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Play: Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse A combination of melodrama
and love story; with the United Nations as background. Mrs. Mary Prescott, the U.S. delegate to the U.N., has presented
proposals that a U.N. committee should discuss the areas of agreement
between the member countries, rather than the differences. On the
night Mary is to make an important speech on the proposals, the Czech
delegate, with whom she had once had a romantic affair, comes to
her home, where he dies of a sudden heart attack. A few minutes after
this, the English, French, Russian and Pakistani delegates arrive
at Mary's apartment for cocktails. The four delegates remove the
body to the Czechoslovakian headquarters where it can be found without
compromising Mary or her proposals and they all pledge secrecy. However,
one of the four delegates breaks his oath and phones the police.
The resulting international complications threaten to wreck the proposals
and the lives of those involved, until the guilty delegate reveals
his basic humanity and vindicates Mary. There is also a romance between
Mary and a radio commentator who has reserved judgement on her proposals,
and during the course of the play she wins both the commentator and
his approval of her political action. Play. Richard Everett Frances, Howard and Rachel have always believed that their father,
David, died in a boating accident when they were children ... but
he didn't. When the three siblings, along with Rachel's husband Colin,
gather to clear out the house of their recently deceased mother,
several long hidden secrets are revealed, but none of the skeletons
to fall from their collective closets is more tangible or more shocking
than David, who arrives with the news that the house is, in fact,
his. Light comedy. Noel Coward Popular actor Garry Essendine revels in being a temperamental prima donna and is the archetypal self-obsessed actor, hugely talented, a bit fey, charming, libidinous and emotionally immature. In his agitation over a pending tour of Africa, he has wound his life to a pitch of turbulence which is starting to swamp his closest friends and associates. His estranged but still loving wife, Liz, his secretary Monica, and his business associates, Roland and Henry, are all drawn into the swamp of histrionic anxiety which he creates around himself. As he fusses about his departure, he indulges in brief love affairs to soothe his vain worries at having turned forty. Two of the women concerned, Henry's wife Joanna and Daphne, a young girl, show discomforting tenacity in pursuing him. The ensuing emotional chaos, which is made worse by the pestering of a mad young man obsessed with Gary, leads the actor to flee back to his wife on the very eve of his departure for Africa. Arthur Miller : Drama As outlined in Variety, "...the conflict, the basic jealousy and
the lifetime of, if not hatred, at least corrosive, though unacknowledged
anger, is between two brothers, as well as resentment against a selfish,
child devouring father. The siblings meet, after a 16-year estrangement,
in the attic of the family residence, where the old furniture is
to be disposed of. The first is a policeman who sacrificed his education
and probably a career as a scientist to care for his ruined, invalid
father. The other, who arrives late, is an eminent surgeon who walked
out on the demands of family to concentrate on medicine and personal
success. Miller works up to the showdown scene slowly. The policeman
and his wife first talk of the past and present to fill in some of
the background. Then there is a very long, richly amusing, curiously
revealing and enjoyable scene between the officer and a marvelously
crotchety, humorous and wise old Jewish dealer who has come to buy
the furniture but refuses to set a price without prolonged philosophic
conversation. When the surgeon arrives, the brothers take a little
time for amenities and feeling each other out before the basis of
their long alienation and mutual bitterness emerges into short, blunt,
enraged accusations. It is a taut, exciting and superbly theatrical
scene, and it reveals the characters, including strengths and weaknesses,
of the brothers to each other and themselves - as well as to the
audience." Comedy. Israel Horovitz. The setting is a classroom where an eager young teacher is about
to tackle her first assignment - teaching basic English to a group
of new citizens, not one of whom speaks the same language as another.
Included are an excitable Italian, an over-eager Frenchman, a near-sighted
German, an elderly Chinese woman and a Japanese girl. The one thing
that they manage to convey to each other is that their respective
names all mean "wastebasket" but, struggle as she will, the teacher,
Debbie, is hard-pressed to bring them beyond this point of communication.
Fortunately the voice of an off-stage translator enables the audience
to understand what those on-stage cannot comprehend, but this does
not help the sorely pressed Debbie, whose frustration is increased
by her fear of a mugger lurking outside the door. Rigid and pedagogical
at first, she becomes more frantic and desperate as her lack of success
with her charges mounts, and the wonderfully funny misunderstandings
multiply, until, at last, all self-control (and sanity) vanish into
total, and totally hilarious, panic. Play. Jay Presson Allen Jean Brodie, teacher at the Marcia Blaine Academy, incurs the disapproval
of her colleagues by her unconventional teaching methods, her favouritism
among her pupils, and also by her admiration for Mussolini and Italy.
Scandals increase, chiefly involving the art teacher and the music
teacher. One member of her group of favourites is killed while running
off to fight for Franco. Her chief protégée, Sandy,
denounces her as a murderer. Period 1930s Play. Andrew Davies Prin, the principal of a teachers' training college, has spent thirty
years in the pursuit of excellence; however, she seems more concerned
with the 'prima donnas' than with nurturing the 'job lots'. When
it appears that she may be losing her job, she shuts out reality
with the same myopic view that she takes of life outside herself.
Her inability to compromise leaves her contemplating the ruins of
her personal and professional lives. Play. Norman Holland The play follows the course of English royal history from Lady Jane
Grey, through the reign of Queen Mary, to the accession of Elizabeth
I. The framework of the chronicle is provided by four Ladies-in-Waiting,
who serve as a combination of chorus, commentators and other participants
in the events. The audience are taken to represent the Commons of
England. Against the simplest of scenic backgrounds, the story is
unfolded, through Elizabeth's darkest years to her accession to the
throne. Period sixteenth century Richard Nelson The play opens in 1970 in a Latin American country where two aspiring
young writers are thrown into prison for distributing subversive
leaflets. The second part of the play is set fifteen years later
when the right-wing dictatorship has been replaced by a left-wing
revolutionary government. The political tables have turned and the
'principles of writing' have ironically altered. The two men now
find themselves on opposite sides of the conference table bargaining
for the release of a poet held by the new leftist government. Within
this context, Richard Nelson explores and questions the relationship
between the two men when principles of a more creative and personal
nature are undermined by political pressures and literary ambition. Drama. Bridget Boland. The story is one of destruction of one man by another. The Prisoner
is a Cardinal in the Catholic Church of a middle-European country.
The Interrogator represents the totalitarian government which has
taken over that country, and which finds it necessary to destroy
the Cardinal whose independence of spirit constitutes a danger to
the government. The play is a series of scenes between The Interrogator
and The Prisoner, both of whom respect the other, but cannot accept
what the other stands for. The Interrogator attacks The Prisoner
first in one area, then in another, without effect; his faith and
his integrity are so strong they cannot be touched by ordinary means.
At first it is The Interrogator who shows the strain of the interviews;
he becomes desperate in. his search for some weapon to break The
Prisoner's spirit. The relationship between the two men is a complex
one, almost that of friendship. The Interrogator believes so deeply
in what his government is doing that he feels he is actually trying
to bring The Prisoner to the truth; it is as if he were the priest,
trying to save a soul. The Prisoner's knowledge of the real truth
remains intact until The Interrogator discovers his antagonist's
one vulnerable spot -his deep sense of personal guilt. Playing on
that, The Interrogator is able to undermine The Prisoner's belief
in his vocation, in his right to be a priest - and eventually so
twists and confuses him that the confession is signed and The Prisoner
is destroyed. But in destroying The Prisoner's faith, The Interrogator
has destroyed his own in his government, and in what he has been
doing. He realizes that what he has ruined was something more noble
than his own cause. Comedy. Neil Simon When Mel is made redundant he starts to fight a battle with the
environs of New York: the pollution, the paper-thin walls of the
high rise apartment. When his apartment is burgled and his psychiatrist
dies with $23,000 of his money Mel has a nervous breakdown. It is
on recovery that we come to esteem him all the more. For Mel and
his wife and people like them have the resilience, the grit to survive. Play. Matthew Francis, adapted from the novel by Anthony Hope Anthony Hope's fine imperialist adventure is brought vividly to
life in Matthew Francis's stirring adaptation which plunges straight
into the heart of the Ruritanian dynastic conflict. Rudolph Rassendyll,
young English gallant, is distantly related on the wrong side of
the blanket to the Ruritanian royal family. When the Crown Prince
is drugged by Black Michael, Rudolph steps in and takes the Prince's
place at his coronation. Early twentieth century Play. Reynolds Price. It is 1945 and Logan is on leave from the army, from a unit ready
to ship out to Japan. He's been called home after the sudden death
of his mother. The day after the funeral, Logan's father, Paul, a
piano salesman, decides they both need to get away together, to go
on a selling trip and look to the future. To his own surprise, Logan
agrees. On this trip, Logan is puzzled by his father's determination
to head in one particular direction and soon Logan is introduced
to a schoolteacher, Lena, in a town a few hours away. She surely
has bought pianos, but she also seems to be a genuine, long-term
friend of his fathers; and when Lena's daughter, Gail, 14, returns
from school she is also very comfortable with Paul and feels a strange
familiarity with Logan. Without many words, it is evident that Logan
and his father are staying for dinner, and possibly longer, since
through the course of the evening, Logan learns his father has had
a second family for 17 years; a caring family who accepted his first
family and never intruded upon them. Logar realises he is being asked
if it is all right with him. In his hurt, he asks his father why
and how, and Paul finally discusses his life with his son. Since
his life may be in the balance very soon - the threat of war pervading
the play - Logan wants to hold on to what he can. He doesn't want
to lose to anger his father and perhaps his new sister, so Logan
forgives enough to realise he wants to find out more, and to be part
of a family again. Drama. Steven Dietz. Private Eyes is a comedy of suspicion in which nothing is
ever quite what it seems. Matthew's wife, Lisa, is having an affair
with Adrian, a British theatre director. Or perhaps the affair is
part of the play being rehearsed. Or perhaps Matthew has imagined
all of it simply to have something to report to Frank, his therapist.
And, finally, there is Cory-the mysterious woman who seems to shadow
the otherswho brings the story to its surprising conclusion. Or does
she? The audience itself plays the role of detective in this hilarious "relationship
thriller" about love, lust and the power of deception. Intimate comedy. Noel Coward Sybil and Elyot arrive at a hotel in France for their honeymoon.
Amanda, Elyot's first wife, happens to take the adjoining suite with
her new husband Victor. When Amanda and Elyot met they elope but
together they veer between happiness and bickering which turns into
physical fighting. Victor and Sybil discover them rolling on the
floor and a four-handed quarrel begins during which Elyot and Amanda
steal away. Period 1930 Play with songs. Peter Nichols. Music by Denis King Designed in the form of a variety show, the production of an Army
Concert Party show in Malaya is intermingled with the story of their
adventures, comic and tragic, as they tour the jungle-type countryside,
menaced by Communist guerrillas. Among the varied company are an
aggressive, dishonest Sergeant-Major, a raw newcomer, an earnestly
religious major, and a colourful homosexual. Finally, bruised, battered
but still ebullient, the survivors board ship for England and home.
Period 1948 |