Drama. Patrick Hamilton Brandon wants excitement at any price. He persuades his weak-minded friend, Granillo, to assist him in the murder of a fellow undergraduate, Ronald Raglan. They place the body in a wooden chest and invite some acquaintances, including the dead man's father, to a party, the chest and its gruesome contents serving as a supper table. The horror and tension are worked up gradually and we see the reactions of the two murderers, closely watched by the suspecting Rupert Cadell, until finally they break. Play. Andrew Davies Rose, a disenchanted teacher, feels frustrated in all walks of life:
at her tough Midlands school, in her relations with her mother, the
school staff, her dullish husband. Her professional efforts to introduce
new ideas are blocked; her husband threatens suicide and a possible
affair dwindles to a few brief moments in a car. Finally she faces
her class as so often before- 'What are we going to do today?' The
original production starred Glenda Jackson. Play. Harvey Perr. A neurotic, middle-aged woman; her crippled son; and his sexually
seething young wife, await the return of Rosebloom, the father of
the family, who has been in prison for 26 years. As they wait their
hidden thoughts come alive in striking, trenchant interior monologues
which project the frustrations and enmities brooding within them.
The arrival of Rosebloom triggers the powerful, ritualistic culmination
of the play, as past, present and future merge, and fantasy and reality
are juxtaposed to illuminate the disquieting truths which are the
bitter core of the play. Play. Tennessee Williams The Rose Tattoo, says the author, is 'the Dionysian element in human life, its mystery, its beauty, its significance'. Serafina boasts of her husband's prowess as a lover and nephew of a Baron. On hearing he had not been at all what she supposed she takes up life again with a flourish. In addition she now gives consent to her daughter's marriage to a young sailor. Play. Israel Horovitz. Inspired by characters from Morley Torgov's
book, A Good Place to Come From. Preparing for his bar mitzvah, Stanley Rosen is disconcerted by
his proud mother's promise to commission a chopped liver sculpture
in his likeness, but even more concerned about his father's decision
to change the family name from Rosen to Royal. World War II has begun
and the older Rosen, disturbed by a growing evidence of anti-Semitism,
even in their provincial town of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, wants
to disguise the family's Jewish background. Although Stanley is very
much a part of the local community, and even has a gentile girl friend,
Fern, he is uneasy with his father's action which, he feels, is a
betrayal of a proud heritage. With Fern's help, and that of a sympathetic
cousin, Manny, a shellshocked veteran, he arranges a secret bar mitzvah
in the proper family name. His father, angered and resentful at first,
soon realizes that his son has shown a courage he has lacked - and
as the play ends the family is once again united, and determined
to face what may come with dignity and resolve. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Comedy. Tom Stoppard Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sit in the Court of Elsinore endlessly
spinning a coin, waiting for their stage entry - which may never
come. Unsure who they are and why they are there they even have difficulty
remembering which goes by which name. Against the action of Hamlet they
seek their identities and their purpose and reflect the feelings
of all those who question existence. While this play deals with themes
already familiar from Beckett, its style is that of brilliant, literate
comedy. Play. Don Taylor A remarkable and true story of a village stricken with plague through
the arrival from London of a box of clothing; of the villagers determination,
under the persuasions of the present and former Rectors, to prevent
its spread by remaining within the village and containing the disease
at the certain risk of their own lives; of the human tragedies and
even comedies that ensued; of the idealism and the courage required
to live with that idealism. Period 1666 Drama. Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer. Former clergyman John Rosmer comes from along and distinguished
line of ancestors and lives in the family mansion Rosmerholm together
with his dead wife's companion Rebecca West. With her support and
encouragement he intends to join the progressive radical movement
and begin his life's work 'ennobling souls', but his brother-in-law,
Kroll, tries unsuccessfully at first to enlist him for the establishment
cause. When imputations suggest Rosmer's barren wife Beata was not
so much insane as driven to suicide by John and Rebecca, his guilt
stultifies further radical activity. Rebecca, to free him, confesses
her stratagems; not only has she pushed John into the radical posture,
but she also, albeit subconsciously, encouraged Beata's suicide.
Her goals have been fulfilled, but she cannot enjoy them. Rosmer
has at least ennobled 'her' soul, but her happiness is destroyed.
Furthermore, Kroll has revealed to her intimations of her illegitimacy.
When she asks the disillusioned Rosmer what she must do for him to
believe in her again, he says follow his wife. They declare their
mutual love and go to the bridge over the mill-race and drown together. Play. Terence Rattigan The story starts at the end, with Lawrence as Aircraftsman Ross
seeking anonymity. A prey to fever contracted in the East, he relives
his past in a night of delirium, his early enthusiasm and triumphs;
living with the Arabs; the capture of Akaba; meeting with Allenby;
arousing of Turkish hatred and final betrayal into Turkish hands.
The refinements of destruction which he underwent as prisoner of
the Turkish Governor are made to account for the complete change
in character. Period First World War |