The Illusion

Already a favorite of theatres throughout the country, Tony Kushner's free adaptation of Pierre Corneille's most original, theatrical comedy, L'Illusion Comique, blends magic and truth, obsession and caprice, romance and murder, into an enticing exploration of the greatest illusion—love.

Freely adapted by playwright Tony Kushner, "The Illusion" triumphs as a thoroughly modern rendering of Pierre Corneille's neoclassical French comedy, "L'Illusion Comique." Tthis adaptation offers readers the exquisite wordplay, beguiling comedy and fierce intelligence found in all of Kushner's work. "The Illusion" follows a contrite father, Pridamant, seeking news of his prodigal son from the sorcerer Alcandre. The magician conjures three episodes from the young man's life. Inexplicably, each scene finds the boy in a slightly different world: names change, allegiances shift and fairy-tale simplicity evolves into elegant tragedy. Pridamant watches, enthralled by the boy's struggles, but only as the strange tale reaches its conclusion does the father confront the ultimate—and unexpected—truth about his son. An enchanting argument for the power of theatrical imagination over reality, "The Illusion" weaves obsession and caprice, romance and murder, fact and fiction, into an enticing exploration of the greatest illusion of all—love.

Tony Kushner's plays include A Bright Room Called Day and Slavs!; as well as adaptations of Corneille's The Illusion, Ansky's The Dybbuk, Brecht's The Good Person of Szecguan and Goethe's Stella. Current projects include: Henry Box Brown or The Mirror of Slavery; and two musical plays: St. Cecilia or The Power of Music and Caroline or Change. His collaboration with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children's opera, Brundibar, appeared in book form Fall 2003. Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he lives in New York.