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Play. Larry Shue Trying to forget his marital problems, dull and doleful Charlie
Baker takes a fishing-lodge holiday in the Deep South of America,
and to avoid being pestered by the locals pretends that he is a foreigner
who speaks no English. This leads him to become involved, at first
unwillingly, in bizarre goings-on featuring a corrupt preacher, his
pregnant girl-friend, her none-too-bright kid brother and the local
branch of the Ku Klux Klan! The London production of this play starred
Nicholas Lyndhurst. Comedy. Larry Shue. 5 men, 2 women. Interior The scene is a fishing lodge in rural Georgia often visited by "Froggy" LeSeuer,
a British demolition expert who occasionally runs training sessions
at a nearby army base. This time "Froggy" has brought along a friend,
a pathologically shy young man named Charlie who is overcome with
fear at the thought of making conversation with strangers. So "Froggy," before
departing, tells all assembled that Charlie is from an exotic foreign
country and speaks no English. Once alone the fun really begins,
as Charlie overhears more than he should - the evil plans of a sinister,
two-faced minister and his redneck associate; the fact that the minister's
pretty fiancée is pregnant; and many other damaging revelations
made with the thought that Charlie doesn't understand a word of what
is being said. That he does fuels the non-stop hilarity of the play,
and sets up the wildly funny climax in which things go uproariously
awry for the "bad guys" and the "good guys"
emerge triumphant. Drama. Michael Tremblay. 1 man, 3 women. Interior. Presenting both their past and present lives, Carmen and Manon agonize
- within and between themselves - over the relationship between their
parents, Leopold and Marie-Lou. The two sisters are torn in their
loyalties to a mother who was un-involved and a father who was emotionally
and physically abusive. They struggle with the image of their father
as a monster and who has caused a rift between the sisters, who,
until a visit to the family home one weekend, have been unable to
confront their anger. Scenes from the past reveal the father as a
dominant sexual ogre and the mother as submissive, repressed, and
resentful. We learn that to alleviate his own frustration, Leopold
drove Marie-Lou over a cliff, ridding himself of the constant pain
in his life. The twó daughters are left with the legacy of
torment, as they struggle to identify their father as a monster and
then move on with their own lives. Play. Grigory Gorin, translated
by Michael Glenny Herostratus, a shopkeeper in ancient Ephesus, seeks to achieve fame by burning down the Temple of Artemis. Despite the state's determination to render him anonymous, he is accorded neargodlike status and assures himself of immortality. Intended as an oblique examination of Hitler's rise to power, the play also addresses issues common to all states, liberal or repressed. Satirical and astute, this is a play of great humanity and depth, as well as superb entertainment. Humorous, serious and dramatic selections.
Peter Nichols This is a visit inside Frank's memory-jumbled mind where he is thinking
over various memories of his youth, his growing up, relations with
his parents, his friends and his wife. His thoughts dwell particularly
on the Second World War and his attitude towards his parents and
wife. The play takes place on an almost bare stage peopled with both
his real and fantasy characters. The
49th Cousin The story is based on [Lowe's] reminiscences of her late grandfather. Isaac Lowe was a cantankerous, opinionated man. He founded a synagogue in Syracuse at the turn of the century and almost wrecked it. His possessiveness and prejudice kept his three daughters on the verge of spinsterhood until they revolted against his tyrannical ways. Being of German Jewish stock, Isaac looked down on Russians, Poles, Austrians and Hungarians. When one of his daughters defied him and married a young Russian salesman, he was irate. He was even more so when another became engaged to a Gentile school principle. Isaac thought the Lord had deserted him. He tried to turn atheist. But in the end, everything came out all right. The generosity of others made him see the error of his ways - a lightning bolt that hit the temple also helped! The title refers to the fact that if we believe in Adam and Eve, we're all cousins - 49th or farther removed. Play. Pat and Derek Hoddinott,
dramatized from the novels of John Galsworthy Galsworthy's famous trilogy has been superbly adapted for the stage
and achieved enormous acclaim following a national tour, starring
Nyree Dawn Porter. Set between 1886 and 1920 with multiple locations
cleverly contained within one set-a Victorian-style conservatory-requiring
the minimum of props, the play centres on Soames and Irene and the
stifling, destructive power of the Forsyte family, embodied in the
cold hauteur of Soames. Lee Blessing : Comedy 10M 4F Flexible staging The play takes up where Hamlet left off, but proves to be as relevant to today's political landscape as from when it is set. Young Fortinbras, a modern man of action, enters during the last
scene of Hamlet only to order the bodies of the royal family
be shuffled off while he devises the best possible media blitz to
legitimise his ascension to the throne of Denmark. Horatio, sworn
to the dead Hamlet to convey the truth of his actions, is immediately
cast by Fortinbras into the role of an unwilling public relations
person. Meanwhile, Fortinbras is forced to balance a disastrous and
mistaken invasion of Poland with a seductive and harrowing array
of ghosts, ranging from a vampish Ophelia to a repentant Claudius
and Gertrude, all of whom cast doubts in his mind as to what really
makes up the character of a ruler. Finally, Horatio, driven to madness
by the refusal of everyone to believe in him, assassinates Fortinbras
and then kills himself. In the afterworld, all of the characters
reconvene, wizened now by their deaths and ready to make a new go
of it in Elsinore, though what their fates have to say about the
world they left behind remains a sobering prospect. Play. Alan Bennett At a public school, now past its prime, the annual school play is being prepared. The progress of the play is severely impeded by the conflicts between the Headmaster and the play's producer, Franklin, and by the behaviour of the boys. Forty Years On is original, witty, erudite, moving and frequently hilariously funny. |