sometimes blackly funny. For all its bizarre and perplexing notes, the play has a smart, dark sense of humour and grapples with abstract, preternatural questions.

The Boy on the Swing Reviews

...Joe Harbot's kooky comedy combines Kafkaesque bewilderment with the daftness of Douglas Adams. Straightening out vast metaphysical paradoxes into consumer-friendly language results in some cracking gags. It's more than a string of jokes, however, and Harbot neatly skewers the commodification of faith. -- Matt Trueman * Time Out London *

About Joe Harbot

Joe Harbot, who graduated from the Royal Court's Young Writers' Programme, wrote his first play, Gathered Dust and Dead Skin, when he was just fifteen. His other plays include A Sock in the Wash (Live Theatre, Newcastle), Fish Missing (Theatre 503, Battersea), The Running Machine (rehearsed reading, Royal Court Upstairs) and This Way Up (Live Theatre, Newcastle). He has also had a short film, Linked, which was produced in 2007.

Additional information

GOR003381494
9781408153802
1408153807
The Boy on the Swing by Joe Harbot
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
2011-03-09
96
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Boy on the Swing