Men Of Steel by Qui Nguyen

Men Of Steel by Qui Nguyen

Three interwoven tales of people with superpowers, including the downfall of America's beloved Captain Justice, the adventures of Brooklyn's Los Hermanos Manos, and the tragic tale of an indestructible man, that ultimately collide inside the walls of a maximum security prison. A superhero story for adults. Captain America, who was killed this month in a comic book but is rumored to be returning to life in time for a movie, first came on the scene in 1941, back when a nervous nation was looking for a patriotic symbol of American power. But times have changed, and so have superheroes. In films like Batman Begins and television shows like Heroes, they are now more flawed, moody and ambivalent about power than ever. Qui Nguyen's MEN OF STEEL ... introduces audiences to Captain Justice, a crusader for the Iraq war era. A dead ringer for Captain America, including the tights and shield, he was created by the United States military and has dispensed with all kinds of villains, but he still has his critics. Some say he's made people dependent on 'supers, ' as they're called, and created safe havens in the outer boroughs by concentrating on Manhattan. And when he killed two murderers in an act of revenge, the man who fights for justice and the American way was tossed into prison ... the show belongs to the genre of gleefully lowbrow Off-Off-Broadway entertainments for overgrown adults. The prodigious onstage fights are not as elaborate as those in THE JADED ASSASSIN, the martial arts fantasy play, but this plot-rich piece, which begins with a murder and moves backward, has more to chew on. The plot centers on the friendship between Captain Justice and Maelstrom, a wealthy playboy with a collection of gadgets and a sexual secret. He's an angrier version of Batman. There are other superheroes as well, including Bryant, a drag queen whose power is that he doesn't feel pain, and Captain Justice's sidekick, Liberty Lady, who some suspect is merely a P R gimmick. Mr Nguyen has an appealingly clean style that mixes colloquial slang and hard-boiled detective fiction. ('Hope is only good for prisoners and bums playing the lotto.') Some of his comic ideas are truly inspired, like the mad villain, The Mole, who prefers making dramatic statements of intent to actually avoiding weapons hurled at him ... this is a fully realized and contained world that raises the skeptical question: If power corrupts, than what about super power? -Jason Zinoman, The New York Times

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, television/film writer, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys, who are widely regarded as geek theater's forerunners. Vietgone (South Coast Rep and Manhattan Theatre Club premieres, 2016 Steinberg New Play Award winner), She Kills Monsters (The Flea), and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys performances of The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Soul Samurai, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and the upcoming Vengeance Song (Geffen Playhouse) are among his works. Qui has written for Marvel Studios, AMC, SYFY, and PBS, among others. He's presently a screenwriter at Walt Disney Animation Studios and a writer on Netflix's The Society. He's a proud member of the Writers Guild of America, The Dramatists Guild, and the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, as well as a graduate of New Dramatists and EST's Youngblood.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780881453478
ISBN 10	0881453471
Title	Men Of Steel
Author	Qui Nguyen
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Broadway Play Publishing
Year published	2007-08-01
Number of pages	98
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.