The Illusion

Pierre Corneille, Tony Kushner

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 1994
• Print ISBN: 9781559360906
• eBook ISBN: 9781559366977
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

“The most lavish and picturesque special effects are what come out of the mouths of the people onstage…Mr. Kushner makes words sing, swoon and somersault as no other living American playwright does.” –Ben Brantley, New York Times

“Rapture comes naturally to playwright Tony Kushner, and in The Illusion, he plants a big swoony kiss on the lips of the theater.” –Nelson Pressley, Washington Post

“[The Illusion] certainly has the stamp of Kushner’s delight in language. This is a modern interpretation, filled with energy, colour and humour.” –Telegraph (UK)

“Fantastical tribute to the magic of theater…You may resist its charms at first, but soon enough you soften and, intoxicated by Kushner's language and swayed by the music of his ideas, you submit to The Illusion's ravishments.” –TimeOut New York


Tony Kushner’s adaptation of The Illusion triumphs as a thoroughly modern rendering of Pierre Corneille’s neoclassical French comedy while featuring the exquisite wordplay, beguiling comedy and fierce intelligence found in all of Kushner’s work. An enchanting argument for the power of theatrical imagination over reality, The Illusion weaves obsession and caprice, romance and murder, fact and fiction, into an enticing exploration of the greatest illusion of all—love.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Characters
• Act One
• Act Two
• The Plays of Pierre Corneille
• The Playwright
• The Adapter