Published in 1944, 18 Washington Square South is a brief comedic play by Madeleine L'Engle, the author of such beloved children's classics as A Wrinkle in Time and Meet the Austins. The author's first published work, it has never been anthologized, is long out-of-print, and seems to have disappeared entirely from the minds of her many loyal fans. Needless to say, with no copies available anywhere online for purchase, and none in my library system, it is also quite difficult to find. A number of years ago, my library obtained a copy for me from the Library of Congress! Having recently decided to embark on a chronological retrospective of L'Engle's work, I once again took advantage of the wonderful Inter-Library Loan system, and now find myself holding a copy from the library of the University of Colorado at Boulder, some 1800 miles from where I live! Librarians of the world: I salute you!

Described in the introduction as a "gay, delirious delight," the play centers on two young women - struggling writer Emily Britton, and struggling actress Jacqueline Ives - as they approach Christmas with two months back-rent due, and nothing to their name but rejection slips. The answer to this dilemma, of course, is that they should marry, and when they espy a picture of Geoffrey Applegate, successful young producer, and Robert Copleigh, successful young publisher, in the society pages of the newspaper, it seems they've found the answer to their prayers. But how to lure these two young men to their apartment, at 18 Washington Square South...?

Although an admirer of L'Engle's, I can understand why this play has slipped into obscurity. It's short and sweet, and has that mid 20th-century "man hunt" theme, in which everyone is young and gay, and oh-so arch and witty. It probably played well at the time, but although I found it moderately amusing, it definitely has a dated feeling. Given the difficulty involved in obtaining a copy, and the fact that it will take you all of a half an hour to read it, I'd really only recommend 18 Washington Square South to those, like me, determined to read L'Engle's entire oeuvre. ( )