Play. Michael McClure. 4 men, 6 women. Unit Set
Striving for admission to the League of Superheroes, General Gorgeous
is repeatedly thwarted by domestic hassles or by confrontations with
The Blue Mutant, an arch villain who bends every effort to locate
The Secret - a source of power which, he mistakenly believes, is
hidden in Gorgeous' futuristic digs. As it turns out, The Secret
is actually in the possession of General Gorgeous' father, Roar,
a retired Superhero, who is visiting from Florida with his wife,
Mouse Woman, and who is shortly kidnapped and tortured by The Blue
Mutant. The battle is joined as General Gorgeous tackles The Blue
Mutant, seeking to rescue his parents, vanquish evil, and protect
The Secret - while, at the same time, squabbling with his wife, Angela
(who wants to start a family); mollifying his nubile mistress, Lilah;
and trying to make his philosopher friend John Paul aware that the
pretty servant with whom he is smitten is really a panda bear and
not a woman. In the end virtue is gloriously triumphant, but not
before some telling points are made about good, evil, and the transmuting
power of love.
ISBN. 0-8222-0436-3
Drama. Ira Levin. 7 men, 2 women, many bits. Unit Set
This hot and humid Saturday in July is a great day for General Seeger.
A new recreation building on an Army post in a New England State
is to be dedicated to the memory of his heroic son, Lieutenant Seeger,
who was killed by saving two raw recruits from an exploding hand
grenade. But just before the ceremonies are to commence, the Lieutenant's
widow, Helena, arrives from San Francisco, as tragic as Electra from
the Greek tragedy, ominous sounding, and determined to reveal truth.
The truth, as she sees it, is that her husband was no hero, that
the ceremony would be a sham and a mockery and that the lieutenant
killed himself to escape the Army. She blames it all on the domineering,
selfish father who dictated every step for his son and who is making
it a ceremonial for himself rather than one for his allegedly heroic
son. Under Helena's remorseless logic and flinty resolve to expose
the truth, the General begins to wilt. He, in turn, takes up the
investigation, probing the captain who was his son's friend at the
Point and the colonel who was an eye witness to the tragedy. Now
a new area of conflict opens up. General Seeger, after learning the
bitter truth, insists on calling off the dedication. The army brass
is just as insistent that the programme goes through as scheduled.
His ultimate decision, which goes against that of his superiors,
means the destruction of a lifetime career but, with it, the triumph
of a noble spirit.
ISBN: 0-8222-0437-1
Peter Gordon : Comedy 2-3M 2-3F Exterior set
The play is set on
a cliff top in the Isle of Wight, both in 1969 and the present day.
Having met Anne in 1969 during the week of the Summer ofLove music
festival, Paul decides to shed his conservative life on the island,
rejecting his parents and fiancée to
run off with Anne to her commune on the mainland. A heart attack
by his father Albert forces him to reconsider, and despite promises
of joining Anne later, it's apparent he will stay. In the present
day, a chance encounter with Anne who is visiting the island with
her own daughter, leads Paul back into his past and the flames
of romance slowly rekindle - but not without seemingly insurmountable
obstacles in their path, not least of which is the growing attachment
between Paul's son Al and Anne's daughter Julie. The parallels
between Paul's past relationship with his father and his current
relationship with his own son become apparent, as each generation
grapples with similar problems and difficulties to the one before
in this poignant and humorous look at how the events of one week
in 1969 affect three generations of the same family.
ISBN: 0 85676 157 5
Play. Francis Durbridge
M6 (30s, 40s, 60) F2 (30s, 50s). A living-room.
Stacey Harrison is a charming, intelligent, sophisticated and highly
successful career woman. Shortly after her return from a questionable
trip abroad she is attacked by a stranger and, in the ensuing struggle,
kills him. A second killing, and an attempt at a third occur before
the mysteries - which also involve dealings in forged paintings -are
finally resolved in this gripping thriller.
ISBN 0 573 11153 7
Play. Brian Friel
M 11 (10, young, 20s, 30s, middle age, 60s) F3. Composite set: a
kitchen, a street.
A morning in June. The inhabitants of Inishkeen, the Gentle Island, off the west coast of Co. Donegal, are leaving for good - all except Manus Sweeney and his family. In this parable of Ireland one of the characters remarks, 'There's ways and ways of telling every story. Every story has seven faces', and the title of Friel's brave work belies a set of violent sexual and homosexual tensions. The island's story and history unfold towards a shattering climax.
Play - a fairy tale with a moral. Irwin Shaw 10 men, 3 women. 3 Interior/2 Exterior.
Two middle-aged friends love to fish in their spare time. Each of them has his domestic and financial difficulties, but when they go fishing the world is their own. Just as they are planning a glorious jaunt in southern waters, a tough young gangster appears to extort "protection" money from them. They pay, knowing that otherwise their boat will be destroyed. But the gangster meets one of their daughter's and learns the old men have saved a large sum toward the purchase of a new boat. He demands the full amount of these savings so, in desparation, the fishermen appeal to the law. In court, however, they are victimised again by a crooked judge who dismisses the case. Knowing the gangster will stop at nothing, they realise they must take justice into their own hands. The take him for a short boat ride, from which he does not return. And in the end the fishermen, contented and reasonably secure, again plan their dream cruise off the coast of Cuba where "the water's warm and the sun shines for eleven months a year."
Play.
William Gaminara, adapted from the novel by Emile Zola
M 10 F3. Interior and exterior settings.
William Gaminara's memorably atmospheric adaptation of Emile Zola's novel of 1885, Germinal deals with exploitation and oppression, both financial and sexual. The setting is a town in northern France, tragically divided by the effects of a miners' strike. The play was produced by Paines Plough in Plymouth in 1988 for an eleven-week tour culminating in London at The Place.
Comedy/Thriller. Stephen Sondheim and George Furth. 7 men, 4 women. Unit set
The esteemed and retired Dr. Conrad Bering has selected, out of
countless applicants, several individuals for private as well as
Group therapy. It seems this Pulitzer Prize winning doctor might
be writing another book and it further seems these patients might
be his subjects. The Group consists of Martin Chisholm, an ambitious
political consultant; Dossie Lustig, a sensual restaurant hostess;
the snob socialite Pamela Prideaux; Vassili Laimorgos, a sly dealer
in antiques and collectibles; the rich and arrogant real estate mogul
Gregory Reed; a cop with a grudge, Dan Gerard, and Nam Jun Vuong,
a college instructor and resentful would-be administrator. On this
particular evening the members of the Group gather as usual in Dr.
Bering's office only to discover that the doctor has been murdered.
Who did it? And what does the appearance of a mysterious young man
who killed a girl in Central Park have to do with what's going on?
Does the fact that the doctor is the last and only tenant in this
otherwise empty, guarded security building confirm that one of them
had to have done it? To call the police will subject them to reckless
scandal, relentless investigation and turn them all into fodder for
the hungry media, so a collective decision is made to try to solve
the murder thernselves. The play then is propelled by a series of
twists and turns and red herrings, along with some hold-your-breath
shocks, all culminating in an explosive prize ending. Act One is
a "who done it" and by its end the audience knows the murderer. Act
Two becomes a suspense play
… will the characters figure it out? Will someone actually be "getting
away with murder?"
ISBN: 0-822-1565-9
Play. Alan Bennett
M4 (17, 19, middle-age) F3 (30s, 50s, 60). A basement flat.
George Oliver is a middle-aged Labour MP who lives in his middle-class
home with his children and his second wife, the bustling, attractive
Polly. Disillusioned by the passing years and the changing world
George is out of touch with his family, his friends and neighbours,
with the world he has tried to improve. 'He's a socialist,' says
Polly, 'but he doesn't like people' - the disenchanted re former.
ISBN 0 573 01133 8
Play Marsha Norman. 7 men, 5 women. Unit Set
Released from prison Arlene returns to a rundown apartment in Louisville,
intent on starting her life over. Rebellious and disruptive as a
young girl, she has found strength in religion and wants to put her
youth (as Arlie) behind her. But her struggle to find her way in
the present (as Arlene) is counterpointed by flashbacks of her past
(as Arlie), her two personalities being represented by two performers,
who sometimes appear on stage simultaneously. We meet the guards
and prison officials with whom "Arlie" waged a running battle; and
the unfeeling, slatternly mother, the lecherous former prison guard,
the pimp ex-boyfriend, and the touchingly friendly neighbour with
whom Arlene is confronted in the present. Ultimately the play, like
life, offers no simple answers - but it conveys, with heartrending
honesty and compassion, the struggle of someone fighting for her
life against incredible odds.
ISBN: 0-8222-0439-8