George Walker is a Canadian playwright who has achieved a sort of underdog-like success. Walker's sharpened sense of comedic irony along with his unique patterns of thought have contributed to his success and his being one of the most widely produced playwrights today. The Art of War , Escape From Happiness, and Zastrozzi, are all very different plays from Walker, having all come from different periods in his career. Despite their differences, there are some underlying commonalities. One of them is language and character honesty, another has to do with power and the search for justice. Also, through the character's journeys, we are usually able to find some sort of empathy.

Walker has a way of setting you in the life of real people through their language and brutal honesty. Every one of the characters in Walkers plays speak in a stream of immediate thought and are all in their own little world of self-denial where they have perfectly valid reasons for the eccentric, o

POWER- Nah. They'd ruin everything. Besides, vengeance is mine saith the Lord and since the Lord isn't here tonight I'm standing in. Vengeance, therefor, is mine. (Page 882, Modern Canadian Drama)

In Zastrozzi, there is not so much the theme of power than justice. For three years Zastrozzi has been pursuing Verezzi, an Italian who once killed Zastrozzi's mother in what we must assume was a blind rage for him killing her sister. The truth is he didn't actually kill Verezzi's sister, but his student Bernardo did.

In Zastrozzi, the characters have a very raw appeal. They never make an effort to hide the things they feel. They say things without thinking sometimes or say something and then realize the truth in what they just said which they didn't know or realize before.

In Zastrozzi, the characters have a very raw appeal. They never make an effort to hide the things they feel. They say things without thinking sometimes or say something and then realize the truth in what they just said which they didn't know or realize before.

Zastrozzi- Because it will keep me preoccupied. Now leave. And hide well. I wish to be preoccupied for a long time. (Page 69, Zastrozzi)

The themes of power and the search for justice are two other themes that connect Walker's work. In Escape From Happiness, Elizabeth is on a crusade of sorts against police brutality and the abuse of power by the police. Wrestling her in this mini-war is another woman; Dian the female cop. The entire story around Junior's having drugs in the basement and having his mother-in-law put in jail was all a result of Dian. She had the drugs planted in the basement so that she could strike a deal with Elizabeth so that she would not reveal to the public that police brutality was taking places more than ever in their town. There is an overwhelming theme of power here that is overcome through Elizabeth's justice. Tom and Junior are searching for their own justice. Their neighborhood is crime ridden and their plan is to pose as criminals in scheme to turn gangs ans mobsters against themselves in a game of mistaken identity. They had been successful until the Dian stepped in, causing problems for everyone.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tyrone Power, Verezzi Zastrozzi, Junior Gail's, Mary Anne, Power Walker, Happiness Zastrozzi, Happiness Elizabeth, Drama Zastrozzi, POWER- Hackman's, Power Power's, escape happiness, art war, character honesty, tyrone power, modern canadian drama, truth didn't, minister culture, search justice, i'll write, theme power, power search justice, canadian drama zastrozzi, war power, ridden plan pose, crime ridden plan,
Approximate Word count = 4201
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)