The Many Deaths of Danny Rosales and Other Plays

Book excerpt: This is Carlos MortonÍs first collection of plays, the fruit of a ten-year journey that took him from the turmoil of agit-prop theatre to a fellowship with the National Repertory Theatre and advanced academic degrees in drama. The works included here have been produced before audiences, which have varied from San Diego Park pedestrians to Harvard University faculty and students. In his lighter works, Morton has proven himself to be the master of the incongruous, the prince of satire and the poet laureate of the unexpected and comic in daily speech. His serious plays, like The Many Deaths of Danny Rosales, confront audiences with gripping appeals for justice. Whether as a humorist or a tragedian, one note characterizes MortonÍs works: unfettered, expansive imagination.