Play.
Adam Pernak 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 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. Play. Thomas Muschamp 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 Comedy. Frank Marcus 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. Play. Richard Stockwell 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. 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. Diane Samuels 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. Farce. Dave Freeman 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. Comedy. John Chapman 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. |