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Comedy. Mary O'Malley In choosing the title, the author would seem to imply 'always a Catholic', but this extremely funny, irreverent comedy based on her own school days in a London convent certainly belies the Church's claim, as far as the author is concerned. For what emerges rather is the resilience of children to survive - in spite of, not because of, their upbringing and indoctrination. Period 1956-57 Play. Owen Arno. 8 men, 6 women. 2 Interior. Life has been good to Ashley Robbins, but there are problems too.
Living on Long Island's North Shore is not cheap, and unless he comes
up with some outstanding new advertising copy Ashley may be out of
a job. So he is not in the mood for eccentric neighbours, especially
the newest one, Mrs. Goolsby, who claims that she is a genuine fairy,
and who comes calling with a pocketbook full of crumb cake and magic
powder. There are no takers for the cake, but Ashley ends up being
a guinea pig for the magic powder, which she claims can make a person
realise his most cherished fantasy for twenty-four hours. And much
to his amazement, Ashley becomes the world's most persuasive copywriter.
He devotes his 24 hours to turning out new copy for every major account
in the business, and his boss is so delighted he may even give up
therapy. But that evening at a "victory dinner", Mrs. Goolsby stops
by and, after some bourbon, dispenses her magic powder to all. Before
Ashley can stop her, she has sent his best friend's wife off to Hollywood;
turned Ashley's ten-year-old daughter into a goldfish; and changed
the boss into the sister he always envied. Things get hilariously
worse before they get better. Play. Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman Three down-and-out troupers go to Hollywood and try their luck with
the newly invented 'talkies'. Owing to a series of blunders the most
stupid of the three is carried to pinnacles of fame and fortune and
becomes a god of the industry. The whole mad world of early sound
film is treated with dazzling satire as one wild event follows crazily
on another. Period 1920s Comedy. Harry Kurnitz. 2 men, 1 woman. Iinterior. The central figure is a symphony conductor, a perfectionist, but also one possessed of a temper that causes him to bang instruments on the heads of his musicians, break batons by the scores, and tear the shirts off his fiddlers as a form of constructive criticism. His ex-wife, who was never legally married to the conductor, who now wants a divorce, finds herself on the French horns of a dilemma. The conductor's agent is a colorful fellow addicted to larceny, perjury and skullduggery in the interest of a client and his commission. Knowing that the lady in the conductor's life is the only female who can tame him long enough for the sponsors of an orchestra to sign him, he finally brings the two together and out of the resulting cacophony finally creates harmony. Drama: Sigmund Miller. Julian Prescott, head of a prosperous drug company, returns after
a long illness to discover that his nationally famous product can
be toxic for many people. To disclose this to the public means ruin
for the company and most of the people in the town. His daughter
and his protege and right-hand man; Lawrence, are lovers, although
Lawrence is already married. This is the second line of interest.
A scheme to oust Prescott from the company, undertaken by Lawrence
and other stockholders, is the third. All three are deftly interwoven,
each augmenting the other and all contributing to the mounting tension
and suspense of the final moving climactic conclusion, in which the
daughter, whom Prescott had reared to live with dignity and courage,
compels her father to disclose the danger of the drug to the public. Play. Dennis Lumborg Eddie, a young metal worker, lives contentedly on a suburban housing
estate with his wife, Jeanie, and two adored small children, Katie
and Billy. He and Jeanie have always believed in being frank with
their children about matters of sex, but when his little daughter
stumbles into their bedroom during her parents' lovemaking and then
cheerfully recounts the details next day at school, Eddie finds himself
investigated by social services, suspected of child abuse. This is
his story. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Play. Dale Wasserman. From the novel by Ken Kesey The story of the devil-may-care rogue who has committed himself
temporarily to a mental home rather than work in a prison. He transforms
the home, charming everyone, except the fierce martinet of a head
nurse, and works wonders with a presumed deaf-and-dumb Indian. However,
he is condemned by the nurse to a frontal lobotomy, which will leave
him a vegetable, and to save him his fellow inmates smother him. Ray Cooney and Tony Hilton : Running for over 1200 performances at the London's Whitehall Theatre, One
For The Pot is one of the most popular and revived of the Whitehall
farces. When a wealthy Northern mill owner offers £10,000
to the son of a former business associate provided he is the only
living relative, Billy Hickory Wood arrives in anticipation to
collect his money. It isn't long before a procession of Hickory
Woods follow, all claiming to be the sole living relation and rightful
beneficiaries, creating a seemingly endless string of mistaken
identities and hilarious confusion. Comedy. Willy Russell This wickedly observant comedy by the author of Educating Rita finds
Dennis on the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday, making a last-ditch
attempt to break away from the confines of his middle-class, housing-estate
existence. Reaching breaking point at his birthday party he packs
a rucksack to make his escape but everyone wants to accompany him
and he sinks down in front of the television, defeated. But there's
always next year ... and the year after ... (in Scotland Plays) Linda McLean A blackly comic account of a brother and sister taking revenge on
their violent father. Within just thirty-five minutes this play conjures
up a remarkably vivid picture of one merciless family and three desperate
lives. Comedy Don Evans. 3 men, 5 women. 2 Interiors, 1 Exterior. The action takes place in suburban Philadelphia, where the Reverend
Avery Harrison, a Baptist preacher, clings tenaciously to his position
in the local black elite. His upwardly mobile philosophy is avidly
shared by his wife, Myra (whose hilarious malapropisms, however,
continually betray her ghetto origins), and by his son, Felix, a
strictly brought up private school product who has suddenly discovered
the joys of sex thanks to a surreptitiously studied manual and the
cooperation of a local charmer known as "Li'l Bits." Another jarring
note is struck when the Reverend's countrified niece Beverly, the
only daughter of his lately demised brother, arrives from the rural
South with the news that she has been left in the custody of Caleb
Johnson, a jive-talking, fast-living macho type who was the partner
of Beverly's father in a disreputable local nightclub. Hilarious
complications ensue as the Reverend and his wife find their passions
rekindled; Felix and "Li'l Bits" nervously face the prospect that
she may be in the
"family way" and Beverly (who is a lot sharper than her country background
might suggest) plots her conquest of the increasingly helpless Caleb. Play. Christopher Fry. 7-10 men, 3-4 women. Unit Set First presented at England's soaring Chelmsford Cathedral, and then
broadcast on the BBC, the play blends music, poetry and heightened
prose in telling the story of Caedmon, Britain's first known poet.
Set in 7th century England, the action of the play is commented on
by the Venerable Bede who acts as narrator and describes the arrival
of the stuttering, withdrawn Caedmon at Whitby Abbey, where he is
spellbound by the singing of the chapel choir. Given a job as a stableman,
Caedmon finds it difficult to communicate with his fellow workers,
and unable to "sing for his supper" at the Whitby Ale Feast. But
then, in a miraculous dream, Caedmon recalls the tragic death of
his beloved in childbirth and suddenly the guilt with which this
wretched event had saddled him is lifted by the occurrence of a divine
revelation. At the urging of the kindly Abbess Hilda, to whom he
recounts his dream, Caedmon leaves the stable and embraces the monastic
life - and suddenly he is free to "sing" at last, and to create the
timeless verse for which he is celebrated to this day. Comedy. Frank Vickery The funeral of an elderly father is not usually an occasion for
hilarity, but when the family concerned numbers among its members
a wellington-clad cook who bakes almondless almond cakes, another
who's convinced his shopping trolley is a dog, and a sister who's
a happy inmate of a psychiatric home, the proceedings are bound to
be lively! A scorching comedy of personalities and situations! Robin Chapman : Drama 3M 1 F Exterior set What really happened during that summer weekend in 1951 when Guy
Burgess and Donald Maclean suddenly disappeared only to surface later
in Moscow? One Of Us sets out to unravel the story behind
Burgess's dramatic defection to Russia, at the same time presenting
a completely new perspective on a fascinating and extraordinary series
of events. The play focuses upon Goronwy Rees, whose calm and settled
life is overturned by a visit from his old university friend, the
flamboyant extrovert, Guy Burgess. It is Rees's crisis of conscience,
in the face of E M Forster's declaration that he would rather betray
his country than his friends, that forms the pivot around which a
tense and compelling drama develops. Ultimately who is left feeling
the real traitor? Anthony Andrews and Ian Ogilvy starred in the highly
successful production at the Greenwich Theatre. A farce in a new dimension. N. E Simpson Each of the Groomkirbys has an idée fixe. Kirby is
teaching his speak-your-weight machines the 'Hallelujah Chorus';
his mother pays the neighbour to eat their left-overs; his aunt in
her wheelchair is convinced she's touring the Hebrides; his father
is building the Old Bailey in the living-room. When this is complete
the judge and jury move in with some bizarre results ... |