{"product_id":"after-class-parents-night-and-the-bigger-issue-9781772011845","title":"After Class: Parents Night and the Bigger Issue","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): George F. Walker | Wesley Berger\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Ingram USA\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Talonbooks\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Canadian\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSit your butt down and learn your three Rs: ranting, resisting, and respect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn two new plays, Canada's king of black comedy takes on the failing education system. Both \u003cem\u003eParents Night\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Bigger Issue\u003c\/em\u003e are set in public-school classrooms after hours and involve confrontations between stressed-out teachers and ticked-off parents. Both sympathize with embattled educators and evince Walker's trademark understanding of poverty and the working classes. In both, Walker's signature moves work: the audience feels simultaneously complicit in and righteously angry about injustice and inequity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eParents Night\u003c\/em\u003e finds grade-three teacher Nicole caught in the crossfire between John, an arrogant executive dad, and Rosie, a ballsy, low-income mom. Both are meeting with Nicole to express concerns for their children, but class warfare quickly erupts, and the kids' behaviour turns out to be a reflection of their parents' messed-up lives. A harried Nicole is dealing with troubles of her own, but she makes a brave attempt to discipline these overgrown brats.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Bigger Issue\u003c\/em\u003e covers the same ground but digs deeper. Suzy, a novice middle-school teacher, has been called onto the carpet by the principal, Irene, for physically accosting a violent student. But when the boy's parents show up, it becomes clear that Jack and Maggie are a middle-class couple reduced to abject poverty; the real problem isn't their son or the school but a dysfunctional society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether, \u003cem\u003eParents Night\u003c\/em\u003e and\u003cem\u003e The Bigger Issue\u003c\/em\u003e comprise the first instalments in a projected play cycle similar to Walker's famous Suburban Motel. With an introduction by Toronto director Wesley Berger.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eParents Night\u003c\/em\u003e cast of 2 women and 1 man\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Bigger Issue\u003c\/em\u003e cast of 3 women and 1 man\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ingram USA","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47862965403799,"sku":"9781772011845","price":1799.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9781772011845.webp?v=1780477210","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/after-class-parents-night-and-the-bigger-issue-9781772011845","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}