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The
End of the Food Chain. Play. Tim Firth Welcome to the 'animal shift' at Kale Moor grocery distribution
depot. Under the guidance of Bruce, work here is an endless round
of sports and juvenile humour. But a change is due, for their new
colleague is not a born games player and is-even worse-a woman. Wildly
funny, sharply observed and peopled with vivid, likeable characters,
this is another comic gem from the author of Neville's Island. END
OF SUMMER Leonie Frothingham is a rich woman, who cannot see that the old order has been displaced by a new era. Leonie's daughter, Paula, makes an effort to adjust herself to a world in which economic inequality has caused deep unrest. She is engaged to a penniless young radical, Will Dexter. Leonie, estranged from her husband, is captivated by Dr. Rice, a brilliant psychoanalyst. But Paula then reveals to Leonie that Rice made love to her as well. In the end Leonie finds herself alone, realising that her wealth can't give her happiness. Paula is forced to the same conclusion when Will tells her that until he earns a position of his own, he will not marry her. Yet these women are not left entirely without hope, for Leonie will undoubtedly find in the brilliant young Dennis someone to lean upon, and Paula may see her problem through, too. Leonie's estranged husband Sam, who at last gets divorced and marries again, comes into the story showing us the viewpoint of a man who married first for money and then broke away in order to achieve independence and some degree of happiness. ENDECOTT
AND THE RED CROSS (THE OLD GLORY) The 17th century Massachusetts settlement of Merrymount, led by Thomas Morton, is a place of easy going frivolity which makes it a thorn in the side of its Puritan neighbours. During the wild doings of the May Day celebration Mr. Blackstone, emissary of the English archbishop, attempts to impose some decorum on the unbridled colonists, but he is rebuffed. It is a different story, however, when Governor Endecott arrives at the head of his Puritan troops to punish the settlement for selling guns and liquor to the Indians. Being a reasonable man, Endecott allows Morton and Blackstone to state the case for their defense, and he resists the vindictive urgings of the zealous Elder Palfrey to bring quick and violent retribution to all. But his love of religious and civil liberty and his knowledge of English corruption ultimately bid him take action against a spreading blight. Summoning his resolve, he condemns the settlers to severe punishment and decrees that their houses be burned striking a blow for freedom and honour destined, in time, to be echoed throughout the farming nation. AN
ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE A small Norwegian town has just begun to win fame and wealth through
its medicinal spring waters. Dr. Stockmann, resident physician in
charge, discovers that the waters are poisoned. On receiving proof
of this, he immediately reports to his associates, the town officials
most immediately affected. The Doctor is shocked to find that instead
of being thanked, he is looked upon as a dangerous crank, motivated
by a desire to prove that his fellow townsmen are wrong, and to bring
ruin upon them. As the people who run the local paper and the town
officials (among them dose relatives and friends of the Doctor) do
their utmost to urge secrecy and compromise, the determined Doctor
realizes that the honesty and idealism he has counted upon to make
the truth prevail, simply do not exist in the face of selfish "practical"
interests. The press will nor report his findings; the officials
refuse to give him a hearing; he loses his position and the townspeople
boycott him; ultimately his wife and children are cut off from all
contact with friends and neighbors. Almost every weapon of offense
and abuse is brought to bear against the family - blackmail, slam,
der, and eviction from their home. But all the time the Doctor, morally
supported by his family, carries on his magnificent fight for the
truth. At the end the townspeople, gathered outside the home which
the Stockmanns must soon leave, cast stones through the windows.`
Stockmann addresses his family:
"But remember now, everybody, you are fighting for the truth and
that is why you're alone. And that makes you strong." AN
ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE Dr. Thomas Stockmann lives with his wife, schoolteacher daughter
Petra and two young sons, in a small resort where he is the medical
officer at the Baths and his elder brother Peter is Mayor, Chief
Constable and Chairman of the Baths' Committee. All the local businessmen
and workers are confident that the new Baths are going to put the
place on the map and bring them prosperity. Hovstad, Editor of the
People's Tribune, and his colleague Billing, are looking forward
to publishing a Baths-boosting article by the Doctor. But there is
a snag. Stockmann has discovered, for sure, what he had long suspected;
there is sewage pollution in the Baths and on the beach, and the
chief source is a tannery owned by Morten Kiil, foster father to
Mrs. Stockmann. The Doctor, who is self-important and righteous,
is not displeased because he had warned that the (economy) water
pipes system was likely to be inadequate and now brother Peter and
the Council will have to take notice and act, otherwise the invalid
trade they were hoping to attract will only get sicker. At first
Hovstad is delighted to have a hard-hitting, populist story to replace
the previously intended promotional one but Aslaksen, the printer
(also Chairman of the Property Owners' Association and the Council
of the Temperance Society) counsels caution and quickly switches
sides when Mayor Peter wants to suppress any bad-for-business publicity,
fudge the whole issue and substitute a fraudulently reassuring story.
Hovstad and Billing 'see sense' because for all their ostensibly
crusading fervour, they cannot afford to affront the subscribers
and lose backing. Denied publication of the truth, Dr. Stockmann
takes his case to a public meeting. Shouted down by all the citizens
for obvious reasons of greedy expediency and short-term self-interest,
the Doctor abandons the argument about pollution and widens his comments
to point out that local democracy enables fools and knaves to govern
themselves, that liberals are the most insidious enemies of freedom
and, in effect, only a paternalistic aristocratic form of government
can be trusted. He is branded an enemy of the people and decides
to sail with Captain Horster to a (potentially) new life in America
but the owner of the boat, outraged that Horster lent his house for
the public meeting, sacks Horster. Petra is sacked, Dr. Stockmann
is sacked. Morten Kiil, who had initially approved of any action
that would embarrass the Council he hates, now buys up shares in
the Baths and exerts financial 'blackmail', announcing he will cut
Mrs. Stockmann out of his will unless the Doctor recants about the
pollution. Hovstad and Aslaksen come round to the Doctor's house
to congratulate him on his crafty scheme enabling the family to buy
shares cheaply. That does it: Dr. Stockmann drives them away and
resolves to stay and fight for right. He feels strong enough to face
the corrupt rabble because 'the strongest man in the world is he
who stands most alone'. THE
ENGLISH TEACHERS Three generations of women from a well-known, and for the most part
respectable, family of English teachers, live under the same roof
in the twin towns of CeredoKenova, West Virginia, in 1960. Polly,
a spinster and grand dame of the Huntington Community Players, brings
shame to the family after being fired from teaching for allowing
one of her students to read from Allen Ginsberg's epic poem, "Howl." Polly's
losing her job infuriates her widowed sister, Vic, also an English
teacher, since such a scandal may undermine her effort to be elected
as the democratic candidate for the sixteenth district seat to the
West Virginia House of Delegates. Vic is also concerned about the
influence Polly has on her fifteen-year-old daughter, Lib, a baritone-playing
misfit of a girl who is madly in love with the handsome boarder,
Bobby, a history student at nearby Marshall College, and one of Vies
campaign aids. Miss Ruthie, Vic's campaign manager, encourages Vic
to distance herself from Polly and tries to lure Lib away from Polly's
influence by telling Lib she will end up with an unhappy, manless
life. Mary, the self-righteous matriarch of the family, tries her
best to keep order and peace in her house. In a moment of desperation,
Polly escapes to New York, and, after her brief, failed venture there,
turns to Bobby for comfort. Ultimately, Vic wins the election by
Miss Ruthie's manipulating shenanigans; Miss Ruthie marries a doctor;
Lib becomes a majorette; and Polly ends up working as a, check-out
clerk. The play celebrates these women who defy the status-quo in
order to pursue their dreams, and the compromises each makes in the
realization - or the abandonment of those dreams. An
Englishman's Home Play. Stephen Mallatratt Brian, a bit of a snob, has furnished his 'castle' with luxurious
trimmings to show off to his relatives. They remain unimpressed,
as does his wife, Mandy. After one family gathering, Mandy decides
she has had enough and leaves him. The other young members of the
group try to effect a reunion; unfortunately their efforts only reveal
their own hidden tensions, and the result is worse for Brian than
before. THE
ENIGMA Stuart Pearson, a young computer operator, lives in terror of the
"tiger" who has moved in with him, but he gets little sympathy from
his airline pilot friend, Phil Rittenhouse, the main reason being
that the tiger, Elsa, invisible to Stu only. However he fares better
with his lovely neighbor, Nora Dall, as she has a similar problem
herself - her nemesis being Tarzan, a "gorilla." -again very real
to her, but unseen by others. The complications multiply uproariously
as the two scheme to get rid of their unwanted companions while,
at the same time, "finding" each other. Meanwhile, however, their
doubting friend, Phil, ends up with the strangest apparition of all,
a small shaggy "enigma" who follows him everywhere - until a desperate,
but well-placed, bullet sets him free as well. Enjoy. Play.
Alan Bennett Dad thinks everything will be better when the family moves. The
social worker who calls to observe their lives turns out to be absent
son Terry, idolised by Mam, in drag. Secretary daughter Linda, in
reality a prostitute, breezes in, shattering Dad's illusions. The
house is dismantled around them to be rebuilt in a park preserving
the ideals of family life. Mam will be in a showcase whilst Dad is
carted off to the geriatric ward. The
Enquiry. Play. Charlotte Hastings Kate, a prisoner sentenced for killing her very sick child, has
been attacked and driven to attempt suicide. The prison authorities
discover that the attack was made by an inmate, Gow, who has a lesbian
attachment to another prisoner, Valentine, and who is insanely jealous
of Kate's innocent friendship with Valentine. The investigations
also reveal that Kate's husband had killed the child and that Kate,
herself innocent, is shielding the man she loves. Enter
a Free Man. Comedy. Tom Stoppard George Riley refuses unemployment on the grounds that he is employed in inventing; unfortunately his inventions are slightly ahead of their time. Every Saturday he sweeps into his local declaring that he has left home to make his fortune. But this Saturday his long-suffering, pocket-money-providing daughter has had enough, and she too runs away, only to discover that her knight in shining motorcycle gear is already married. Sunday finds them both back at home once again. The Entertainer. Play. John Osborne M5 (young, middle-age, 50s, 70s) F3 (young, 22, 60s). A living-room, a front cloth. Archie Rice is a failure as a comedian. News of his son's death
while on military service arrives as the family is anticipating his
return with a party. Archie tries to stage a comeback for his befuddled,
has-been father who, mercifully, dies in the attempt. A prosperous
brother offers to send the family to Canada but Archie cannot leave
the decaying world of the music hall, where he is at home. Entertaining
Mr Sloane. Play. Joe Orton A youth named Sloane comes in search of a room, and is then seduced by the landlady. Along comes her homosexual brother, who sets about capturing the affections of the youth for himself. Their father believes he witnessed the youth murder someone and, to silence him, Sloane kicks the old man to death. The landlady and her brother now have Sloane exactly where they want him: each of them will enjoy his company for six months of the year. Entertaining
Strangers. Play. David Edgar Sarah Eldridge, a beer-brewing tradeswoman, embodies the free-thinking, bustling spirit of a community beginning to reap the rewards of the Industrial Revolution. The rise to commercial eminence runs parallel to the story of Reverend Henry Moule, a hard-line fundamentalist who believes brewing to be a sinful trade. During the Dorchester cholera epidemic Moule, spiritually intolerant, proves socially altruistic, while self-interest keeps Sarah away from helping the infectious sick. Period Victorian Epitaph for George Dillon. John Osborne. Copies available on hire only. Please contact Samuel French Ltd for further details.
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