Horton Foote

Over the last 30 years, Foote has made a seamless transition from live television to film and theater, winning Oscars for screenplay adaptations ( To Kill a Mockingbird ; Tender Mercies ) and kudos for his plays. His theater writing is virtually all set in a small area of Texas oil-and-cotton country, in a smallish town called Harrison; as in the four plays collected here, he reworks with great vigor the themes of grieving and loss. At his best, Foote is a sort of Texan Chekhov, gently exposing the tensions that split the nuclear family--usually greed and sexual longing--with genuine concern for his characters. But the first two plays here are predictable and melodramatic. One in particular suffers from clumsy exposition and a surfeit of incident, including a double drowning, a murder and a dark family secret. However, the last two plays redeem the volume. One is a wryly funny look at an extended family in breakdown over Mama's ostensibly valuable holdings; the second is a poignant mood piece about lonely people trying to make their way in a world that is changing beyond their control. (Jan.)