Lorenzo by the Ghost Light: A Spiel - Softcover

Epstein, Les

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798985483369

Publisher: Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 2023

Synopsis

The companion to the highly lauded "Sleep Cinematic: A Golem's Quarter", "Lorenzo by the Ghost Light: A Spiel" is a mock epic infused with absurdly operatic situations and allusions as well as to an homage to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Lorenzo by the Ghost Light finds its first setting in the same opera house visited by the trio in "Sleep Cinematic: A Golem's Quartet." The main character, Lorenzo, is a theater ghost and his companions are a roach (Hector) and a mouse (Dorabella and Fred's sister). Their quest begins when a stale meatball shatters a Glass Harmonica. Legend has it that demons can be released should such a harp be damaged. So to exorcise the demons and return them to whence they came, the trio sets out to find the right piece of glass to repair the Harmonica.  The trio indirectly passes by the Golem and his group while on quest. For the trio it is to find an appropriately fitting piece of glass to repair the Harp; for Dorabella it is a search to find her opera loving brother, Fred; for Lorenzo it is a return to a beloved Tea House in order to finally give closure to a life long since passed. In tone, Lorenzo continues much like Sleep Cinematic: absurd, silly and on occasion scatological, indirectly commenting on an era losing its sense of balance.

About this title

About the Author

Les Epstein is a poet, playwright, opera librettist and educator. His work has appeared in journals in the United States, Philippines, India, Canada, Ireland and the UK, including Slant, Muse McMaster, The Bacopa Review, The Clinch Mountain Review and Empyrean as well as the anthologies Heat the Grease (Gnashing Teeth Publishing) and Pain & Renewal (Vita Brevis Press). He is the author of Sleep Cinematic: a Golem's Quartet (Gnashing Teeth) and Kip Divided (Finishing Line Press). As a playwright, his work has been staged by such theaters as The Belfast Maskers (Maine), Greenbriar Valley Theater (West Virginia), Stone's Throw Dinner Theater (Missouri) and the Roy Arias Studio (New York City). He contributed libretti for two operas, Barefoot (1997 premiere) and Miss Lucy (2011 premiere). Cyberwit released a collection of his short plays and libretti (Seven) in 2018. Epstein's bi-lingual collaboration with Claudia de Franko, Llorona of the River is available through Silver Birchington plays. He received undergraduate degrees in English and Theater from Otterbein College, an MA in English from Miami University (Ohio) and continued with studies in literature at New York University and in Theater Education at The Ohio State University. He completed his teacher training at Mary Baldwin College. In addition to work with theater, opera and ballet companies from North Carolina to New York City, he spent ten seasons as Education Director and Production Coordinator for Opera/Columbus and another seven as Executive Director for the Children's Theater of Winston-Salem, before settling in as a teacher with Community High School (Roanoke) for which he has staged more than forty productions.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gnashing Teeth Publishing
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798985483369
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 110