Composers and their stage works 



 

Killers

Play. Adam Pernak
M6 (20s-elderly) F4 (20s, middle-age). Simple interior and exterior settings.

Winner of the Royal Court Young Writers' Festival this brilliant debut play shows two brothers and their working-class parents. Jonathan, the high-flier, causes the death of his errant girlfriend's older lover, whilst David, a fighter pilot, is sent to the Gulf War. Both are killers, but one is revered as a patriotic hero whilst the other is imprisoned for his crime passionel. ' ... a beautifully simple play that wafts over the audience with the warmth of reality.' City Limits
ISBN 0573018154

Killers

Play. John Olive. 4 men, 1 woman. Unit Set.

The place is a rundown boarding house in the slums of a large American city, the time the 1950s. Charles Blackwell, a writer of popular fiction, is having difficulty in finding an ending for his latest work, "The Killer Inside Me," a task made more difficult by the constant intrusions of his fellow roomers. These include his love-starved, slatternly landlady, Wanda; an aged and mentally impaired war veteran, Earl, who is driven to distraction by the sound of Blackwell's typewriter; and Lou, a psychotic young misfit given to violent fantasies and to sleepwalking in his jockey shorts. They are all people filled with angst and desperation and all, in one way or another, seem to be trying to use Blackwell, the outsider, as a means of finding relief from their crabbed circumstances. Then Wandâs violent and hateful husband, an ex-con, suddenly returns after an absence of several years, flashing a roll of bills and vowing to reclaim his wife's "love" despite her loathing for him. Inexorably the action of the play moves from simmering discontent to explosive violence, culminating in a brutal murder which, ironically, provides Blackwell with the freedom and release needed to bring his story to a satisfying conclusion - but leaves the others still trapped in the hell which they, unwittingly or not, have made of their lives.
ISBN: 0-8222-0612-9

The Killing Game

Play. Thomas Muschamp
M4 Fl. A living-room.

This tense play, set in Army barracks, and superficially the story of a menage d trois, takes a sinister turn when we see the violent games this family indulges in to amuse and terrify their guests. The Lt Colonel is posted back to Oman, where, years earlier in the company of his servant Brown he was involved in an off-the-record SAS operation. Could this operation now be termed an atrocity? '... managed to keep me fascinated by its ability to bring off surprise after surprise.' Standard
ISBN 0 573 11157 X

The Killing of Sister George

Comedy. Frank Marcus
F4. A living-room.

Sister George is a fictional character in a popular radio serial about English village life. To boost ratings, this character is to be killed off and Mrs Mercy of the BBC comforts June Buckridge who has played the part for some 2000 performances. June has a lesbian relationship with 'Childie' McNaught, a babyish 'girl-woman' who shares her home, and the impending catastrophe of June's lost job tips the insecure relationship over. Beryl Reid triumphed in both the stage and screen versions of this comedy.
ISBN 0 573 03017 0

Killing Time

Play. Richard Stockwell
M1 (30s) F1 (30s). A living-room/kitchen area.

A chance meeting brings Rick and Jane together. Gradually the clues to the truth assemble: he engineered their meeting; he knows all about Jane's marriage to the violent, unsavoury Michael - and he wants Michael dead, for reasons of his own. Surprisingly, Jane is happy to collude with Rick in this plan, but then she isn't all she originally appears to be either. By degrees, the two reveal increasingly more of their true identities and the crimes and violence that have linked them in the past.
ISBN 0 573 01818 9

Kind Sir

Romantic Comedy. Norman Krasna. 3 men, 3 women. Interior

This is the light-hearted tale of a glamorous stage star, who is unhappy with her love life ... or the lack of it. But a charming banker enters the picture, and he and the actress fall in love. He tells her that he is married and his wife will not divorce him, and the actress tries to make the best of this situation. But the actress discovers that her banker is not married. He thinks marriage is a fine institution for everyone but him. So she sets out to get her revenge. She accomplishes this by making the banker jealous, but the man she's chosen to help her doesn't show up at the last minute, so she persuades her maid's husband to masquerade as a new admirer, and the stage is set. Then, however, the banker bursts in and asks the actress to marry him, but it's too late for her to stop the scheme, and a hilarious scene results.
ISBN: 0-8222-0613-7

Kindertransport.

Diane Samuels
1m 5f Drama. Multipurpose set.

Between 1938 and the outbreak of War, almost 10,000 unaccompanied German children were sent by their parents to foster homes in Britain while the parents were despatched to the death camps. 'Nine year old Eva ends up in Manchester ... When Eva's parents fail to escape Germany, the child changes her name and begins a process of denial of her roots ... It is only when her own daughter discovers some old letters in the attic that Eva is forced to confront the truth about her past' Guardian. First performed in Watford, then in the West End.
ISBN 1 85459 227 0

Kindly Keep It Covered

Farce. Dave Freeman
M3 (early middle-age) F4 (20s, middle-age). A reception area.

Roland Dickerby runs a health farm with his wife Julia, bought with the proceeds of a hefty insurance payout on the demise of Julia's first husband, Sidney. Life isn't easy for Roland and today Fate has something extra special in store for him: Sidney has decided to resurrect himself and turns up at the farm, just as Vanessa, the wife of Roland's ex-boss from the Kindly Mutual, checks in for a health-giving visit. A fast, furious and frantic farce.
ISBN 0 573 01817 0

Kindly Leave the Stage

Comedy. John Chapman
M3 (40s, old) F5 (young, 30s-60s). A sitting-room.

To the embarrassment of their dinner guests Rupert and Sarah announce that they are to divorce. Moments later, the actor playing Rupert stumbles on a line and we realise that the previous action is a play within a play. As the prompter tries to get the show moving again the cast begin to argue,out of character, and the result is complete chaos. Laughs abound m this fast-paced comedy of theatrical disasters.