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A Comedy in verse. David Hirson. 6 men, 4 women, servants (non-speaking). Interior The play is set in France in 1654, and revolves around an upheaval
in a famous acting troupe. Elomire, the troupe's renowned leader,
is furious because Prince Conti, the troupe's patron, is forcing
a street performer, Valère, upon them. Elomire finds Valère
and his work to be revolting and base, while Bejart, the troupe's
second in command, is worried about offending the Prince and, thereby,
losing their patron. Valère is a terrible bore, who loves
nothing more than the sound of his own voice, which he amply demonstrates
at his first entrance, when he delivers an uproariously funny and
extended monologue. Elomire can barely withhold his contempt, but
Valère is completely unaware of the barbs tossed his way.
The Prince arrives; anxious to see how Elomire'and Valère
are getting along, having high hopes for their union. The Prince
feels Elomire's work has grown stagnant and that the troupe needs
new blood. Elomire, convinced that Valère will never be able
to work in an ensemble situation, challenges Valère to present
one of his plays with the rest of the troupe assists as a compatibility
test. The strategy backfires, however, as Valère not only
works well with the troupe, but the troupe finds themselves enchanted
with Valère and his high jinks theatrics. Seeing this, the
Prince immediately offers Valère a place with the troupe over
Elomire's protests. Elomire, unable to compromise his artistic principles,
strikes out on his own. Drama. Reynolds Price. 5 men, 2 women. Interior Better Days takes place in 1974, the day of Roma Avery's
funeral. Neal and Taw have moved to Roma's house to care for her
in her final illness. Porter has come home on leave from the Navy.
Neal and Taw's son, Cody, now a captain in the Marines serving in
Vietnam, has also returned on leave for his grandmother's burial.
In the course of a day, all the characters make plans for themselves
- and for others - as they are visited by Wayne's father, once sweet
on Roma, and by Roma's old lover, Fontaine, a man Neal had heard
about and never met and about whom he had only just told Cody. Grief
gives way to humorous surprise and renewed bonds as Cody finds himself
in the middle of a bottle spin to see who gets Roma's house - a place
so full of memory some want to stay forever, some want to leave it
behind as soon as the bottle stops spinning. With Vietnam calling
Cody, Neal and Taw must contend with a new future, more hopeful that
they can give their son, if he returns, better days ahead. Comedy (A satirical, fantasy blend of real life and make-believe.) Jon Mein. 2 men, 4 women. Exterior. Deep in the forests of northern Oregon, environmentalists clash
with loggers in a furious battle to determine the future of the land.
Which is more important: the preservation of the natural landscape,
or the lives of the men and women who depend on the harvesting of
lumber? Russ T Sawyer is one logger who thought he knew where he
stood. Having recently lost his wife to the zealous leader of an
environmentalist group, he's been sitting in the treetops, mourning
both his state of unemployment and his new-found bachelorhood. Suddenly,
a female sasquatch emerges from the forest. Russ is torn: should
he go against his politics and protect the trusting animal, whom
he has named Betty, or cash in on a deal that will destroy the poor
creature's habitat? Then when he and Betty become, well ... involved
... Drama. Harold Pinter. 2 men, 1 woman. Unit Set The play begins in the present, with the meeting of Emma and Jerry,
whose adulterous affair of seven years ended two years earlier. Emma's
marriage to Robert, Jerry's best friend, is now breaking up, and
she needs someone to talk to. Their reminiscences reveal that Robert
knew of their affair all along and, to Jerry's dismay, regarded it
with total nonchalance. Thereafter, in a series of contiguous scenes,
the play moves backward in time, from the end of the Emma-Jerry affair
to its beginning, throwing into relief the little lies and oblique
remarks which, in this timereverse, reveal more than direct statements,
or overt actions, ever could. Play.
James Robson Dad and Mam Ling live in sheltered accommodation in a Yorkshire
town. Dad is nearing death, and so the family congregate to see him
through his final days. Displayed on the wall of the living room
is a picture of 'Beulah', the farm which the Lings worked for many
years. As Dad's health diminishes, he remembers his happy times as
a Dalesman, and his children are reminded of their youth at 'Beulah'. Comedy. Derek Benfield Six times fatalities have occurred in Jane and Andrew's country
house. When daughter Sally's new young man, Geoff' arrives for the
weekend he mistakenly gets the idea that the occurrences were due
to something more sinister than 'accident'. When a visiting vicar
passes peacefully away in the garden Andrew and Jane try to remove
the body. Events are further confused by the unexpected arrival of
Geoff's parents who are unaware that the body has been stowed in
their car boot! Play. Jeffrey Archer Accused of the wilful murder of his terminally ill wife, Sir David
Metcalf finds himself locked in legal combat with his old rival,
Anthony Blair-Booth QC. After a tense and gripping courtroom scene
Act I ends just as we are about to hear the jury's verdict. Act 11
takes us back in time to the fateful night of Lady Metcalfe's death
and ends with a surprising twist. This play enjoyed a successful
run in London's West End, with Frank Finlay and Wendy Craig in the
leading roles. 'I loved it ... its much more than a courtroom drama.
It's a compelling love story and it's got the lot -laughter, tears
and tension ...' TV-am. Tragedy. Eugene O'Neill. 6 men, 4 women. 1 Interior/2 Exteriors. The two sons of James Mayo, a tough farmer on the north eastern
seaboard of the USA, are about to take the fundamental decisions
by which they will step from adolescence to maturity. After a sickly,
semi-invalid childhood, Robert, the younger, has decided to go to
sea with his uncle, while Andrew, his elder brother, plans to marry
their childhood friend and neighbour, Ruth Atkins, and to take over
running the family farm. However, in the course of saying farewell
to Ruth, Robert confesses his love for her and is astonished to discover
that she returns it, although both her family and his expect her
to marry Andy. When Robert announces to his family that he will not
after all go to sea, but wants instead to marry Ruth and settle on
the farm, a heartbroken Andy goes in his place. Robert settles in
to run the farm with his father, but Andy's departure has devastated
the older man, who dies. Under Robert's inept guidance the farm gradually
goes to ruin, and with it his marriage to Ruth, who realizes, too
late, that she has all along loved Andy. When Andy returns from sea
Ruth resolves to reveal her change of heart but before she can do
so, Andy lets her know that his new career was for the best - that
he never really loved her. Andy leaves again, and Robert and Ruth
sink into destitution when first Robert's mother, and then their
daughter Mary die. Andy returns once more to find Robert dying of
consumption, and he is left alone with Ruth to survey the wreckage
of what might have been. Comedy. Christopher Durang Prudence's therapist is urging her to be more assertive; while Bruce's therapist urges him to meet someone of the opposite sex by placing a personal ad, not realising that Bruce has a male lover named Bob. Having met each other Bruce doesn't know how to handle nervous Prudence; and Prudence doesn't know what to make of decidedly unpredictable Bruce. How they sort it all out is the story of this delightful comedy. 'Beyond Therapy offers the best therapy of all: guaranteed laughter.' Time Comedy/Drama. Ralph Pape. 4 men, 3 women. Interior The place is a black neighbourhood in a small city in New Jersey:
the time a hot August afternoon in 1963 - the day of Dr. Martin Luther
King's march on Washington. Nick Alameda, a fast-talking white vacuum
cleaner salesman has been working the neighbourhood, and has reached
the home of Frances Johnson, a kindly, trusting black housewife whose
family budget is already stretched perilously thin. At first Frances
tries to discourage the wily Nick and his college boy assistant,
Danny, but little by little Nick breaks down her resistance and worms
his way into her confidence until, by the time her alarmed husband
comes home, she has signed a purchase agreement. But her husband
also brings the news that their son has been arrested for striking
his white foreman - and suddenly the mood of the play changes as
the focus shifts from cynical exploitation to questions of racial
tension and distrust, and the simmering resentment which can burst
into violence at any moment. As the cheers of Dr. King's assembled
followers are heard on the TV the now disaffected Danny turns angrily
on his startled boss and sends him packing, while Frances, emboldened
at last to make her own choices, declares her intention to accompany
her husband to the police station and, with him, to stand up to the
oppressive authority which, so often, has conspired to deny her family
- and her people - its rightful place in society. |