Spur of the Moment
By (Author) Ms Anya Reiss
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Oberon Books Ltd
1st July 2010
United Kingdom
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
822.92
Paperback
118
Width 130mm, Height 210mm, Spine 6mm
12 year old Delilah enjoys High School Musical, swim parties and ogling the lodger. Whilst her parents throw verbal grenades at one another, they barely notice their 21 year old tenant starting to notice her. The debut play by Anya Reiss, written when she was seventeen, it looks at the distance between close family relations and a young girl on the brink of adolescence.
Reiss's raw, edgy play deals with the impetuous passion of a pre-teen girl for her family's lodge. Reiss combines sardonic observation with confessional honesty. "Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising," Cyril Connolly wrote; but I've a hunch Reiss has the strength to survive such dangerous labels. 3 stars * Michael Billington, The Guardian *
This is the most accomplished debut from a young playwright I've ever had the pleasure to see. A sharp-as-cat-claws drama, by a playwright who has only just sat her A-levels. The tyro playwright inhabits different generational mindsets with equal emotional fluency, wit and insight. Ignore the bland title this is a fresh, funny and blistering indictment of the way we live, parent and grow to maturity now. Whether you're 17 or 70, go marvel. 4 stars * Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph *
Wow! Writers over the lofty age of, say, 20 will find themselves weeping with envy. Anya Reiss, an 18-year-old A-Level student has produced a debut drama of astounding accomplishment * Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard *
A remarkably accomplished debut . A startlingly sophisticated play * Sam Marlowe, Time Out (London) *
There is an amazing maturity about this debut Reiss is a genuine discovery * Michael Billington, The Guardian *
Vivid and spiky... Reiss' ear for dialogue is so sharp * Susannah Clapp, The Observer *
A sharply observed, mightily impressive promising piece of work . Reiss excels at showing the way that our actions betray our thought . A distinctive and delightful debut * Dominic Maxwell, The Times *
A sharply observed, mightily impressive promising piece of work.... Reiss excels at showing the way that our actions betray our thought.... A distinctive and delightful debut * Dominic Maxwell, The Times *
ANYA REISS wrote Spur of the Moment while she was on the Royal Court's young writers program. The artistic directors were so impressed by her work that the play is to be performed at the Royal Court this year. Anya Reiss is the second youngest playwright ever to have a play staged at the Royal Court.