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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsSticks and Bones is David Rabe’s two-act play about David, a blind Vietnam War veteran returning to a family that cannot accept his disability or grasp his experience of war. The title is also used for a Sarah Booth Delaney mystery by Carolyn Haines, so the author’s name matters when identifying the work.
What is David Rabe’s Sticks and Bones about?
The play follows David after he returns home from the Vietnam War blind. His family struggles to reconcile his injuries and wartime experience with the reassuring image it wants to preserve. The resulting conflict is presented as black comedy, including a parody of the idealized Nelson family from the television sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. This is a description of the play’s dramatic premise, not a clinical account of blindness or veterans’ mental health.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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Sticks and Bones: A Play in Two Acts | $9.49 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Vietnam Plays: The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Sticks and Bones | $11.10 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Sticks and Bones | $15.57 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Sticks and Bones: Two Plays | $4.95 | Buy on Amazon |
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Rabe Plays:1 | $39.95 | Buy on Amazon |
When was the play written and staged?
The play’s publication and production history spans several versions and venues. Open Library catalogs it as a two-act play and lists editions dated 1972, 1979 and 1987. The Samuel French acting-edition sample identifies a revised version copyright 2016, earlier copyright years of 1972, 1979 and 1987, and the original title Bones from 1969.
A secondary historical overview reports an initial Villanova staging in 1969, an Off-Broadway opening at the Public Theater on November 7, 1971, and a Broadway opening on March 1, 1972. That overview gives performance totals of 121 Off-Broadway and 246 on Broadway, and lists 1972 Tony Awards for Best Play and Featured Actress in a Play for Elizabeth Wilson. These counts and award details are reported by that secondary source, rather than verified here against original production or Tony records.
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The same overview records a CBS television adaptation in 1973, written for television and directed by Robert Downey Sr.
Is Sticks and Bones a play or a novel?
It can refer to two distinct works. Rabe’s title is a play script about a Vietnam veteran and his family. Carolyn Haines’s Sticks and Bones is the seventeenth Sarah Booth Delaney mystery, a contemporary Southern mystery novel. Check the author and format before choosing a listing or looking for a performance script.
| Work | Author and format | How to identify it |
|---|---|---|
| Sticks and Bones | David Rabe; two-act play | A drama centered on a blind Vietnam War veteran returning to his family. |
| Sticks and Bones | Carolyn Haines; mystery novel | Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery #17. Macmillan lists Minotaur Books, 384 pages, an on-sale date of February 27, 2018, and ISBN 9781250770615; publication details can differ by format or listing. |
Where can you get the script, and does buying it grant performance rights?
Samuel French publishes an acting edition of Rabe’s play, ISBN 978-0-573-70546-5. The sample document states, “Publication of this play(s) does not imply availability for performance.” In other words, buying or owning the script is separate from obtaining permission to stage it. The sample says licensing availability depends on territory and directs readers to check with the publisher or licensing partner; a licensing fee applies.
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