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Drama. A.R. Gurney. 4 men, 2 women. Unit Set Sam, a successful politician and diplomat, is invited to speak at
the dedication of a new building named for his old school friend,
Perry, and paid for by Perry's wealthy mother. The knowledge that
Perry died of AIDS galvanizes Sam as memories of his own homophobic
response to Perry's sexuality are played out in flashback. Sam's
solution had been to arrange a marriage between. Perry and one of
Sam's discarded girlfriends, Alison. Faced now with the embittered
Alison and a dawning sense of his own complicity in Perry's fate,
Sam must decide whether or not to speak out on the issue of tolerance
and jeopardize his chance for the governorship. He has to choose
between his conscience and the old boy network which has served him
so well. Play. Alan Bennett Hilary and Bron await the arrival of Hilary's sister and brother-in-law
in a very English setting: Bron potters about the garden and Hilary
sits asleep on the veranda, Elgar's music drifts from the house.
The visitors arrive, bringing an assortment of particularly English
things, and as the conversation proceeds, it becomes apparent they
are not in England. In fact Hilary fled into exile some years previously
after betraying his country, but now it seems he must return. Alfred Shaughnessy, adapted from the original novel by Reginald
Arkell It's not often that you find a play which gives you gardening tips
and cookery suggestions! This one- man show about Bert, the head
gardener at a country house, has entranced audiences all around the
country. Indeed the play was performed by Roger Hume at Windsor Castle
on Boxing Night 1979 in the presence of the Royal Family. As Bert
potters around his plant pots and gardening tools he relates tales
of his life as gardener, completely drawing us in to his special
world and treating us as garden party guests who are nosing in on
his greenhouse. Play. Romulus Linney: Comprised of a series of vignettes, bridged by music and deft changes
of scene, the play offers a fresh and colourful interpretation of
biblical events and figures. As the action begins we meet the aged
Joseph, a long-time widower, who, being unmarried, is forced by law
to take the young Mary as his bride. All things considered he is
bemused and bewildered when she becomes pregnant although he agrees
to accept the child, Jesus, as his son. As for the miracles which
begin to occur from infancy on, Joseph is quizzical about these too,
and when Jesus grows into a rebellious and confused teenager Joseph's
annoyance at the boy's "tricks" deepens. As the various episodes
are played out, however, a moving family drama emerges and the touching
humanity of both the old man and the young boy are made real in a
way which only the living theatre, and the "Bible of the Folk," could
capture and set forth. Play. Gus Edwards. 5 men, 3 women. Unit Set. Shifting back and forth in time, the play begins as two brothers
and their sister come together for the funeral of their father, a
strongly motivated black man who had become a respected property
owner in the small Southern town where they had grown up. In a series
of flashbacks we meet the father, Jack Hamilton, as he tries to inculcate
his values and fierce sense of pride into his children, challenging
his sons to excel in whatever they undertake, and disparaging the
poor young black boy who has shown an interest in his daughter. The
spectre of his beloved wife, who died in childbirth, and the presence
of Mavis, who replaced her in his household, also shed light on the
ultimately destructive effect of Jack's automatic ways and the impossibly
high standards he has set. Eventually the younger, brighter son falls
easily into a life of crime; the older, slower brother settles for
meaningless, routine jobs; and the daughter, subjugated and depersonalised
by her father's demands, resigns herself to caring for him in his
final years. In the end; after squabbling over the division of the
estate, the three part - free at last from their father's powerful
presence, yet committed, irrevocably, to the destinies which his
influence has shaped for them. Drama. John Henry Redwood. In World War II Harlem, New York, a fifty-five-year-old spinster
(or as they were called in those days - an OLD SETTLER) Elizabeth
Borny, takes in a young male roomer, Husband Witherspoon, to help
her with the rent. Husband has come to Harlem from South Carolina
to search for his girlfriend, Lou Bessie Preston. Also living with
Elizabeth is her sister, Qtiilly McGrath, fifty-three. There is an
ominous cloud of tension that hangs over Elizabeth and Quilly's relationship.
This tension is further exacerbated when Elizabeth and Husband take
to liking each other. Quilly, who doesn't like Husband living with
them in the first place, surely does* approve of their "carrying
on,"
especially since Elizabeth is old enough to be Husband's mother.
Iris this "carrying on" that exposes a thirty-year-old wound which,
until now, only had a bandage - now the wound can heal for the sisters. Play. Harold Pinter. 1 man (40s), 2 women (40s). Interior (A sitting-room, a bedroom.) The scene is a fashionably remodelled farmhouse in the countryside
somewhere beyond London, where a prosperous and urbane couple are
entertaining the wife's former roommate and friend whom they have
not seen for twenty years. At first the husband and wife banter,
then the friend joins them and a flood of intertwining memories ensues.
The action shifts back and forth in time, as recollection of what
did - or, perhaps, did not - happen are pondered and, as the tension
builds, we are aware that the husband and the friend have become
locked in a duel for the wife's very soul. Reveries and ambiguities
abound, hinting at much more than is said, and forming together into
a surprising entity which challenges the heart and mind, and will
linger on enticingly in the memory. Drama. Jon Marans. Hoping to reconnect with his music and shatter the artistic block that's plagued his career, Stephen Hoffman, a young American piano prodigy, ventures to Vienna in the spring of 1986. He is assigned to an elderly vocal teacher, Professor Josef Mashkan, who give Stephen the Dichterliebe song cycle by Robert Schumann. Although Stephen resents having to study simple vocal accompaniment, he slowly realises that he is in the hands of a master teacher. It's a grudging realisation at best for Stephen, as he and Mashkan approach each other from such opposite ends of experience. It seems impossible at first that they will ever get along, much less work together. Their dichotomies abound: one is European, one American; one old-fashioned, the other, modern; one passionate, the other, merely technically precise; and finally, one a seeming anti-Semite, and the other, a Jew - a theme partly expressed by the play's allusions to Kurt Waldheim's campaign for Austria's presidency. When Stephen visits Dachau, at the insistence of his Jewish parents, the whitewash of official German history fills him with rage, and he channels this anger into his art - and against Mashkan as well. Stephen soon discovers that Mashkan's anti-Semitic remarks mask a darker history; he is a Holocaust survivor who would rather die than confront his demons. Stephen urges Mashkan to tell his story - for his sake as well as for Stephen's - but eventually, only music - their one common bond - helps release the burning emotions of the teacher and melt the frigidity of the student. Comedy. Murray Schisgal. 3 men, 2 women. Interior. Irving Berger, having reached a late-middle-aged crisis, has decided
to leave his wife of twenty-two years and move in with Dawn Williams,
an attractive young actress with whom he has been having a clandestine
affair. Unfortunately Irvings arrival catches Dawn by surprise, and
with a few loose ends in her own life which need to be tied up: namely
Gary Duncan (who still has a key to her apartment); Scott Pomeranz
(a lecherous dentist turned theatrical producer); and Darcy Slotnick
(who may be a carrier of herpes). The unexpected appearance of Irvings
wife, Marsha, to discuss their divorce procedure (and to pass along
some rather unkind observations from their children) only adds to
Irv's consternation, and fuels the growing suspicion that he may
live to regret his rash decision. When the suddenly liberated Marsha
goes off with Gary (who may have contracted herpes from Dawn, who
may have picked it up from Darcy) Irv's spirits sink still further,
and when he seeks guidance from the aged Rabbi Blaufarb, it is not
this ancient worthy who turns up but, instead, his free-living young
son and successor (who also had a summer fling with Dawn in the Hamptons).
But it is always darkest before the dawn, as we discover when it
develops that the herpes scare was a hoax and when Irving and Marsha
(after really talking to each other for the first time in years)
decide to give their marriage - and its neglected romance - another
chance. Play. Aleksei Arbuzov. Translated by Ariadne Nicolaeff Peggy Ashcroft and Anthony Quayle starred in the original RSC production
of this tender, gentle play. Rodion is medical head of a sanatorium
where Lidya is a patient, suffering from arteriosclerosis. They first
meet following complaints from other patients of her habit of reciting
poetry in the middle of the night and singing at dawn. She is clearly
no ordinary patient and the play follows, with warmth and gentle
humour, the mutual growth of interest and liking, to lasting affection. Comedy/Drama. Preston Jones. The locale is Bradleyville, Texas, where Colonel Kinkaid, a crusty
World War I veteran now confined to a wheelchair, regales anyone
who will listen with tales of "Black Jack"
Pershing and his days of campaigning in France. His son, an aggressive
wheeler-dealer, learns that the Colonel is the oldest living graduate
of Mirabeau B. Lamar Military Academy, and when the school comes
forth with the idea of holding a celebration in honour of the old
man, the son persuades them to do so in Bradleyville - hoping to
benefit from the resulting publicity. But getting his father to agree
to the plan and to parting with a piece of property which the son
covets for commercial purposes, are other matters. Resolute to the
end, Colonel Kinkaid resents being the "oldest living anything" and,
with his dying breath, continues to resist the loss of his ideals
to expediency and to a way of life which he can only regard as shoddy,
second-rate-and lacking in the values which he has 'striven to uphold'. Play Lee Blessing. The place is the locker room of the Northshore (Minnesota) Otters,
a Triple-A baseball club struggling through a lacklustre season.
It's the day of the annual Oldtimers Game, and several former Otters
are on hand, including "Old John Law, a Hall of Famer; Dave Pearl,
now a star centre fielder in the big leagues; Jim Nealy, a once promising
player who retired early because of injury; and Crab Detlefson, whom
the others have difficulty recalling, despite his tales of daring-do
on the field. The present-day Otters are represented by Sut Davis,
a talented (but impatient) young hitter who wants desperately to
move up to the majors; the catcher, Harry Nix, whose sharp tongue
(and fondness for booze) have hindered his career; the agile shortstop,
Jesus Luna, who is resigned to being marooned in the minor leagues;
and their long-suffering manager, Cal Timmer, a seasoned veteran
who, despite all, still believes that the Otters are destined for
greatness. And, finally, there is the rookie owner, Mr. Thompson,
an aggressive advertising executive who "loves to win" and has some
rather bizarre ideas about how to achieve his goal. A sudden rainstorm
interrupts the game and brings the players together in the locker
room where moments of humour and poignancy are mingled as the "has-beens" and
the "would-bes" play cards, drink beer, and talk of the past, or
the future, as the case may be. "Old John" nurses a bad back; Sut
Davis laments hurting his knee while showing off for Mr. Thompson;
and Harly Nix, learning that his contract will not be renewed, trashes
the manager's office. As the play ends some new (and unexpected)
shifts are announced - but it is evident that, for most of the Otters,
the more things seem to change, the more they will really remain
the same. Play. David Mamet A college student, Carol, drops by her professor's office in an effort to gain his help to do better in class. John, the professor, in the midst of buying a house to celebrate his nomination for tenure, at first seems distant. As the first meeting progresses the two discuss the nature of understanding and judgement in society, as well as their very own natures and places in our society. It seems as if a bond has been made. When next they meet we find that a report has been filed to the tenure committee. Carol has joined a "group" and has decided that John sexually harassed her during their first meeting. Their second meeting dissects the first; every word, every nuance of the first meeting has been twisted into. something else. Or has it? John's unsuccessful attempts to convince Carol to retract her accusation escalate to a more dangerous level. The third meeting, one the court officers warned against, climaxes violently leaving John and Carol both physically and emotionally devastated. David Mamet : Drama 1M 1F Interior set Mamet's scathing investigation of 'political correctness' at a time
of moral uncertainty provoked audiences worldwide in one of the most
exciting and important plays for many years. When a college student
files a sexual harassment claim against her professor, both of their
lives will never be the same again. In three scenes, we witness the
first encounter which leads to the charge, and a subsequent meeting
between the two once the charge has been filed when they go over
the events from the first - everything seems to be twisted one way,
then another - until the failure of the professor to get his student
to retract her charge escalates everything to a new and more dangerous
level for both. The third meeting, against the advice of their respective
counsels, finds both desperately struggling to achieve their own
aims and reaches a violent climax which leaves both professor and
student physically and emotional devastated. 'Mamet sends a wrecking
ball smack into the face of political correctness, an enthralling,
emotionally-charged battle of the sexes that reaches a heart-pounding
climax and raises questions about power, privilege, exploitation
and the educational process. Riveting.' - Sunday Express. Play. Jeremy Brock. Adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens Jeremy Brock's splendidly theatrical stage version of Oliver
Twist combines all the richness of Dickens's story - the sinister
antics of Fagin, the comic pomposity of Mr Bumble the Beadle, and
the horror of Nancy's murder at the hands of Sykes. Originally
devised for eleven actors playing multiple roles, the play is easy
to stage, makes good use of sound effects for atmosphere and makes
more than a nod to the contemporary world. |