Composers and their stage works 



 

As Bees In Honey Drown

Comedy/Drama. Douglas Carter Beane. 3 men, 3 women (flexible casting). Unit set

Evan Wrier has just finished a photo session with his shirt off. No, he's not a supermodel; he's a twenty-something New York writer savoring the success of his debut novel. Defined by the media as the "hotyoung" thing-of-the-moment, Evan captures the attention of Alexa Vere de Vere, a black-dad woman of mystery who's made the world of celebrity her home. In fact, it's her religion. Maybe she's a record producer, maybe she's a film agent; what is dear is that she wants Evan to write the screenplay of her life story. Just spend time with me, she says, and you'll learn all you need to know. To Evan, who is gày, it's like an invitation into the world of Auntie Maine, Sally Bowles and Holly Golightly all rolled into one. But once Evan fools himself into believing he loves Alexa, she vanishes, leaving him to foot the bill for all the dinners and Armani suits they've gone through. Trying to find Alexa, Evan discovers a chain of people who have fallen under her spell and acted as her meal ticket. For Alexa has no money, no job, no life of her own - only the one she's created for herself. As Alexa puts it: "You're not the person you were born - who wonderful is?"
ISBN: 0-8222-1651-5

Asian Shade

Play. Larry Ketron. 3 men, 3 women. Interior.

Home on leave before shipping off to Vietnam, two young recruits have been given the use of a lakeside cabin by a prosperous local farmer. Disturbed by the mixed reception given them by some of the townspeople (for whom the U.S. involvement in Vietnam is very much a debatable issue) they hole up in the cottage with two local girls, friends from high school days, as constant companions. Their intention is to spend their time partying and "making out," but the spectre of what awaits them is never out of mind, and when their benefactor announces that he has "connections" which will make it possible to have them reassigned to duty in California they are cautiously hopeful. But the inevitable, in the end, cannot be avoided: their girlfriends are hesitant to become seriously involved with young men in their unpredictable situation, and their pätron's influence proves to be less than he claimed. When their leave is over they ship out, one to die in combat, the other to return home sobered and saddened by his experiences but, as the play ends, hopeful of picking up the pieces of his life and making a fresh start.
ISBN: 0-8222-0071-6

 

Asteriski.

A Comedy of Terrors. Jerome Weidman. 1 man, 2 women. Interior.

To the neighbours Seymour Haber appears to be an exemplary son. Never a Sunday goes by without his dutifully trekking from his luxury apartment in Manhattan to his mother's shabby flat in Queens to spend the morning. Actually Seymour's purpose is not as filial as it might appear. His mother is a drain on the budget, a threat to Seymour's shaky (and wealthy) marriage, and a general millstone who has long since outlived her usefulness. So Seymour devises a number of hilariously diabolic ways to convince her that her faculties have deteriorated to the point where her demise would be a service to all. One other minor problem is that Sunday morning is also the time of Seymour's weekly extramarital assignation at the Plaza Hotel, a fact of which he believes his mother to be ignorant - which, of course, she isri t. However; Mrs. Haber takes a step toward independence by advertising a room for rent, and the tenant who drops in to take it proves to be Griselda, an English beauty who, it turns out, is also a high-priced call girl of international repute. Suddenly Seymour's two Sunday worlds collide as he fords mother's digs more appealing than the Plaza! Needless to say Mrs. Haber's well-honed instincts for survival respond to this, and while the panting Seymour is rewarded he must pay a price. From now on, his Sunday visits will be something more than a duty - and mother's discretion now outvalues her demise. Which, in a bizarre way, means that things have worked out as they should have all along - and as they usually do.
ISBN: 0-8222-0072-4

Asylum

Paul Kember : Comedy 6M 2F Flexible staging

The latest play from the award-winning author of Not Quite Jerusalem is set in the grounds of a decaying Victorian lunatic asylum scheduled for prompt demolition to provide housing. A second-rate film crew have arrived to make a promotional video for a would-be hit single, but events are complicated by the appearance of Tilly, a former patient who has been released into 'community care'. It quickly becomes clear that her visit is more than just a social call, and the film crew, hospital staff and patients are thrown into chaos by the events which follow. An endearing play, one which tackles the serious issues of mental health, housing and the darker side of the film industry while remaining a heartwarming comedy and a thoroughly entertaining evening.
ISBN: 0 85676 140 0

As Long As They're Happy

Farcical Comedy. Vernon Sylvaine
M6 (20s, 40s, 50s) F6 (teenage, 20s, 30s). A lounge.

John Bentley is concerned about the hysterical and artistic gyrations of his three irresponsible daughters and their husbands. John enlists the help of the German psychiatrist, Schneider, but his troubles multiply. Schneider suggests that John would soon cure his family if he were to give them a taste of their own medicine. When John adopts the same artistic flightiness, his children are first outraged, then sheepishly aware that it is time they grew up.
ISBN 0 573 01026 9  

Ashes

Play. David Rudkin
M 1 F 1. 10 other characters played by M 1 F 1. Composite set.

First seen at the Open Space Theatre in 1974, this is a sensitive study of a childless couple and the various indignities they have to endure in the search to find out why they are childless after two years of trying for a family. Filled with much wry humour this is a delicate treatment of a difficult subject and as such is suitable for advanced societies, University and College groups.
ISBN 0 573 01707 7

Ask for the Moon

Play. Shirley Gee
M1 (40s) F6 (16, 20s (I Asian), 40s (1 West Indian), elderly ). Split set: Victorian cottage and modern sweatshop.

A moving play, first seen at Hampstead, showing the plight of women workers in the rag trade, separated by almost 150 years but still sharing a tragic fate. In a split setting we see the Victorian cottage where the lace-makers work in appalling conditions and also the modern-day sweat shop where goods are made on piece work. Times have not changed much - everyone must still keep up or face the sack.

The Aspern Papers

Comedy of Letters. Adapted by Michael Redgrave from the story by Henry James
M2 (40s) F4 (40s, 55, old). The sala of a Venetian house.

Henry Jarvis, a scholar, fanatical about the work of the late Jeffrey Aspern, pursues his quest to own Aspern's letters with single-minded determination: not even romance can stand in his way ... Michael Redgrave's masterly adaptation of Henry James' classic novel captures all the irony and charm of the original. Period 1890
ISBN 0 573 01028 5