The Adding Machine: A Play in Seven Acts (Samuel French Acting Editions)

I saw this play at college and liked it, went by the book exactly pretty good for being my first ever play to see

A "must" for people who make research about expressionism.

I picked up this book off of a "recommended reading" list. I don't know if the "shock value" is lost on my generation, but the play, though I could see it in my mind very well, didn't really strike a chord with me the way I had hoped it would. Maybe I just missed the point.

I cannot write a review. I thought it was a novel.. I read a book by that title decades ago, and I thought to re-read it. I assume the error is mine. I will probably try to read it in this form.

This book was purchased for a class i am currently taking and it will be used for that purpose only.

I really enjoyed reading this play.

When properly rendered, Rice's "The Adding Machine" is a powerful, weird, surreal experience. But notice that this edition is subtitled "A Play in Seven Acts". In the original script, there were eight acts (or "scenes", really), but the original Scene V was cut to streamline the production (in 1923). When they revived the play in 1956, Rice revised and restored Scene V, and this is, in my opinion, the way it should be read. You'll find the complete 8-scene script in "Elmer Rice: Three Plays: The Adding Machine, Street Scene and Dream Girl", which is also here on Amazon (ISBN 0809007355). But, really, you need to see the play before you read the text, if you possibly can. They filmed a movie version of it in 1969 (which I haven't seen), starring the inimitable Phyllis Diller playing Mrs. Zero. Leonard Maltin described this effort as "flawed but interesting," giving it two and a half stars out of four. So keep your eyes open for a dramatic or cinematic revival. Etaoin Shrdlu will thank you!

The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice is regard by many as the first play to bring German expressionism to the American theatre. The story follows the emotional struggle of the characters rather than the plot (in fact most of the major events of the play occur off stage) until he wrote The Adding Machine Rice was a master of the melodrama, but The Adding Machine's distinctively modern feel and disturbing message set it apart from his other plays. It includes a erie dinner scene where six identical couples speak a hyper active version of small talk. this play exposes common place vulgarities and everyday injustice.