In this new play by the Tony Award-winning playwright of Take Me Out, a fledgling (and upper-class) World War I-era publisher is trying to decide which work to choose as his imprint's first title. He has two manuscripts but lacks the funds to publish both. His difficult decision--whether to publish his lover's memoir or the novel written by his best friend--is further complicated by the arrival of a mysterious machine that produces pages predicting the future of the play's protagonists, affecting their lives and relationships in haunting and unexpected ways. The Violet Hour opened on Broadway on November 6, 2003, starring Robert Sean Leonard. [A] wonderful new work...of serious writing, of glittering style and dark substance...[The Violet Hour]...balances heights of wit with depths of feeling.--The New York Times