The following plays are contained within this collection: The Snow Ball, The Fourth Wall, Later Life, A Cheever Evening, and Overtime. All of them except The Snow Ball are based on the works of other authors. The Fourth Wall has loose ties to Saint Joan by G.B. Shaw. Later Life is based on the short story The Beast of the Jungle by Henry James. A Cheever Evening is a cut and paste of scenes from the works of John Cheever contained in The Stories of John Cheever. And, Overtime is based on the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. The teacher in Mr. Gurney tempts us to read these other authors. In fact, not to do so before reading Later Life, A Cheever Evening, or Overtime will lessen the enjoyment of Gurney’s plays.

A Cheever Evening is a collection of parts of different stories from The Stories of John Cheever as indicated below. I have not seen this play performed, but as the script is Mr. Cheever’s words, one should consider reading his stories first to fully appreciate Mr. Gurney’s effort.

Act 1
0. Preface p. vii
1. The Enormous Radio
2. The Pot of Gold
3. The Season of Divorce
4. The Bus to St. James’s
5. Reunion
6. The Scarlet Moving Van
7. The Cure
8. The Brigadier and the Golf Widow
9. The Housebreaker of Shady Hill

Act 2
1. The Summer Farmer
2. An Educated American Woman
3. The Seaside Houses
4. The Jewels of the Cabots
5. The Ocean
6. The Chaste Clarissa
7. Goodbye, My Brother
8. The Fourth Alarm
9. The Day The Pig Fell Into The Well ( )