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A play by Michael Wilcox Through an episodic style which mirrors the fragmentary nature of the characters' lives, the play describes the fleeting sexual encounters of the homosexual rent boys in 1970s' Edinburgh. Phil, a droll drama student, shares a flat with Robert, an 18-year-old shop assistant who has had many years on the game. Both become involved with Richard, a mature lecturer from Newcastle desperately in need of sexual humiliation. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Play. Bertolt Brecht Ralph Manheim M28 F2. Extras. Numerous simple interior and exterior settings. A grimly humorous 'parable play' in blank verse, in which Hitler's rise to power is illustrated in the story of a small-time gangster's take-over of the green grocery trade in Chicago. A brief six line Epilogue points out how nearly Hitler ruled the world. Play. Jeffrey Sweet. The scene is the lobby of the Ventura Oasis Motel, in a run-down
section of Los Angeles. The owner, Randolph, is debating whether
to tear the building down or turn it into a fast-food franchise.
In the meantime he occupies himself by meddling in the life of his
manager, a world-weary ex-convict named Cornell, and in those of
his guests. Included in the latter art an out-of-work song writer
and guitarist; a down-on-their-luck Texas couple whose only valuable
possession is a luxury car; and, as the action progresses, a pretty
but brashly aggressive former girlfriend of Cornell's who has tracked
him down and is determined to revive their relationship. Although
strangers all, for the most part, the various characters are inevitably
drawn into each other's lives as crises are dealt with, confidences
exchanged, and each learns that he or she is, in a very real way,
his brother's keeper. In the end they go their separate ways again
- but for a fleeting moment, at least, they have known a sense of
caring and humanity all too seldom encountered in a world where "other
people's problems" are more often ignored than shared. Play. Charlotte Hastings After a prison break, convict Jubilee, with two companions, takes
over a small roadside cafe. The owners are temporarily absent; however,
a special party of their friends is expected to lunch. After serving
the visitors lunch, the gang tells them they are prisoners. The mutual
reactions of 'respectable' and 'villains', the mounting tension of
the situation, and instinctive groping towards some sort of understanding,
form the basis of the events that follow. The Restoration of Arnold Middleton Play. David Storey Arnold Middleton and his wife Joan share their cramped quarters
with Joan's mother Edie. Arnold genuinely likes his mother-in-law,
but, one night, takes unforgivable advantage of her momentary drunkenness.
There is, now, no more hiding from self-knowledge. At the end, he
turns to his wife for help. Joan is very willing and, to his own
surprise, Arnie finds that his long soul-sickness is finished. Play. James Saunders Harold Hopper has retreated to a cottage in Wales following a car accident in which his wife died and his daughter was disabled. But his 'retreat' is disturbed by the arrival of Hannah, daughter of his closest friends who have died in a plane crash. Hannah forces him to confront the facts, unleashing the repressed bitterness within him. At the end the doorbell rings again - did Hannah truly arrive or has Harold conjured her to catharise his guilt? Play. Don Taylor Cocooned in their suburban home are Tom, idealistic socialist and unemployed classics lecturer, and Phillipa, his disillusioned daughter. Into their lives unexpectedly comes Boris, a bellowing bear-like Muscovite who only wants to enjoy the fruits of the capitalist good life. But beneath Boris's laughing exuberance lies a bitter, dreadful secret past which, when revealed, shakes the beliefs Tom holds firm. The play was presented at the New End Theatre, Hampstead, in 1993 in a production directed by the author. Edwardian comedy. Graham Greene In this light-hearted pastiche EW.Hornung's famous 'amateur cracksman' is persuaded by Lord Alfred Douglas to break into and rob the house of the latter's hated father, the Marquess of Queensberry, accompanied by the ever-faithful Bunny. Douglas intends to send part of the proceeds to Oscar Wilde, now living in poverty. They then become involved in a plot to secure certain compromising letters written by no less a personage than King Edward VII! The Return of Herbert Bracewell or (Why Am I Always Alione When I'm With You?) Comedy Andrew Johns It's 1909 and Herbert Bracewell has retired to the attic of his
New York home with plans to stage a comeback in a one-man review
of his long, if undistinguished career. He assembles five antique
match-lit footlights to mark a playing area and proceeds to ad-lib
ideas for his show,straining to pull down dusty manuscripts from
atop overflowing shelves of vintage souvenirs, using a stunt dummy
to play off of, and conferring often with his pet, a stuffed crow.
Herbert's wife, Florence, thirty years his junior and once a great
success as an actress, comes to call her husband to bed and is caught
up in his production plans, first with good-humored derision, then
with the suggestion that she join him in the comeback attempt. Through
a series of barbs, playful reminiscences, and impromptu "performances," we
learn of the strains this relationship has endured Florence's infidelity
and success and that Herbert is endearingly closer to losing his
mind than we thought. But we also sense that, through it all, husband
and wife have been sustained by the magic of theatre, their first
love. Thriller : Robin Hawdon Bill Crayshaw, MP, returns from an overseas business trip to his
smart Westminster flat to learn of the death of his party agent in
a car crash. Mary Stanwyck arrives, a journalist intent on learning
his reaction to the news, but her line of questioning quickly turns
to items which could apparently ruin Bill's political, business and
personal life. But no one is ever what they appear to be, and the
initial game of cat-and-mouse between reporterand politician quickly
urns into deadly battle as the suspense increases through a series
of twists and turns reaching a climax that keeps audiences guessing
until after the final curtain. Play in two parts by Alan Ayckbourn Hapless Henry Bell, depressed at being ousted from his firm, is
distracted from committing suicide by another would-be suicide. He
rescues her, and after hearing her tale of abandonment by her married
lover, agrees that revenge is sweeter than suicide. Karen persuades
Henry that they should swap revenges - she will see to the man who
took Henry's job, while he will take care of her ex-lover's wife,
Imogen. Cyril Tourneur (attrib) This Jacobean tale (1606) of personal vengeance in a morally bankrupt
world follows Vindice in his quest to revenge the murder of his beloved
Gloriana by the lustful Duke. He gains access to the court in disguise
to cause havoc and commit serial murder among the corrupt family
until they are overthrown by the virtuous Antonio, who himself sentences
Vindice to death for his crimes. |