The Birthday Party and Other Plays.

First edition of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's modern classic, director Alan Schneider's own working copy, inscribed to him by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "September 1961 To Alan from Harold." With Schneider's ownership signature to the front free endpaper, "Alan Schneider June 1960" and his annotations and markings throughout the text, providing fascinating insight into his vision for the production. Schneider directed the play's first Broadway production, which ran at the Booth Theatre from October 3, 1967 to January 20, 1968. James Patterson won the 1968 Tony Award for his portrayal of Stanley, and Ruth White was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her Meg. Schneider was among the foremost American directors of his generation, the American champion of Beckett, Pinter, and Albee, and his interpretation gave The Birthday Party the serious American hearing it had been denied at its origin. When the play first opened in London in 1958 it was savaged by the critics and closed within a week, only later recognized as the work that established the elliptical dialogue and atmosphere of dread now called Pinteresque. The annotations in this copy preserve the working notes by which Schneider brought that once-derided text to the American stage and secured its standing as a landmark of the modern theater. Very good in a very good dust jacket. An exceptional association copy. A rare survival, uniting the two figures most responsible for bringing the play to the American stage.