Comedy. Jack Popplewell. 4 men, 5 women (of the 4 men; one is doubled). Interior (Divided). Having come into a small inheritance, Vicar Simon Ross generously
decides to spend it all repairing his venerable, but rather tumbledown,
church. Not having a head for figures, however, he innocently runs
up bills far in excess of his available finances and soon finds himself
in a fix. His fiancée, Janet Jones, sees only one way out
- Simon's twin brother Peter. The idea does not sit well with Simon,
for while he and his brother are identical in appearance (and doubled
by the same actor) they are completely different in every other way
and, for that matter, they cordially dislike each other. Still, Peter
is a successful financier, reputedly a millionaire. The question
is whether Peter will cooperate. But it so happens that this worthy
is having some business difficulties of his own and Simon's plea
comes at an extremely advantageous time. He is only too glad to escape
to the country for a while, provided that Simon will agree to impersonate
him at a potentially stormy stockholders' meeting which Peter has
been dreading. So the switch is made. After Simon's retiring presence
the breezy Peter is a revelation to Janet, but then Simon manages
to work his own magic with his brother's enamorata, a warmhearted
striptease artist named Bella Newell. From then on, the plot thickens
uproariously as the two brothers attack each other's problems vigorously-
and, by their own devices. Jules Feiffer. 2 men, 3 women. Open Stage Blending together a series of sketches, skits and vignettes, this
delightful revue peoples the stage with the engaging and all-too-human
characters made famous through the author's renowned cartoons. The
theme is the plight of today's city dweller, and the hang-ups, personality
difficulties, identity crises and assorted mishaps which beset those
trapped in what may begin as urban confusion but all too often ends
as urban anguish. Staged with the utmost simplicity, and with each
performer assuming a variety of roles, the play abounds in warmth
and humor, and in the sad/funny truths which, in the final essence,
are the very stuff of life. Play Marsha Norman. 3 men, 1 woman. Exterior In 1914 in a remote shack on the New Mexico prairie, two young brothers,
Archie and Henry Tucker, await the eventual arrival of a wheat threshing
crew. Instead they are visited by "The Outlaw," a grizzled, aging
gunfighter who has shot his injured horse, They are also joined by
Lily, a former dance hall girl who now owns the biggest hotel in
town and a new car. Henry, the hot headed older brother, is also
an avid student of western lore. After recognizing that The Outlaw
is indeed the genuine article, he pumps him for stories of his glory
days and then, to his fatal regret, tries to beat him to the draw.
After Henry's demise the action moves back and forth from high comedy
to affecting sentiment. Lily consoles Archie by indoctrinating him
into the rewarding mysteries of sex, as The Outlaw, in a rare fit
of repentance, makes a stab at committing suicide. Now with his first
flush of manhood, Archie decides to go off to battle in World War
I, while The Outlaw - cowed at last - meekly follows Lily off to
her shiny Buick and to what promises to be a very different life
indeed. Comedy. Michael Pertwee and John Chapman A time-share villa has been double booked unbeknown to the company
rep, myopic tippler 'Chitto' Chittenden. When Mary and Henry arrive
shortly after Eve and Leslie, Chitto manages to remain unaware that
there is more than one couple on the scene. The confusion is compounded
when each couple mistakes the other for the servants and what follows
is a tale of comic predicament and mistaken identity which unfolds
with real wit and style. Romantic Comedy. Ronald Alexander. 4 men, 5 women. Interiors. This is the carefree story of the Dean family - Father, Mother and
20-year-old, daughter, Betsy - from Minneapolis, who embark on their
first European holiday to soak up some old world charm and visit
a 23-year-old daughter, Meg, who's been studying music abroad for
three years. The situation becomes hysterical when they arrive in
Paris and the quick tempered Mr. Dean finds he doesn't speak enough
French to make the elevator man understand he wants to get to the
lobby. His wife discovers the fabulous fashions; Betsy encounters
a handsome American painter - and love - and the plot becomes complicated
when beautiful Meg arrives with a charming, suave, French maestro
who, Father is certain, has taken romantic advantage of his daughter.
We follow the family to Spain where Mr. Dean sees his first bullfight
and is booed out of the stadium. We travel with them to Rome where
Mr. Dean learns to understand Europe - and his own family! The romance
of the two girls in the atmosphere of Latin Europe supplies the chief
involvement of the comedy. Play. John Harrison | M2 (30s, 40s) F 1 (40s). A stone cottage. Rose, faced with a further spread of cancer, has come, on her counsellor's
advice, to a lonely Yorkshire cottage. For a week she will live alone,
without the aid of her smothering husband, and make some decisions
about where she is going. Embracing her solitude avidly, she nevertheless
reckons without Ralph, a very unusual odd-job man, who proves to
be not the solution she seeks but the catalyst to her ultimate decision. Play. Agatha Christie Gathered at the home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell are various
guests amongst whom is Dr John Cristow, his mistress Veronica, his
ex-mistress and his wife. Veronica ardently desires to marry Cristow
but he refuses to divorce, and Veronica unwisely declares that if
she can't have him no-one else will. Within five minutes he is dead.
Nearly everyone had a motive and opportunity to murder Cristow, but
who actually committed the deed has to be discovered by Inspector
Colquhoun and Sergeant Penny. Anthology. Devised by John Barton A unique entertainment composed of the letters, speeches, poems,
songs and music by and about Kings and Queens of England. Against
a background of the simplest design four readers, three singers and
a pianist can perform this work, which sparkles with the wit of several
centuries and demonstrates the vulnerable humanity of those who have
worn the crown. Play:. Romulus Linney. - 10 men, 5 women. Interior. Seeking to retrieve his runaway wife (and the possessions she has
taken with her), Coleman Shedman arrives at the rural meeting house
of a southern Pentecostal sea with a lawyer in tow. But his wife,
Nancy, is unwilling to forsake the love and protection of her new "husband," the
Reverend Obediah Buckhorn, and return to the brutal, hard-drinking
Coleman. And when the strapping Reverend Buckhorn himself arrives,
it is quickly evident that Coleman will not be able to take her back
by force. Rich with atmosphere and the feel of southern rural life,'
the play blends humour and poignancy as it probes into the circumstances
and stories of the various cult members - culminating in a gripping
snake-handling scene in which the cynical Coleman, to his own amazement,
is himself converted to a true believer. The Holy Terror: Melon Revised Play. Simon Gray The original version of this hilarious, coruscatingly witty play was produced as Melon in 1988 with Alan Bates in the lead. The revised version, entitled The Holy Terror, had its stage premiere in the USA in 1991. Mark Melon addresses the Cheltenham W.1. on his career as a successful, ruthless publisher who has suffered a breakdown. The events that he describes then come to life. |