STATES OF SHOCK

by Shepard, Sam

A sharply observed anti-war play from the author of A Lie of the Mind, Fool for Love and Buried Child. Set in a nondescript family restaurant filled with disgruntled customers and an inept waitress, the sounds of war and destruction rage outside. The scene is interrupted by the entrance of the Colonel, a highly decorated war veteran, pushing a wheelchair containing the paraplegic veteran, Stubbs. While the other customers and the waitress watch, the Colonel dominates the restaurant and terrorises the establishment. Stubbs gradually regains both the power of speech and movement, and the tables turn through a series of increasingly bizarre scenes which culminate in a food fight before the play reaches its shattering conclusion.