The Piano Tuner AUTHOR: Robert Astle ISBN: 0921833-95-4 64 PAGES $14.95 CDN $12.95 US ABOUT THE BOOK: The Piano Tuner is an outrageous dialogue between Bob, a blind piano tuner, and a prepared piano. Bob has been summoned out to a house on the prairie to tune a derelict piano, and he soon discovers that the piano has been "prepared" with sounds, objects and stories which Bob must confront in order to bring the instrument back into tune. A tragedy in the classic sense, The Piano Tuner follows Bob into his harrowing past, revealing the shocking murder of Bob's former wife and his subsequent incarceration. But this is also a story of redemption. As Bob struggles to bring the piano into tune he rediscovers his long-lost son, Baby Boy; it is he who has filled the piano with the sounds, objects and stories and summoned the piano tuner. REVIEWS: "Astle's solo piece strikes major chords of classic tragedy in telling the story of a man who fell into the abyss and touched bottom. The text makes a deep impression with its naturalistic, controlled language and relentless dramatic trajectory, which builds to a crescendo of murderous hurt. Such pathos might be unbearable if it wasn't for the play's underpinning of humour and great toss-away lines of regret such as: 'We shouldn't have listened to that talking horse.' Best of all, The Piano Tuner calibrates the raw sting of the most intense emotions with an ear so sensitive, it scales the highest peaks of eloquence in well-timed moments of dramatic silence." —Montreal Gazette Other Signature titles by Robert Astle: Heart of a Dog The Hats of Mr. Zenobe Theatre Without Borders