Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book prioritizes Crimp's texts rather than embark upon analyses of the source material from which we might say it stems, or with which it is in dialogue. It concentrates on how the specific play continues Crimp's intertextual journey, while delivering a new piece of theatre that develops a dialogue with two pre-existing texts, though only one of them is literary. Specifically, Crimp draws on Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, as well as Maria Lassnig's painting Schlafende Manner [Men Asleep], which also lends Crimp's play its title. The book looks at Lessons in Love and Violence, the latest in a series of successful collaborations with Benjamin, where Crimp returns to the topic of public marriages through intertextual exploration, delivering yet another strong text for contemporary opera.